Hack 1 - Be Present and Engaged

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing."
-  Albert Schweitzer

Chapter 1 of Hacking Leadership is all about getting administrators to understand the importance of being present and engaged, visible and approachable at school.  It talks about the shift from principals being bosses managing the school from their office to being transformational leaders who are fully present in the school, building relationships with students, staff, families and the community.

School leaders today must work on building relationships with all members of the school community that are rooted in trust and respect and compassion.  Strong relationships in a school, led and modeled by the principal, can take a nice school and make it an extraordinary space where excitement and passion become palpable.  

Things that we can do tomorrow to become more engaged and present at school:
-  Just Listen
-  Ask Questions
-  Make Time For Lunch WIth Kids
-  Celebrate in Public (Social Media)
-  Get Out of Your Office

A Blueprint for Full Implementation
-  Start every day with personal interactions
-  Use morning announcement to kick start community
-  Cover classes to give teachers planning time
-  Start a club during recess or after school
-  Blog to be transparent and reflective
-  Create a 'dream team' of community members to plan the perfect school

As an administrative team, try to make it a plan to be in every classroom, every day.  Being more present more regularly will help the campus become more familiar with you and more comfortable with you coming in and out of classrooms.  In the past, the only reasons principals would come into classrooms would be for evaluations and when someone was in trouble.  Transform your school by being out and being seen, by being present, and by being available.  

Model what a 'lead learner' looks like.  A lead learner is someone who devotes a lot of his time to the learning of those around them.  To do so, you have be a life long learner and someone who is learning and growing daily and facilitating the learning and the growth of those around them as well.

Finally, the more effort that you put into building relationships, the more social capital that you amass.  Having social capital built from meaningful relationships is like having 'Get out of jail free cards.'  Any time that you work with people, you are going to make some people happy and you are going to upset people.  Over the course of a school year, you are going to upset a lot of people, and having 'Get out of jail free cards' will help you in those moments because, even if you can't get everybody what they want, they will at least know your intentions and they will know that your heart is in the right place.  Plus, everybody has an agenda, and the more people that you get to know, the more agendas that you get to know, the more that you can help align those agendas so that we are doing what is best for kids and what is best for the school.

Transformational lead learners understand the impact they have on school culture, and therefore they strive to build a culture that has a positive influence on the school's trajectory.

Transformational leaders are leaders who can transform people, teams, and schools  They don't just ride the wave - they create the wave.  The most effective way to do that is to build meaningful relationships and adding value.  To build relationships, you have to be visible, present, and available.  You also have to be a great listener and ask questions.  To add value, you have to get to know people.  You have to get to know what they like and dislike, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and what they need and don't need.  You can't build relationships nor add value without getting out and getting to know people.  Every day, find ways to make deposits