Security, simplifying the user experience and improving the IT and end user relationship were among the top themes discussed at IMCCA’s "UCC Summit 2015: State of the Industry Lunch and Learn" panel event at this year’s Infocomm conference in Orlando, Fl. The 10-member panel included executives from Acano, AVI-SPL, Cisco, Dimension Data, Jupiter, Kraymer, Microsoft, PEXIP, Polycom, Revo Labs, Smart Technologies and Videxio. The discussion, moderated by IMCCA Chairperson Emeritus Ann Earon, offered these insights on unified communications (UC) and collaboration in the enterprise. Unified communications is an outcome, not a technology. Moving organizations toward a smarter, better use of UC and collaboration means changing their perceptions of these approaches, said Scott Cruikshank, director of communications at Dimension Data. "UC is not a technology—it’s an outcome," explained Cruikshank. "It’s an application. The more we educate customers in the industry to get them to start thinking that way, we’ll have more success." When it comes to security, follow the leaders. Pay attention to the organizations that "really require security in order to run their business," suggested Larry Satterfield, global vice-president of sales at Acano. Look at financial institutions and intelligence agencies to see who they lean on for their security solutions and services. "You need to find those organizations that are making their bet on organizations that they tested," said Satterfield. "That’s how you make your choice. Proof is where the customers are buying from." Keep it simple. Users want easy-to-use virtual spaces where they can meet with their colleagues and peers, stated Simen Teigre, CEO of Pexip. Focus on simplifying the user experience. Avoid getting caught up in "unifying everything," he advised. "Simplicity trumps unification." Eliminate security siloes. The security guidelines for your UC and video conference systems should be built in to your organization’s overall security policies and procedures, stated Cruikshank. Institutions can no longer afford to look at video conferencing and UC in a silo, from a security perspective. "The threats are coming from everywhere," he said. "It’s got to be part of that overall portfolio." Work with your end users. Users have found the technology, said Earon. Work with them. The biggest complaint she hears from end users is that their IT department is holding them back and constraining bandwidth. Find a way to support them, warned Earon, or they will go rogue. "If you don’t work with them they’re going to do an end run around you. And they’re going to win if they can justify to their organization that they’ve made money or saved money," she stated. "It behooves all of you to sing ‘Kumbaya’ together and start working together to make this work properly." Related Posts: No Related Posts Experts offer keys for building a collaborative environment originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartBlog on Education will highlight summer learning and enrichment for educators during June. In this post, Kenneth Wilson, director of staff development and teacher evaluation for a South Carolina district, shares his district’s model for summer PD. With a new school year quickly approaching, it’s my job as director of Staff Development and Teacher Evaluation to make sure our staff has the opportunity to continue their professional development throughout the summer months. Our goal is to provide meaningful PD that a large number of staff members find valuable. One of the best ways to ensure that these offerings are effective and successful is to use data and technology to inform your planning strategy. Here are three ways we put data and technology to good use when building our PD programs. Survey data Surveys are a great way to get feedback from your staff and learn about the success of your previous PD offerings. Each year we send out a Staff Development Needs survey that asks questions like: What’s the most ideal time of year for PD; what are the most important topics or concepts; and how would you like to see PD delivered? We also send out an Exit Survey that an attendee may be required to take after completing a PD session. In this survey, we ask questions like: Did you take what you learned in the PD session and implement it in your classroom; were the concepts presented relevant to your job; did you benefit from attending this session; would you recommend this training to others? This data provides invaluable insight into how we, as a district, can improve our professional development offerings. For example, we found that a lot of our staff prefers to have professional learning offerings during the summer. As a result the district now has a very robust summer PD program. We implemented an Instructional Technology Institute over the summer months where we showcase important technology and demonstrate how to use technology to improve teaching and student learning outcomes. This offering is available to our educators and to anyone who is interested in attending. Registration data Another data point we use to inform PD planning is registration data. We can see information like which offerings filled up quickly, which have a wait list or which were not of high interest, all within our management system. Registration data allows us to gauge interest in each course or session offered, allowing us to make strategic adjustments to our offerings more efficiently. It’s important to us that our educators have access to sessions that they see as valuable. If a session is not well attended, we