Leadership Lessons: Thermostat vs Thermometer
I tend to think about leadership in many interesting ways. Having worked in both business and classroom cultures, a part of my interest is in the many ways that leaders lead. Specifically where it relates to education, whether classroom, building, or district, leadership is a mixed bag that requires an equally varied combination of traits and personalities. And while I believe that given the right set of circumstances, anyone can develop into a leader, I also think that it comes down to a simple, but admittedly weird, analogy.
Thermostats versus Thermometers.
Thermometers give us the temp. Thermostats regulate it. Perhaps I am oversimplifying the distinctions, but both statements are essentially true. A good thermometer will always be able to tell you exactly how hot or how cold it is in any given room. An operational thermostat will make small, intentional changes to the temperature in order to achieve the desired feel in the room. And while establishing culture is important in any environment, I believe that it is increasingly more and more important to establish an effective culture in our schools. The time has come for our buildings to be lead by faculty and staff who are thermostats. While the onus is often placed on Administration to make the proper changes, because they have the overarching views that are necessary, I would argue that from a bottom- to- top method, it has to start with teachers.
Teachers have their hands on the students. We are in the hallways and cafeterias. We have hands in seeing discipline issues as they happen, and are often involved in the corrections thereof. If all of this is true, then why should we not embrace the power that comes with setting culture? Why shouldn’t our classrooms be microcosms of what our school should be? And why shouldn’t our schools be microcosms of what our district and societies could be?
The power lies in the small, intentional changes. Whether high-fiving students in the hallway, or opening class with culture and community building activities like welcome circles, each thing that happens with the goal of establishing a mindful, self-aware, and bonded community of learners serves to establish a new temperature. What we also have to consider is that every action establishes a new culture. Whether we intend to or not, there are always outcomes. The best we can do is be aware and prepared for whatever outcomes our actions, or inactions, might produce. Leading well in the hallways, cafeterias, gyms, and recesses will equate to leading well in every other area of education. Leading well during private conversations with students, or in public disagreements during class pays dividends on much grander scales. Each instance either adds toward establishing the optimal temperature of the school or detracts from it. But even in all of this, it is important to remember that whether negative or positive, every action creates an incremental movement that adds up to an overall change. Therefore, in the case of mistakes, all we have to do is grow from them and correct course. Teachers, optimization is always within grasp so long as we set our hearts, minds, and actions toward leading well. When our administrators see us leading well, it presents the welcome challenge that holds them accountable to the same standard. It also diffuses across the entire organization, thus creating the change that we so desperately desire to see.
So yes, we should all lead like a pirate (thanks, Dave Burgess, for the gems you’ve given us), but we should also lead like a thermostat.
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Justin Belt is an educator, podcasters, blogger, and musician.
