Role of the Cristo Rey Network School President as Leader

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with what to do and let them surprise you with their results. their results. --George S. Patton--George S. Patton

A leader is a dealer in hope. A leader is a dealer in hope. --Napoleon Bonaparte--Napoleon Bonaparte

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead--Margaret Mead

Spirit of the school

Some schools there is a pervasive undercurrent of fear and suspicion, in other schools a spirit of confidence and trust

The spirit of the institution is largely a reflection of the system of values cherished by the persons in whom authority is vested

Impulsar

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs!

One of most critical jobs is hiring…getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus—Jim Collins1.They must share the core values already!

2.Are they potential one of the best in the field in the job they presently hold?

3.Must understand the difference between having a job and holding a responsibility

4.They cannot be someone you need to manage or even worse tightly manage, if so, you made a hiring mistake.

5. If I were hiring again and knew what I know now, would I still hire that person?

School President stands for the school as a whole, a visible embodiment of the spirit of the institution•Religious ceremonies/services •Initiation ceremonies •Commissioning ceremonies•Commencement•Honors and Awards

“Unhappy is the school where the administrator takes his ceremonial duties as routine obligations to be mechanically discharged. Blessed is the institution whose leaders regard the corporate symbolic acts as a high and sacred privilege.” –Philip Phenix, Teachers College, Columbia University

Community Relations•Keeper of the mission…chief storyteller…Fundraiser…proclaimer to the larger community…dealer in hope!

Chapter 17…Tao Tê Ching

The best leader is one whom no one knows.The next best is one who is intimate with the people and is flattered by them.The next is one who is feared by the people.The next is one who is held in contempt by the people.Therefore, when one’s sincerity is not sufficient, one does not have the confidence of the people.Be cautious! And spare words.Then when work is done and things are accomplished,People will say that things happened by themselves.

1. Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

2. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

3. Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.

4. Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.

5. Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

6. You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.

7. Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.

8. Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fall because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.

9. Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

10. Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

11.Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.

12.Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

13.Powell’s Rules for Picking People: Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.

14.Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.

15.Part I: Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Part II: “Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.

16.The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.

17.Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families. Corollary: surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

18.Command is lonely.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick M. Lencioni (Hardcover - April 11, 2002)

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (Paperback)byOri Brafman (Author)

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

Religious concerns in contemporary education : a study of reciprocal relations by Phenix Philip Henry (out of print, available used on Amazon.com