view that as a missed opportunity for professional growth. For example, if our summer curriculum writing sessions fill up very quickly and have a long wait-list, we can plan ahead for the following summer to ensure that every registrant can attend that type of session. Likewise, if an offering received little or no registrants, we can decide if that session should be retired and replaced with a more popular offering that better meets the needs of our staff. Recertification data As you all know, re-certification data is another important element to consider when planning PD. It’s imperative to provide opportunities that allow educators to meet their re-certification requirements. For example, our high-school teachers are required to complete the Jason Foundation suicide training in order to be re-certified. Our teachers also need a certain amount of technology PD hours. Our system automatically tracks individual teacher PD credits and allows us to see if an educator has earned the 120 points required for renewal. Additionally, it provides the necessary documentation from which to enter renewal points on the State Department System. My team can log in to see a list of every PD course a teacher has completed on their profile. While there’s no formula for perfect PD planning, we can use data and technology to make more informed decisions and ultimately offer our staff more relevant and invaluable professional learning opportunities. Kenneth Wilson is the director of Staff Development and Teacher Evaluation at Dorchester County School District Two in Summerville, S.C. As a former educator, principal and director of high schools and career technology, he is dedicated to improving the learning experiences of educators and students of all socio-economic backgrounds. His district uses TeacherMatch Thrive as their PD Management Solution Write to: kwilson@dorchester2.k12.sc.us If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about education. We offer newsletters covering educational leadership, special education and more. Related Posts: How exam review prepares students for success Grow like the grass Summer is a great time for self-paced learning How libraries can support summer-reading programs Retreat to advance Use data, tech for stronger PD programs originally published by SmartBlogs

Photo: Janet Forgrieve Two years ago, bean chips were one of the hottest snack foods at the Summer Fancy Food Show. Now we’re seeing the actual roasted chickpeas, the latest step in the evolution toward healthier, more natural snacks, said Louise Kramer, communications director for the Specialty Food Association. "Retailers want what’s new and healthy, less-processed and with simple ingredients," she said. "And people want food with stories behind them. The products have to talk themselves off the shelves." U.S. specialty food sales hit a record $109 billion in retail and foodservice channels last year, and there’s no shortage of stories in the new-brand pavilion at the New York City show, which started Sunday and runs through Tuesday, from a pair of nuclear power plant engineers who created an unsweetened carbonated tea brand to a mom with two sets of twins who launched a vegetarian soup business. Gina Stryker began making vegetarian food 12 years ago for her yoga-instructor husband’s retreats, and eventually the students told Stryker she should bottle and sell her soups. The low-sodium soups made with organic ingredients and no added sugar proved a hit, selling out at local farmer’s markets time and again. She eventually marketed 12 kinds of soups and sauces, all but two of them vegan. Now, the Colorado resident’s brother has created a 40,000-square-foot organic greenhouse in Idaho to grow produce for her and he’s putting the finishing touches on a commercial kitchen to enable Gina Cucina to expand further. Stryker comes from a long line of chefs and she’s sharing her passion for healthy food with the next generation — she gives lessons on nutrition at her older children’s high school and recently hosted the kindergarten graduating class at her home, where they made lunch for their families. Personal issues led several of this year’s crop of foodie entrepreneurs to create their brands, including Michelle Retik who was a pastry chef when she developed Crohn’s disease. She learned to manage her condition with diet and without medication, and then she opened a bakery called The Squirrel and The Bee in Short Hills, N.J., and create Goodness Grainless, a gluten-free line of granola that works for paleo and vegan diets. Allison Luckman’s story also starts with her health issues — she was diagnosed early with lactose intolerance and later found to have ulcerative colitis, conditions she learned to manage with diet. Her son’s egg allergy and her daughter’s gluten intolerance eventually got Luckman baking. She launched Allie’s GF Goodies with the goal of making sure all kids get to have yummy baked goods. The products have always been gluten-free and peanut-free, some are vegan, and she has continued to tweak her recipes to make them suitable for people with a wide range of allergies and food issues. Luisa Mendoza’s celiac diagnosis three years ago was the catalyst for Huga Bars, a line of gluten-free nutrition bars inspired by recipes from friends and family around the globe. Mendoza and her partners worked with a food formulator, baking the original desserts and painstakingly recreating them in bar form. Auria Abraham came to the U.S. 20 years ago for college, with plans to return home to Malaysia after graduation. Instead she