In times of turmoil great leaders emerge: mobilizing people to tackle tough problems is what good leaders do. Here are seven steps to using the current crisis as an opportunity to "shore up" your leadership skills.

History has demonstrated that effective leadership is most apparent--and most important--in times of great stress, change and uncertainty. As Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said, "It is of times of crisis that good leaders emerge" (2002).

I've been a teacher and administrator (of some type) for 30 years, and I'm as enthusiastic as ever about public education. I would even go so far as to say I think these are good times, because of the challenges and opportunities that are before us.

Am I out of touch? Naive? Don't respond so fast! Allow me to review why these somewhat chaotic times are important for us and why leadership now is more vital than ever. The following seven principles are worth reviewing in order to "shore up" effective leadership.

1. Reaffirm 

In times of turmoil and crisis, leaders need to re-affirm our core purposes. For me, public education is a high moral calling and purpose. And our core purpose is students' learning and character development. As Martin Luther King said, "Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education."

Many things are important, but probably only a few are absolutely critical. No one likes to see programming cut--but is every program strategically focused to support learning, truth be told? Maybe this is a good time to re-examine what we are doing. Can we maintain and even re-focus our core purpose during these times? Can we use the current unstable circumstances to shore up our moral purposes?

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal" (Albert Pike, quoted by Michael Josephson in his book, The Best is Yet to Come). There is no higher calling than to help a young person reach her or his highest potential. Can we use these times to improve our schools, our districts and our communities?

2. Resolve

Jim Collins, in his excellent book Good to Great, describes leaders who took good institutions and made them great as "surprisingly humble and modest." These leaders were not charismatic, self-centered types. In fact, just the opposite. But they all possessed one outstanding quality--they had a fierce, even stoic, resolve toward life. Their first ambition was for the institution, not for themselves. They kept up an intense focus on the core purpose of the institution, and they were determined to do whatever it took to make the institution great.

This same characteristic seems to be consistent with the principals of high poverty, high performing schools. Leaders of these schools look at the bottom line, and keep pushing ahead with determined resolve until student achievement improves.

In addition to resolve', good leaders have the ability to stand strong, even though they may be slay in personality. That is because they know that indecision and worry does not inspire, and a leader's key role is to motivate. Collins notes that often the most successful "turn-around" leaders came from inside, and they were ordinary people who had resolve, backbone and understood people, all the while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

One stimulating example of this type of leader that Collins describes is Charles "Cork" Walgreen III, who led Walgreens drugstores from a dowdy company to one of the best performing on Wall Street. Cork Walgreen took over the company in 1975, and the following story is told by one of his colleagues.

"After years of dialogue and debate within his executive team about Walgreens' food-service operations, Cork sensed that the team had finally reached a watershed paint of clarity and understanding: Walgreens' brightest future lay in convenient drugstores, not food-service. Cork said at one of our planning committee meetings, 'Okay, now I am going to draw the line in the sand. We are going to be out of the restaurant business completely in five years.' At the time, we had over five hundred restaurants. You could have heard a pin drop. He said, 'I want to let everybody know the clock is tickin....' Six months later, we were at our next planning committee meeting and someone mentioned just in passing that we only had five years to be out of the restaurant business. Cork was not a real vociferous fellow. He sort of tapped on the table and said, 'Listen, yon have four and a half years. I said you had five years six months ago. Now you've got four and a half years.' Well, that next day, things really clicked into gear to winding down our restaurant business. He never wavered. He never doubted; he never second-guessed."

What "good" things can we trim back on in order to be "excellent" with our core functions? It wasn't that some of the restaurants weren't very good; Walgreens' even pioneered the soda fountain and malts. But these services were in the way of further progress. Walgreens went on to become one of the country's most successful companies.

3. Rethink

Sometimes we need to remember the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. He kept the long term always in mind, and wasn't afraid to make an unpopular decision if he thought it would move toward the correct long-term outcome (Phillip, 1993).

4. Re-create

Times of turmoil can lend themselves to creativity. Many of the most innovative breakthroughs occur during times of crisis. We can innovate to improve our systems and our student results.

Do we really need more than 100 categorical programs, or can we simplify in order to focus more clearly on bottom-line results? After 30 years of trying various approaches and seeing the achievement gap widen, are we unwilling to step out of the box and try a new approach?

We have to think differently in times of turmoil, but without taking our eye off the core purpose. Indeed, some would say that a crisis is really a godsend when considering the need for change, as it opens the door to re-assessing the effectiveness of the current way of doing things. (For good reading on this topic check out Andy Grove's Only the Paranoid Survive.)

