Six Steps to a Strong School Culture: A Leadership Cycle for Educational Success

[00:01] Announcer:

Welcome to Principal Center Radio, helping you build capacity for instructional leadership. Here's your host, Director of the Principal Center, Dr. Justin Bader. Welcome everyone to Principal Center Radio.

[00:13] SPEAKER_00:

I'm your host, Justin Bader, and I'm honored to welcome to the program Dr. Samuel Nix. Dr. Nix has been an educator for more than 20 years with a background as a teacher, middle and high school principal, and chief of schools in a variety of school settings. And he's used his experience to design professional learning for educators on topics ranging from maximizing the success of the entire organization, with an emphasis on raising the academic achievement of all students, to helping leaders re-envision their learning cultures to promote systems thinking that transforms organizations. While he served as a high school principal, Dr. Nix's campus was named as one of the top 32 urban schools in America by the National Center for Urban School Transformation.

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And Dr. Nix has been awarded a Leadership in Education Award from the Texas House of Representatives and was presented the Mary McLeod Bethune Heritage Award for Education by the NAACP in 2010. the Dr. June James NAACP Education Award in 2016, and the Leadership Legacy Award from the Future Schools Network in 2019. And he is the author of the new book, Six Steps to a Strong School Culture, a Leadership Cycle for Educational Success. Dr. Nix, welcome to Principal Center Radio.

[01:18] Announcer:

And now our feature presentation.

[01:20] SPEAKER_01:

Justin, thank you so much for having me. It is an absolute pleasure to be with you and your audience.

[01:25] SPEAKER_00:

Well, likewise, I look forward to talking about your work, talking about the book. And I wonder if we could talk a little bit first about what need you saw in the profession for this book on school culture.

[01:36] SPEAKER_01:

Justin, as you well know, as educators, we are all working hard and working diligent. I don't think that there's an educator out there that is not endeavoring to ensure that they're doing everything they can every day to ensure students are learning. The challenge in the hole that I saw was for all of the hard work, for all of the sweat, for all of the long hours, for all of the lack of vacation, for all the things, there seemed to be a challenge of exactly how do I have the impact that I want to have? What does that look like in terms of ensuring our students are being successful and actually moving the needle? And so the goal is not that we have the answer, but we add to a litany of answers that may fit for some people, some campuses and some districts that have been proven. And so when we're talking about how we ensure, how we lead, how we support student achievement,

[02:29]

There are certain things that have been proven to be successful in some areas that we just wanted to pare down and make it clear and concise and a tool for leaders to use to get similar results.

[02:41] SPEAKER_00:

Love it. And you present those steps as a cycle. Talk to us a little bit about that idea of a cycle for leaders to go through.

[02:49] SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, cycles are easy, right? Cycles are easy to remember. But in terms of the idea, the idea really came from the aeronautical field. And what happened there is, of course, pilots are trained. They're very intentional, very intelligent individuals. But what they found years ago was there are certain things that you could not account for as a pilot.

[03:09]

You can't account for weather. You can't account for storms. You can't account for turbulence. Right. And so all of the accidents and things that were happening and occurring, it's easy to say, well, that's just because of Mother Nature. That's because of things that are out of our control.

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But they introduced a way of thinking called ADM, which is aeronautical decision making. It was a cycle of thinking that they introduced. And it's a way to prepare pilots for things that they don't have control of in the thinking, in the preparation, in the planning. And what they found was they reduced not only human error by over 76%, but they also reduced weather-related accidents and deaths by 80-something percent. Well, wait a minute, Justin. What do you mean you reduce something that you have no control of by simply thinking and processing and having a way that you...

[04:01]

Go through a thought process to prepare you for what you can and what you can't prepare for. Took the same strategy and research for the leadership cycle. And what are those things that leaders need to be thinking through, preparing for, planning for? to ensure a better outcome when it comes to student success? Research-based, proven theories that are practical in terms of just helping leaders to think through, am I following through each step here? And to what degree am I doing this to ensure a better outcome?

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So that's where the cycle came from.

[04:37] SPEAKER_00:

And certainly in schools, we often lament the fact that there is so much outside of our control. You know, there's the political environment, the funding environment, the legislative environment. And then, of course, the people in the school. And we have some responsibility and control in terms of the staff. But always our students are unique individuals who make up their own minds. We don't have control over what parents do.