met a guy, got married, stayed in the U.S. and carved out a career as a jingle writer. The hours got too long after her first baby came, and eventually she turned her talents to commercializing traditional Malaysian condiments called sambal. Her Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen brand Hot Chili Sambal and new Lime Leaf Sambal helped Abraham win a booth at this year’s show in a contest by the New York Economic Development Corporation. A sampling of other stories from the new-brand pavilion includes: Sound Sparkling Tea, an unsweetened sparkling tea created by health-conscious engineers Tom Kelly and Salim Najjar, who used a Soda Stream to turn cool brewed tea into a carbonated beverage. They left their jobs at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in January to do the business full time. Arteasan Beverages, a tea drink made sweet by fruit and botanicals instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners. Former finance executive Fernando Rodriguez left his career, moved his family from Venezuela to the U.S. and created the drink as an alternative to sugary soft drinks for his three sons. Sweet Basil, a line of frozen meatless meals created by Connie Fassuliotis and inspired by her Greek heritage. Bee’s Water, a line of flavored honey waters created by Henry Owunna, a former pharmaceutical researcher who drank honey water as a child in Nigeria, got out of the habit after moving to the U.S. as a young man. Then one day he was home sick, remembered the drink’s soothing properties and created a brand. Backyard Brine, a line of artisan pickles made in Brooklyn by Cori and Randy Kopke who started pickling as a hobby 10 years ago, and turned it into a business after the pickles they made as a relative’s wedding favors were a hit with the guests. Ft. Greene Farms, a small-batch Brooklyn-based producer of products like pickled mustard seeds and red pepper relish created by former fine-dining chef Nathan Meshberg. "It’s about the details that tie dishes together. I’m really fascinated with that aspect of cooking," he said. __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: The cultural transformation of the American breakfast Prepared foods report: New consumer behaviors hone in on fresh, healthy and sustainable Retailers, manufacturers ride the wave of gluten-free Brand intimacy: How do food and beverage companies measure up? How to engage millennials through customization and curation Simple ingredients and sweet stories flavor the Fancy Food Show originally published by SmartBlogs

This post is sponsored by Drexel University.  Transitioning from a horizontal world of technical expertise to one of business management is no small feat for engineers. John Via, director of engineering management at Drexel University, outlines why many engineers can become successful business leaders and what they will need in order to successfully make the transition. Engineers are naturally technical, innovative thinkers and methodical problem solvers. How do these skills enable them to be effective leaders?  If you look at Harvard Business Review’s Best Performing CEOs, you will see that 24 out of 100 are engineers. In both engineering and non-engineering firms, executives with a background in engineering tend to excel because their creativity and practical, pragmatic approach lends itself well to leadership positions. What soft skills do engineering leaders need?  While engineering leaders need the same soft skills as any other leaders, there are subtle differences. First, strong communication is critical in leadership and for engineers; it’s about organization and methodology. Second, collaboration is an especially important soft skill for engineering leaders. Engineering is about connecting and bringing teams together to work towards common goals. Third, it’s important to be able to motivate individuals. Too often we focus on the tasks and forget how important it is to make sure everyone is on the same page and excited about the project. What are the top challenges that engineers face when transitioning to a business leader role? How can they successfully clear these hurdles? As an engineer, you are focused on managing yourself, developing your personal technical competence and working as part of a team. When transitioning into a business leader role, the challenges include learning how to manage and lead others and understanding how the business works financially. Fiscal responsibility, in terms of budgeting and accounting, and the ability to communicate and operate effectively throughout the organization are imperative to a new leader’s success. Those who are successful at making the transition into a leadership role have developed the ability to see the big picture and steward a shared vision. What business and/or technology trends do you see redefining the role of today’s engineering manager? What changes have these trends created?   Many of the challenges facing engineers in the 21st century are global in nature. Managing globally-distributed teams, particularly for multinational companies, requires the ability to adapt to diverse cultures. To be successful, leadership styles must also adapt so that societal problems are met with effective and efficient solutions. This will require leadership skills on a much grander scale than we’ve ever seen before. Those who can bring these teams together and lead the solution process will prove invaluable in the coming decades. Related Posts: No Related Posts Taking a vertical leap originally published by SmartBlogs