5. Relationships

We also have to remember that public schooling is all about people and relationships. We cannot afford to become cynical or negative--the emotional leadership element is crucial during times of turmoil. We need to be caring and empathetic.

Change is hard for folks. Some may be threatened; they may think their job is in jeopardy. We need to be sensitive to their needs, and very aggressive with positive and upbeat communication: "We can do this. "We will not only live through this, we will find a way to prosper!" We cannot let the rumor mill take over. Abe Lincoln always supported his people in public; if they needed correcting, he did it in private.

6. Response

Our response to turmoil has to be one of calm and thoughtful reflection. We need to model the crisis response strategies that we already have in place. Most schools and districts have practiced what to do in times of a crisis related to school safety; let's follow that same calm, team approach in the current challenging times. Work with your colleagues and team on responding in helpful ways to each other and to community members.

As Jeff Cannon states in his book, Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals, a leader teaches that something totally unforeseen will occur. Therefore, we have to be flexible and ready. Our circumstances in the public arena will no longer be stable--however, our work is still clear. Don't spend too much time on planning--spend time on reacting properly, and instilling the appropriate characteristics and response traits.

7. Rejuvenate 

And finally, talk to people smarter than you. Reading and networking are critical. Don't pull back; don't avoid meetings and conferences. To the contrary, now may be just the right time to analyze your own professional development. Is there a seminar you can attend? Can you start on your doctorate? Enroll in AB 75 principal training? It is vital to keep learning and to foster an attitude of being open to new ideas.

Good times

I think there is opportunity in these times. And there is good news! The public, by every measure and public opinion survey; strongly supports public education, and desires to see the system work well for every student. Members of the public understand the need for a rigorous education, and by a wide margin support the academic content standards and the High School Exit Exam. In other words, they like what they see and want us "to stay the course."

In November, the voters overwhelming passed the largest school facility, bond measure in the history of the United States: and they gave Jack O'Connell, our new state superintendent of public instruction, more votes than any other contested race in the country, These are good things!

Further, teachers are increasingly viewed as the critical center of future improvements in public education. We now have good instruction front and center in the public dialogue about public education. And this is as it should be.

Finally, test scores are up for all groups of students. And while the achievement gap between white arm Asian students and black and brown students is significant, for the first time in three decades there appears to be a narrowing of that gap, most notably in the second and third grades. This is our calling as leaders--to re-double our efforts to close that gap and help every student achieve his or her potential.

Rising to the challenges

So why are we challenged? Why are some of our colleagues contemplating early retirement? How can we have a more positive attitude and approach?

First, we may not realize the power and influence we have as leaders. The old view was of a leader as a "savior," someone who could lead the rest of us out of the wilderness. But the new view of leadership, as captured by Michael Fullan (2001), is someone who will challenge us to face problems for which there are no simple, painless solutions--problems that require us to learn new ways. Effective leaders mobilize people to tackle tough problems.

Second, leadership is essential to creating internal strategic unity within a chaotic external environment (O'Toole, 1995). The leadership challenge is to provide the "glue" to maintain the teamwork and synergy and sense of community that is so crucial during unstable times.

Making the critical difference

When Jerry Reynolds, personnel director and former coach of the Sacramento Kings, was asked to comment on the NBA's athletes, he said, "A few of the players in the NBA make a difference, the rest of 'em are pretty much interchangeable."

Our challenge is to make the critical difference, to encourage folks around us, and to stimulate our colleagues to new ways of. innovation and thinking.

We don't want to just be "interchangeable." We want to make a difference--for our students, with our colleagues and in our communities. Out of turmoil can come renewed focus, commitment and energy. As Michael Josephson says, "the best is yet to come."

References

Cannon, Jeff and Jon Cannon (2003). Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Collins, Jim. (2001). Good to Great. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Fullan, Michael. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Giuliani, Rudolph. (2002). Leadership. New York: Hyperion Press.

Goldman, Daniel (2002). Primal Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Grove, Andrew. (1996). Only the Paranoid Survive. New York: Doubleday

Josephson, Michael. (2002). The Best is Yet to Come. Marina Del Rey: Josephson Institute of Ethics.

O'Toole, James. (1995). Leading. Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Phillip, Donald. (1993). Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tougher Times. New York: Warner Books.

Sergiovanni, Thomas. (1992). Moral Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Glen Thomas is executive director of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association.