Avoid Faulty Assumptions (#4): A leader is a leader, so no deep change is involved in being a flourishing leader, right?

/ mkessenburg

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

You might be thinking, “That depends.” I get it—you’re thinking that whether or not you need to make deep change in order to be a flourishing leader depends on the kind of leader you are right now. 

Well, all I can say is that I had to do quite a bit of deep change to become a flourishing leader and that to remain a flourishing leader, I need to keep doing deep change. So  from my perspective, you can’t become or be a flourishing leader without deep change.

But let me ask you some questions about flourishing leaders and deep change:

Question 1: What does a flourishing leader at an international Christian school look like to you? To me, what a flourishing leader at an international Christian school looks like includes someone who…

  • Sees others as God’s image bearers, as real people to care for and respect; not as objects in the way or appendages to get the job done.
  • Focuses on taking care of people in their charge, not being in charge (Twitter @simonsinek, March 18, 2021).
  • Is known for contagious curiosity, deep listening, and learning that results in tangible transformation.
  • Consistently experiences passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources.
  • Sees leadership as a responsibility, not a reward (The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities).
  • Serves as the living curriculum, the chief role model.
  • Designs a flourishing school culture, instead of just letting it happen (something that can result in toxicity).
  • Increases organizational health by building a cohesive leadership team, creating clarity, overcommunicating the clarity, and reinforcing the clarity in systems.

To learn more, please read:

Photo by Pixabay 

Question 2: What’s your definition of a flourishing leader at an international Christian school? Here’s my working definition: A flourishing leader consistently experiences the 5 elements of flourishing* and helps others do the same. Or to put it another way, a flourishing leader consistently experiences abundant life in Jesus and helps others do the same.

*Note: The 5 elements of flourishing (based on ACSI’s model):

  1. Passionate purpose
  2. Resilient well-being
  3. Healthy relationships
  4. Transformative learning
  5. Helpful resources

Question 3: What faulty assumptions might you need to address about being a flourishing leader? I have faulty assumptions. You have faulty assumptions. We all have faulty assumptions, including faulty assumptions about flourishing leaders. And we all need to identify and address our faulty assumptions. Here are 5 faulty assumptions about being a flourishing school leader:

(1) During onboarding and our opening meetings at the start of each year, we review our mission. As part of our contracts, all staff indicate that they support our mission. And we’re all Christians, so we’re all heading the same direction. 

It’s good to work with fellow Christians and to have annual processes for reviewing and indicating commitment to the mission. However, working with Christians and doing a once-a-year review and a signing of a contract don’t result in “staff feel[ing] a sense of shared ownership for school mission” (Flourishing Schools, p. 14). 

To develop shared ownership, consistently do things like overcommunicating the mission, asking staff to memorize and recite the mission, using the mission as a guide for decision-making, measuring mission achievement, and celebrating progress.

(2) To lead, I need to be good at everything. That’s challenging at times, but I put my best foot forward, and when I’m not good at something, I just try to be faithful and do my best.

Hmmm. Sounds like you are a solo leader who’s putting too much pressure on yourself. No one is good at everything. It also sounds like you need to practice “transparency about [your] weaknesses,” and need to use a team approach that allows “others to offset those weaknesses” (Flourishing Schools, p. 15).

(3) I have pretty good hunches, and going with my gut works for me. I think we’re doing pretty well as a school, and when something comes up, like I said, I go with gut. 

Hunches and going with your gut do work, but to a limited degree. To flourish, you need to also be using data. At the flourishing international Christian school, “[d]ata is used to gauge school results and effectiveness, determine goal attainment, and address problems the school faces” (Flourishing Schools, p. 16).

(4) We have an effective budget development process, and we carefully monitor our budget. That’s good enough for me! 

Nope. It’s not good enough for you or for those you serve. To head toward flourishing financial health, you need a “strategic financial plan” (Flourishing Schools, p. 17) that spans several years, and you need to track key performance indicators to measure your school’s long-term financial health, for example:

  • Compensation as a percentage of expenses.
  • Program as a percentage of expenses.
  • Debt payment as a percentage of the budget.
  • Net tuition increase per student.
  • Financial aid as a percentage of income.
  • Operating reserve.

(5) It comes with the territory. Being a leader means experiencing “[c]onstant feelings of stress and being overwhelmed” along with not enough time to “focus on [my] physical health” (Flourishing Schools, p. 18).

I get it. Being a leader at an international Christian school includes experiencing stress, overwhelm, and not enough time for regular exercise. But if this experience is constant (not from time to time), something is wrong. Fix it, or you won’t flourish.

To learn more, please read Leadership for Flourishing Schools (see table on page 14).

Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

Question 4: What deep change(s) do you need to make to develop as a flourishing leader? Before answering that question directly, let me share 4 things that help me when identifying needed changes:

(1) Remembering that ongoing deep change is part of being a flourishing leader. Without deep change, I couldn’t become or be a flourishing leader.

(2) Reminding myself that while I need to do something, I don’t need to do everything. Reminding myself that while I need to use best practices, I don’t need to use every last best practice. And reminding myself that while I need to grow, I’ll never “arrive”—there will always be room for growth as a flourishing leader.

(3) Starting with myself—not starting with others or with a schoolwide improvement plan. I use the following order of operations: “[G]row yourself to grow your people to grow your [school]” (Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company, loc 375).

(4) Identifying my options for deep change. I find that what helps me develop options is comparing what I’m currently like as a leader with (A) my definition of a flourishing leader, (B) my description of a flourishing leader, and (C) my faulty assumptions about being a flourishing leader. And then asking my wife for her input. 

My options include:

  • Being more open to the scary growth goals others suggest, like when my wife suggests I help others by writing a book on flourishing.
  • Shifting my default mode from solo innovator to someone who joins in and builds on what others are already doing.

Now, back to the question of a deep change I need to make (as confirmed by my wife): I’m going to shift my default mode from solo innovator to someone who joins in and builds on what others are already doing. This may not sound like a significant challenge to you—but for me as an INTJ whose strengths focus on strategy, future thinking, and innovation, this is a big challenge!

What about you? What deep change do you need to make? To learn more, please read:

Photo by Tim Mossholder

Question 5: What helps you make the deep changes necessary for being the flourishing international Christian school leader God is calling you to be? What helps me do deep change includes God’s help, supportive colleagues, regular exercise, a learning goal, time scheduled on my calendar for learning, learning resources (books like The Cost of Control, podcasts from ACSI, and online classes on Simon Sinek’s Infinite Game), blogging on what I’ve learned, and getting coached.

To learn more about growth, please read:

What about you? 

  1. What does a flourishing leader at an international Christian school look like to you? 
  2. What’s your definition of a flourishing leader at an international Christian school? 
  3. What faulty assumptions might you need to address about being a flourishing leader? 
  4. What deep change(s) do you need to make to develop as a flourishing leader? 
  5. What helps you make the deep changes necessary for being the flourishing international Christian school leader God is calling you to be?

Get flourishing!

Michael