 Excerpts from the Monroe Doctrine
Excerpts from Nothing's Impossible
The What Great Bosses Do List
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Excerpts from:
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THE MONROE DOCTRINE:
An ABC Guide to What Great Bosses Do
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UPLIFT
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To elevate; to raise aloft
To better in condition
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| The job of the leader is to uplift her people - not just as members of and contributors to the organization, but as individuals of infinite worth in their own right. |
Every great boss knows that the success of the organization depends upon producing tangible outcomes. The nature of these outcomes depends on the organization. In a for-profit business, they may include greater sales, increased profits, better product quality, larger market share, and increased stock value. In a not-for-profit organization, they may include more clients served, increased efficiency, and an expanded mission. |
Objectives like these are important. But organizations that survive and thrive even in rocky times do something more than meet tangible objectives. They also attract and retain star talent because the staff is uplifted by the spirit of the leader. |
Everything the leader does can contribute to this sense of uplift. It grows out of the speeches the leader makes, the informal interactions between the leader and the staff, the clarity and boldness of the strategic vision set forth by the leader, and above all the visible activities of the leader and the example these activities set. To be most effective, everything the leader does should focus simultaneously on two objectives: |
 The growth and development of the organization
The growth and development of the staff as individuals |
However, to be able to uplift an organization in this way, a leader must first be uplifted herself by the organization's purpose, and, second, must have motives for wanting to lead that are 99% pure. |
Question: Can you support both objectives - the growth and development of your organization and the growth and development of your staff as individuals - in everything you do? |
The Monroe Doctrine: If you support the growth and development of both your organization and your staff, your staff will be uplifted beyond petty concerns (raises, promotions, office politics) and inspired to accomplish the grand mission of the organization. |
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| Just do it! When you know deep down what the right thing is, don't succumb to the paralysis of analysis. As my Grandpa Willie Cromer used to say, "Study long, you study wrong." |
Break the rules. A principal whose work I admire once remarked, "If you're not breaking at least one rule a day, you're not doing a good job." Only make sure you pick the right rule to break - which is an art in itself. |
Create a team of Creatively Crazies. Pull together the most innovative - and reckless - people on your staff, let them loose on an idea, and watch it grow before your eyes. |
When you need to, burn some brain. Burning brain means saying to myself, "Sit down now, Lorraine, and don't get up until the whole thing is done." I use this method especially for writing proposals, fleshing out new plans, and developing blueprints for innovations or radical changes. |
If you notice, the chief troublemakers in your organization are the disgruntled incompetents - the members of what I learned to call the NBC Club (the Naggers, Bitchers, and Complainers Club). They delight in detracting and degrading, denigrating and denying - draining the leader and the dream. Identify the NBC Club members and drop them from serious involvement in the working of your organization's dream. |
Excerpts from:
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NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE:
Leadership Lessons From Inside and Outside the Classroom |
On Working from the Heart
If you don’t love the work you’re doing, you’ll get sick--physically, mentally, or spiritually. Eventually, you’ll make others sick, too.
All good work is worthy of our dedication. And the most worthy is what changes lives profoundly—in mind, body, and spirit.
Worthwhile work is rarely done strictly from nine to five.
If you’re ambitious, doing your job well is the only way to rise with your dignity and integrity intact—owing no one.
If you’re indifferently supervised, do the crazy, unexpected, wonderful thing you’ve always dreamed of.
Any life can be a work of art. So how can we but work in the belief that we will make a difference.
On Attitude
Life ain’t fair—but it can be beautiful!
Work hard—deserve to play hard.
Daily reflection on your efforts and outcomes will improve both.
Avoid people who envy, complain, and drain.
When you work in a place where your efforts are belittled, save yourself--leave! But until you leave, continue to do impeccable work. Otherwise, you become
like your detractors.
On Perseverance
Often, the evidence of success is slow in coming or impossible to see. Therefore, much good work must be done by faith and by faith alone.
When a near-impossible assignment comes along, take it as a challenge and work like hell to succeed. But instead of results, attach your heart to significant actions.
Consistency and perseverance beat running from fad to fad.
In the face of inept administration or nonsensical bureaucracy, people desperately need confirmation that they are not crazy to go on believing, demanding,
caring.
If you’re successful, you’ll be envied and you’ll make enemies. But go on! Because the alternative is death.
Keep asking, "Why not?" till you run out of excuses and fear.
