Alaska School Leadership Institute 2012
Rural Alaska Principal Preparation Project
May 30, 2012 – Creating a Vision
Captain Cook Hotel
Anchorage, Alaska
Facilitated By
Al Bertani, Senior Design Consultant
RAPPS Program
Alaska Staff Development Network
Strategy 1 Establish a Sense of Urgency
Strategy 2 Build a Powerful Guiding Coalition
Strategy 3 Creating a Vision
Strategy 4 Communicating the Vision
Strategy 5 Empowering Others to Act on the Vision
Strategy 6 Planning for and Creating Short Term Wins
Strategy 7 Consolidating Improvements and
Producing Still More Change
Strategy 8 Institutionalizing New Approaches
From What Leaders Really Do; John Kotter; Harvard
Business Review Book; 1999
CREATING A VISION ROADMAP
COLLABORATING
Where do good ideas
come from – How do you
involve others in creating
the vision?
STRATEGIZING
How do you build short
and long-term strategies
to help catalyze the
vision?
CLARIFYING
What is the problem you
are trying to solve?
Creating a vision
that serves as the
glue to hold things
together and
makes sense to the
mind and the heart.
VISIONING
How can the vision be
communicated simply,
motivate people, and
coordinate actions?
IMAGINING
What’s the vision or goal
that describes the new
desired state in a compelling
way?
Creating A Vision – May 30, 2012
Al Bertani, Session Leader
A clear vision can help everyone
understand why you are asking people to
do something different. The clearer the
vision - what you are trying to transform –
the easier for people to see the path
forward. The leader is the person
responsible for helping build a vision
that is the glue that holds things together
and makes sense of the transformation for
both the mind and the heart.
How Leadership Influences Student Learning
Wallace Foundation - 2004
Leithwood; Seashore Louis; Anderson; and Wahlstrom
By Setting Direction…
Charting a clear course that everyone understands, establishing
high expectations and using data to track progress and
performance.
By Developing People…
Providing teachers and others in the system with the necessary
support and training to succeed.
By Making the Organization Work…
Ensuring that the entire range of conditions and incentives in
districts and schools fully supports rather than inhibits teaching and
learning.
How Leadership Influences Student Learning
Wallace Foundation - 2004
Leithwood; Seashore Louis; Anderson; and Wahlstrom
By Setting Direction…
Evidence suggests that those leadership practices included in setting direction
account for the largest proportion of a leader’s impact. This set of practices is
aimed at helping one’s colleagues develop shared understandings about the
organization and its activities and goals that can under gird a sense of purpose
or vision. People are motivated by goals which they find personally
compelling, as well as challenging but achievable. Having such goals helps
people make sense of their work and enables them to find a sense of identity for
themselves within their work context.
Often cited as helping set directions are such specific leadership practices as
identifying and articulating a vision, fostering the acceptance of group goals
and creating high performance expectations. Monitoring organizational
performance and promoting effective communication throughout the
organization also assist in the development of shared organizational purposes.
How Leadership Influences Student Learning
District-Level Strategic Actions
Wallace Foundation – 2004
Step 1 Gather the Excerpted Reading on Green Paper Under Tab 1
Step 2 Form Learning Quartets with Participants from Other Tables
Step 3 Count-Off in Your Quartet – Participant 1, 2, 3, 4
Step 4 Read Your Section as Assigned by Your Facilitator
Step 5 In Turn, Discuss the Strategic Actions Outlined in the Excerpt
Step 6 Discuss How Well Your District Is Engaging in Strategic Actions
How Leadership Influences Student Learning
Successful School Leadership
Wallace Foundation – 2004
Step 1 Gather the Excerpted Reading on Yellow Paper Under Tab 1
Step 2 Form Learning Quartets with Participants from Other Tables
Step 3 Count-Off in Your Quartet – Participant 1, 2, 3, 4
Step 4 Read Your Sections as Assigned by Your Facilitator
Step 5 In Turn, Discuss the Strategic Actions Outlined in the Excerpt
Step 6 How Well You Are Engaging in Successful School Leadership
Practices?
CREATING A VISION
Component
Clarifying
Imagining
Strategizing
Collaborating
Working Thoughts…
Creating a Vision
Clarifying
What is the problem you are trying to
solve/improve/transform?
1. How would you describe the problem as
concisely and deliberately as possible?
2. What data indicates you have a problem?
3. What anecdotal information supports your
concern?
Take the next three minutes to record your ideas.
Creating a Vision
Imagining/Visioning
What’s the vision or goal that describes the
new desired state in a compelling way?
1.How could you describe the vision in a concise
and compelling manner?
2.How will your vision motivate your team/staff?
3.What stories might help you develop a sense of
urgency and a call to action?
Take the next three minutes to record your ideas.
Creating a Vision
Strategizing
How do you build short and long-term
strategies to help catalyze the vision?
1.Who will you engage to help move the vision
forward?
2.What are your initial steps in the short-term?
3.What long-term strategies need to be
considered?
Creating a Vision
Collaborating
Where do good ideas come from – How do
you involve others in creating the vision?
1.How could you use collaboration to power the
vision forward?
2.How can you incorporate the ideas of others
to make fuel the vision?
3.How can you sustain collaboration over time
to bring the vision to life?
Our Learning Session…
… In Review
 What research says about the impact of
leadership on student learning?
 How can you clarify and imagine your vision?
 How do you engage others in the vision through
strategies and collaboration?
Institute Purpose
To build school and district leadership capacity
using strategies, processes, tools, and protocols
for leading and supporting change.
Institute Objectives
➜ Learn about actions that leaders take to
transform their organizations
➜ Explore how leaders help their organizations
survive and thrive when leading change
➜ Understand how and when leaders decide to
exercise authority and/or influence to initiate
and sustain change.