Windows and Mirrors: Part 2- Who's the Messenger and What Message is being sent?

In his groundbreaking book "Good to Great," author Jim Collins describes a philosophy I've spoken of and endorsed previously called Windows and Mirrors which speaks to the idea that great leaders and companies give others the credit for success and not themselves. Collins' book promotes the idea that great leaders must create frameworks that look to organizational vision and reflection grounded not in Self or I but "We". Great leaders, facilitators, and organizations must hold to the idea that it doesn't matter who gets the credit as long as the organization, business, or school is successful in reaching and impacting its clients, customers, or students.

Who's the Messenger?

"Don't kill the messenger" or "Don't shoot the messenger " are phrases many have heard before which refers to idea that one should not be angry with or blame the person bringing bad news. However, while unfair, many of us will consciously or unconsciously transfer our displeasure or anger on to the individual telling us what we don't want to hear. Why don't we show the same intensity for the sender and creator of the message? Maybe because the sender is usually the boss or leader of the company/ organization and holds our hopes of continuous employment in their hands.

From an operational perspective, the leaders of schools, businesses and organizations are your primary messengers who then trust the dissemination and saturation of their messaging to their staff or key selected staff members who then become secondary messengers that then turn into primary messengers to those that hear the message for the first time. Then those recipients now become primary messengers who then take the message and pass their own biases on to the message just as all the other messengers before them. The message is then repeated to all who are willing to listen (peers, coworkers, neighbors, the barber, the Uber driver, etc.)

Consequently, we are often angry with the wrong person for the wrong reason and at the wrong time. This messaging exchange is at the heart of all communications. Because of the dynamics of messaging exchanges, organizational or company dialogues are subject to added interpretation, no interpretation, or total miscommunication by all parties involved.

Whose visions and reflections are being effectively articulated and emphasized or are being miscommunicated and misinterpreted will ultimately determine the success or failure as well as longevity of an organization, but more importantly, the impact of their messaging.

It is crucial that leaders know who is delivering their message, the image the messenger is portraying, as well as how their message is being received.

Effective Leaders play critical roles in demystifying and guiding the accuracy of the messaging process throughout an entire organization. Unfortunately, many leaders abdicate their responsibility as primary messengers to other staff that may or may not deliver the intended meaning and purpose of the message.

Collins discovered that while many great leaders of businesses claimed "luck" as a prime factor to their success, it was actually their actions of looking outside (the window) to give credit to other factors (staff, location, positioning, luck, etc.) besides themselves for the company's success; then they looked at themselves (the mirror) when appointing responsibility or blame for when things go wrong, or the lack of company success. Under this philosophy, every action by an effective leader sends a message to his staff that they are the engine that drives company success and not him.

Impact on Education K-12

For me, this is where many of our schools struggle to move pass their deficiencies. Many of our schools are top heavy with administrative staff or those in leadership positions that look to follow the unspoken adage of "covering one's rear" otherwise known as "CYA."

Too many leaders and administrators are pointing fingers (at those in the window- teachers, students, parents-) and not taking responsibility (not looking at themselves in the mirror) for how some of our schools are ineffectively serving our students and the communities they come from. Looking at current school messaging from a performance and equity lens, one can conclude that there are basically two types of school messaging frameworks:

1.Schools that create an equity environment of success and possibilities for all students of all backgrounds.

2. Schools that focus on the few while the majority of the student body receives no equity focus and is relegated to a position of being tolerated.

Students know what messages are being sent to them every day they enter a school or classroom, and they will act accordingly. Their behavior will most often demonstrate if they feel cared for or tolerated, thought of as intelligent or less than, seen as potential leaders and innovators or just another crop of workers for the future. Every school proclaims a vision statement that is supposed to represent a mindset and expectation of success for its students, but unfortunately for many schools, these vision statements look good in their informational brochures but have little connection to what's actually happening at the school.

Vision-Taking

Because of a lack of serious reflection, action, and "vision-taking" the status -quo of educating instead of teaching our students how to learn keeps many schools, teachers, and students in a constant cycle of survival and repetition instead of real progress.

Ineffective or disconnected messaging is not unusual for many fields or industries. But it is most damaging to organizational environments, like schools that are already at a number of deficits while trying to improve the abilities, position, or skills of its struggling students, clients, or customers.

We must be bold enough to demand, risk-taking that generates new ideas and opportunities for our most challenged students. I call it " vision- taking" which means that we must think in terms of creating and taking on new visions for student progress not tied to nice phrases and standardized testing, but real actionable goals every student can accomplish that are not grade driven but gives each student tangible achievement parameters they can demonstrate. We must entertain the most out of the box solutions and visions we can in dealing with helping students overcome failing and challenging school environments.

Vision -taking requires messaging by leadership that adheres to Collin's findings of successful organizations and companies which simply concludes that great leaders and companies create their messaging around the success and efforts of everyone and has no problem giving others the credit.