In the midst of our intense discussion, Dom, a vice president at a financial management firm, told me, "I don’t need great rapport, I just want Karl to show respect by doing what I ask." Dom wanted to prepare this smart professional for a more senior role and was very frustrated by repeated failed attempts to help Karl increase his business development abilities. He tried pointing out to Karl where his approach was lacking, giving guidance on better ways to create partnerships and support annual planning with clients. But over time, there was no real improvement. Dom attributed the lack of success to Karl having a real attitude problem. When I asked Dom whether Karl felt comfortable with him, he responded, "What difference does that make?" The key to unlocking Dom’s challenge lies in unwinding the contention that great rapport with employees is not needed. Having employees comply with directives only takes them so far, and certainly lacks the engagement and developmental factors. While some employees are self-initiators, and others can be motivated by fear of failure, for most employees, support from their manager is a desired decisive factor for development. Developing your staff requires that they: are open to candid performance input, maintain confidence in the face of adversity, and have opportunity and encouragement to take skills to the next level. Ensuring your employees feel comfortable with you is a requisite for this approach. To be clear, "being comfortable with your manager" has definite boundaries. It does not mean you need to be drinking buddies; you can have rapport without being very casual. A relationship which is respectful and trust-inspiring can be cultivated by the manager and become a basis for staff members to take new growth steps, even for the employees with attitude. Can you spot which employees are uncomfortable with you? Employees usually do not let you know that they feel uncomfortable; however the signs are embedded in day-to-day interactions. Even if you have done nothing to engender those uncomfortable feelings (e.g., new employees can feel insecure), you can turn it around. Step back for a moment and objectively consider if your employees show any of these signs on a consistent basis. Hide problems or mistakes — the last thing some employees want to do is bring your attention to their mistake. They scramble to either bury it or try a quick fix, yielding little or no new learning from the experience (and potentially leaving customers upset). Act defensively. These employees regularly blame others or the outside conditions for preventing them from getting the targeted results. And, while those other conditions may have been present, it is their lack of ownership toward making progress which is a sign that they are uncomfortable exploring this with you. Are overly formal. These employees are hoping you will keep your distance, not getting too close or digging too deep. They may be self-protecting because of vulnerabilities they don’t want revealed. Yet, if they cannot open up, there’s less opportunity to take development-focused actions. Getting your employees more comfortable with you (even the employees with attitude) Well, consider who you are most comfortable with — people who are open, non-judgmental, receptive, and allow you to have your foibles while respecting you. What often gets in managers’ way is a desire for expediency and a conviction that they’ve got the right answers. Don’t allow these to be your stumbling blocks. Instead, try these actions that successful development-oriented managers use: Invite their ideas and feedback regularly. You’ve heard this before: one of the most powerful things a leader can do is listen, truly, it engages your staff. By both listening to words and interpreting non-verbals you will get cues about their feelings to a situation and what is holding them back. Summarize what you gather they are thinking and feeling, and you will open the door to a more productive conversation. It’s no surprise that research actually proves that empathic listening correlates with level of support reported by the recipient. Ask specific questions conveying genuine interest. Use thoughtful questions that move the discussion toward the targeted direction (questions such as "how is it going?" are too loose). Ensure your tone of voice is sincere rather than leading or blameful. Grasp their response and double back with more questions to explore further (e.g., "how will you prepare in order to handle this the next time?"). Show faith in their growing abilities. Anticipate imperfections or added time in their work, and build that into your game plan. Learn about your employee’s abilities, their tolerance for risk, and then delegate with appropriate stretch. Contract to turn mistakes into lessons. Be ready to handle their missteps with grace, a defining moment that demonstrates that their growth is your priority. You’ll then have their full attention as together you explore a more skilled approach for the next time, a lesson that will stick. Stay in the wings. Allow them to try things out their way, yet be accessible if really needed. Their struggle to get results, resulting in a sense of accomplishment, is an important element in their progress. It’s a balancing act that requires you to know what is happening while holding off your direct involvement. What would have happened differently if, instead of demanding respect, Dom ensured Karl felt comfortable enough to: accept and talk through issues, acknowledge missteps as part of the equation, and take risks with new behaviors? Karl could have