Making the Most of "Superstar" Teachers

Thanks to its partnership with publisher Eye on Education, EducationWorld is pleased to present this tip from Leading School Change: 9 Strategies to Bring Everybody on Board by Todd Whitaker.

In this piece, Whitaker presents a strategy that will help school leaders leverage an essential group of staff members — their teachers.

There are 3 categories of educators that will impact school change, “superstars,” “backbones,” and “mediocres.” Let’s examine the category that has the most influence, “superstars.”

To reach the lofty level of the irreplaceable superstar, a teacher must earn the esteem of four groups: students, parents, peers, and principals.

• If you ask students to name their best teachers, this teacher’s name comes up quite often.
• Parents often request (or at least wish) that their child have this teacher. The word gets around the school community that his classroom serves the needs of students well.
• Peers respect this teacher as a colleague, role model, and informal leader.
• If this teacher left the school, the principal would find it difficult to hire someone as good, and the departure would matter beyond the walls of her classroom.

In a typical organization, about 2 to 10 percent of employees count as “superstars.” To boost the odds of achieving your goals, turn first to the “superstars” and the new teachers on your staff.

To put it plainly, the “superstars” will do what it takes to support your efforts, and they will do it exceptionally well. This gets the process off to a strong start and provides solid role models for others. Because the backbones respect the superstars, they will follow their lead.

Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, is often quoted as saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” That can be a powerful motivator, if taken correctly. To improve overall performance, an athlete or a team must work on its weaknesses, not just fine-tune or bulk up its strengths. Tuning your car’s engine once a week won’t improve your gas mileage if the tires are out of alignment.

As leaders, we must not let our weakest links determine the fate of our organization. We don’t want to set the bar for performance at the level of our “mediocres.” We can’t afford to give power to our least productive people. When we embark on change, we must rely on our strongest links — “our superstars” — to forge the path to success.

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