Episode Topic: Danae Acker and Ashley Pursley are joined by Leonard Galloway, principal of Glenview Middle in Anderson District 5.

Introduction

Leonard Galloway has been in education for 17 years, 10 of those as a principal. He has spoken at National AVID conferences and is owner of Jumbo Bounce, an inflatable bounce house business.

We know you are principal at Glenview Middle School, but tell us a little about who you are outside of those walls.

LG: I am a family man, I've been married since 1999; I got married a year out of high school. Our kids Bradly, 15, and Addison, 10, keep us busy. Our dog completes the equation of the true American family minus the white picket fence. My family is what makes me truly dedicated to what I do outside of my home in regards to school; I love kids; I love family; I believe in family, and my family has been very impactful in my development as an adult. It all started as a child. My parents taught us how to love and depend on each other, and I try to exhibit that with my own family.

You're not the new kid on the block when it comes to leadership. In 2014, Simon Sinek delivered a TED Talk called "How Great Leaders Inspire Action". How do you think this influences your leadership style?

LG: If someone were to come ask me what do I do and how do I do it, I think it always goes back to relationships. If you have a good relationship with your teachers, students, and community, you can get them to buy-into what you are selling. I truly think that you have to invest time with your teachers; let them see and walk towards what you're selling. Brothers Dan and Chip Heath talk about riding the elephant. The elephant is larger than the rider but the rider must lead that elephant from point A to point B. Ultimately, the elephant has more ability and strength than the rider, but the rider must motivate it to go in the desired direction. As leaders of schools, we have facilities full of students and teachers; they are really carrying the weight of the school, but as their leader, we are responsible for selling, telling, and encouraging them to building relationships. As you build relationships, student achievement will increase. If your students see you invested in them and their interests outside of school, then they will invest in you in the classroom. It takes time, and you may have to take more time with some kids than others, but you will "get there".

How do you invest in your teachers and build those relationships?

LG: I've taught at the elementary and middle level, and there's a difference between those levels. With elementary being a smaller environment, you have more opportunities to meet together more frequently. At the middle school, you have 6th grade teachers on one hall, 8th grade on another hall, so you have to really make an investment to allow them to get together at different times. So, at the beginning of school we don't have a typical faculty meeting. One year, we had an amazing race across our town of Anderson; at Glenview we took the teachers to an Escape Room; midway through the year, we go bowling. We group the teachers across grade levels because this may be their only opportunity to work together. We have a common thread that we are all educators, but with us working together all the time, we need to make sure we like each other. If you enjoy your colleagues, you will work harder to ensure the goal is reached. I try to build those relationships by getting teachers to work together inside and outside of school. As a leader, I try to model the importance of relationships by making myself available to teachers and students. I want the kids to be able to trust me and feel they can tell me anything.

One of the strategies I use to build student relationships is playing UNO with them. I recently had 3 girls who were having issues with each other. We were in my office where each girl was giving her side of the story - none of the stories made any sense, and I didn't feel like we were getting anywhere. I didn't want them to leave with bitterness, so I decided we would play a quick game of UNO. Now, the thing about UNO, or any game, is that I'm very competitive, and I know as leader of the school I should take the emotions of my students into consideration, but when I'm playing UNO, all of those goes out the window. I'm trying to make sure I walk away with some success. We played and I won, throwing the last card down, saying "BAM! UNO, get out of my office!" These girls walk out laughing, and as they turned the corner, one girl says, "He's smiling; he knows he cheated." If the relationship was fixed because these girls assumed I cheated, then that's cool.

My teachers can come talk to me about anything as well. Everything doesn't have to be about SC READY and the State Report Card. Although it's important, you need to buy into what's going on in their lives outside of school to show you really care and to ensure that you have done all you can for them to know that you're their leader and they can follow you.

What's one action step a new principal can take to build relationships with students and teachers?

