Leadership by E-Mail
Over the last few weeks, I have been watching a standard British, tv police drama. The story line had a minor sub plot about one of the main characters wondering if he should contact a girl he had recently met at a training event. In the dialogue he asks a female colleague if he should text the girl in question. The advice he received from her was firm and direct. Quite simply he was told to stop messing about and to just phone her. To emphasise the point the person gave the additional guidance ‘text weak, phone strong’.
This simple observation instantly made me smile. It perhaps resonated because I readily admit to being impressed by phrases and sayings that are straight to the point and capture the essence of the message. I always love precepts that are unambiguous and are grounded in reality. They have the ability ‘stick’ in your mind and be easily retrievable. Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up is an example of something I endlessly used to remind people of the importance of supporting their colleagues and stress the huge responsibility they have for the children and their school. Whenever they woke up feeling a little bit under the weather or facing some other issue and therefore thinking about possibly phoning in sick, I hoped they would remember this saying and make their way in. There are of course several more impactful phrases that spring to mind but the point is that clear a relevant strap line can leave a lasting impression.
It won’t surprise to find that during the police drama I was starting to reflect upon how appropriate ‘text weak, phone strong’ was to the world of education. When doing this I was immediately drawn to a focus which I believe has become an ineffective and unnecessary feature of communication in schools. I am referring to the increasing tendency of school leaders to rely upon E-Mail rather than face-to-face conversations.
There is no doubt that the administrative burden placed upon headteachers has grown massively in recent years and the demands of ‘paperwork’ can keep a leader tied to the office chair in front of a computer screen. We must remember though that this is the easy part of the job. The real work is developing teacher performance, building culture and driving school improvement and this can’t be achieved from the keyboard. It is done on the ground.
Of course, there is the temptation to stay in the office, ticking things off a list but once this approach is adopted it has a negative effect upon leadership. It then becomes easy to understand why leaders may choose to quickly fire off emails that send a message to staff, rather than get out of their seat and deliver it personally. In the cold light of day, we all know that this method of communication isn’t as effective. Leadership is about people, getting them on board, changing hearts and minds and helping perform at their optimum. E-Mails rarely, if ever, achieve this.
E-Mails remove a considerable amount of control and this can be critical when we are giving hard, challenging messages or even congratulatory ones. They don’t allow you to fully dictate the time and place where the message is accessed. We are not sure if people are opening them late at night in a stressed state or early in the morning after a poor night’s sleep. They don’t allow you to take the temperature of the situation by reading facial expressions that can lead to you modifying the message in whatever way is necessary. Many, many times a person’s initial reaction results in you recognizing the need to explain more or take a harder line, for example if the message doesn’t appear to be getting through. You can read the room. I have sometimes praised individuals personally only to see them not display pride or pleasure in their face. When this has happened I know that I have to stress the positive aspects even more until I elicit the response I want them to have. If you are making the time to personally thank someone then you need to make sure that are actually pleased.
In my mind we should remember ‘e-mail weak, talking strong’ because there are so many benefits to having face to face conversations as opposed to emails. Talking to a person shows a commitment and is much better for convincing a person that the message is genuine. Talking is immediate and two-way. Responsive and organic. Talking involves facial expression and tone of voice and emotion. Don’t hide behind E-Mails, talk directly to people and do the right thing whenever the opportunity arises. If you think the message is so important that it needs to be delivered face-to-face then make the time.
Leaders need to ‘walk the floor’, get into classrooms and talk to staff. It is without question the best way to find out what is going on in school/academies. It is what the most effective leaders do. If there are any non class-based leaders who are not sure if they are spending too much time in front of a screen then there is an extremely simple quick and easy way to check. Stand up. Move the chair away from the desk and look down at the carpet tiles. If they are showing far more wear exactly where you sit then you have your answer. You need to get into the school. Email weak, talking strong.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay