In the most recent episode of the Entreleadership Podcast, Christy Wright interviews Steven M.R. Covey about trust. Trust is an unseen force that is contagious. It can spread like wildfire. So can it's foil, distrust. Everything that you do as a leader builds trust or builds distrust. I've learned some important things about trust that were reinforced by listening to that podcast episode. Here are my seven tips for building trust. Positive Intentions. As we learned in TP11 with Melinda Miller, it is very powerful to assume positive intentions. I've written about story lines before. We all have them, and when we assume the best in people we are able to have less stress, more productivity, and more happiness. Start with Trust, Restrict as Trust is Lost. It is better to start with trust with people. When it comes to educators, we entrust them to be with students alone, all day long. If we just start there, that is a huge amount of trust. Some other forms of "accountability" that are popular right now are really demeaning when you compare how much trust we give them on a day-to-day basis. If you start to realize that you can't trust someone, then you can start reigning them in. Release as Trust is Gained. If you do have a reason to distrust an employee, and they start to prove that you can trust them, celebrate that with them and give them a little autonomy back. That will help them understand that there is salvation, and they don't have to live fearing that they will never be successful. Tell People where They Stand. One thing that is super scary is not knowing what your boss thinks of you. You shouldn't find opportunities to tear people down, but if you are concerned about people not having your trust, tell them. Tell them how they can earn it back, then let them earn it back. But don't distrust them and never tell them. This is a hard conversation, but every single time I have given negative feedback people with the intent to help, people have responded positively. When it is clear from how I communicate to them that they are never going to gain my trust again, they respond poorly. Pretty simple, yet very hard to do well. If you hold a grudge after someone has done what you required to have them earn back your trust, it is going to be so hard to overcome that so that they trust you again!Be Willing to Let Go of What Doesn't Matter, for the sake of trust. When you delegate something, be sure to set clear expectations, but trust that the person is going to do their best and allow them some creativity to do what they want. You'll have much more success and they'll buy into it a lot more. For example, I asked a teacher to create a Teacher of the Year PowerPoint background for a movie I was going to create, and told her my idea, but let her do her thing. It came out way better than I thought it would, she got some great recognition, and I was able to let her shine. I didn't want a black background, but the color of the background didn't matter at all. What mattered was that she was able to create something amazing, and I was able to let her. There is no place for ego in leadership. Start with Why. Just because this is the last tip doesn't mean it is the least important. In fact, according to Simon Sinek, it is the single most important thing you can do. You inspire trust when you tell people why we are doing things. When the why is lost, people have no vision. To bring this full circle, Dave Ramsey (Entreleadership) often quotes Proverbs 29:18:"Where there is no vision the people perish."I hope these tips help you become a better leader and build trust with your faculty.Have a Good Life.

