Full Text: Open Debate

Kopp: The most successful teachers in urban and rural areas set a vision for where their students will be academically at the end of the year which many think to be unreasonable. They motivate others -- their students and the students' parents -- to work harder than they've ever worked before to realize that vision. They are purposeful and effective in planning and executing toward that vision, work relentlessly to tackle the immense challenges that inevitably arise, and reflect constantly on their students' performance and their own practice in pursuit of continuous improvement. In other words, they do what the most effective leaders do in any context.

What we find is that teachers who approach their work in this way get their kids working with them rather than against them. The steps of establishing a goal that is meaningful to the kids and their families, and convincing kids that they can reach the goal through hard work and that reaching it will make a difference in their lives, are absolutely critical in this. Of course, it's then very important for the teacher to be able to meet the kids where they are and move them ahead as promised through excellent planning and execution. And, no matter what, there's no way around the challenges inherent in this work, which is why relentlessness -- or 'internal locus of control' as we call it -- is so critical. Some people encounter challenges and their tendency is to blame others, in this case kids, families, school administrators; the most successful of our corps members figure out what they can control, own those challenges, and persevere in the face of them.

We have developed a programmatic continuum that begins with a rigorous selection process, through which we look for individuals with the personal characteristics we've found through research to differentiate our top performers -- past demonstrated achievement, perseverance, the ability to influence and motivate others, problem-solving ability, organization skills, and a desire to work relentlessly towards this particular mission. We've also developed an intensive two-year program of pre-service and ongoing professional development, involving readings and seminars to help our corps members learn new skills and knowledge, practice, feedback, and structured reflection, to help corps members move towards proficiency and ultimately advanced proficiency against a rubric that details this 'teaching as leadership' approach.

Most of our organizational leaders are successful Teach For America corps members, so yes -- we do find that leading a classroom to success is wonderful training for leading teams and organizations to success. Do the characteristics and strategies I describe as fundamental to successful teaching resonate with you as fundamental to success in other enterprises? I'm curious too what you think about how much of this sort of leadership is inherent in people and how much can be trained and developed over time. We're still sorting out the answer to that question.

George: : Your approach to first line leadership in teaching applies very well to business. The characteristics you describe for a successful teacher are equally resonant for a successful business leader. But these characteristics are "necessary but not sufficient" conditions for a successful leader.

As to whether these are inherent or can be developed over time, my answer is "both." You are born with a set of characteristics that reside deep inside you: drive, ability to influence and motivate others, perseverance, etc. But you also have to develop those qualities through actual leadership experiences that include success, failure, and honest feedback that enable you to improve. Absent those experiences--and the ability to process them objectively--your natural gifts will remain dormant. A key quality you have not mentioned here is adaptability--facing unexpected obstacles, falling far short of your goals, reading the context and adapting your leadership approach. Absent that, leaders will continue to repeat their mistakes and will not grow and develop.

That leads me to the essence of the question, "Why is it so hard to lead yourself"? The answer, in my experience, lies in differences between your idealized self--how you see yourself, and how you want to be seen-- and your real self--how others actually experience you. The key to being able to develop yourself as a leader is to narrow that gap between your idealized self and your real self by developing a deep self-awareness that only comes from straight feedback and honest exploration of yourself, followed by a concerted effort to make changes.