saved face with regard to his mistakes, dumped the chip on his shoulder, and felt supported to try things differently, advancing his skills. Now, next time you see a pattern of avoidance, defensiveness or formality, consider how you can better help your employees develop by making sure your employees are truly comfortable with you and ready for those next strides toward growth. Wendy Axelrod, PhD, is a recognized expert in manager-driven, work-centered people development. She is co-author of the practical "Make Talent Your Business: How exceptional managers develop people while getting results". With over 30 years of experience as a corporate executive and external consultant, she has worked directly with thousands of leaders in workshops and as an executive coach. She speaks frequently at conferences and corporate workshops. Learn more about her consulting, speaking and coaching at www.TalentSavvyManager.com. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better, smarter leader. Related Posts: 7 phrases a transparent leader would never use What should managers regularly ask team members? 4 tips to help leaders communicate during a crisis 14 ways CEOs can set the tone for their team from afar 4 leadership tips that will make people adore you Make sure employees are comfortable with you originally published by SmartBlogs

What would happen if you trusted your team members enough to give them the freedom to take risks and voice ideas openly? Some of the ideas you receive will sound crazy. Some will flop. But others will be just what your organization needs to solve an important challenge. One of the most remarkable examples of what can happen when group members are given autonomy and encouraged to voice their ideas occurred during WWII, as recounted by Stephen Ambrose in his book "Citizen Soldiers." A thorny issue In June of 1944, after American soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy on D‐Day and moved about 10 miles inland, they approached the Normandy countryside the French refer to as the Bocage. This part of France consisted of plots of land that farmers separated with hedgerows rather than fences. The hedgerows were made of two to three feet of packed soil at their base and topped off with several feet of brush and vines. When the Sherman tanks attempted to go over the top of the hedgerows, the front of the tank popped up, exposing its thin underbelly to Nazi anti‐tank fire. As it turns out, Allied military planners had spent so much time planning for the D‐Day landings that they hadn’t fully considered the problems troops might encounter in hedgerow country. The Sherman tanks’ vulnerability caught everyone by surprise. At first, the Americans tried blasting the hedgerows open so the Sherman tanks could then progress through the holes created by the explosions. Unfortunately, the explosions only served to give the Nazis advance warning of where the tanks were going. Nearly a month after D‐Day, the Allies were falling behind schedule primarily because of the problems created by the hedgerows and the Nazi defense. Rhino tank from World War II, as seen in Belgium. (Credit: U.S. Department of Defense) An unexpected solution One day, in a discussion between officers and enlisted men, the idea arose of mounting saw teeth on the front of the Sherman tank. Many of those present laughed at the suggestion. One soldier, however, took the idea seriously. Sgt. Curtis G. Culin, a cab driver from Chicago, immediately designed and built a hedgerow-cutting device made from pieces of steel rail that the Nazis had strewn across the beaches to slow down an amphibious attack. When tested, the new device easily sliced through the hedgerows. It wasn’t long before the Sherman tanks mounted with Culin’s device were branded "Rhinos" by the soldiers because they made a Sherman tank look like a rhinoceros. Within days of testing the Rhinos, the idea was presented to Gen. Omar Bradley, head of the First Army. In short order, he attended a demonstration of the Rhino tank and immediately ordered 500 of Culin’s devices. Within two weeks, 60% percent of the First Army’s Sherman tanks were modified into Rhinos. With the Rhinos, the First Army were able to proceed through the hedgerow country in time to crush the Nazi army. Now it’s up to you Curtis Culin’s innovation might not have occurred had it not been for a chain of command consisting of Gens. Bradley, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George C. Marshall, each of whom gave soldiers under his command the freedom to share and test ideas. As a leader, one of the most powerful things you can do is demonstrate that you are willing to listen. Encourage your team to take the initiative to identify problems and give them the freedom to find solutions. By doing so, you just might unleash the type of innovative thinking that allowed a Chicago cab driver to play a crucial role in one of history’s greatest moments. Portions of this post were adapted from "Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work," by Michael Lee Stallard, president of E Pluribus Partners. Stallard speaks, teaches and provides consulting serves on leadership and organizational health. Follow Stallard on his blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better, smarter leader. Related Posts: Cultivating a culture of creativity Why culture and leadership matter for disruptive innovation The smart creative: How to spot them, how to use them Inspiring creative thinking by debunking common myths Making room for risk in high-performing companies Unleash your organization’s innovation potential originally published by SmartBlogs

