A team has a behavioural cycle from when it begins through to when it is well established. When a new cycle begins it is because there has been a change in the team. People have left and new people have joined. Perhaps there has been a leadership change. Perhaps there has been a restructure. Even if only one person is new to the team, the cycle starts here.
So what happens at the start of this new cycle? People are on their best behaviour. They are respectful, courteous. They are learning about the team and the school. They are understanding the culture, what is ok and what is not ok. What is expected of them and what is considered not important.
But importantly, they are watching. The main person they are watching is the team leader. They are watching to see where they spend their time, because this is the sign of what is important to them. What do they disregard, or give little regard to, as this is what is not important. This modelling is what they are using to determine where they should dedicate their time. This positive behaviour is a delight for the team leader because it means they can get on with their work, they can get their tasks done.
But watch out! Don’t bury yourself at your desk and be head-down doing tasks. In leadership, please remember that WE LEAD PEOPLE AND WE MANAGE THINGS. This means that the majority of your time should be spent on working with your team members, getting to know them, building up a strong level of trust, ensuring psychological safety and opening the pathway to collaboration. And this is especially true in Term 1. The norms are set in Term 1 and your focus as the team leader, is to develop strong healthy and positive relationships with every team member. THE PEOPLE ARE THE WORK. Hold on to this mantra. Every educator comes to work to make a positive impact on the lives of their students. Impact is made through influence, and influence happens as a result of healthy relationships. Every person in your team wants to be KNOWN, VALUED and BELONG. Its your job as their leader to bring these feelings to life in every member of your team and your highway to success is if you do this in Term 1.
So here we go at the start of Term 1. Go and connect with your team members and build those relationships. Then as they watch you, they will see that your priority is the people because the people are the work.
