The 3 R’s of Effective School Leadership: Respect, Rethinking, and Revision

0:01 Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment. I am your host, Dr. Lashanta, also known as the Classy Sassy Consultant. And today, this episode is just for our school level and district level administrators. As we are going into a new school year, we need encouragement. So I am here today to encourage you, school level and district level administrators, share the podcast with someone you know, someone you work with, because this will be food for your soul.

0:38 And a lot of this is information that you know, but sometimes some of the best information is information that we are reminded of. So we're going to talk about the three Rs for School and District Level Administrators. That is the title of this episode: The three Rs for School and District Level Administrators. So we're going to jump into those three R's in just a minute. But if you're new to the broadcast, if you're new to this podcast episode, I just wanted to share a little bit about my experiences so you know what leadership roles I have been in.

1:13 This has been a journey. Those of you that have been with me since 2018 when we began this podcast, you know a little bit about myself. But for those of you who are just tuning in for the first time, I have just completed my 28th year in education. That's right. 28 years. And in that 28-year time span, I have been a classroom teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, and a facilitator for leader quality when I worked at the board in Augusta, Georgia. So those are just some of my leadership roles and what I have been in for the past 28 years.

2:00 So that's just a little bit about myself. So let's jump into these three Rs. The first R that we're going to talk about is respect. Now you may be thinking that, you know, you know what respect is. Oh, I demand respect because of who I am and because of who my title, uh, what my title is. That may be about one or two percent of you that may have those types of thoughts and that mindset. But we must keep in mind that as leaders, we are servant leaders. We serve the community, we serve our students, our staff, and so in servant leadership, that means titles really do not matter as much as the content of the character of the individual holding that title.

2:54 So we must keep in mind that respect is what we should be showing ourselves and not looking for others to bow down at our feet just because we have that title, that leadership title. And I saw something on LinkedIn last week that resonated with me, and I love the um the comment or the quote, and I actually shared it out on my own page as well. And what that quote stated was you cannot be in leadership and be nasty to folks and expect to be respected because of your title. When we go into these roles, we must be in a manner of willing to listen more and talk less.

3:50 That also means that when we do choose and when we begin to give our direction and our guidance to our staff, that we need to make sure that the words that we are using are building up, are coaching others, not tearing someone apart or tearing them down. Because that's not what leadership is about. Leadership is not about being nasty to the people who we are working with, and so you might say, Well, you know, I have parents that come in that come in on 20 and they are ready to tear me down, and they come in fussing and cussing.

4:32 But guess what? It doesn't have to remain that way. Now we know that there are going to be belligerent parents, there are going to be belligerent community members, there are going to be people or students may be belligerent, and there may not always be a way to calm them down. But the worst thing that we can do as leaders is to match that energy, and so we must choose wisely how we choose to address a situation like that, and it doesn't mean we have to match the energy and be nasty to those individuals, or we have to make sure that we are the loudest individuals that are speaking at that time.

5:14 So just remember that respect means staying positive, keep positive feelings going on around you at all times, making sure that you show your admiration for people and the roles that they serve in. No matter if they're parents that are coming in, you admire that they're willing to come into that school and check on their child. Whether you are you admire the classroom teacher who has come to you 10 times about needing 10 reams of paper, and you're trying to get everyone on board and be more tech savvy, but you admire the fact that the teacher is putting forth effort to come and speak to you about this particular matter.

6:02 So you have to show admiration of what others do, thanking them for the work that they do or thanking them for who they are as community members, as parents, as students. In our roles as leaders, we must be willing to show respect. There are going to be times in which we are not going to be respected because of the titles that we're in, but we will be respected for the character, the character that we show each and every day. So respect is one of our most important Rs. Respect. And that's why we started off with that one.

6:42 Making sure that we keep positive feelings going around us at all times, respecting and showing admiration for the people that we are serving. The second R is rethinking. So with rethinking, we are talking about going back and reflecting on the things from this past school year, reflecting on policies, reflecting on procedures, reflecting on individuals that need improvement, reflecting on those individuals who are our high-flying staff members who can be a part of our leadership teams. We're rethinking what has been done.

7:29 And as leaders, you may have already started this. You've done this, you've started rethinking and going back and reflecting before the last school year got out. So now is the time to make sure that you've gone back and looked at everything, whether you're looking at policies and procedures, are there any are there any policies and procedures that have changed that the board wants you to put in place? You need to keep those in the forefront. Are there any things that at the school level you want to do differently?

8:04 Is there a rule that you had in place or an expectation for your students that you had in place that you want to change up a little bit? Make sure that you've gone back and looked at every aspect. You've looked at uh policies and procedures for your students, for your staff members, whether they're your certified, classified, you are reflecting back on the entire school year. Rethink the work that was done. What were some things that could have been better? And if you are truly a reflective leader, you were doing this throughout the school year, not just right now, not just at the end of the fiscal school year, but you have been reflecting all year, and you may have your little book that has turned into pages and pages of notes for of things that you want to do differently.

9:02 Effective leaders are rethinking their processes, they're rethinking as they are going through because things can change, and that we're gonna go into that last star and talk about change. Things can definitely change, but as you are looking towards the upcoming school year, you want to start this reflecting and this rethinking throughout the school year, so it's a continuous process, it's an ongoing, just like the number eight, it's just ongoing and rethinking about the things that you have done.