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So, guaranteeing outcomes has always been a challenge right we want to be held accountable we want to hold ourselves to a high standard for outcomes, but we know that just like pilots have to deal with the weather. There are things outside of our control that we're going to have to kind of have a plan for and get our minds around. I wonder if we could talk a little bit about the idea of systems thinking, because I think we're probably both systems thinking fans. And that for me has been one of the most useful frameworks or sets of frameworks for approaching different problems. How does system thinking show up in your book?

[05:35] SPEAKER_01:

You know, Justin, you talk about all of the challenges in isolation. A systems thinker, what they do is they think about a problem in terms of how it relates to multiple things. So it's not being reactive. It's understanding the correlation between this decision and that decision and this impact and that impact and how you ultimately want to have a holistic and perspective view of a thing that you're doing. dealing with, leading, whatever the case may be, so that you have sustainable results. When we start thinking about systems, we want to think about sustainability.

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We want to think about not being reactive, but being proactive. We want to think about a lens that is not just our lens, but a lens of all of the people that our decision impacts and the degree to which our decision or our leadership impacts them. So how systems thinking shows up in the book is really helping principals broaden their perspective on not only how to lead and not only how to put systems in place for a campus, but how to do that effectively, why it is important, and walks them really through the impact of that system thinking. You know, Justin, I was thinking the other day, one of the biggest problems for leaders, in my opinion anyway, it's transferability, right? Justin, you are probably an amazing teacher, right? You are probably a great leader or a great principal.

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The challenge is how do you help someone else or how do you work through or work with someone else to get those same results? And you're going to find that you have to break down And make it very simplistic in how you approach the work and how you think through the work and how you help them think through it to transfer that skill set as you help them develop that capacity to be able to do that. And that's, to me, what systems are able to do. breaks down the big, huge problem right into very manageable, very understandable, very relatable and collaborative steps to be able to start making that progress towards improvement in a way that broadened the perspective.

[07:51] SPEAKER_00:

And I'm thinking about your work as a director of school, somebody who principals report to, who has been responsible for large numbers of students in large numbers of schools. And every school, even within a district or even within a certain part of town, every school is facing such different challenges and such different circumstances. So there's not really any alternative than to develop those transferable processes and transferable cycles and skills that people can follow. There is an alternative, Justin.

[08:19] SPEAKER_01:

I don't mean to cut you off, but there is an alternative. Keep doing what I'm doing, just harder and faster and louder and with more intention and more urgency. That's the objective, right? That's the alternative. Continue doing what's not working so I don't have to think about what would work better.

[08:38] SPEAKER_00:

Well, that's a great opportunity then to get into the cycle itself. You identify six steps in a leadership cycle, again, kind of a transferable process that people can use over and over again in different contexts to accomplish their goals and to set up their schools for maximum success. Take us into that cycle, if you would, Dr. Nix.

[08:57] SPEAKER_01:

Well, thanks, Justin. I appreciate it. First of all, the leadership cycle is simply an easy way to remember how to think and process through steps that can... better position you to be successful.

[09:08]

The first step in the leadership cycle is to clarify the mission. And Justin, I find this so funny because there's a quote that I heard or read one of the two, that the biggest challenge with communication is thinking that it happened. Right. And so what I find is that leaders will tell, will share, we will email and then we will say, well, I communicated. No, no, you shared or you provided information, but that doesn't mean that effective communication took place. So in the first step of ensuring clarity.

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One of the things that we do is we take leaders through what does it mean to ensure that your intended message was actually received as intended? What are the steps for that? What are some strategies for that? What are some ways that we can start processing through not just talking to people or emailing people or telling people? But what are some ways that we can understand that they what we intended to communicate is actually what they took away from that? and that they're clear about what the outcome is.

[10:12]

So there's a skill set. There's a strategy onto that. So that's the first, if you will, step to the leadership cycle. And what happens is if we're not clear, Justin, but we think that we are, it frustrates people. It frustrates the organization. And then when we communicate or when we share or tell or talk or whatever the case may be and it's not done, then we're quick to hold people accountable or we're quick for judgment or quick to get frustrated.

[10:37]

And, you know, that's just unfortunate because people want to do good work. People wake up every day to be their best selves. And we as leaders can help that through effective communication. Second step in leadership cycle is planning strategically and making decisions. And so that is very important because there's a difference between planning and being strategic in our planning. It's very important to know who to involve in that planning and why we involve those particular individuals in that planning.