LG: Be as visible as possible. I recall my first year as principal. Luckily the folks that came before me paved the way and taught me what I should and shouldn't do, but it's not until you actually take the seat that you get to experience what's it's like being that leader. The goal is not to make everybody happy because you will need to say no. As a first year principal, I wanted everyone to be happy; "yes to this" and "yes to that," but that was just insane. If someone has a request and the answer is no, then as long as you can support them and let them know why the answer is no, they will accept it. Every decision made should be in the best interest of the students. Some things are black and white, but there's an area of gray too. If you know the student's story, then you can allow some grace and support. The goal is not to make everyone happy, the goal is to make the right decisions for the benefit of the students.

Can that same philosophy be used for teachers in the classroom?

LG: Leaders are not the ones just sitting in the corner office of the building. They are in every classroom; the leader is cooking the fries; the leader is cleaning the floors. It takes a community to teach our students. The students need to be a part of that community by cleaning up after themselves, they need to say, "thank you"--those soft skills. Everybody plays a role in teaching our kids those soft skills.

The teacher needs to make sure that he or she understands the students as much as they possibly can because everybody has a story, a reason as to why something happens. If a teacher understands that why, they will be able to allow grace while upholding standards of high expectations.

The education world is embracing innovative thinking and bold learning experiences. In The Innovator's Mindset, George Couros says, "Great leaders practice balancing trust and autonomy while providing strong mentorship." What are your thoughts?

LG: Trust is very important to be successful as a team. In thinking about strong leadership and mentorship, we must understand we won't be in this role forever. Who is going to carry on the torch when you leave? John Maxwell talks about the five levels of leadership: positional leaders up to the pinnacle leaders who grow other leaders. Once someone becomes a positional leaders, one of their priorities should be training and mentoring to get someone else ready to take on that leadership role. Sometimes ego may get in the way of leaders, and although a leader should be confident and show strength, he/she does not know the answer to every question or situation. We are experts in some things, but not in everything. It's important we surround ourselves with people who are experts in a variety of areas, so when a decision needs to be made, you can look at the question from all perspectives. To have someone beside you, training them and teaching them how they can go forward makes for a great transition when the time comes. As a mentor, your job is to teach others to avoid the mistakes you made. We would not be doing education any type of service if we didn't provide strong leadership and mentorship.

How can a leader grow other leaders without feeling the intimidation that someone will take over his/her job?

LG: Well, that happens. Someone comes into the organization and there is a bit of intimidation, but if you are doing your job with fidelity, you shouldn't have to worry about anybody taking your job.

When you go back to your WHY, your purpose for doing what you do, and it all goes back to having successful students, you will understand that it's important to empower others and sustain momentum. Education is not as respected as other careers, but we are in control of that. We can write our own story; we control the pen, and we need to make sure that the person who receives the pen next is going to continue to write a successful story, adding additional chapters to the legacy. This book is never-ending; it doesn't just stop when you leave. It continues, so we want to make sure we empower our authors.

Weston Kieschnick, author of BOLD School, encourages teachers to, "try early, fail often, pursue excellence with joy, and be an omnipresent model of lifelong learning for kids and adults around you. The world needs more learners and fewer experts." What are your thoughts?

LG: We should never stop learning. Learning does not stop with age and it's important to model trying early and failing often. There's nothing wrong with failure. The issue with failure is you keep failing at the same thing. From a disciplinarian's standpoint, when kids make mistakes, we need to understand that they are still kids and we are not giving them life sentences. These are still kids; they are learning; they are heavily influenced outside of the time we have with them at school and that plays a part in their decision making at school. When we're doing discipline we try to be mindful that kids are going to be kids. We know they make mistakes, but one thing I say is, "I ain't Jesus. Jesus has unlimited grace, but you need to learn from your mistakes."

Each learner and expert has a role. Everyone cannot be an expert in everything. When you understand you are not an expert in everything, then you open the door for deep learning to occur. We can learn about the things we aren't an expert in to be able to contribute to the conversation. When you think you know everything, you end up making mistakes when you make decisions about something you don't know, and that's not in the best interest of the kids. It all really goes back to the kids.

In education, we talk about having and developing your WHY. Can you tell us what your WHY is?