Bob Sonju is the Director of K-12 Learning in Washington School District in Southern Utah. In this first part of the interview, we discuss the following: A little about Bob’s history and what he learned to help him become prepared for being a transformative principal. Bob focuses on making sure all students are doing their best, not just particular subgroups. What prepared Bob to be a principal: being a coach and a special education teacher. What barriers prevent a school from being ready for change. Three fundamentals that are needed to change: Why do we exist Describing a perfect school What are we going to do to make sure we get there! Conversations about structural change take time and informal and formal conversations with teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders. All the voices have to be in the room! Establishment of norms are critical for the success of our school, and while we want to hear everyone’s concerns, we will move forward with the will of the group. The norms for Bob’s schools. The need for "critical friends". How he deals with the fact of hearing that he is doing something wrong. One of the best interview questions: "Anticipate a mistake you are going to make, and how you will resolve that!" Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey Sponsor: Sanebox New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Mr. Gregory Leavitt is the principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, UT. Draper Park has experienced some great success recently as a top-scoring school in the state in Math, ELA, and Science. He was the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year Award Winner. In this episode we talk about the following: Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs. Agenda consists of activities, common vocabulary, student problem solving, and team activities and celebrations Vocabulary is a powerful way to connect content areas. How he reviews all 9 PLC teams’ notes. Consistency as key to long-term success. How they use a Friday late start collaboration time. Subject Area Teaming and PLCs Large focus on data Common Formative Assessments Bringing everybody up, instead of comparing for comparison sake. Easy to take big end-of-year test when you are assessing for mastery to the standards all throughout the year. No need for a big push at the end. Nothing fancy, just some Google Docs that are shared between the team. Standards-Based Grading 100% of grades are based on assessments, what the kids can actually demonstrate as mastery. Rick Wormeli - "Fair Isn’t Always Equal" Objective Tracker, student-reported grades, and success. How you can be a transformative principal: Pick one thing that you can sustain for the next 5-7 years and stick with it. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Today I am interviewing Assistant Principal, Entreprenuer, Father, and Hot Mess, Brendan Hufford (Twitter)! Thea Bowman Leadership Academy - only successful school in Gary, Indiana. OKkimonos.com and Entrepreneurs and Coffee Podcast are a couple side gigs that Brendan has going on. * Gary, Indiana is a struggling city, but full of amazing people. * Showing trust to students * Leading with trust - people want to give back trust when you give it to them. * It’s not as easy to build relationships as an admin than it is to build relationships as a teacher. * If you care about the students, they’ll do what you need them to do. * When you get frustrated, your care is the first to go away. * Kids aren’t afraid of things happening in the school that make them unsafe, they are likely afraid of things happening on the way to or from school that make them feel unsafe. * Resting vs. sleeping. * Getting up at 3 am helps him be his best. * Need to teach entrepreneurism to help US compete globally. * The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield * College vs. Entrepreneurism. * College Bubble is going to Burst - College is a great chance to mature, party, and have fun. If you want to go to college for an actual education, you are overpaying. * Entrepreneurism is not for everybody. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Bob Dillon Twitter Web Site is the Director of Technology and Innovation for Afton School District. He has been a middle school principal for 15 years in three different places and currently helps many other principals improve their practices. Join the PrincipalPLN Voxer group 1st order change - simple, fixit types of problems, typically exciting that help people feel good about things, but don’t really move the needle in improving a school. 2nd order change - moving from management to leadership. Changes that will last after you are gone. People start to feel like they are part of a special organization. Sometimes it is messy, people don’t know how things will play out. Doug Timm Principal in Delaware. Need to focus on what matters in the long term. 1st order change - painting over water stain on a house you just bought. 2nd order change - taking off the drywall and cleaning (or replacing) studs and insulation. Playing the short and the long game. Higher-level conversations Difficulty of dealing with minor problems. If you are working hard daily, people will be more likely to give you a break. Build up key communicators in the building. Trust your teachers to say things in a way that you know will be beneficial. People need to hear the same in multiple ways. How to help teachers be comfortable taking risks. Need to scaffold to the higher level of risk-taking. Part 2 Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Mike Kelly - Principal Ire Middle School. East Penn School District. Mike on Twitter: @principalmkelly Mike’s Blog The importance of blogging and reflection, sharing learning. Personal growth mindset post. The end of marking periods. Starting removal of marking periods in 6th grade! Arbitrary dates to complete learning on certain topics. Extended learning program greatly reduces academic failures. Many additional clubs and activities are offered. "Required" extended learning program. Perception of ELP. Time and support are the variables and learning is the constant. How to prepare for big changes in schools. Parent concerns about end of marking periods. Start with small parent groups. How to gain teacher support for the end of marking periods. The case against 0 The power of 0 Retesting and redo How to be a transformative principal? Surround yourself with transformative people. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

This week Geri Parscale came to visit us in Kodiak and teach us about PLCs. The teachers walked away energized and excited. On Twitter she is @ParscaleG. In this episode she talks about PLCs and culture. PLCs are a way of life, not a program, and that is what I have always enjoyed about the PLC approach. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

This week Geri Parscale came to visit us in Kodiak and teach us about PLCs. The teachers walked away energized and excited. On Twitter she is @ParscaleG. In this episode she talks about PLCs and culture. PLCs are a way of life, not a program, and that is what I have always enjoyed about the PLC approach. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Henry Turner - Principal of Bedford High School outside Boston. Site visits is where the interview teams comes to the school to meet with the teams that work with the principal. Tips to prepare. Choose a diverse group of people. Avoid some pitfalls: lack of preparation, only asking rockstars. How to prepare people for the visit: Announce early to community. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Henry Turner is a fantastic principal doing some great things at Bedford High School outside Boston. He blogs at Leadingtolearn. Implementing iPad initiative. Focus on creating iPad content. Fundraising Upstander anti-bullying program. Facing History in Ourselves. Asking curious questions. Kids create public service announcements with their iPads. Achievement gap strategies. Data teams Putting kids in levels, but not tracking them. Conversations and district support. The Calculus Project. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.  New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal