Leader Credibility

Doug Fisher

PPT at: www.fisherandfrey.com

“resources and recordings”

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Who’s Working?

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Schools are comprised of a multigenerational workforce.

The Alphas are coming!

• Digital natives- spending hours on screens
• Most tech savvy
• Understand and use AI
• Globally minded
• Concerned about inclusivity
• Connected to family
• Want to make a change in the world

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What’s TRUE for ALL Generations?

Finding meaning and purpose from work.

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Become

Learning and growing from work.

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Belong

Building relationships and connections at work.

Adapted from: Carter, 2021

Freudenthal Verhagen/Getty Images

Belonging leads to engagement

McKinsey Quarterly, 2023

The Quitters:

Headed for the door (or already gone)

10% of the

workforce

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The Disruptors:

Actively disengaged and

likely to demoralize others

11% of the

workforce

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The Mildly Disengaged:

Doing the bare minimum

32% of the

workforce

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The Double-Dippers:

A growing phenomenon

5% of the

workforce

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The Reliable and Committed:

Going above and beyond

38% of the

workforce

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The Thriving Stars:

Creating value and elevating others

4% of the

workforce

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The manager or team leader alone accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement (Gallup, 2023).

Leaders are magnifiers and amplifiers of effective instruction.

Paul Manna

A lack of credibility can hamper YOUR efforts to create and lead the learning environment.

Students’ likelihood to learn is influenced by the teacher’s credibility.

R = 2

1.09

Teacher Credibility

www.visiblelearningmetax.com

Components of TEACHER Credibility

• Competence
• Trust
• Dynamism
• Immediacy

School leaders must possess credibility with teachers.

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Leader Credibility

www.visiblelearningmetax.com

Five Components of LEADER Credibility

• Competence
• Trust
• Dynamism
• Immediacy
• Forward Thinking

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is your currency.

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Distrust is sand in the organization’s gears.

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A comparison of 100 schools in Chicago…

What made the difference?

A student-centered learning climate that is safe, orderly, and attuned to its learners.

The professional capacity of staff to embrace innovation, commit to the wellbeing of the school, and assert a collective responsibility for every student in the school (not just on their own rosters.)

Ties to families and communities with high levels of teacher-parent trust, and parent involvement in school decision making.

School leadership that values program coherence, instructional leadership, and teacher influence.

(Bryk, et al., 2010)

A comparison of 100 schools in Chicago…

What made the difference?

A comparison of 100 schools in Chicago…

What made the difference?

Organizations with low levels of relational trust had a 14% chance of achieving success in their reading and math initiatives.

Benevolence

Honesty

Openness

Reliability

Competency

Once trust is violated, it’s human nature to look for additional evidence that the person is not trustworthy.

Northfield, 2014.

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Dynamism

Worry is a confidence killer.

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Dynamic instructional leaders are energetic and vibrant; they

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• seem to enjoy teaching and learning;

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• are passionate about education as a profession;

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• exude self-confidence.

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Learners want to feel you teach, not see you read.

When we think about dynamism as

part of leader credibility,

we think of leaders who:

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are energetic and vibrant;

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seem to enjoy teaching and learning;

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are passionate about education as a

profession;

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and exude self-confidence.

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Immediacy

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Immediacy is not the same as friendship.

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U.S adults average between 2-5 close friends.

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• Being friendly and open
• Developing supportive relations
• Conveying warmth

Immediacy is…

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Immediacy is your accessibility and relatability.

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• Gesture when talking.
• Look at people and smile while talking.
• Use names.
• Use we and us to refer to the group.
• Invite people to provide feedback.
• Use vocal variety (pauses, inflections, stress, emphasis) when talking to the group.

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Immediacy is your accessibility and relatability.

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Nonverbal cues convey value, importance, and connectiveness.

