We had the privilege to facilitate a learning session with members of the Uganda Private Educational Institution Association (NPEIA) held at St. Lawrence University last week. The session was attended by about 110 members from the various districts around Kampala, Wakiso and Luwero. This learning session was part of the multi year partnership between NPEIA and our firm CEMM. The objectives of the partnership are to enable NPEIA members achieve the learning and commercial objectives of the association, create process, content and faculty for on-going professional development for administrators, head teachers, teachers and other staff and provide access to Franklin Covey's whole school transformation process called The Leader In Me. CEMM is the exclusive licensee for Franklin Covey in Uganda, Rwanda, Togo and Burundi.
As part of the interaction, we shared the following in response to NPEIA members interest:
1. Leaders who make a difference in peoples lives have a combination of Character and Competence to accelerate results. What sets them apart is who they are, how they think, the actions they take and the results they get. We drew from the work of Stephen M.R Covey in Trust and Inspire and NPEIA members own experience to show that a Leaders character is foundational. We said Character was made up of the leaders Integrity (deep honesty and truthfulness. It is who the leader is and it get demonstrated in the Leaders congruence, humility and courage to act in the face of constant change. The component of character is the leaders intent - the fundamental motive or agenda and the behavior that follows. To use the analogy of a tree, character is the root while Competence is the fruit (the leaders track record of results and capability to lead people, process, values, strategy and structure.
2. Leaders who achieve greatness are driven by five fundamental mindsets as captured by M.R Covey. These mindsets and resulting behaviors are;
a. I believe people have greatness inside them - so my job as a leader is to unleash their potential, not control them
b. I believe there is enough for everyone - so my job as a leader is to elevate caring above competing
c. I believe people are whole people - so my job as a leader is to inspire not merely motivate
d. I believe enduring influence is created from the inside out - so my job as a leader is to go first
e. I believe leadership is stewardship - so my job as a leader is to put service above self interest
3. Leaders who inspire their teams to achieve great results create conditions where people are safe to make a contribution without retribution (a process called psychological safety). Drawing from the work Professor Amy Edmondson (The Fearless Organization), we shared that people are more likely to be engaged in their work when they are included, can contribute, learn and can challenge without fear. Edmondson wrote that psychological safety is a "shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking." Psychological safety is a "sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up". Back to what we said at the beginning on trust, Edmondson wrote in a study published in 1999 that Psychological safety "describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves".
4. Leaders who achieve sustainable record of performance understand the money making model of their business. This point drew great interest, coming after the comment from the Director of Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) Director for Education, who hinted that several school owners were running schools that were going concerns. Here we drew from the work of Ram Charan in What the CEO Wants You to Know. Charan identified 5 building blocks that every great leader must know and operate. First is Cash. Cash is money in the bank. Cash flow is the difference between all the money that flows in and all the money that flows out of the school at any given time period. Second, is Margin. Margin is the money left over after paying expenses. To improve margin, increase revenue, decrease costs, or both. Third is Velocity. Velocity means speed.-how fast and how hard you make your assets work to make more money. Decreasing cycle time, increasing employee productivity are examples of velocity. Fourth is Growth. Growth measures whether the organization is producing more or getting larger. Getting new learners or hiring more teachers must be profitable and sustainable. And lastly Customers. Customers are the organizations or people your team is in business to serve. How well you serve parents and learners directly impact growth, cash flow and margins.
During the discussions on the money making model, we took time to discuss how schools could get feedback from stakeholders. We shared the use of Net Promoter Score (NPS). The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric and a key gauge of the customer experience. Based on survey data, NPS is derived from answers to the question "How likely are you to recommend our school to a friend?". The NPS score is then calculated based on the number of promoters of the school brand minus the number of detractors of the brand. Promoters are likely to refer the school to a friend while detractors are not all likely to refer the school. Neutral responses have no impact on the Net Promoter Scores. Net promoters become loyal to the school.
As we reflect on the interactions with NPEIA, we are grateful to the leaders of NPEIA for the partnership and opportunity to facilitate the learning. We look forward to our continued relationship to ensure that our schools produce leaders who will thrive in the 21st century. As Tom Wagner from the Global Achievement Gap asserted "In today's highly competitive global 'knowledge economy' all students need new skills for college, careers, and citizenship...Schools haven't changed: the world has. And so, our schools are not failing. Rather, they are obsolete.-even the ones that score the best on standardized tests. This is a very different problem requiring an altogether different solution".