LG: My WHY is: through education, our students can have an impact that makes our community and our world a better place. It sounds cliché, but when we've talked about leaving a legacy and passing a baton, we want to make sure that when we are incapable of making our own decisions, we want the folks after us to make the right decisions. However cliché it may sound, we are in the business of ensuring that our world, state, and community is better because of the impact that we're making on our students. Now that we know our WHY, we can move to the HOW. We ensure that lessons are taught with fidelity; we ensure that education is not just about standards and content, but we throw in soft skills as well. As an educator, your WHY must include something about kids in education. The classroom of 2020 is different from the classroom of 2010. Technology has increased, standards have changed, and the students have changed. As an educator, I can pack my toolbox with resources. I like to look at Twitter as a professional development hub. Another resource is the person next door to you who is doing things in their classroom to be impactful. I look for opportunities to address and fulfill my WHY by looking, reading, staying upbeat, and going back to my main purpose. My main purpose is to teach and educate kids to make our community better, and that information drives me to continue to fine-tune my craft, pack my toolbox with all sorts of tools that will fulfill my WHY.

On Twitter, a teacher said, "I'm not sure if people realize how emotionally draining it is to be a head coach or a teacher or a principal who truly cares about each individual as a person, student, or athlete. In thinking about those moments when education is so emotionally taxing and we have teachers who feel overwhelmed and ineffective, how can going back to their WHY help them push through to the end goal?

LG: The role that the WHY plays for people is that it's their driving force. It's important to establish a WHY. It's not something that you can just create in a few minutes, it's something at you truly believe in. I truly believe in my wife, my kids, my family, and my students, and because I truly believe in them, I am going to do all I possibly can to ensure they meet their goals. My WHY keeps me going through that process.

Yes, educating is emotionally draining and educators do not get paid enough. You cannot put a price tag on everything they do. They do not come into education for money. When we think about our teachers' WHYs, it has nothing to do with money. If it did, Lord knows they wouldn't be doing it right now. They teach because they truly believe in kids, the truly believe that our world has so much potential and we have so many kids who can make a difference. I have great joy knowing that these are some great folks in our profession because they do not make their decisions based off of economics. They do it because they truly believe in our students. I tip my hat off to teachers and coaches because of the times they take on weekends and afternoons to grade papers and the sacrifice they make with family and friends in order to reach their WHY. I encourage them to keep going and let them know that we truly appreciate everything they do for our profession.

Different people need different types of motivation and encouragement to preform at their highest ability. How do you motivate your colleagues?

LG: Jean days! It's amazing how the culture changes when an email is sent out about wearing jeans.

Celebrating the highs is important. When you set a goal at the beginning of the year and can celebrate it at the end of the year, that's great, but celebrate individual goals along the way. Some things we've done in the past is to highlight teacher of the month; folks who are doing great jobs in the classroom are nominated by the kids, and the kids write some great things about them. I could be wrong, but honestly, I think teachers like for you to come up and say, "Thank you; you're doing a great job" to show they are valued in some type of way, just to notice them. One of the most rewarding things for me as a teacher was to see that kid, that you had that one year that got on your nerves, to come back a few years later with a diploma and saying they've overcome some challenges and are going to college. As leaders we can highlight our teachers and their contributions to make them feel valued, but it's also great for our kids to come back and show off some of the great things they have done simply because you cared. The ones who come back to you years later are the ones that you fussed at a lot, and that's valuable.

Here we are at the end of the iTalks: Illuminating Conversations Podcast, and we've hit on a lot of the LG's greatest hits. What final message do you have for teachers right now who have given everything throughout the season?

LG: Don't give up. Spend time with family and friends doing the things you like to do. This is a nice opportunity for you to go at your own pace and grab some additional tools to put in your toolbox, but it's also important to find time at the end of the day to spend with your family and friends. One thing I believe is that I can always be replaced as the principal of Glenview Middle School, but I can never be replaced as a father, husband, and friend. Ultimately the break is time for you to get your mind ready, spend time with your family and friends, and add additional strategies and things to your toolbox. Do it out of passion, not because you have to. Always go back to your WHY because it will push you. If you take your time in creating a why that is meaningful, you will never forget it. I appreciate the work that every educator does in our district. Educators are not just the teachers; they are the custodians, the food service workers, transportation, and anyone whose work impacts our students; we appreciate all of you.