Speaker 0 00:00:00 From Romano Leadership, I'm Oscar Romano. This is Learn, reflect Lead Leadership and d i a development for mission-driven individuals and organizations.
Speaker 1 00:00:12 This episode is titled Decision Making. It's easy if you know what you stand for. This episode is for you if you're a school administrator or educator who wants to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn and achieve if you're a school administrator or educator who believes in the importance of clarity and consistency in decision making, or if you wanna reflect on your own beliefs and values and ensure that they are aligned with your actions and decisions. Today we're going to talk about how having clarity on what you stand for can help guide your decision making. Do you believe that all students can achieve? I asked a teacher one day as a principal split second. Decision making was a skill that helped me tremendously in the role in this situation. It helped me think of the perfect question to address concerning comments I had just heard from one of my teachers. This teacher was saying things like, she can't do this.
Speaker 1 00:01:25 He doesn't want to be here. She's never going to do the work. Can he go somewhere else? Why should I be putting in any effort if they're not putting in the same effort? This teacher was talking about my kids, I couldn't believe it. What were they doing there? If they didn't believe in the students that they were teaching, I had to make a decision, though. Was it going to ignore their comments or confront the teacher? This could be a difficult decision if you're not clear on what you stand for. That's why it's important for you to have that clarity on what you stand for. In my case, I was very familiar with the students that the teacher was referring to. I knew exactly who the students were and the headaches that they could cause, but I never lost faith in their desire and ability to learn and achieve. I've always believed that every child can achieve, wants to achieve, and has the potential to achieve always, even when things were stressful and hard. I, I had to believe that and I knew that some students will need a little more specialized support than other students, and then you'll have a different group of students who require extensive support and all hands on deck approach, approach. At the end of the day though, they all deserve a fair shot. So I ask you, do you believe that all students can achieve?
Speaker 1 00:03:11 My question was to ignore their comments or confront the teacher, but I didn't have to weigh my options on which approach to take because I was clear on what I stood for. My decision making process was straightforward. Do you believe that all students can achieve? I asked that teacher and, and then I waited for a response. Well, I, I think that Lucy can and Ricardo too, but honestly, I don't think Frank wants to achieve. I don't think he can do the work. I came back at the teacher by saying that at this campus, every staff member has to believe that all students can achieve. I know it can be tough sometimes, but that belief has to be there to do your job effectively. Do you think you can get there?
Speaker 1 00:04:00 You know, the teacher closed by saying that, you know, I wanna say that I can get there, but I don't think, I can't, I don't think I was prepared to teach students who needed to be motivated to learn. I expected them to come to school wanting to learn every day. I don't think this place is a good fit for me. You know, after he closed his, his talk, we spoke a little longer to align on, on their exit and then finished the meeting. You know, everything afterwards was hard, right? Filling that vacancy was as hard as expected, but our team stepped up to ensure that students had what they needed. I also learned a crucial lesson that when you're clear decision making is easy for others too. I've received, uh, that teacher's exit survey results about a month after they left their position, and an exit survey is something that, uh, individual fills out as they're leaving the organization.
Speaker 1 00:04:54 This is what our, this is what I read. I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach. Unfortunately, things didn't work out. Mr. Man is a great leader and I appreciate everything he did for me. He's just too much about social justice, and that's not something I'm interested in. That was crazy for me to, to read. I was clear about what I stood for from the moment. Staff members stepped onto campus to work on my campus. Everyone needed to believe that all students could achieve, and when this staff member realized they disagreed with that belief, they decided to leave and they praised me on their way out. This goes to show that clarity on what you stand for is good for all parties involved. So now it's time to commit. Are you clear on what you stand for? How can you ensure that your beliefs and values are aligned with your actions and decisions? And how can having clarity on what you stand for, help to guide your decision making? Let me know how it goes. Thanks. That's it
Speaker 0 00:05:56 For this, this episode of Learn Reflect Lead. Thank you for watching on YouTube for listening via podcast. If you're interested in more, you can find
[email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn at Romano Leadership. If you like this episode, please share with your friends. Subscribe and leave a review. I'm Oscar Roman. Until next time.
