Quality 9 - Enthusiastic

Favorite Quote - "I feel sorry for the person who can't get genuinely excited about his work. Not only will he never be satisfied, but he will never achieve anything worthwhile." Walter Chrysler

Harley Davidson is the quintessential corporate American success story. From its beginnings in 1903, Harley Davidson built great motorcycles that were loved and depended upon all over the world, including the Allies in World War 2. In the early 1960's Harley Davidson owned an 85 % market share for large motorcycles in the US. After 60 years the company changed hands and the company moved. Workers were demoralized and quality declined. In 1980, the Harley Davidson market share for large motorcycle sales dropped to 30%. In 1981 13 executives and enthusiasts bought HD and the company began to turn around. What made the difference. New methods, new products, new owners all contributed to a new enthusiasm within the company and among customers. Today, Harley Davidson has total sales of 2.9 billion annually. Harley employees and owners are legendary for their enthusiasm about their motorcycles.

Reflecting on enthusiasm we see that enthusiastic people;

1. take responsibility fro their own enthusiasm. They recognize that a positive attitude is a choice.
2. sometimes act their way into feeling that way. No one feels positive and enthusiastic all the time. Sometimes we just "fake it until we make it." Yesterday on the porch, Jane Stancil came out smiling to beat the band, and so was I. One of us asked the other, "What are you smiling about?" The response was, "I just am."
3. believe in what they do.
4. Spend time with other enthusiastic people. Have you ever noticed how a negative person brings everyone down and how a positive one lifts everyone's spirits? You are most like the ones you spend time with.

To improve enthusiasm;

1. work with a sense of urgency. Set goals for yourself. Put a little quick in your step. Interact purposefully with colleagues.
2. be willing to do more. When I was out last week, several things had to covered at the last minute. The team players took on those responsibilities willingly and cheerfully, asking "What can I do to help?" Do what's required and then some.
3. strive for excellence. Nothing breeds enthusiasm like a job well done.

Only with enthusiasm can we continue to bring out the best in ourselves and in our students, or make the transition to whatever new beginnings lie ahead next year and into the future.

Quality 8 Enlarging

Guest Blogger: Barbara Cloyd, 4th Grade Teacher


Favorite Quote: "The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd made my teammates play." Bill Russell


When I embarked upon reading about Quality 8 Enlarging, I honestly had never heard the term used before. But although the term may seem somewhat creative, the essence of this quality is age-old. Enlarging is about individuals unselfishly using their gifts and talents to enrich the lives of those around them. Bill Russell speaks of this idea in terms of playing basketball, but enlarging is important on every team and in every organization. Whether you are the star center on the Boston Celtics, a teacher in a school, a student in a classroom, or a part of any type of group, one should evaluate "What do I bring to the table?" or "How can I make us better?" When group members share their own unique talents, they actually elevate the group to a new level. Group members admire and appreciate those who are willing to unselfishly make the group better, before thinking about themselves. When enlarging, one cannot think about how individual actions will help gain some sort of personal benefit. The enlarger must be a secure person that can look beyond possible opportunities for individual success, to see the larger benefit through helping the group. Henry Ward Beecher stated, "No man is more cheated than the selfish man." In other words, when you are willing to enlarge the group, you enlarge yourself!
Attributes of the enlarging team player:

• Enlargers value their teammates. Recognize and appreciate the strengths that other players bring to the game and utilize those strengths.
• Enlargers value what their teammates value. Players who enlarge others try hard to understand the values of their teammates. They get to know their teammates in an effort to make a connection.
• Enlargers add value to their teammates. Adding value to the team is the whole purpose of this idea. Enlargers want to help teammates improve upon their abilities and attitudes.
• Enlargers make themselves more valuable. If you want your team to be more successful, then it is important to make yourself better. Being your best helps the team reach its potential.

If you want to enlarge the team, follow these simple ideas . . .

• Believe in others before they believe in you! Be the initiator in situations and problems. Lead by example and others will soon respect your efforts.
• Serve others before they serve you. Help others in your family and work reach their potential. Offering time and support for the enrichment of others is powerful.
• Add value to others before they add value to you. The book states that as humans we tend to gravitate towards those who enrich us and move away from those who devalue us. We can enlarge people by helping them zone in on their specific talents and help them to reach their potential with those talents. We should not try to force people to embark into areas in which they do not have the talent or skills in which to be successful.

Ask yourself, "If I am not helping the team, am I hurting it?" All teams need all players to be enlargers so that the team can reach its highest potential.

Quality 7 Disciplined

Favorite quote: "Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability."

No team succeeds without discipline. I am talking primarily about self-discipline. Indeed, it is the only discipline worth talking about. Michael Jordan was blessed by the Almighty with a ton of talent. He could jump, change directions, and shoot the basketball better than most any other player. His dunks were spectacular. As a player at UNC and with the Chicago Bulls, his accomplishments are legendary. He is recognized worldwide as a winner. But did you know that the most legendary aspect of Michael Jordan's character are his tremendous work ethic, self discipline, and intensity. Sure, he was born with tremendous physical gifts, but his intensity and self discipline made him great. Only by working hard to make himself a better player was he able to achieve greatness.

Disciplined team players possess;

1. Disciplined thinking. Keeping your mind active, accepting mental challenges, and think about right things.
2. Disciplined emotions. Make sure that the emotions of the moment don't prevent you from doing what you need to or allow you to do things you shouldn't.
3. Disciplined actions. Everything you do counts. Make sure each action is well founded and in the right spirit.

To become a better team player;

1. Strengthen work habits. Do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.
2. Take on challenges. It will strengthen your mind and your resolve.
3. Tame your tongue. Speak truth in kindness. I never regretted anything I DIDN'T say.

