Indulge me for a moment. I spoke to a friend yesterday morning. As we spoke, he mentioned,
“Miguel, you won’t believe it.”
“What?” I shot back. He had dropped his voice into that conspiratorial whisper signalling gossip…you know what I mean.
“The superintendent handed out required reading to all his directors. In chapter 3 of the book, you were quoted.”
“Hot dog! Really?” I exclaimed. “Think they’ll hire me now?”
“Not a chance.”
My fellow edubloggers, we face a greater challenge than simply being perceived as over-qualified by nature of our cumulative work on the Web. Jeff’s (The Thinking Stick) highlights a truth that had escaped me until I read it in his blog. It is a frightening assertion because I have never heard the question asked, but now, I fear it is THE question in people’s minds. How long before we can speak this aloud in an interview?
Imagine the following interview question: “Could you please share with me the extent of the learning network that you would bring with you to this job?”
An answer: “Well, I bring 1500 readers from my blog, over 400 Twitter contacts, 30+ Facebook friends, 50+ Skype contacts, and a Ustream.TV station that at the last live event saw 40+ people attend. I bring with me one click access to a knowledge base far greater than any single hire can bring.” This is the conversation my wife and I had: that when you are hired to work for a school, you are not the only one working for that school but you bring your social network to that school too, and that social network, that social presence is working for the school as well.
What a phenomenal interview question, don’t you think? The questions that come to my mind is, what kind of administrator does it take to hire someone that shows up with this kind of learning network, and what can I do in my current role to support that kind of courage?
I always liked Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone quote, and it’s one I’ve aspired to in hiring my own teams of folks. I find that most administrators that screw up–and there’s a lot of those–in regards to their people are the ones who are afraid to take the advice of their own people. A leader’s strength flows from those he leads. A lot of bosses simply ignore their people, treating them like brainless tools. And, while that may work for a time, in the long run, it causes more trouble. I’d rather Carnegie’s quote…
“Here lies a man who knew how to get around him men much cleverer than he.”
Knowing all my faults, I can honestly say that Carnegie’s epitaph is one I can lay claim to. Thank goodness, if nothing else, I did something right.
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
Discover more from Another Think Coming
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Another Think Coming 
That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? I still have a lot of work to do in that arena, but I would welcome the question.Unfortunately, the question you are most likely to get is, “What did you do in your last position to increase test scores”? 😦
That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? I still have a lot of work to do in that arena, but I would welcome the question.Unfortunately, the question you are most likely to get is, “What did you do in your last position to increase test scores”? 😦
I think it is a question that admin need to be asking. When I quit my job last year I used it as a selling point in every discussion I had with every school. They needed to understand by hiring me, you don’t get just me but you get all this free stuff too. Some administrator didn’t understand what I was talking about, but others did and it was those administrators that I started discussions with. Those discussions lead to talking about 20% time to be active in the network and expand it. I think we’ll be seeing more of this in the future….internationally anyway.What I bring to my school is the ability to always find someone to collaborate with in a classroom project. Between Kim Cofino and I we’ve never put out a request for a classroom, for some help for a teacher, or just a please comment on this new blog request that has not been answered by the network. The support we bring to our school via our network is something that not many people see on the surface. “What do you mean you have 1500 Twitter followers?” What does that mean to a person who doesn’t understand that it’s not about twitter it’s about the connects it creates between me and a lot of other people. This summer I sat with my mom who is an ES principal. And told her to ask a question, any question, and see what the response is. She was amazed that 5 people took time to respond back. That is the power of the network. It’s a simple little thing that you can show any administrator in an interview.I love the title of your post. “Be the Match” find a school/admin that thinks like you do, that understands what they get when they hire you. There are administrators out there, you just have to look for them and the network is a good place to start. 🙂
I think it is a question that admin need to be asking. When I quit my job last year I used it as a selling point in every discussion I had with every school. They needed to understand by hiring me, you don’t get just me but you get all this free stuff too. Some administrator didn’t understand what I was talking about, but others did and it was those administrators that I started discussions with. Those discussions lead to talking about 20% time to be active in the network and expand it. I think we’ll be seeing more of this in the future….internationally anyway.What I bring to my school is the ability to always find someone to collaborate with in a classroom project. Between Kim Cofino and I we’ve never put out a request for a classroom, for some help for a teacher, or just a please comment on this new blog request that has not been answered by the network. The support we bring to our school via our network is something that not many people see on the surface. “What do you mean you have 1500 Twitter followers?” What does that mean to a person who doesn’t understand that it’s not about twitter it’s about the connects it creates between me and a lot of other people. This summer I sat with my mom who is an ES principal. And told her to ask a question, any question, and see what the response is. She was amazed that 5 people took time to respond back. That is the power of the network. It’s a simple little thing that you can show any administrator in an interview.I love the title of your post. “Be the Match” find a school/admin that thinks like you do, that understands what they get when they hire you. There are administrators out there, you just have to look for them and the network is a good place to start. 🙂