How Armored Leadership Shows Up In Education
Wondering if you have armored leaders on your team? Take a look and see if any of these are familiar.
The Traditionalist
This is likely someone who has been on staff for a while. They’ve seen several leadership shifts and are most likely to say, “I was here before this school leader, and I’ll be here when s/he leaves,” or “The way we’ve done things has worked out just fine. I don’t know why we’re trying to change things.” While it may seem like this person is being outright stubborn, that’s not their driving force. What’s driving their armor of tradition is their fear of not having the skills they’ll need when things change and their fear of being obsolete. What this looks like is experienced teachers guarding against being replaced by the young new hires full of energy and ideas.
The Stressed-Out Do It All
Have someone on your team who always looks frazzled or moves a thousand miles a minute? They get work done, but they seem to be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. These are often younger administrators or people of color who’ve been promoted quickly because of their promise and ability to deliver. Their armor? Busyness. They are worried or afraid of being perceived as unworthy of their position, so they run themselves ragged, trying to prove their worth by being the doer of all the things (even things that aren’t theirs to do). The result? Bitterness and/or burnout.
The Puffer Upper
Kids avoid them. Administrators tip-toe around them. And parents often ‘can’t put the finger on it,’ but can be heard saying things like “they just don’t seem to like kids.” These people bark the loudest, lash out at kids, and have the most discipline referrals. They “puff up” to make themselves appear bigger, smarter, and more important as a means of masking an area in which they feel vulnerable. And in overcompensating for what they perceive to be their “weak spot,” they wield their position and/or knowledge around like a sword to protect themselves while inadvertently (and unintentionally) cutting others.
How do we create space for the daring leaders we need?
All of these leaders believe these behaviors are protecting them when it’s weighing them down and keeping them from being the leaders our children need.
If we really want our schools to get better and faster, we must shift the culture in our schools. How? We extend the “whole child” practices to everyone in the building–including adults. We must create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued. We must center learning–ours–and equip our people with the skills they’ll need to have difficult conversations and give and receive feedback as essential to our growth. We must both model and celebrate informed risk-taking and rebounding after failure. In doing so, we create a culture of courage where our people can be curious, confident, and compassionate–exactly what we need to move our schools forward.
The Confident: When people know their value, they know when and where they do their best work, so they’re less likely to wear themselves down trying to prove their worth. When someone asks them to do something beyond the scope of their gifts/skills, instead of saying ‘yes,’ they might say, “That’s not really where I’m most useful. You should talk to X because they are great at that.” When knowing your value/strengths become the norm on campus, people know who to go to for what, making people feel more useful.
The Curious: Instead of shutting down every new idea, this person says “That’s interesting. I’ve never seen it done that way. Can you show me how that works?” This person embodies being a learner, willing to suspend judgement and explore new paths.
The Compassionate: This is the person who leads from the heart. They’ve done the self-work, know their blind spots/triggers, and recognize that everyone has them. They use their position as an opportunity to create space where others feel seen, heard and valued, thereby modeling wholehearted leadership.
How Do We Create a Culture of Courage?
How do we help our people have the courage to take off their armor? How do we operationalize courage? After years of research, including interviewing 150 global C-level leaders on the future of leadership and analyzing 400,000 pieces of data, Brené Brown, research professor, and four-time New York Times bestselling author, came to a critical conclusion: courage is teachable.
Based on that finding, Brown designed an empirically based program around the four teachable, observable, and measurable skillsets of courage. Having a roadmap for creating courage means we have what we need to help people get rid of their armor so they are free to ask questions, try new things, and risk being wrong on the way to getting it right. In the world of education, where we like formulas and predictable inputs and outputs, this is revolutionary.
Can you imagine the effect this could have on our schools? How much quicker could we pivot if our teachers were curious, brave, and willing to explore new possibilities rather than cling to the way it’s always been done? What academic heights would our students reach if we could take off the puffer armor so we could give and receive meaningful, honest feedback? What progress could we make if we committed to approaching them with courage and curiosity instead of running from difficult conversations? How many more leaders might stay in leadership positions instead of being burned out by politics? How might our children benefit from our lead?
Aisha Crumbine is 20-year educator who believes all children can learn and that one of the best ways to affect change in schools is to support the development of the adults. She is a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, who helps leaders develop courage-building skills through interactive workshops and speaking engagements. Interested in having Aisha facilitate the Dare to Lead™ curriculum to help your team begin creating a culture of courage? Contact her here.