[11:06]

And so there's steps to that. There's research behind that. There are things that leaders can learn to do when planning strategically. So that they're looking holistically, so that they're thinking through the lens of multiple perspectives and they're thinking about the ifs and the what ifs. But it's not as easy as just sitting down and, OK, I'm going to plan. Right.

[11:26]

There are ways to do that that have been proven to help be a lot more strategic when making those decisions. And the book lays out how to do that.

[11:35] SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I wanted to ask about that if I could, because so often strategic planning becomes a process of making a document that's updated every year, right? Strategic planning, it's just this mandate. It's this thing we have to do every year. It becomes a compliance thing. And I get the sense that you're talking about actually being strategic while I'm just making a document.

[11:54] SPEAKER_01:

Talk to me about that. Thank you, Justin. Absolutely. That is so true. And what ends up happening is we think of strategic planning, just like you said, as a document that hangs on the wall that's updated. Instead of understanding the skill set behind what it means to think strategically, right?

[12:10]

And what are tools and resources and skill sets that can be developed by leaders to help them do that thing? So thank you for pointing that out. And that's something that is pointed out in the second step in the leadership cycle. The third step in the leadership cycle is empowering self and others. And my gosh, you know, it's interesting because...

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When we talk about empowering ourselves, what does that mean? What does it mean to put yourself in position to be successful? What does it mean to take ownership of your own learning and take ownership of the experience that you provide for other people? What does it mean to put people in a space and in a place where they are empowered to do the things that you're asking them to do? Does it mean just giving them more information? Does it mean just giving them a book to read?

[12:59]

Does it mean just giving them tools and resources? Or does it really mean positioning them to have an experience and how to have that experience with the thing that you are talking to them about or the initiative or whatever it is to ensure a better degree of success for them? And then what does it mean to empower yourself? And how do you do that efficiently and effectively so that you're poised to be successful in whatever area it is that we're going through? So that's what this third step points out. Four step in the leadership cycle, Justin is often the most neglected, and that is measurement and feedback.

[13:35]

And Justin, there's a big difference between monitoring something and measuring something. And oftentimes leaders use that interchangeably. But, you know, we oftentimes don't have a problem monitoring things. The problem comes in when we are measuring the degree of improvement or success of what we're monitoring. And then how we or when we provide feedback to people or to organizations or to initiatives on that thing. Justin, nothing improves without feedback.

[14:06]

Nothing, like nothing gets better without feedback. But so often we neglect to do that and we neglect to do that with quality.

[14:16] SPEAKER_00:

And why do you think that is? I mean, it seems obvious that we should have feedback, but like, are we afraid? Do we not want to hear the concerns? Why do you think it's so common to not get that feedback?

[14:27] SPEAKER_01:

I think there are elements of both of those things, but I think the number one thing, Justin, is time. You know, leaders are just so busy and people are just so busy. And it's funny to me because oftentimes leaders feel as though, well, I'm busy doing the work. Sometimes they struggle to understand that giving feedback and measuring, that is the work, right? That is the work. As a leader, your job is to work with and through people to help them be successful, right?

[15:01]

And they can't be successful if they're not getting the feedback, if they're not understanding where the tweaks and where the adjustments before the thing goes wrong, before we get off track, before we find ourselves having to be reactive. And so unfortunately, that's a step that is missed because of oftentimes time, oftentimes fear, oftentimes not having a system in place for which to know what those metrics are to be able to give feedback. So all of those things play a part in the challenge of this step. And what the book endeavors to do is to help leaders overcome those challenges by to know how to better position themselves to monitor effectively, to measure effectively, and to provide quality feedback.

[15:52]

The fifth step in the leadership cycle is making adjustments based on that feedback and improving as a result of those adjustments. When do you make adjustments? What does research say about feedback? And what does research say about the element of improvement? And when do we trust the system? And when do we need to stop?

[16:14]

You know, leaders oftentimes talk about what we need to start doing, but we don't often talk about what we need to stop doing. And what we need to reflect on and what we do with that feedback and that data. And there's research, there are proven strategies to help leaders understand when to adjust, how to adjust, who to include in that adjustment, and what improvement looks like, sounds like, feels like, not only to you, but to the organization. And so that's a very critical step. in the leadership cycle. And then lastly, Justin, the last step in the leadership cycle is accountability and rewards.

