Stand Tall Leadership. Steven A. Bollar

they know you better, they will trust you more.

       Favorite quotes: People love positive quotes. Grab a few and post them on your principal's page. Consider a couple of powerful ones and toss in a funny one that everyone knows. Again, this will allow others to get to know you and will build trust.

       Favorite educational movies: I tried this one with my monthly newsletter, and I got a huge response from the parents. Some parents sent me emails and others shared how they rented the movies because of my suggestion. Try it and see what happens.

       Vision: Share where you see the school going within the next few years. Sharing the vision of the school pulls others into the vision and heart of the school. The more people connect to the vision, the more understanding they will be when decisions are made.

       Where is the principal? Have a section that is updated monthly that shares part of your schedule. Share that you will visit a community soccer game, PTA meeting, school board meeting, or go whitewater rafting on the weekend. It shows that you are a professional and normal person - another opportunity to build relationships and make connections.

       Photo: You need two photos: one serious and one having fun with kids. I strongly suggest you get them professionally done. Every school has a staff member who loves to take photos and has a great camera. Have that person take some good shots. Don't just have the typical school photo. You need to show some personality.

       Link to a great article: As you find great articles about education, post them to your website as a reference. Doing this shares your educational philosophy. Providing a writing of your thoughts on the article is icing on the cake. Not only are you well read, but well written.

Do not include on the website:

       The weather

       Why you made certain decisions

       Information about other schools

       Only data

       The same thing you had last year

       One looooooonnnnggg paragraph (nobody reads them)

CHAPTER TWO Stand Tall Leaders Have Influence

      2.1. Influence

Visionary, great communicator, making difficult decisions, and making others better. If you put these four traits of a leader together, what is it that a leader is ultimately doing? Ultimately, the leader is having an influence on others. Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. Basically, isn't that what we want leaders to do?

      People are going to be people. People have free will to do whatever they want to do. A leader's job is to influence others to operate in a way that improves themselves and the organization. A leader does that in multiple ways. One of the most popular ways it is done in education is through having a clear vision, being a great communicator, making difficult decisions, and ultimately making others better. When a leader's influence is strong enough, things start to change. People adjust their behavior to either fit or avoid that influence.

      Let's be honest, there are some bad leaders out there. Even though they are bad, they still have influence. It's not good influence, but it is influencing nonetheless. The goal is to use the skills that make you stand out from others in a positive way and to guide others toward continual improvement.

      Blending in isn't something that Stand Tall Leaders do. It doesn't matter if you're 4′11″ or 6′8″, you can Stand Tall as a leader. It's how you carry yourself. It's what you say. It's how others perceive you. It's the difficult decisions you make. It is the influence you have on others.

      After my friend punched me in my back, I realized that I needed to change. I changed the way that I walked, thought, and how I interacted with other people. I carried myself with pride and started my journey toward learning as much as I could about leadership and how to have a positive influence on others. This is the basis of Stand Tall Leadership… Yes, I'm tall and it's very obvious you can't miss it. But being a Stand Tall Leader is about having the thoughts, concepts, and actions to influence others under your charge to move in a positive and productive direction. You are currently a leader or in the process of becoming a leader. When you stand TALL you don't think small.

       Influence is the core of leadership.

       #standtallstatement

       Blending in isn't something that Stand Tall Leaders do.

       #standtallstatement

      Reduce, Not Eliminate

      The concept of reduce, not eliminate relates to the reality of educational leadership, classroom management, student data, and a plethora of other important areas within education. The purpose of understanding reduce, not eliminate is to help educators operate within reality instead of operating with the false understanding of how things should be.

Reduce, not eliminate, is about the true expected outcomes that you want to take place. In almost all cases we look to eliminate the issue, problem, or behavior. We have meetings and dialog about how we can make it go away. We develop plans and action steps to eliminate the problems and have the positive productive outcomes that we want. The problem is that you may never eliminate anything. Complete eradication is impossible. No matter how many meetings you have, plans you develop, or strategies you implement, the concern will not be eliminated. You are setting yourself and others up for disappointment. Now that it has not been eliminated, we start to complain about how the idea or program “didn't work.” This is why you don't get the buy-in that you wanted for the new strategy. Over time, educators have been exposed to program after program after program that does not eliminate the bad grades, behavior, or low-test scores. This is when you have educators saying, “…Here we go again.” Stop saying you are going to eliminate and start saying reduce.

      Instead of expecting the elimination of the problem, start expecting the reduction of the problem. By focusing on reducing instead of eliminating, you will have a more realistic understanding of how things could be instead of how things should be. People are people. No matter how much influence you have over them you cannot control everything to ensure the elimination of issues and problems. What you can do is use your level of influence to reduce the probability of issues and problems. I can live with a reduced probability. If the probability of problems and issues is reduced, then the probability of me doing what I want to do increases. Now I can make progress!

      Reduce, not eliminate is not about being a cynic. You are not a downer who thinks that a solution will never take place. It's about being realistic about what can be accomplished and then celebrating that accomplishment. Embracing reduce, not eliminate is a relief. A huge burden should be released from your shoulders, knowing that you are working toward a goal that IS obtainable instead of a false reality that give you stress. Reduce, not eliminate, reduces administrator guilt, teacher guilt, and leadership guilt.

      Examples of Reduce, Not Eliminate

       Poor student behavior

       Time off task

       Poor teacher behavior

       Poor instructional strategies

       Low parent involvement

       Opting out of testing

       Poor attendance

       Frequent lateness

       Teacher absenteeism

       Poor test scores

       By focusing on reducing instead of eliminating,