Steve Ventura is the President and lead consultant at Advanced Collaborative Solutions. A former elementary and high school teacher who has also handled the district-level administration is now a motivational speaker whose practical and research-based strategies have helped teachers and many leaders across the nation to pursue those strategies with great focus and clarity. Steve writes about his teaching and leadership qualities, which he shares to create a positive difference. He, along with his team, now helps other teachers and leaders solve the school’s most urgent needs and administration’s needs.
So please take a look at some of his strategies to build a leader and understand the problems in every institution.
1. “When leaders hold self-efficacious beliefs, they focus initiatives on instructional excellence and create a collaborative culture as a result.”
The principle of self-efficacy states a belief that a principal can improve the quality of teaching and learning in a school. Leaders with a high degree of self-efficacy can develop collective efficacy.
2. “Being an effective leader means continuing to grow and evolve with your staff in building a better school. “
To increase work efficiency, leaders must also participate in learning with teachers. This not only proves one’s commitment but also helps in creating collective efficacy.
3. “Create a purposeful structure for how to use collaboration time.”
To strengthen the collective efficacy in schools (which is not a very simple task), one must create a purposeful structure that includes defining roles, encouraging trust and ownership as well as transparency, conducting meetings and interdependency.
4. “Protect staff from activities that take away from teaching. “
Sometimes having too much on the plate can make everything else seem like a priority, and in those times, the chances of losing focus seem quite high. One must have the time and space needed for focused collaboration to prevent this from happening.
5. “Reflect on instructional approaches and adjust interventions appropriately. “
Honest feedback can help a person achieve higher goals in life as feedback provides visions to the blind areas of one’s work. Most of the time, feedback is taken as a form of criticism, but someone who understands the importance of the work of feedback can use it as a weapon to eradicate all the loopholes.
As a leader, one must share his honest feedback with the teachers and use it as a coach to help them achieve professional excellence.
6. “Look for every opportunity to go the extra mile. That’s how you become extra special and extra successful.”
Have you ever looked into the stories of all successful people across the globe? Each one of them has the power and the authority which is the most common desire for every person. But have you ever wondered what is the common string that is attached to every successful person?
It’s nothing but the urge to move forward. They are not afraid of the hurdles that lie on the road. An arrogant person would always look at the hurdles as an obstruction to his goals whereas a person who is driven by the urge to be successful will stare at those obstacles as a mere stepping tool for their dreams.
No matter what don’t give up. Giving up will always be the easy solution whereas going ahead the extra mile will always be worth your efforts. Those extra miles that you have ventured will have tons of open opportunities and you need to keep an eye on them. You may not know where this opportunity might take you in the future.
7. “I don’t think instructional leadership is about being the smartest person in the building. It’s about getting everybody together to share collective intelligence.”
Instructional leadership is a model of school leadership where the principal works alongside the teachers to provide support and guidance in establishing the best practices in teaching. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the leader has to be the smartest person among all the people.
Whenever there is a sense of superiority lingering among the group, the work environment results in a toxic one. The positive energies such as teamwork and motivating other fellow members are replaced by intense competition and jealousy. So instead of being the smart one, the leader must build a healthy environment where everyone can come together to share collective intelligence.
8. “You get multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency and your expertise and if you make a mistake, all we do is learn from those mistakes.”
Mistakes are the most common part of our life. One must always remember that mistakes are a part of our learning process. If you do not make a mistake then you are not going to give yourself the space to grow. Yet, some people will disregard this thought like a piece of trash. One mistake will not signify the end of the world. Life will always give you multiple opportunities to redeem yourself and for that, one must always learn from their mistakes.
It is easy to commit a mistake but not everyone will show the courage to learn from them. Mistakes do not signify the end of the world but the lack of learning from your mistakes will divert you from reaching your goals.
9. “The best learning that I know is when kids or adults fall into a pit and they get out of the pit.”
Self-help will always be the greatest form of help. To be independent and save yourself after falling into a dangerous situation will always be the greatest form of help. We human beings tend to be more dependent on the people and things surrounding us. Being a little bit dependent on others is harmless.
But being completely dependent, that is where one should draw the line. When we become way too dependent on others we tend to underestimate our capabilities. This tends to give birth to various forms of insecurities and that’s when life tests us out. Independence is the greatest form of freedom because that’s when you become aware of your capabilities.
10. “Focus less on tests and more on practice.”
Tests will never show your true potential. A mere scorecard will never show your capabilities and growth. As life continues to move forward, the results on the scorecard will lose their value. If you intend to grow as a person you have to pay more attention to your practices. Practice makes one perfect.
Do not ever think of stopping your practices. Even if it is the same thing that you have to work on, keep an eye to look for things that went unnoticed in your previous attempt. This way the work won’t seem tiresome at all. So practice till you achieve perfection.
Remember is not about “me” but “us” in a team. No matter how much intelligent you are, if you can’t build a sense of teamwork among your fellow subordinates then that is considered to be your sole failure. The leader must be prepared to handle the worst consequences as well. A true leader should bring out the true potential of each of his subordinates.
11. “Involving teachers in school decision-making.”
The leaders usually handle any decision which involves the betterment of a school. But when teachers are also involved in this process, they get an insight into the institution’s well-being and feel a greater responsibility to improve education quality.