The School Leader’s Weekly Book Spotlight

Week of April 26, 2020: Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

In this week’s spotlight, I dive into the 3 principles for creating Raving Fans. I reflected intently as to how this important book might be applied directly to school leaders. As we know, schools have a large number of stakeholders. Are we focusing on creating Raving Fans amongst our parents, students, teachers, vendors, or broader community? It seemed a bit unwieldy.

I then realized that all organizations have wide-ranging stakeholder groups as well. In other words, the concept of creating Raving Fans most certainly applies to schools. It can be applied broadly or narrowly, to all stakeholders or to a specific stakeholder group. The principles are the same. Applied correctly, these principles will allow school leaders to create Raving Fans throughout their entire school community.  

Leadership Principle #1: Decide What You Want

“It was all here in my head. It was a fantasy and it was perfect. Every detail was so clear in my mind that I felt as if I could reach out and touch it. It was what I wanted. I was the source” (p. 44).

Establish your vision. As a school leader, you must have a crystal clear picture of what you want your school to be. A vision so lucid that it can be brought to life - both in your own mind and for others as you describe it to them. This vision serves as your guidepost. It inspires, aligns, and gives direction. And it should be aspirational, not a reflection of current status. Consider the following questions: 

What will be your school’s brand? 

Who will you serve? 

How will you serve each constituent group? 

What will be the culture of your school? 

How will people feel when they interact with your school? 

What words will people associate with your school? 

How will people describe their experience with your school? 

Will your school be a place that attracts positive, kind, and generous people? 

These are a few of the questions that your vision must answer. The more clearly your vision answers questions such as these, the more powerfully it will serve to propel your school community towards its fulfillment. 

Leadership Principle #2: Discover What the Customer Wants

“Well then, how do I go about finding out what my customers’ vision is?” … “At this company we use a very sophisticated technique Charlie taught me many years ago.” … “We ask them” (p. 56). 

This one is a bit tricky. Step 1 is to establish your vision. Step 2 is to understand your customer’s vision (what they want) and subsequently “fill in the gaps between your vision and their vision, so you have a complete picture” (p. 56). Sometimes what your customer wants does not align with your vision. In those cases, the customer may simply be better served by someone else. 

In truth, families and students are not customers. And at times, what they want in a given situation goes against what is ethical and/or the professional judgment of teachers and administrators. In these instances, school leaders must stand firm and hold their ground. Yet it is also true that schools must have a strong understanding of those they serve. School leaders should strive to deeply understand their parents and students. Consider the following questions:   

What do your parents and students want? 

Where are the wants of parents vs. students different and where do they overlap?

What are their expectations of your school? 

What does the broader community want from your school? 

How do you serve the broader community? 

Are there opportunities for refinement or expansion?

Equipped with this ‘customer’ knowledge, school leaders then have a powerful opportunity to deliver educational outcomes in such a way that is tailored to the specific communities they serve. 

Lesson #3: Deliver Plus One

“To create Raving Fans, don’t drive promises down. Drive delivery up” (p. 109). 

Exceed expectations. School leaders must bring their best selves to the job every day. They must also inspire those they lead to do the same. This consistency of effort - of showing up and being ‘present’ each day - provides schools an opportunity to execute the vision and exceed it by 1%, every day. “Regardless of what you promise, though, it’s consistency that’s important. Customers allow themselves to be seduced into becoming Raving Fans only when they know they can count on you time and time again” (p. 109). Stakeholders must be able to count on your school to be a ‘plus one’ organization. ‘Plus one’ schools meet, and then exceed, expectations and commitments. Every time. Consider the following questions: 

How can your school deliver an additional 1%?

As it relates to functions and stakeholders, where will you start?

Where might you already be exceeding expectations? 

Are there programs that need to first improve to the point of meeting expectations? 

How can the challenge of becoming a ‘plus one’ school inspire your team towards excellence?

The key is to address one area of your school community at a time. Remind your team of the vision, of who they serve, and why they serve them. Otherwise, this process of ‘deliver plus one’ can become overwhelming.