Elementary lessons

There they were, talking core leadership principles like being proactive, seeking first to understand, the importance of responsibility and accountability, being gracious in winning and losing and establishing and then actively pursuing priorities.

It was damned inspiring, especially in a region where we are typically bi-polar with leadership in that we win big or fail to show up.

Lessons of leadership practices that develop self-confidence, consideration of other possibilities and options and an attitude of fairness were top of mind with these current and future leaders.

Amy noted that people approach problems and opportunities from different perspectives, but if they all learn to build consensus from a common ground, good leadership “becomes a habit.”

Tripp talked about a more simple but no less important program benefit when he said it has allowed him to be a better classmate is his Kindergarten class. Yep, kindergarten. And Amy uses her newly-learned skills with her 2nd grade friends.

In a time when it is too common that younger U.S. generations eschew fundamental practices of responsibility, accountability and doing the right thing when no one is watching, Amy, Tripp and their peers are welcome exceptions.

And they are growing exceptions — in more ways than one.

Beard Elementary School in Fort Smith is one of 400 elementary schools worldwide working with Franklin Covey in the “Leader in Me” project. The students at Beard have spent this school year studying the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and what Beard Principal Pam Siebenmorgen refers to as the “Essential 10” practices of good leaders. Carnall and Euper Lane Elementary schools are also using the unique leadership program.

According to Franklin Covey, the “process integrates the principles of personal leadership and effectiveness in everyday, age-appropriate language into the core subjects and curriculum of an elementary school. It is a holistic school-wide experience for teachers and students and creates a common language and culture within the school built on proven principle-based leadership skills found in The 7 Habits.”

Siebenmorgen and her staff hosted several “Leadership Luncheons” this year to gather community leaders with a leader in each class (Kindergarten – 6th) to talk about how the program has changed their school life and home life.

The rules the students learn and adopt are as basic as they are important as they are, unfortunately, rare. Things like:
• Help family and friends before you are asked;
• Respond with “Yes, ma’am,” “Yes, sir,” etc.;
• Make eye contact and use a firm handshake when greeting someone;
• Learn from mistakes;
• Always be honest;
• Be responsible with priorities (do homework before watching TV);
• Work daily to improve behavior; and,
• Think of others first (seek first to understand).

Or, in other words, behaviors we rarely see among members of Congress.

Students at all levels of Beard use the training to conduct student-led conferences between parents and teachers, Siebenmorgen explained. The student is responsible to work with the teacher and be able to explain to his or her parents what they are doing right, doing wrong, how they will maximize the good and improve the not so good.

“It’s your responsibility for your grades, not the teacher’s,” one student noted in explaining why he likes the different approach.

As part of the program, the students keep “data notebooks” in which they must honestly assess their progress reaching goals related to behavior, reading, writing, math and other courses. Each morning and each afternoon before the school day ends, students in a class review their “pluses and deltas.” For us laypersons, they review and reinforce successes and areas needing more focus.

Siebenmorgen said attitude and behavior changes among students were immediately noticeable. Conflicts that develop during recess are often resolved by other students before the teachers involved.

“We have seen a major difference with the students. My discipline numbers have really dropped this year,” Siebenmorgen explained.

Terri Long, the mother of a 6th grade student at Beard, said her daughter is well-behaved at home and has matured beyond her years.

“I sometimes have to remind myself that she’s only in 6th grade,” Long said.

Siebenmorgen, like any good leader, is looking beyond the gains of this first year and wants to achieve more by having Beard Elementary become a “Lighthouse School.” There are only 10 schools in the Franklin Covey program to achieve the designation. Such schools have been in the program several years and have “achieved extraordinary results and are models of excellence for other schools,” according to Franklin Covey.

My bet is that Siebenmorgen and the Beard students succeed in that pursuit.

Certainly, as these students mature, they will encounter more difficult and complex situations and persons. That recess argument about what game to play will morph into peer pressure about various life choices in Junior and Senior grades, and that will evolve into resolving conflicts and making decisions as corporate and government leaders.

Indeed, they will one day encounter a person or group who has no interest in seeking first to understand or finding a win-win solution. And then Amy or Tripp will have to play to win in a dog-eat-dog environment, or will have to decide (prioritize) if the fight is to win the battle (short-term gain) or the war (long-term gain).

Amy and Tripp and their peers, if they maintain their focus on the habits and the essentials, are likely to have a clear advantage in complex conflicts because they will, ideally, make decisions built on a foundation of reasoned consideration rather than the sands of shallow and temporary emotion.