Great teams need disciplined team members.

Quality 6 Dependable

Favorite quote - "It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what is required." Winston Churchill

Just yesterday, I got an e-mail from my good friend Ann Miller, who coordinates programs for four year olds here in SDOC, among other things. She was lavish in her praise of one of our own, Lauren Gay. It seems as though Lauren was screening at Ravenel for next year's programs when Mrs. Miller found out they needed help with registration in Westminster. True to form, Lauren volunteered to go to Westminster and help them out while another teacher finished at the Ravenel. The other teacher left early, leaving screening still to be done back at Ravenel. Lauren volunteered to go back and finish what her replacement had left undone, after she had helped out at Westminster. This story provides a clear contrast between one set of actions that were team oriented and dependable and another set which were neither of those. What makes the difference?

According to Maxwell, the attributes of dependability are;
1. Pure motives
2. Responsibility
3. Sound thinking
Lauren did not act to make her colleague look bad. She acted because she had taken the responsibility for that screening and was determined to see it through. She knew that if she didn't somebody else would have to.

How to become more dependable
1. Check your motives
2. Discover the value of your word
3. Find an accountability partner

Every team improves when its members become more dependable.

Competent

Favorite quote "People forget how fast you did a job - but they remember how well you did it."

Competence does not mean "minimally adequate" as believed by some. Competent describes someone who is "well qualified" for a job or task.

Competent people are;

• committed to excellence. They want every process, procedure, and outcome to be the very best it can be.
• never settle for average. For competent people, "good enough" is not good enough. They give it all they have to achieve highest quality, even on common tasks.
• pay attention to detail. It's been rightfully said, that the quality of any endeavor is in the details. Don't get me wrong. We need those people with the big ideas. They inspire us to attempt things that we wouldn't otherwise attempt. But the quality come from the details of the implementation of an idea. They do the little things well.
• perform consistently.

To improve competence;

• focus on your work. Make it the best it can be.
• sweat the small stuff. To paraphrase Maxwell, do the last 10 % of your projects as well or better than the first 90%.
• pay attention to implementation. How will we make this great idea work on the highest level for our students?

Utilizing these principles we can achieve the highest levels of quality in our work.

2008 School Report Card Reflections and What Now?

By now, you may already know that the 2008 School Report Cards were released early this morning. Although the release is very recent, the ratings on the report card are not a surprise to us. We knew when we saw last year's test scores that Kellett's report card rating would not be satisfactory to any of us. Based on last year's testing results, JN Kellett received an absolute rating from the state of "below average". That is based on a statistical analysis of our 2008 PACT scores. JN Kellett's improvement rating was 'at risk". The improvement rating means that our test scores declined rather than improved for the 2008 administration of PACT. We have long since come to terms with that performance last year and have been implementing specific plans to address those issues all year long.

Let me say now as I have before that we are proud of the efforts of our faculty and staff, and of the efforts of our students. Our faculty and staff have raised the bar of expectations and our students and families have answered the call. There is ample evidence that our testing results will improve in 2009. Our attendance is at an all time high. The winter administration of MAP yielded the results we envisioned when we drew up out MAP improvement plan. In Language Arts our students posted an average RIT score gain of 8.04. In Math they improved by an average RIT score gain of 8.58. In Reading, the average score improvement was 7.61. A 10 point gain is typical for a whole year of instruction. These results were accomplished in 13 weeks of instruction.

Please don't misunderstand me. While we are justifiably proud of this significant progress, but we know in our hearts and our heads that we can do better. Already, new plans are in effect to make sure that our students continue their growth so that they can close the gap between themselves and the national norms.

We have implemented plans to prepare for the new state-wide test, the PASS. Although little is known about PASS, we do know the criteria for scoring the writing sample to be done on March, so we are hard at work making sure that our students understand how their work will be judged and teaching them about the writing process. We remain convinced that, with continued focus on teaching and learning, our students will improve their performance on the state-wide test. This is not the time educators, students, or parents to rest on our laurels. Only by maintaining our effort and focusing on implementing our plans, will JN Kellett meet its goals for student achievement in 2009. All stakeholders are invited to join us in our quest for continuous improvement.

Quality 4 Communicative

My favorite quote - Think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of the people. William Butler Yeats

What is more common than a smart person who cannot communicate with others. All of the intellect in the world is of little use without the ability to communicate knowledge and ideas to others. Recently, we celebrated the birthday of perhaps the greatest American President in history, Abraham Lincoln. When you read Lincoln's words, you readily see a man with lofty ideas and uncommon vision. The power of his words comes from his ability to communicate those lofty ideas and uncommon vision to common, ordinary citizens. Take the Gettysburg Address or the Second Inaugural Address for example. Nothing ever written exemplifies common language used to such great effect as Lincoln did on those two occasions. With his lofty ideas, uncommon vision, and common language, he wrote and spoke with a beauty and power that rallied a nation through it's darkest hour. His unusual communication skills served him, and the nation, well.

Characteristics of communicative people;

1. They do not separate themselves from others. The more we understand, the more we care.

2. They make it easy for teammates to communicate with them. Most communication issues can be solved by proximity.

3. They follow the 24 Hour Rule and address difficulty within 24 hours.

4. They pay attention to difficult relationships.

5. They follow up in writing, keeping it clear and simple.

Improve communication by;

1. Being candid. Speak truthfully and kindly.

2. Be quick to address problems.

3. Be inclusive. If you can include others - do.

Good communication is not easy, but it pays big dividends to ourselves and to our teammates.