Culture is the reason why the best organizations have sustained success. When you create a culture of greatness you enjoy great results. – Jon Gordon

Organizations should have strategic plans. Organizations must create processes for daily operation. Organizations must set goals and do the work to achieve results.

Development of culture . . . the intentional focus on behavior . . . doesn’t detract from the need to do the work. Great results take both a great culture and great skill. Culture work isn’t enough. It’s the culture that drives the behavior. It’s the culture that supports the grind of doing the work every day. It’s the culture that embraces the productive discomfort of change . . . of a growth mindset.

Don’t get lulled into thinking that simply focusing on culture is enough. Life requires balance and work – building the culture and doing the work at the same time.

A healthy culture embraces challenge, active debate, and robust conversation.

 In the Hilliard School District we embrace the Power of the Team – we know we are stronger together.  One of the aspects of every strong team, of every successful organization, is a culture that encourages collaboration and teamwork.

Does your team encourage challenging authority and ideas?  Does your team demand you to take different positions, to look at situations through a different lens?

You are not making your team better by being a “yes, man” or by accepting the status quo.  You are not making your team stronger by abdicating to those with a lofty title or organizational responsibility.  Today, commit to make your team better by actively listening and then purposefully challenging ideas and positions.  Challenge everything . . . it will make the entire team strong in all areas and functions.

Often the journey to reaching a goal is more important than attaining the goal itself. 

We set goals; we set the bar high, so that we can achieve something.  We create expectations so that we can attain success.  Without a vision, without a bar, we can’t maintain focus and thus achieve results.

While we strive to meet the goal, the journey itself is often more important than the destination.  The process of learning . . . of overcoming failures and pushing ourselves to do more . . . creates the culture for even more success.  When we set goals, when we set the bar high and push ourselves, it is the journey that earns dividends for the future.  We invest in the process, commit to the team, demand excellence, and thus embrace our growth mindset.

Don’t see a goal as a finish line but rather a marker on a greater path . . . a path towards growth, development, and improvement.

Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.  – Steve Jobs

Do you make excellence an expectation?  Do you hold yourself to a standard of excellence?  Do you hold others to the same standard?

In public education we work with children – other people’s children.  In public education we are entrusted with shaping, with molding, the next generation of American leaders.  Our education system is the key – the single most important factor – in creating the future.  How do we not expect excellence?

It is required that each of us become a yardstick of quality.  We can’t accepted mediocre or marginal performances in our schools.  Would you permit mediocre for your child?  Can you put your head on the pillow at night without expecting excellence in our classrooms?  In our schools?

It starts with you . . . it starts with me . . . it begins in our 20 square feet.  We must all work to create the culture where excellence is expected.

I’m not the maestro of the orchestra; I’m the leader of the jazz band.  I need different people to come to the front and take the lead at different times.

I’ve often heard leaders referred to as maestros or conductors.  Leaders don’t, and can’t, play all the instruments but they can make wonderful music by helping everyone play their part.  This analogy has made sense to me . . . until I heard a better one.

True leaders know when to empower others to step-up, stand center stage, and take the lead.  True leaders know the time to step aside and let others shine – to let others be in the spotlight.

As a true servant leader, as a school superintendent, I am truly blessed to work with an amazing team.  We strive to create a culture, to develop the ensemble, so that each member of the team is empowered to be out front.  The stronger our team, the more confident each member is, the higher our level of performance.

Don’t just conduct your team . . . empower the team to step-up and take the lead themselves.

Being bold is the willingness to take risks.  Being Brave is the willingness to be persistent and endure the process to attain a goal.  Education today requires bravery.

There are a lot of people in the world today that are bold.  Social media and electronic communication have made it very easy for people to be bold . . . to make statements of beliefs and demands for the world to read and hear.  From our political leaders to the stay-at-home blogger, from Twitter to Facebook there are plenty of bold thinkers.  People take risks, but don’t necessarily attain the goal.

What we need today is people who are brave.  We need persistent people, people willing to stand-up and own it – people who work to solve problems and attain goals.  We need creative thinkers who listen to other ideas, challenge the status quo, and commit to the work.  No one has every solved a problem or reached a solution on Facebook or Twitter . . . it takes doing the work.  It’s easy to criticize; it’s difficult to work together, embrace the power of the team, and have the grit to succeed.

Education is too complex to simply be bold; we must be brave and have the fortitude to be steadfast to our core beliefs.   With the goal of preparing today’s students to be Ready for Tomorrow, it is what is required of us.

Children need to be challenged and pushed, not to the point where they give up but to the point where they think, “Wow, look at me go.”  – Robert John Meehan

One of my core beliefs is that education must be personal.  For decades we have harmed schoolchildren, and lowered the effectiveness of America’s public schools, by trying to create a uniform level of performance.  Every child is different.  Just like we’d never expect every child to run a six-minute mile by 8th grade or play a Bach cantata on the violin, we can’t expect every child to perform at a uniform academic level.

Every child should be pushed to his or her limit – every child should be challenged and pushed.  From the student with the highest IQ to the student with learning challenges . . . each child should find their individual edge . . . and then find success through both failure and hard work.  Yes, school shouldn’t be easy for any child . . . and school shouldn’t be impossible for any child.  School must teach students that life is hard, that a strong work ethic and learning through failure is part of life, and that success can be earned through persistence and commitment.

Because today is the most important day on your calendar, it’s the only day you can control. It’s the only day you can live. – Coach Bennett, Nike
For those who know me personally, I am a planner and a thinker. My mind is always going – and usually focusing someplace in the future. In some cases, this serves me exceptionally well. In some cases, I miss what is right in front of me.
When I focus too far in the future, I miss opportunities to make a difference right now. When I try to live in the future, I risk missing the present. I need to be more discipline about living in the moment . . . about the influence my behavior has right now.
Only you can control your behavior in the now. We think and plan for the future, but right now, is the moment that you act. Don’t let the now – don’t let today – pass you by.

Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. – Dalia Lama
We spend time practicing discipline behavior. We teach, and live, the E + R = O heuristic. Events happen in our lives, we control our response, and the quality of our response determines the outcome. The only thing we can control is our R – our Response.
Don’t permit the behavior of others to eat at you. Don’t permit the words, the actions of negative people to make you hardened or vitriolic. It’s easy to let those who are undisciplined and hateful to bring us down – but we must fight the good fight. We must own our response and live a discipline life.

The school is the last expenditure upon which Americans should be willing to economize. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Operating a public school system is expensive – and it should be expensive. Our schools shape the future; our schools are training the next generation to continue the American dream.
The most important resource in education are the teachers in the classrooms – they must be the best! Teacher training and stability is essential. We must continue to invest in the best teachers to create rich opportunities for students.
We must continue to analyze and evaluate our spending practices; we must be responsible stewards for taxpayer dollars. We can’t cut corners and economize on what matters most.