Decoding Leadership: Dr. Jennifer Cheatham's Playbook for Reflective and Transformative Practices

An Imperfect Leader

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.

INTRO: Hello, Imperfect Leaders!

Evaluations.

In every single profession, employees are evaluated. They are evaluated by their direct supervisors or evaluated by a board of directors. Often they are evaluated by the people they lead in the form of a survey (often referred to as a 360 survey). Plus, there are informal evaluations conducted by the community over social media – those can be brutal.

Formal evaluations can be difficult to navigate if there is not a clear process and protocol established at the very beginning. How often have you entered an evaluation meeting only to discover that what you thought you were being evaluated on was very different than what your evaluator thought? A shared image of what success looks like is paramount.

My guest today, Dr. Jennifer Cheatham, has incredible advice for school and district leaders about goal setting, reporting on progress, and even tips for how leaders can formally request authority over the evaluation process as part of their contract (I hadn’t thought of that one – so wise!). During her After Action Review, she talks about something very important to me – the tackling of a major system of oppression – a district’s code of conduct (also known as discipline).

It’s a great episode full of incredible insights! Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: With over twenty-five years of experience in the field of education in San Diego, Chicago, and Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Jennifer Cheatham has served as a teacher, a teacher leader, a professional developer, a central office leader, an area superintendent, and a superintendent. In each of these roles, she focused on a number of things, including cultivating strong teams, designing enduring systems, and strengthening routines for organizational learning – all to make the lives of children better. She is now a Senior Lecturer on Education and Co-Chair of the Public Education Leadership Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

FURTHER INFO: A few months ago, I had a chance to speak with Max Silverman at the University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership. Our conversation was wide ranging, but we kept returning to the role of evaluations. Leaders in every profession are interested in growth. Personal growth and the growth of those they supervise. This is a big topic for educational leaders as well. It wasn’t a day or so later that I came across an article by Jennifer, Can Superintendents’ Evaluation Lead to Their Own Growth? In the article she points out the unintended consequences of a traditional school board process of evaluation and how that the lowering of one point might lead to a superintendent’s quick demise. She references the incredibly disturbing national trend when it comes to leader longevity (we are losing superintendents at alarming rates). As we continue to read the article, we learn more about the shared process she created with your board in Madison, Wisconsin, which included self-reflection. Give it a read!

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This episode is brought to you, in part, by the Waters Center for Systems Thinking. The Waters Center helps people understand what systems thinking is and how to incorporate the Habits, tools and concepts of systems thinking into their work and life to achieve desired results. To learn more, go to waterscenterst.org.

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com