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And it is so imperative as leaders that we recognize and value the things that are going well. And I hear so many leaders say things like, these are adults. I shouldn't have to tell them what to do. Or, you know, I'm not going to spend my time babysitting. That mindset is, in my opinion, it's detrimental to the growth and to the improvement of the organization because everyone likes to be valued. Everyone likes to be acknowledged for what they're doing well.

[17:13]

Everyone wants to be in a position where they feel that they're adding value to the company. And also, when there's a lack of a culture of accountability, there will always be a lack of improvement. When there's a lack of accountability in a family, in an organization, on a team, whatever it is, you will never be in position to reach your full potential. And so that's a very sensitive thing because oftentimes leaders get responsibility and accountability mixed up and they're not the same thing. Oftentimes responsibility is what you are responsible for. Accountability is what occurs when the responsibility is not met.

[17:57]

So how do we ensure a culture of accountability that through the lens of responsibility. And how do we do that responsibly? And how do we do that without tearing down relationships? And how do we do that while still being relational and valuing people and investing in people in such a way that we move the needle towards improvement and relational capacity and not away from it? So those are, thank you for allowing me to kind of flush that out, but those are the steps of the leadership cycle.

[18:25] SPEAKER_00:

Now, one thing you mentioned in the book in chapter 10 about step six around accountability, it might be a little bit surprising to people, and that is rewards. Obviously, we're probably not talking about candy here, but I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear you talk about rewards. Say a little bit more about that.

[18:40] SPEAKER_01:

When it comes to rewards, it's like you said, people who walk around and give candy on Fridays and donuts on Thursdays, those are good things. But those are rewards that don't go a long way. way in terms of valuing the work. And what happens is when we reward work, we set the tone for what's acceptable and we set the tone for what we expect. Rewards need to be genuine. Rewards need to be specific.

[19:12]

Rewards need to be timely. Rewards need to be something that is very personable to a person or a group or a team that So that it positions us to really focus on the value, the impact, the work in such a way that it wants to be and can be duplicated throughout the organization or by the person. So when we're talking rewards, we're talking valuing. We're talking celebrating. We're talking even a word of I appreciate you for and then being very specific about the task itself. the initiative, things of that nature, so that people understand what they're being rewarded for and duplicate that behavior, duplicate that challenge, whatever the case may be.

[19:57]

And when you're genuine about it, when you're specific about it, it means more. There are a thousand resources out there, including your book, Justin, for just adding value to the profession. This book, Six Steps to a Strong School Culture, is simply... a resource to help leaders sharpen the skillset that they already have.

[20:20]

They know what to do, but we all need help in terms of how to sharpen our saw. This is a resource just to help leaders at all levels to sharpen their saw, to be even better at what they're good at, to help them think through, process through, and really set their sights for higher aims when it comes to student success. So that's what I would like to say about the book.

[20:45] SPEAKER_00:

Very well said. And I really appreciate the way, Dr. Nix, that you've pulled together so much research from so many different fields on system thinking and technical and adaptive challenges and adaptive learning, feedback, so many different topics. I wanted to ask, was there any field of research that that our listeners may not even know is out there that you brought into the book. And the one that you mentioned from the aerospace industry, from studying how pilots do their work and how crashes can be avoided. That was kind of a new one to me.

[21:17]

Any other fields of research that you mentioned in the book that come to bear on this?

[21:21] SPEAKER_01:

The focus really was on education and on leadership. And so the only other field of study would have been the field of leadership theory and And just really, what does it mean to be an effective leader? And what does the research say about that? And what are the tenets of effective leadership? Because as I stated to you before, the biggest challenge in leadership is you know what to do and you know how to do it. But you have to transfer that skill set, that knowledge, that mindset, that so forth.

[21:54]

to an individual, to a corporation, to a system in such a way that inspires them to want to do the things that may come innate to you. And so there's theory behind that. And to someone like you or most of your listeners, it just comes easy. But for so many, Justin, it doesn't. And for those who it doesn't come easy or for those who want to continue to sharpen that saw, this is a great resource for them.

[22:23] SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. So the book is Six Steps to a Strong School Culture, a Leadership Cycle for Educational Success. Dr. Samuel Nix, thank you so much for joining me on Principal Center Radio.

[22:33] SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for having me. My pleasure.

[22:35] Announcer:

Thanks for listening to Principal Center Radio. For more great episodes, subscribe on our website at principalcenter.com slash radio.