Talent for Turnaround: Support for Systemic Change May 11, 2017 | DoubleTree Hilton | Scottsdale, Arizona
Talent for Turnaround: Support for Systemic Change
May 11, 2017 | DoubleTree Hilton | Scottsdale, Arizona
May 11, 2017
Talent for Turnaround:
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Catherine Barbour
• Discuss the unique challenges of leading in a turnaround
school.
• Understand the importance of competencies in
turnaround leader recruitment and selection.
• Reflect on current talent management practices.
• Understand how to recruit leaders with competencies to
turn around persistently low-performing schools.
• Create an action plan to incorporate or improve
competency-based recruitment and selection practices in
your schools.
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Session Objectives
Professional Learning Module
Recruit, Select, and Support: Turnaround Leader
Competencies
Part 1: Understanding Turnaround Leader Competencies
Part 2: Recruiting and Selecting Turnaround Leaders
Part 3: Developing and Supporting Turnaround Leaders
Using Turnaround Leader Competencies
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Talent Development Framework
Topic
Welcome and Overview
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Competency-Based Selection
Recruiting Turnaround Leaders
Action Planning
Closing Comments
Agenda
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Agenda
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Topic
Welcome and Overview
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Competency-Based Selection
Recruiting Turnaround Leaders
Action Planning
Closing Comments
“Turnaround efforts are made when
organizations are in a state of
entrenched failure.
Leaders who would otherwise succeed
often fall short in a turnaround.”
(Steiner & Hassel, 2011, p. 2)
Turnaround Leaders
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Activity: What Sets
Turnaround Leaders Apart?
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Leading in Higher-Performing School
Leading in Turnaround
School
“The importance of leadership begs the
questions of how to identify, support, and
retain high quality principals, especially in
turnaround schools where their influence is
needed most.”
(Zhu, Hitt, & Woodruff, 2015, p. 4)
Leveraging Leaders
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Competencies are underlying motives and habits—or
patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, and speaking—that
cause a person to be successful in a specific job or role.
Competencies lead to actions that lead to outcomes.
Competencies explain some of the differences in
performance levels of leaders.
(Steiner & Hassel, 2011)
Competencies
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“Competency research suggests that outstanding
performance in complex jobs—ones in which most
candidates have a similar educational history and
significant autonomy over daily work tasks—is
driven more by underlying competencies than by
readily observed skills and knowledge.”
Competencies
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(Steiner & Hassel, 2011, p. 5)
Turnaround Leader Competencies
• Self-Confidence /
Commitment to
Student Learning
• Belief in Learning
Potential
• Analytical Thinking
• Conceptual Thinking
• Impact and Influence
• Team Leadership /Engaging the Team
• Developing Others
• Achievement /Focus on Sustainable Results
• Monitoring & Directiveness /Holding People Accountable
• Initiative & Persistence
• Planning Ahead
Driving for Results
Influencing for Results
Problem Solving
Personal Effectiveness
(Public Impact, 2008; Spencer & Spencer, 1993; UVA Partnership for Leaders in Education, 2014)
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Agenda
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Topic
Welcome and Overview
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Competency-Based Selection
Recruiting Turnaround Leaders
Action Planning
Closing Comments
Years of experience and academic degrees are not
accurate predictors of performance.
Competencies—habits of behavior and underlying
motivations—can be used to distinguish among
performance outcomes.
Using competencies to select turnaround leaders could
increase the likelihood that turnaround efforts succeed.
Competency-Based Talent Management
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(Steiner & Hassel, 2011)
Talent Management
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P
Behavioral event interview (BEI) can be used to identify
turnaround leader competencies.
Competencies are key predictors of how someone will
perform at work.
Two leaders with the same training and number of years of
experience may have very different performance outcomes.
BEIs ask candidates to describe detailed actions and
thinking in past work events.
Knowing actions that candidates have taken in the past is a
strong predictor of actions they will take in the future.
Behavioral Event Interviews
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(Public Impact, 2008)
Activity: Principal Hiring Scorecard
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Think-Pair-Share
Where do competencies fit in your current leader selection
process?
How could your current leader selection process be
modified to include turnaround leader competencies?
Reflection: Competency-Based
Leader Selection
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Agenda
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Topic
Welcome and Overview
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Competency-Based Selection
Recruiting Turnaround Leaders
Action Planning
Closing Comments
A shortage of high-quality principal candidates
• More demanding
• Limited authority and autonomy
• Insufficient pay to attract enough candidates
Not selecting the best candidates from the limited pool
• Limited investments in recruiting and selecting candidates
• Overreliance on internal candidates
• Lack of rigor in selection criteria and processes
Administrative inefficiencies resulting in a loss of applicants
• Prolonged interview and hiring process and delays
• Lack of clear vision and support for leaders
Obstacles to Hiring Turnaround Leaders
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(Doyle & Locke, 2014; TNTP, 2006; Clifford, 2012)
Make the job more appealing—and manageable.
Pay great leaders what they are worth.
Take an active approach to recruitment.
Evaluate candidates against the competencies and skills
that research shows successful principals demonstrate.
Design the placement process to match particular schools’
needs with particular candidates’ strengths.
