Enjoy this guest blog written by school leader Syd Sexton from Lubbock, TX. Syd worked years at Education Service centers in Texas providing PD, learning experiences, and supporting educators around the State of Texas. She now is the Executive Director of Leadership Development at Frenship ISD in Wolfforth, TX. Syd is a wife and Mom and continues to grow and lead on her journey. She was a recent guest on the #ELB podcast and totally knocked it out of the park. You can watch the podcast here:
Here is a short clip of Syd sharing about daily motivation & as she calls it, ‘cross-pollinating.’
Syd Sexton on daily motivation–click here to view
I told her she was terrific on the podcast & invited her to write & share more–and she did immediately. Here is her guest blog, “But We bought the T-shirt!” Thanks Syd. Keep leading!
But We Bought The T-shirt?!?
I’ve spent years working with schools in school improvement, a nice way of saying schools in urgent need of making significant strides in student outcomes or risk state or federal consequences. It’s powerful work, but it is stressful. Teachers feel it. Leaders feel it. It’s rough. One move I’ve seen school leaders pursue, especially after an inspirational presentation at a conference by a school that’s gotten the win, is to take up that school’s slogan and run with it.
So you guys printed a sign for every teacher’s door that says, “We care. We share. We prepare.” Printing and laminating now!
That school got a t-shirt for everyone on campus that has an empty chair to remind the team that each student matters. Let’s get the chair shirts!
If that sign inspired excellence, it should work again. If that t-shirt motivated the work, we should get the same win. There’s just one issue. Those words and symbols represent deeply-held beliefs, and beliefs are non-transferable.
What some miss in the inspirational message at that conference is the belief that is behind the slogan. The presenters might mention brainstorming, connecting with the school community, or even working on beliefs, but those can feel like throwaway steps when urgent improvement is needed. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Beginning with beliefs fuels vision and focus. Evoking what people believe is possible for the campus defines what they value and what they can picture themselves doing to make improvements possible. Taking these responses and crafting the campus non-negotiables or mission statement provides ongoing focus, especially when it’s posted, pointed to, and practiced. Key steps make it happen:
- Pull beliefs from the group.
Encourage the team to do this from the heart and not AI just yet. Do this in at least two different meetings. Let folks percolate ideas overnight. - Process the beliefs.
Sort for patterns and what is possible. AI can be a great tool here, but always use it as a draft to keep the work meaningful. AI can kind of melt ideas down to a vanilla version if you’re not careful. - Polish the message.
Create the list or statement that reflects the collective beliefs. Get to keywords that the team can easily recall. - Post the message.
Publish the list or statement. Like everywhere. When it is everywhere, it provides the opportunity to refer to the message and make connections to practice or the decision in front of the team. - Point to the message.
Refer to the message in every meeting. Some say that you haven’t said it enough unless you are sick of hearing yourself say it. Don’t skip it because you don’t need to hear it again.
Beliefs are timeless. They point to our past and what we already know and have experienced. They are our present because they reveal our hearts and minds. They become our future as we define how we will show up to work and deliver our services.
