Leading good schools to greatness : mastering what great principals do well

"This book is right on target with its thought-provoking ideas and concepts on the characteristics of successful educational leaders."--Thomas F. Leahy, Consultant, Executive Search Department, Illinois Association of School Boards

"Our best teachers obtain great results by building positive relationships with their students. Gray and Streshly show how our best principals do the same thing and how these behaviors can be learned and practiced."--Kevin Singer, Superintendent, Topeka Public Schools, KS

Build your capacity to lead your school to greatness!

Great leaders are made, not born. Written by the authors of From Good Schools to Great Schools, this sequel shows how great school leaders can be developed and how leaders can acquire the powerful personal leadership characteristics that the best administrators use to lead their schools to greatness.

Based on sound strategies and the work of Jim Collins, Susan Penny Gray and William A. Streshly tackle how to build relationships, communicate effectively, exercise your personal will with humility, face brutal facts, get faculty on board, and build a school culture of self-discipline. Chapters include:

Case studies that provide an ongoing context for professional learning Self-assessments that reveal your inherent leadership dispositions Interviews and tips from exceptional principals in the field Strategies for developing specific leadership qualities Application exercises that reinforce how to put the strategies into action Reflection activities that encourage professional growth

Appropriate for both individual and group professional development, Leading Good Schools to Greatness reveals how leadership skills can be learned and used to take your school to the next level.

Author Notes

William Streshly, Ph.D. is Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, and has had over forty years of experience as an educator.

(Bowker Author Biography)

George Manthey

List of Figures and Tables	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
About the Authors	p. xxiii
1 The Skills for Leading Good Schools to Greatness Can Be Learned	p. 1
Applying Good to Great Research to School Principals	p. 2
Conversations With Highly Successful Principals	p. 3
Administrator Preparation Program Reform	p. 6
Reflection	p. 6
2 First, Build Relationships	p. 7
Reflection	p. 9
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 10
A Behavior Different From That of Effective Private Sector Executives	p. 10
The Three Key Elements Needed to Build Relationships	p. 11
Constructing Your Personal Profile of a Highly Effective Principal	p. 12
Part I Building Trust	p. 12
Part II Engaging in Effective Interpersonal Communication	p. 23
Part III Encouraging Constructive Conflict Around Ideas	p. 28
Reflection	p. 38
3 How to Exercise Your Professional Will With Humility	p. 39
Reflection	p. 40
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 41
Research on the Risks of Charismatic Leadership for Schools	p. 42
Distinguishing Personal Humility Is Not So Easy	p. 43
What Highly Successful Principals Say Conveying a Duality of Professional Will and Personal Humility	p. 44
Strategies for Exhibiting Professional Will While Remaining Humble	p. 46
Practical Application of Strategies for Exhibiting a Duality of Professional Will and Personal Humility	p. 51
Ask an Effective Principal	p. 51
Reflection	p. 52
4 How to Face the Brutal Facts ... Then Do Something About Them	p. 55
Reflection	p. 56
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 57
The Research on Confronting the Brutal Facts and Unwavering Resolve	p. 58
What Highly Successful Principals Say About Confronting the Brutal Facts	p. 62
Strategies for Confronting the Brutal Facts and Then Doing Something About Them	p. 63
Practical Application of Strategies for Confronting the Brutal Facts and Doing Something About Them	p. 73
Ask an Effective Principal	p. 73
Reflection	p. 74
5 How to Get the Right Faculty on Board	p. 77
Reflection	p. 78
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 79
The Research on Getting the Right People	p. 80
What Are the Right Places for the Right People?	p. 83
The Wrong People for the School	p. 83
What Highly Successful Principals Say About Getting the Right People	p. 85
Strategies for Getting (and Keeping) the Right People	p. 86
Practical Application of Strategies for Getting the Right Faculty on Board	p. 100
Ask an Effective Principal	p. 100
Reflection	p. 102
6 How to Find and Promote the Hedgehog Concept in Your School	p. 103
Reflection	p. 105
Educators Differ From CEOs	p. 105
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 107
Research on the Hedgehog Concept	p. 107
Highly Successful Principals Exhibit the Hedgehog Concept	p. 110
Strategies for Understanding and Executing the Hedgehog Concept in Schools	p. 110
One School's Process for Developing New Mission and Vision Statements	p. 116
Practical Application of Strategies for Finding and Promoting the Hedgehog Concept	p. 120
Ask an Effective Principal	p. 120
Reflection	p. 121
7 How to Build a Schoolwide Culture of Self-Discipline	p. 123
Reflection	p. 124
Assess Your Leadership Capacity	p. 124
The Research on a Culture of Self-Discipline	p. 125
What Highly Successful Principals Do to Build a Schoolwide Culture of Self-Discipline	p. 128
Practical Application of Strategies for Building a Culture of Self-Discipline	p. 135
Ask an Effective Principal	p. 140
Reflection	p. 142
8 The Road Ahead	p. 143
Research on Leadership Preparation	p. 144
What to Look for in a Principal Preparation Program	p. 145
Tips to Help New Principals Succeed	p. 148
A Final Word	p. 151
Resources
Resource A Research Methodology	p. 155
Resource B Interview Participant Selection	p. 159
Resource C Principal Interview Questions Derived From Collins' (2001) CEO Interview Questions and Demographic Questionnaire	p. 163
Resource D Suggested Readings	p. 169
References	p. 173
Index	p. 179

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Author Notes

Table of Contents