On Being an Idealist in a Less-Than-Ideal World
You get what you work for and what you deserve—sometimes.
Unfortunately, competence isn’t always rewarded. But there’s still no alternative to being competent!
To get on with the work, there are times you have to compromise. But learn the difference between compromising and selling your soul.
Good works will be recognized—ultimately. But if you work for the recognition alone, you may be in for a long wait.
On Teaching and Learning
What a teacher feels and thinks about the children in front of her makes all the difference in how much those children learn.
When a teacher demonstrates sincerity and decisiveness in the classroom, the children will unconsciously give her permission to teach them. And without
that permission, learning won’t happen.
A teacher who keeps teaching the same things in the same way slowly but surely dies in front of her students.
Designating a few kids as gifted and talented brings out all their gifts and talents. In education, elitism works.
On Leadership (I)
To become an excellent leader, start as an excellent follower.
Becoming a leader is an act of self-invention. Imagine yourself as a leader; act as if you are a leader until you actually become one.
When you undertake leadership, people will challenge and attack you. Just make sure you win your first battle, and the others will come easier.
The toughest leadership challenge: To inherit something good and not mess with it!
The real leader is a servant of the people she leads.
On Pursuing Excellence
You can’t ease your way to excellence. “You have to burn from the first bar.” (Sting)
Don’t believe that more people, wealth, or things will make a community great.
Greatness grows from people with dedication.
Some people are born magicians, able to do wonders in their work, But everyone can learn to make a contribution. Excellence takes both kinds.
A cadre of creatively crazy, concerned individuals can carry an organization. But pockets of excellence don’t create the hum an excellent organization has.
When you compete, don’t just hope to win. Plan to blow away the competition.
On Making Things New
Remember how crazy you could be as a kid? Hang on to that craziness—it’s your source of creativity.
Don’t expect support from others for your creativity and risk taking. Only after your ideas work will support come—and credit be taken.
It’s sometimes good for a creatively crazy maniac to work for an invisible, incompetent, uncaring leader. At least the uncaring leader leaves the maniac room to work her magic.
Every day, learn something new, and share it with those around you.
Fixing anything—a school, a family, a business, a community—takes time, but people demand changes immediately. Better start now!
Always be planning to do something new—next week, next month, and next year.
On Leadership (II)
Don’t be afraid to break rules, but do it only for the sake of mission.
While working your tail off to accomplish Plan A, always have Plans B and C written down somewhere—if need be, in code. And remember the code!
Spread the knowledge! The wisdom of any system must never reside in the head of a single person—not even you.
The leader who loses direct contact with the work loses perspective. The further you get from the work, the easier it is to promulgate nonsense.
A leader who plans, acts, walks, and talks like a leader—and wears a good suit—is damn near invincible!
The good leader knows that it’s time to move on long before her followers.
On the Human Touch
Always put people first, paper second.
Make yourself visible to those you want to influence—every day, every way.
Understanding and sympathy must go along with expecting and demanding the best. Stroking must accompany poking.
The good leader doesn’t see or hear everything. Learn what to ignore.
Remember what people did to help and nurture you? Do it for others.
A leader who expects the best from everybody usually gets it.
On Inner Strength
Sometimes it will feel as though the world’s mission is to wear you down! Good work is not for the faint of heart.
When the leader who is right knuckles under to the protests of the incompetent, she is knuckled into failure.
For a time, you can run on Empty physically—but only if you’re charged up spiritually.
Formula for victory: First you pray, then you work.
On the Heart of the Matter
We can reform society only if every place we live—every school, workplace, church, and family—becomes a site of reform.
As you grow, so does your work, and so will those whose lives you touch.
As you rise in any walk of life, never forget the nervousness of your first day—and how much you had to learn. You still do!
The What Great Bosses Do List
1. Get around building everyday.
2. Put people before paper.
3. Delegate and check.
4. Write love notes frequently and "slam" notes judiciously.
5. Remind staff of the core mission and principal theme(s) [not more than three] in a variety of ways.
6. Feed your people.
7. Develop stars and coach "up and coming" staff with potential.
8. Support planning, creativity, and innovation that drive instruction.
9. Establish rituals, ceremonies, and traditions.
10. Take care of your health.
11. Plan your pleasure and leisure time.
12. Model what you expect and what you respect.
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is to develop and support public school leaders who view solid education as a necessity for transforming children's lives and who are committed to leading consistently high achieving schools where all students, beginning with kindergarten, are prepared to enter and graduate from college.