Visible Vision?

Vision must be visible. I love that concept from the mind of Simon Sinek. We have been blessed at Hoover Middle School to really embed and live the work of Simon Sinek and his book, Leaders Eat Last. If you haven’t had the chance to read this excellent book, try his YouTube video here (Simon Sinek). To paraphrase his concept, vision doesn’t really mean much unless you can truly see the image in your mind’s eye. His best example is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s  most famous speech entitled, “I Have a Dream”. In the speech, Dr. King not only implored that he had a dream and vision, but he made it crystal clear to the audience. “I have a dream…..one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” This device was used many times throughout his speech to give the audience the clear picture he was trying to convey.

What does this have anything to do with Hoover Middle School and the vision? First things first. There are too many useless mission and vision statements floating all throughout the educational world. Most vision and mission statements in schools have degenerated into a laundry list of buzzwords, jargon, and other politically correct statements that leaders feel must be included in some sort of barroom wager of who can use the most honcho-speak.

Example: Peyton Manning Elementary School seeks to create a challenging learning environment that encourages high expectations for success through development-appropriate instruction that allows for individual differences and learning styles. Our school promotes a safe, orderly, caring, and supportive environment. Each student's self-esteem is fostered by positive relationships with students and staff. We strive to have our parents, teachers, and community members actively involved on our students' learning.

I kid you not, except for altering the name, this is a real school mission statement I found on Google. I typed in “school mission statements" and clicked the first link.  How could anyone possibly remember this let alone have it authentically drive the soul of a school?

As Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Taking the Bard's advice, Hoover Middle School decided to be concise and brief in its vision statement:

Hoover’s Vision Statement: Influence the World, Serve Others, and Save Lives

This has truly driven the ethos, character, and spirit of the Hoover family. Yet it took Simon Sinek for us to realize the next big step: how could we make this visible? So the leadership team debated, discussed, and found ways for us to synthesize our vision and mission into something that was accurately visible. Our final picture?

Influence the World:  We want our students to be more like the staff at Hoover.
(While this comes off sounding arrogant, we take pride in this. Why wouldn’t we want students to become more like a group of people who have dedicated their lives to educating children through acts of service?)

Serve Others: We want the world to be a better place from having our students’ walk through it.

Save Lives: Every student who walks through Hoover will either be a tax payer or tax burden. Our calling is to drive this decision.

Having this clear, concise, visible vision has been the game changer at Hoover. Through the concept of CMOT (consistent message over time), development of core values (see next month’s blog!), Hoover’s family has thrived. The key element to a healthy and effective school is always tied to beginning with the end in mind by creating a visible vision that drives everything that you do.

“Leadership is communicating others' worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.” – Stephen Covey