Feb 20 2009
My Experiences with “Thought Leadership” and Personal Writing and My Own Professional Development
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This entry cross posted to Leadertalk.
I found Scott McCleod’s PDF handout on the 100 Principal Blog project almost 3 years ago when I took the initiative to start my school principal’s blog. My tech integrator at the time, Jeff Utecht, was so proud. He had been gently encouraging me to think about taking it on as a way to communicate to our school community. One weekend, I sat on the couch, laptop at the ready and leapt into a wordpress blog provided by Scott.
One of the key reasons for principals to blog that Scott mentions in his handout is “Reason 10: Thought leadership”.
A blog can be a great place to put thoughts out there for the community to chew on. Is a school considering a new initiative or an important change? Does the school want feedback on a particular topic or issue? The principal could post some information and questions on the blog and solicit community participation. This is similar to setting up a meeting with an advisory board or interested group of stakeholders, except that the potential reach is much greater since everyone in the school community can see and participate in the conversation, not just the few individuals who might attend a face-to-face meeting.
Hmmm… great I thought. I wrote. I wrote. I wrote some more. Then it happenned! Proof that somebody out there (except the few who actually left a comment) is reading my thoughts and perhaps internalizing some of my message! My personal blog was cited as a source of information in a committee meeting this week at my school. The teachers and administrators noted value in the post “When is it too much? AND When do we say “DO IT or GO!”?, which was posted on my blog and here at leadertalk and the post “I am probably jumping to conclusions here but- Professional Conferences/Seminars Probably DON’T work!”
Most notably, I write in the post about professional conferences about the need for follow through and deeper learning opportunities. I stated:
The key question that comes to my mind though is when will leaders be held responsible for the follow-up for their entire organization and when will we as learning professionals take on the sustained follow-up ourselves. Isn’t that what a PLN created to do for me? Can we not sustain our own learning?
Then I walked into the room yesterday and there on a piece of chart paper under the words “professional development” was “Andy Torris’ blog post”. The first words out of my mouth were, “Just another reason to be careful what you post online!”- which got a pretty good laugh from my colleagues! The follow up conversation was about what I had written- nothing to earth shattering if you ask me- but it did help the discussion as the ideas around the commitment of administrators in our organization have to deep, followed up professional devleopment. More importantly though, are the high quality comments to this post. Jon Nordmeyer, a colleague of mine, left some great links to the a site at Berkley. Another leadertalk contributor, Blair Peterson left a comment pointing to a post by Seth Godin.. And yet another blogging administrator Ed Shepard, who also is one of my twitter friends noted that my post made him realize that:
I am under the firm belief that I can get my staff to change or focus on doing one major thing really, really well during the school year. This could be anything from curriculum to classroom management. Either way it is a broad to specific focus designed to create a common practice and develop a common language within the school community. This focus is kept in the forefront and is ingrained in everything we do the entire school year. It requires a bit of research and development, but insures a long-term and long-lasting effect in the school. After the year ends, we start the whole process again with a new focus.
Well stated Ed! Can’t that same thought hold true for administrators and blogging educators as well. Many, many educational bloggers and web-designers are quickly realizing that over time, your personal professional learning network is enhanced and thus your “Thought Leadership” is sharpened by leveraging the use of the web 2.0 tools available to us on a daily basis. This learning is not work. It is engagement. It is engagement on the deepest level, as it meets the needs of a social learning WITH access to a rich research base AND expert advice!
I can’t close here unless I offer some common sense advice though.
1. Remember: What you write and create is essentially your professional persona that will follow you for years. Use the tool wisely. As I said in my last post on Sentiments on Common Sense, “You really do have to be careful what you write!”
2. BE CLEAR that your blog is YOUR BLOG or the SCHOOL’s Blog. I need to go back to my blog and make sure it is plainly stated. People seem to know who I am. People probably know where I work. I hope they see my writing as professional and also a bit personal. I also hope they see that I am not crazy about the content.
3. Embrace the comments and respond to them. I am more apt to read blogs that I get notes back from authors after I have left a comment. Let the commentators know you have read the note and maybe even responded to their notes. It expands the learning!
In the end, it really is about reflecting, learning and modeling that for our community. Don’t you think?
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Would it be fair to say that perhaps you *are* seen as crazy but content it nonetheless professionally and personally thought provoking?
It is a bold, risk-taking step to acknowledge the indistinguishable connection between one’s blogged thoughts and the perception of his/her leadership.
How evermore transparent grows the fishbowl of educational leadership!
Alicia,
My sanity aside, I think that educational leaders need to do a little more risk taking when it comes to addressing the common sense issues of educational leadership through personal writings.
Isn’t nice to see the printed word still has some power… even it is just printed digitally?
Thanks for the comment!
Andy
In the work I do with faculty each week, I have seen the importance of leaders being transparent and open in their reflections- particularly when it comes to matters that faculty also spend a lot of time thinking and learning about.
Too often faculty are left guessing about what their leaders believe. They wonder if they have ‘got it right’ or, if their work will be wasted because they don’t understood the thinking of their leader and consequently, head off in the wrong direction. I believe this creates a lack of trust.
We expect faculty to be continuously learning and to reflect upon their work – as leaders we need to do the same and trust our staff to see and understand our thinking. Obviously, the importance of sharing our research and the things that have shaped our thinking cannot be over emphasized. In this way we can learn from one another and flatten the leadership hierarchy, thus allowing leaders to utilize their faculty as experts and to fully engage them in important initiatives.
Thanks for sharing your thinking, Andy.
Pip,
Thank you for your thoughts and reflections on my posting. I think your statement…
… is so true!
One of the challenges we face as educational leaders is to manage our time to be seen, be heard and …. perhaps be “read”. All of which require us to walk the tightrope of thought leadership.
Thanks for the comment!
Andy
Hi Andy,
Your support for getting out there and providing the “thought leadership” that Scott McCleod highlights is more than commendable – it’s essential. I think Pip’s insightful comment hit the nail on the head – our faculty shouldn’t be left guessing.
It is a bit daunting, though, in terms of how absolutely transparent we become when we have established an ‘online presence’. However, because of that, I think it can actually serve to promote self-reflection as we balance the risk of putting our thoughts out there for all to see and keeping our beliefs and integrity intact.
Reminds me of a quote by Robert Burns (Scottish poet): “Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom’s root”.
Thanks for another insightful blog post!
Joseph
Joseph,
Thanks for the comment and love the quote!
Andy
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