School’s Out but Teaching’s In: If you want to lead, become a teacher (Part 3 of 5)

In our first post, we outlined 15 strategies for leaders to learn from the teaching to improve their leadership approach. And yesterday, we dissected the idea of a learning environment or learning culture. Today, we will delve into the topic of pedagogy. Pedagogy is most commonly understood as the approach to or discipline of teaching; it refers to the theory and practice of learning.

We've had many teachers throughout our lives and you can probably recall a teacher that had an impact on your lives. Reflecting on what teachers do and how they do it can help us become better leaders. Here we share four ideas where leaders can borrow from teachers.

Practice “differentiated instruction.”

Leaders should meet their employees where they are. In the academic world, it’s called “differentiated instruction.” Rizal Hamdallah, a leader at Ocean Spray when discussing about the current pandemic said, “We are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm.” Especially now, when employees are stressed, it is imperative for leaders to differentiate (treat fairly but not necessarily equally) their employees. Offer them differentiated approaches when leading.

Teach to the highest common denominator.

When teacher’s expectations are higher, students rise to meet those higher standards. Challenge your employees and don’t dumb down anyone’s jobs, assignments or expectations. This is not in conflict with the first idea – you offer differentiated support but challenge everyone to excel to the highest standards.

Encourage collaborative learning.

Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. Collaborative learning is active and it benefits from diverse viewpoints from people with varied backgrounds as people work with peers.

In the business world, this translates into promoting an employee-centered framework not a manager-centric approach. Leaders “lead” people to not simply carry out their instructions but rely on the employee’s competencies and knowledge to solve a problem or manage a project.Leaders facilitate meetings (which are nothing more than mini-learning sessions) to encourage collaboration and idea generation. Leaders can insist that professional development courses draw upon the wisdom of groups. Whether in a classroom or business, the goal is the same: to shift learning from a teacher/manager-centered to a student/employee-centered model. The days of command and control leadership are over.

Use collaboration. You’ll discover that employees who are given the opportunity to learn new skills and act more autonomously tend to be more satisfied in their work, and are less likely to seek out other opportunities. And satisfied employees are more productive and will engage in their work, leading to increased efficiency and output.

Tell stories to build meaning and memory.

?Teachers know that stories augment learning. By engaging students with compelling stories that impart important material, teachers reach students both emotionally and biochemically, increasing the potential for rich learning experiences. A faculty-section on NYU’s website lists the benefits of stories in teaching. If college-faculty can use stories to benefit their students, leaders can engage with a multi-generational workforce to:

• Make the subject accessible: Stories can be used to explain and illustrate abstract ideas or concepts. Stories bring facts to life. Stories can be used to make physics, mathematics (academic subjects) and more abstract business concepts (like customer satisfaction) clearer.
• Gain attention: Teachers use stories in lessons to engage the more lethargic learner. Stories are a way for leaders to also focus attention.
• Make information stickier: In the academic world, teachers work to “build stronger schema and memory and make knowledge easier to recover.” Remembering isolated and disconnected facts and concepts is more difficult than recalling content from a story because the information is presented in a coherent and connected way.

Leaders need to possess many teaching skills. Perhaps they lack the formal educational training about pedagogy, but this doesn't mean they don’t teach and share knowledge every day. Build up a few teaching skills as a leader – you’ll grow as a leader and also be developing your own team.

Check in with us tomorrow to learn about how ideas from the academic world can help us foster better communication.

About us: 

Kendall Abbey understands the importance of effective teaching skills as she is currently pursuing an MA in Human and Organization Development at DePaul University's School for Continuing and Professional Studies. She was also an ESL teacher in Buenos Aires. Contact her at [email protected].

Sue Tinnish started teaching full time as a college professor in 2008 and spent 8 years in academia. In her current role as a Vistage Chair, she orchestrates learning events for her CEO and Trusted Advisor members. Contact her at [email protected].

 Photo: Christina Morillo found on Pexels