9:39 I actually did an episode back in 2018, and if you wanted to go back and listen to that episode, it was about reflective thinking for growth, and it's called Reflect for Growth. And this episode was completed on June 10th of 2018. So go back to that episode and and listen to that and talking about reflection. Reflection and rethinking is an important trait to have as an effective leader, whether you're at the school level or district level. Continue to think think about your processes and how can you make those processes better.

10:19 If you don't already have that that notepad or that binder or that little black book, little red book where you write down notes, make sure you have something separate, a separate notebook that where you can write down these um these processes that you want to do something different with as you're going along throughout the school year, because it does make it so much better to go back to that one binder that you can even title it rethinking or reflections, and again, it's an ongoing process, just like the number eight of you reconsidering what are some things that you could have done differently in your buildings.

11:03 All right, so that's our second R. And then our third R is revision. So after you've done all this rethinking, you want to begin to make some changes, you want to go through and put together what will the new process look like? What will this new policy look like? And so revision is very important as well because it's the follow-through. And sometimes we have these happy notebooks of reflections and rethinking, and they sit. The notebooks they sit in the back of your car, they sit in your office on a shelf, they sit in a desk drawer, and you never do anything with it.

11:51 And so you have a dream that has been deferred. You want to make sure that you go through and make those changes. If you see, when you're seeing things that need to be changed, you want to make sure that you follow through. Because as an effective leader, you're always looking at improvement. I consider myself a lifelong learner. And if you are in leadership or if you're just an individual who has breath in his or her body, you want to have that mindset of being a lifelong learner. Every day we learn something, whether it's in our roles as leaders or in our own personal lives.

12:33 But being that lifelong learner, and when we are, we adjust what we're doing so that we can maximize the end result. We want to improve our schools, our school districts, our states. We want to make sure that our students are productive, that they're getting a quality education. And so, in order for those things to happen, we have to do that follow-through. We have to go through and make sure that whatever changes that we have that we've thought of, that we want to implement, that we put those things in place.

13:15 And so, as an effective leader, I encourage you, I encourage you to make sure respect stays at the forefront of your leadership role, being respectful. We know that it takes a lot, it takes a lot for us to make sure that we stay professional in our language, in our demeanor, when we are when we feel we're being combated with a student or parent or staff member, someone who is just being belligerent. But respect, if it stays in the forefront, it will help you to be a better leader. Not saying that we're perfect because there are times in which we may fall short, but when you keep the positive feelings going, when you keep that positive mentality, that positive mindset, that is a growth mindset when we are remaining positive and keep yourself surrounded with other leaders who are there to encourage you, whether you're listening to a leader on a podcast, or whether you're listening to your mentor, or you may have colleagues that you all stick together, and that you are uh at the end of the day, you're able to go back through and talk about event.

14:45 This is what happened to me, but you know what? Tomorrow is gonna be a better day. We have to surround ourselves with positivity. So keeping respect in the forefront is so important. Rethinking, looking back over, reflecting on what we have done, and then revision, making those changes, the follow-through. We don't want to have where information that we're trying to improve, we have information that we've written down that we verbalize, but we don't do the follow-through. In order to remain effective, we want to do the follow-through.

15:25 So those are our three Rs. As I encourage you to have an awesome 2025-2026 school year, respect, rethinking, and revision. Now I've got a bonus R for you. Our bonus R is rejuvenate. Rejuvenate. Hopefully, during this time frame, even if you are a 12-month employee, you have have vacation time. Hopefully, you've taken the time to rejuvenate because this is an important word as well. Again, at the beginning of this episode, I talked about sometimes we are not, we as leaders, we forget to refill. We forget that we need to be encouraged, and sometimes refilling looks like rejuvenating, getting rest, relaxation mentally, spiritually, and physically.

16:25 Taking the time to make sure that your bodies are in check, whether you are doing exercise, whether it's yoga, whether you are uh doing massages, anything physically that will allow you to relax mentally, you are meditating, sleeping, naps, whatever the case may be, for mentally making sure that you're rejuvenated, spiritually participating in the activities at your place of worship, spiritually re-energizing. So, again, your bonus R is rejuvenate, rejuvenate that mind, body, and spirit because we have this awesome year that's coming up.

17:21 We have an awesome 2025-2026 school year coming up, and it will remain awesome as long as you keep these words in mind: respect, rethinking, revision, and our bonus word rejuvenate. That may mean even rejuvenating on the weekends before going back in to work on that Monday. Rejuvenate, take the time to allow yourself to rest mentally, spiritually, and physically.

18:11 So take a listen to that as well, and you can get some more information about self-care, which falls up under that word rejuvenate. So that is all that I have for you today. And I hope that you are encouraged. I hope that you are feeling ready, and that if you're not ready right now, that you have some ways to get yourself ready and prepared because guess what? The students are coming, the parents are coming, the community members are coming, the community partners are coming, they are coming, and we have to make sure that we have our servant leadership hats on, and we are rolling up our sleeves, and we're ready to dive right in and do the work that has been given to us to do as leaders in our schools and leaders in our school districts.

19:10 So, this has been the three Rs for school and district level administrators. I am your host, Dr. Lashonta, also known as the Classy Sassy Consultant. I hope you have enjoyed, and until next time, have a good one.