What if educators listened to Frozen’s Queen Elsa a little more and "Let it Go"? Technology integration in the classrooms tends to stall when educators get in the way. Schools take steps to prevent this — professional development, educator resources, strategic rollout initiatives — and yet incorporating technology into the classroom remains a challenge for many sites. How do we change this? Here are five ways you can foster true technology integration with your students: Allow students to play on their devices. We encourage them to play with math manipulatives or other resources before getting started with a lesson. Let’s do the same with technology. Give students time to play with a new app/tool when you introduce it. They want to take selfies and draw on their own faces when they first start to work with Skitch. They want to enter silly names when they play their first game of Kahoot. This is good; it allows them to get familiar and comfortable with the app. Implement a work timeline with a paper or digital calendar. This simple addition will give students a visual cue to remember key dates and serve as touchpoints for teachers to check in. Give students choice when they show their learning. Provide a rubric that outlines what they need to do in order to show mastery, but let students decide how. If you are just getting started, consider limiting the choice of apps or tools to a few. Let them show you their learning in a variety of ways. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to use the app/tool. Students will figure it out and become the experts, and ultimately help their peers. Don’t let technology integration stall because you aren’t ready, don’t feel comfortable or hate to lose the teacher-centered model. Let it go. Kristina Peters is the e-learning specialist and school library liaison for the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln, Neb. In this role, she supports the Nebraska BlendEd Initiative, advocates for school libraries, spearheads the NeBooks Project, and provides professional learning opportunities in the department and across the state. Kristina is an Authorized Google Education Trainer and has successfully implemented Google Apps for Government at NDE. She serves as a member of the Edcamp Foundation Partners Program, a board member for the Nebraska Educational Technology Association (NETA) and helps organize EdcampOmaha. Connect with her on Twitter @Mrskmpeters ***** Tech Tips is a content collaboration between SmartBrief Education and GreyED Solutions. Have a tech tip to share? Contact us at techtips@greyedsolutions.com Miss a Tech Tip? Visit our Tech Tip archive. ***** Related Posts: No Related Posts Let it go originally published by SmartBlogs

Welcome to SmartBrief Education’s original content series about the unique stories of teacherpreneurs. These are the innovative individuals confronting challenges, creating solutions and challenging the traditional definition of "educator." What do a Kentucky high-school math teacher and a Colorado middle-school literacy teacher have in common? A shared passion for teacher leadership, a commitment to student-centered implementation of the Common Core and the amazing opportunity to connect and work together as virtual colleagues navigating hybrid roles during the past two school years. Two summers ago, we connected at a Center for Teaching Quality leadership retreat for teacherpreneurs. Since then, we’ve supported, coached and challenged each other to balance teaching and leading simultaneously in our respective states. Recently, we came together to reflect on our experiences. In the informal interview that follows, we hope our reflections encourage current and future teacherpreneurs, while providing ideas for school leaders and districts seeking to scale hybrid roles for supporting and sustaining teacher leadership efforts. What might teachers new — or aspiring — to hybrid roles want to consider? JC: While teaching and leading simultaneously is often characterized as "the best of both worlds," working in a hybrid role is also a delicate balancing act which can sometimes feel like a tug-of-war between two distinct scopes of work. If you are an aspiring teacherpreneur, check out Paul Barnwell’s three tips and begin practicing flexibility in your current context. If you are new to a hybrid role, give yourself grace and space to make mistakes, take risks and be comfortable having more questions than answers in the first year. Like classroom teaching, many days will feel well-planned, uber productive and outcome-based, while others will feel unfinished, messy and incomplete. Anthony Colucci’s "The Four I’s of Teacher Leadership" (imagination, independence, inspiration and integrity) is a powerful frame for determining what projects and opportunities offer authentic teacher leadership development. Learning what (and how) to say, "no" is as critical as tackling the "yes’s" on your hybrid-role plate. AW: Your first year in a hybrid role is not dissimilar to your first year of teaching. Remember those simultaneous feelings of exhilaration and exhaustion? You might be so eager to try out your brand new teacher leader wings that you forget that your new opportunity will require a great deal of patience and embracing the art of "figuring things out as you go." Just like teaching, your hybrid role will demand that you find and use your unique voice and perspective (for this is your superpower!), and this process can take time. Be good to yourself, and don’t be discouraged if