• Facial expressions
• Eye contact
• Tone of voice
• Gestures

Immediacy and the People We Don’t Like So Much

A “chilly” classroom climate

• Are criticized more often for failure
• Are praised less frequently
• Receive less feedback
• Are called on less often
• Have less eye contact from the teacher
• Have fewer friendly interactions with the teacher
• Experience acceptance of their ideas less often

Differential Teacher Treatment of Low-Achieving Students

(Good, 1987)

These students believe “their presence is at best peripheral and at worst an unwelcome intrusion.”�

We also have fewer interactions with hard-to-reach colleagues.

• Get less wait time?
• Are they criticized more often for failure?
• Are they praised less frequently?
• Receive less feedback?
• Have less eye contact from others?
• Have fewer friendly interactions?
• Have their ideas accepted less often?

How often do these occur with low-performing colleagues?

Do they:

Actions to strengthen your immediacy.

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1. Leader Rounding

• “What worked well today?”
• “Are there individuals I should recognize?”
• “Is there anything we can do better?”
• “Do you have the tools and equipment you need to do your job?”

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• Write 5 notes weekly to staff members (have them placed on your desk every Monday so you don’t forget).

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• Mail them home with a real stamp (don’t put them in their school mailboxes).

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2. Create a culture of appreciation.

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“Harvesting small wins.”

• Acknowledge the problem.
• Apologize (even if it’s not your fault.)
• Do not manage down the organization or another person.
• Make it right as soon as possible.
• Let the person know the loop has been closed.

Service

3.

Competence

Can I learn from you?

Are you a skilled leader?

Perceived competence impacts credibility. It has two dimensions:

Skill Competence and Communication Competence.

0.66

Feedback

www.visiblelearningmetax.com

Acceptance of feedback is moderated by the relationship between the two people.

Those who don’t have a good relationship are immune to the feedback.

…. an authentic quest for understanding.� Michelle Trujillo

EMPATHETIC FEEDBACK IS…

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Growth-oriented: “Here’s what I would [continue/stop/start] doing.”

Real: “When you ____, your students ____.”

Empathetic: “We can work together on…”

Asked-for: “This was an area you identified for feedback.”

Timely: “Thank you for hosting me this morning.”

Use Empathetic Micro-Feedback to Build Professional Relationships

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Some Components of Empathetic Feedback

Future Thinking Instructional Leaders

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Traits of Leaders who accurately forecast future trends:

1. Pragmatic
2. Curious
3. Cautious
4. Humble
5. Open-minded to diverse points of view
6. Alert to personal bias and wishful thinking
7. Think in terms of probabilities to avoid guessing
8. Comfortable with numbers, but not feeling that they need to be mathematicians

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Turlock & Tucker, 2020

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What people want most from their leaders, as opposed to colleagues, is to be forward looking. They want to be part of an organization that is mission driven, goal oriented, and well prepared for the challenges ahead.

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Kouzes & Posner, 2009)

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The same researchers found that in practice only 3% of leaders’ time was devoted to forward thinking.

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(Kouzes & Posner, 2009)

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Where does the time go?

Time allocations over 3 years by 100 instructional leaders.

Grissom et al., 2013

It’s hard to move instruction forward if leaders are rarely in classrooms.

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Sharpen your forward thinking with three tools:

1. Insight
2. Outsight
3. Foresight

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• What did you experience and learn as a new teacher?
• As a veteran teacher?
• In other leadership positions?
• Do any themes occur?

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When you know more about yourself and keep your lessons learned in mind, you can see farther ahead and imagine future possibilities.

Insight: Explore your past.

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Outsight. Imagine the possibilities.

• Spend more time reading, thinking, and talking about long-term possibilities.
• Make future thinking a standing agenda item at leadership team meetings.
• Establish a group whose purpose is planning the future.

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Foresight: Maintain an Optimistic View

Being optimistic doesn’t mean ignoring reality or the hardships required to get great results. But optimistic leaders give people the hope, energy, and strength needed to carry on.

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Ask:

• What’s new?
• What’s better?
• What’s next?

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Thank you!

www.fisherandfrey.com