Continually evaluate hiring efforts.
How Can We Improve the Process?
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(Doyle & Locke, 2014)
1. Define a Profile of a High-Quality Candidate
2. Develop and Execute a Recruiting Strategy
Project need
Prepare recruiters
Establish an identity
Attract and identify candidates
Determine those with the highest potential
Cultivate and convert high-potential candidates into applicants
3. Build a Pipeline of New Rising Talent
Building a Candidate Pool
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(Cheney, Davis, Garrett, & Holleran, 2010)
Competency-Based Recruiting
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Articulate the mission, vision, and goals
Identify autonomy, support, and other appealing conditions
Compensate for additional demands and responsibilities
Develop criteria for identifying candidates with turnaround
leader competencies
Solicit recommendations and target outreach to external
candidates
Identify and cultivate high-potential internal candidates
Eliminate barriers that might discourage potential talent
(Doyle & Locke, 2014)
Analyze job announcement and description.
Why would a turnaround leader want this job?
What are turnaround leader competencies articulated
in this job description?
Activity: Recruitment
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Brainstorm some
recruitment strategies
that would lead to a strong
candidate pool for this
position.
Agenda
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Topic
Welcome and Overview
Turnaround Leader Competencies
Competency-Based Selection
Recruiting Turnaround Leaders
Action Planning
Closing Comments
Coaching Turnaround Leader Actions
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The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders and Public Impact have developed a
professional learning module to provide guidance on coaching school leaders to
develop leader actions to turn around persistently low-performing schools.
What are some next steps your district can take to improve
your recruiting and selection of Turnaround Leaders based
identifying needs from the Principal Scorecard?
Be prepared to share your next steps with the whole group.
Action Planning for Competency-Based
Recruitment and Selection
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Closing Comments
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Catherine Barbour
State Support Network Director
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Thank You!
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ReferencesProfessional Learning Module:
Center on Great Teachers and Leaders. (2015). Recruit, Select, and Support: Turnaround
Leader Competencies. Retrieved from
http://www.gtlcenter.org/technical-assistance/professional-learning-modules/recruit-
select-and-support-turnaround-leader-competencies
http://www.gtlcenter.org/technical-assistance/professional-learning-modules/recruit-select-and-support-turnaround-leader-competencies
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ReferencesBrinson, D., Kowal, J., & Hassel, B.C. (Public Impact). (2008). School turnarounds:
Actions and results. Retrieved from
http://www.centerii.org/survey/downloads/Turnaround%20Actions%20and%20Results
%203%2024%2008%20with%20covers.pdf
Center on Great Teachers and Leaders. (2014). Talent development framework for 21st
century educators: Moving toward state policy alignment and coherence. Washington,
DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.gtlcenter.org/talent_development_framework
Hassel, E. A., & Hassel, B. (2009). The big U-turn: How to bring schools from the brink of
doom to stellar success. Education Next. 9(1). Retrieved from
http://educationnext.org/files/ednext_20091_20.pdf
Hitt, D. H. (forthcoming). Beyond turnaround: Positioning schools for ongoing growth.
Charlottesville: Center for School Turnaround & University of Virginia’s Darden/Curry
Partnership for Leaders in Education.
Kowal, J. & Hassel, E. A. (Public Impact). (2005). Turnarounds with new leaders and
staff. Washington, DC: Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement.
Retrieved from http://www.schoolturnaround.org/PUBLIC%20Impact%20-
%20Turnarounds%20with%%20New%20Leaders.pdf
http://www.centerii.org/survey/downloads/Turnaround Actions and Results 3 24 08 with covers.pdfhttp://www.gtlcenter.org/talent_development_frameworkhttp://educationnext.org/files/ednext_20091_20.pdfhttp://www.schoolturnaround.org/PUBLIC Impact - Turnarounds with New Leaders.pdf
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ReferencesLeithwood, K., Louis, K. S., Anderson, A., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How leadership
influences student learning. Toronto: Center for Applied Research and Educational
Improvement and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Public Impact. (2008). School turnaround leaders: Competencies for success. Chapel Hill,
NC: For the Chicago Public Education Fund. Retrieved from
http://publicimpact.com/web/wp-
content/uploads/2009/09/Turnaround_Leader_Competencies.pdf
Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior
performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Steiner, L., & Hassel, E. A. (Public Impact). (2011). Using competencies to improve school
turnaround principal success. Charlottesville: University of Virginia’s Darden/Curry
Partnership for Leaders in Education. Retrieved from www.DardenCurry.org Using
Competencies to Improve School Turnaround Principal Success
Zhu, G., Hitt, D. H., & Woodruff, D. (forthcoming). Principal competencies that make a
difference: Identifying a model for leaders of school turnaround. Charlottesville, VA:
University of Virginia’s Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders
http://publicimpact.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Turnaround_Leader_Competencies.pdfhttp://www.dardencurry.org/http://www.darden.virginia.edu/uploadedFiles/Darden_Web/Content/Faculty_Research/Research_Centers_and_Initiatives/Darden_Curry_PLE/School_Turnaround/using-competencies-to-improve-school-turnaround.pdf