The School Leader’s Weekly Book Spotlight
Week of June 28, 2020: What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen Schwarzman
Leadership Principle #1: Go Big
Early in the book, Schwarzman reveals his approach to goal setting. “I’ve always believed that it’s just as hard to achieve big goals as it is small ones. The only difference is that bigger goals have much more significant consequences. Since you can tackle only one personally defining effort at a time, it’s important to pursue a goal that is truly worthy of the focus it will require to ensure its success.” Schwarzman later references this same approach in describing the kind of private equity deals his company would pursue. Because both large and small deals require precious time and energy - they only go after large deals, whose return on investment will have a monumental impact on the company.
The application for school leaders is to recognize the value and scarcity of our time, and wherever possible, deploy our efforts to high-impact activities. Ask yourself: If at the end of the school year my school, division, department, or team could accomplish 1 or 2 initiatives - and thus the year would be considered a success, what would those initiatives be? The answer to this question will then drive strategic planning for the year.
Leadership Principle #2: Welcome the Best Ideas
Schwarzman created and nurtured an environment where great ideas and incisive thinking were highly valued. Such input could come from anyone in the organization, even junior members. In his company he led a weekly ‘Monday Morning Meeting’. This meeting was open to every team member. As the company debated economic and political trends, company valuations, and investment strategies, the company culture was one in which team members were expected to speak if they had valuable insight to share - regardless of rank or position.
School leaders can proactively and positively influence their school culture by:
- Creating a personal brand to be that of a listener. Do people perceive you as someone interested in the insights and observations of others?
- Implement systems to ensure transparency and democracy of information. The truth of any situation is rarely as harmful to team culture as the speculation that takes place when information is not made available throughout the organization. Most importantly, as people have access to information, they are able to add subsequent ideas and share in the pursuit of obtaining the best information.
- Ask. Ask people throughout the school community for their ideas, observations, and input. Is proactive engagement a habit you currently employ?
Leadership Principle #3: Be A Friend to the Situation
This was such a brilliant point. Schwarzman argues that leaders should harness challenging circumstances - embrace it and even make friends with it - ultimately finding the opportunity in it. As I reflected upon his discussion, the following three applications came to mind:
- By befriending the situation, you immediately choose to deal with the issue. Procrastination is a common, initial response to difficult topics or actions. And the delay only exacerbates the issue. Become friends with the situation, dive into the minutia, and take action.
- By taking prompt action, you take on a position of confidence and decisiveness. You place yourself in a position of playing ‘offense’. Others see this strength as well and your leadership credibility increases.
- Becoming a friend to the situation does not mean accepting a negative outcome. Quite the opposite, it simply means you accept the challenging circumstance as current reality, dive into the minutia, search for opportunities to leverage the negative to an outsized positive, and get to work immediately - bypassing the denial stage.