by Mark Silver, PhD
Head of School, Hillbrook School, Los Gatos, CA
As I enter my second year of headship, I find myself once again re-reading and re-visiting two short articles that have served as bedrocks for my personal leadership philosophy and approach - “Entry: The Door to Effective Headship” by Al Adams and “School Burial Grounds” by Al Adams and Debbie Freed.(Click here to access these articles). I first read these articles more than a decade ago when I was entering a new role as a Middle School Head, and have revisited them again and again as I’ve moved first to a second position as Middle School Head and then, most recently, as I transitioned into my first headship.
While focused primarily on a person’s first year experience, both articles contain a wisdom that I believe remains relevant long into one’s tenure in a leadership role. Since first reading them, I have also read the texts which formed the basis for each article - Barry Jentz and Joan Wofford’s Entry and Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership - but find that these two, short articles resonate for me more powerfully in part because of their direct connection to the independent school experience. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that they also take significantly less time to read as I prepare to launch a new school year.
For me, both articles have provided a gentle road map that I could borrow as I sought to take up my leadership role at several different schools. They clearly identified at least two key themes that I needed to keep present in my mind as I joined a new community.
First and foremost, both articles stressed the importance of entering a community respectfully and without preconceptions. The key insight - listen authentically and deeply and fight the urge to make bold pronouncements or changes. I have been fortunate that I have not entered situations in which a school was in crisis or perceived crisis, affording me the opportunity to spend a significant part of my first six months simply meeting with people and listening to their feedback.
In each situation, I have received early “tips” about things that I should be sure to fix or change. In each case, I have discovered that my commitment to moving slowly and to listening to as many people as possible as kept me from making what could have been significant strategic blunders. While I had feared that some people would be frustrated by my lack of “leadership,” I quickly discovered that my methodical pace and commitment to understanding earned me significant support and respect. When I did eventually start to make some changes, I also found that people were quite responsive to the initiatives, as they trusted that I was not moving capriciously and that they also felt comfortable engaging me in conversation about the changes because they knew I would listen.
This does not mean that I won’t eventually face conflict - no meaningful change occurs without some degree of dislocation and resistance - but it did build me a level of political capital that should helped me to weather some of that resistance and, symbolically, sent a strong message about how I intend to lead change.
Closely related to the first insight is the importance of honoring, understanding, and unpacking a school’s history. Adams and Freed caution school leaders that ignoring - whether consciously or unconsciously - a school’s culture and history is done at their own peril. They stress that leadership is transitory and that while leaders certainly have an ability to impact a school’s culture, there are historical and cultural strands that, while not always immediately evident, significantly impact any change efforts.
They describe a historical time line activity that can help to surface salient trends and themes in the life of the school. With our school preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, I took advantage of the opportunity to conduct a similar type of exercise last year with a group of current and former teachers, alumni, and alumni parents. The resulting graphic history hangs in a public space and has been the source of numerous conversations among different constituent groups.
More importantly, it surfaced several key themes I remain cognizant of as we implement a new strategic plan, including a longstanding tendency to ignore generational equity and a history marked by varying levels of trust. Historical throughlines do not readily disappear and typically reflect underlying values or issues in a culture that may not always be readily apparent on the surface. Schools are not, I should be quick to add, doomed to repeat the past or incapable of making changes, yet as leaders, we need to understand as much as we can about our history so it does not surprise us as we seek to create a new future.
Only one week into my second year, my entry is far from complete. Moreover, I have much to learn about my school’s history, something I am eagerly anticipating as we embark on a year’s worth of 75th anniversary activities.
In the end, perhaps the most important lesson I take from both of these articles is the need to be humble. Honoring the past reminds me that many generations of wise, committed, and talented people have come before me and have loved the school deeply and tried to make it the best school for children they could envision. Even as I discover things that need to be changed and improved, I recognize that our current situation was not created capriciously and that changes need to be made thoughtfully and respectfully. While I hope to be in this position for many years to come, my tenure is ultimately a transitory moment in the life of the school. I’ll consider myself a success if future generations look back and declare that I left the school at least as strong as I found it.