you feel like you’re not making progress. For many of us (including me), that critical process of claiming your identity as a hybrid teacher is where we learned and grew the most. What advice would we give districts or organizations interested in scaling hybrid roles? AW: Effective teachers have the opportunity to hone their craft over countless hours of professional learning, reflection and teaching experience. Great teachers are not "born," and the same goes for effective leaders. There is a specific skill set that hybrid teachers have to be provided the opportunity to develop, and this takes time, support and resources. JC: I think there are many considerations in the strategic planning phase, but my top two nonnegotiables are: Let the needs of the district (or individual school) and the skill set of the teacher leader applicants drive the design of the roles. Recognize that hybrid-role teachers need support, too. Coaching, mentoring and professional learning tailored to this specific community of practice is critical for success and sustainability. The hybrid role is a career pathway but perhaps not a final destination. What might teachers with experience in hybrid roles do next? JC: As mentioned, working in a hybrid role can often feel like two full-time jobs instead of one role with multiple parts. As I transition from a hybrid role to a full-time leadership role in my school district next year, I’m still reflecting, processing and weighing the benefits and challenges of hybrid roles. I’m looking forward to focusing my energies in one place and serving as a "dream broker" for other teacher leaders who want to create their own teacher leadership pathway. I believe teacherpreneurs are well-positioned to transition to full-time teaching, full-time leadership or design another iteration of a hybrid role depending on their skill set and the needs of their students, school or district. AW: It’s as if you’ve tried the "just right" bowl of porridge and now have to decide between too hot and too cold. I am still trying to figure out what this means for me, but for now I have settled on trying a full-time leadership position working with teachers in my state. Like any transition, this requires the inevitable embracing of an ending, and packing up the classroom that I have called home for over a decade was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But my new-found "preneurial" spirit constantly challenges me to try new things. Stay tuned! Q4: Moving forward, what will we take away from this experience? AW: Having been a teacherpreneur, I have a better sense of who I am as a leader. I was fairly confident in my teaching abilities, but very unsure of the education world beyond Room 126 of Lafayette High School. I know now that I am rebellious and optimistic, constantly pushing boundaries and not afraid to speak to what I know is right — for the interests of my students. I know that teacher leadership is at the center of education reform, and I have a strong desire to help my colleagues find their path toward owning their roles as teacher leaders. JC: I agree with Ali. I am a more effective teacher and a more fearless leader because of the support and implicit trust I received as a teacherpreneur. I understand what it means to be treated as a true professional, and as a result, I want all of my colleagues to have leadership and career lattice opportunities. My main takeaway is the power of expanding our networks and connecting and collaborating virtually with educators beyond our own schools and districts. Social media experiences such as Twitter chats have reframed professional learning. Co-authoring blog posts like this one and blogging about teaching and leading experiences helped me understand the power of teachers "going public" with our stories from the field. I want to leverage these connections and experiences to support other teacher leaders to hone their voice, de-privatize their practice and publicly share their expertise. Ali Wright (@alicrowley) is a National Board certified high-school math teacher who has divided her time between leading other teachers as a CTQ teacherpreneur and teaching algebra 2 and AP Calculus for the past two years. With 14 years of classroom experience, Ali will be taking on a new leadership role next year as Professional Learning for Educator Effectiveness coach at the Kentucky Department of Education. Jessica Cuthbertson (@JJCuthy) is a National Board certified middle-school English language arts teacher who has served as a CTQ teacherpreneur for the past three years. A passionate educator and advocate for teacher leadership, Cuthbertson is excited to transition into the role of Teacher Leadership TOSA for Aurora Public Schools and begin to develop a Teacher Leadership Academy and career lattice of opportunities for other educators in her district. You can read more on her blog, "In A Teacher’s Shoes." If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about education. We offer newsletters covering educational leadership, special education and more. Related Posts: Hybrid roles: Making a whole out of two halves How to go from "teacher" to "teacherpreneur" From classroom to boardroom: How to combine your passion for education and innovation "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Transforming the narrative about teaching Path to innovation: Two teacherpreneurs reflect on the journey originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter. How do you invest your time and energy in your team members? I spread it around evenly so it’s fair: 38.53% I invest more heavily in low performers: 15.58% I invest more heavily in high performers: 45.89% Change Your View of Time Allocation. Low performers are being shortchanged. Your high performers might not want so much of your time. After all, they’re pretty self sufficient and your "investment" could be seen as "micromanaging" or a lack of trust. You’d be much better off investing your limited "leadership capital" (your time and energy) where it will yield a higher return in terms of improved performance. When you understand the relationship between your investments and team member results and learn to look at it differently, your allocation of time should shift significantly. Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, author of "Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results" and "One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership." Related Posts: How effectively do you recruit and hire outstanding talent? How quickly does your organization make decisions? How does your organization deal with "bad behavior"? How well do you differentiate performance in performance reviews? How well do you push your own thinking before involving others? How do you invest your time and energy in your team members? originally published by SmartBlogs

Sadly, late last month we learned of the sudden death of Ed Gilligan, president of American Express. Gilligan spent his entire business career at American Express and was considered the likely successor to CEO Ken Chenault. Also last month, David Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, died unexpectedly when he fell while exercising on a treadmill in Mexico. These tragedies are unquestionably and, thankfully, infrequent. Nevertheless, they are a reality and remind us that planning for casualty is a necessity both for families as well as the businesses and organizations we all inhabit. Planning can take many forms, but within the context of businesses, it is succession planning that should take center stage. Who is next in line for a role? Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, was a proponent of succession planning, and GE is often looked upon as the standard by which succession planning should be practiced. In 1991, Welch famously stated, "From now on, choosing my successor is the most important decision I’ll make." This was a full nine years before his anticipated retirement. Recite.com We are all not GE and perhaps do not have the luxury of succession planning over a period of so many years, but nevertheless some forethought is necessary and indeed prudent. Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.) studied 4,498 succession events. They found top-performing companies, as measured by total return to shareholders, had planned successions 79% of the time, and, coincidentally, hired 79% of their CEOs from inside. Succession planning is actually part of sound strategic planning and risk management. Strategic planning defines the direction of the organization and risk management identifies and attempts to mitigate risk. Human capital, both current and future is an indispensable aspect of any such analysis and discussion. In spite of its importance, succession planning is still not standard operating procedure, as we see evidenced time and again when companies are caught scrambling. According to a survey done last year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, two-thirds (yes, 2 out of 3) U.S. public and private companies admit that they have no formal CEO succession plan. This is the case despite the fact that CEO succession planning is universally considered a critical business-continuity issue. Another concern with succession planning is that it must go beyond the CEO. That is, to fully mitigate risk, succession should be looked at and planned for all of the key leadership positions. In fact, I would venture to say that the further down the organization the planning goes, the better. This, of course, must always be weighed against the cost to the organization of undertaking such activities. Succession planning is a key responsibility of the board of directors as it pertains to the CEO. It is not an isolated activity but rather should be part of the culture and an ongoing point of reflection and discussion. For levels further down in the organization, preparing successors for various roles is part of leadership development and hence central to the responsibilities of management. It should also be mentioned that, from the other side, the prospect of evolving and advancing within one’s organization is usually very motivating and can be a significant retention factor. Unfortunately, the fate of our leaders is unpredictable. The dreadful passing of our leaders is also unpredictable. However some of the chaos that ensues can be managed by having a plan. Why wait? Planning is so worth it! Patricia Lenkov heads up Agility Executive Search, a boutique firm she founded in 2008. Agility provides bespoke search services to companies of all sizes globally. She was previously an executive recruiter with both Heidrick & Struggles as well as Spencer Stuart. You can connect with her at AgilityExecutiveSearch.com. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better leader and communicator. Related Posts: Advisory boards: The when, why and how Getting succession planning right at Steelcase Turn your board of directors into a key strategic asset 3 ways to reduce risk of managerial failure Elemental and very essential boardroom manners Succession planning for everyone (almost!) originally published by SmartBlogs