Thomas Friedman recently wrote a piece in the New York Times on “How to Get a Job at Google.” As I read the comments of Laszlo Bock, the Senior Vice President of People Operations for Google, the more I found that Google is looking for many of the same attributes in its employees that we are looking for in West Vancouver, when we hire principals and vice-principals.
One of the more common questions I am asked is just what does someone need to do to secure a school principal or vice-principal job? The truth is there is no one thing or an exact path. In West Vancouver we do receive dozens of applications for any job opening, and many of these candidates have all the required boxes checked for what is needed in these leadership positions. Many who apply believe there is a certain ‘formula’ in getting a job as a principal or vice-principal, but I haven’t seen it yet. I have heard, “you need to be on district committees,” or “you need to have experience in multiple schools; to have experience in different subjects and at different grades.” And the list goes on. In the end, our view is similar to that of Bock, “Talent can come in so many different forms and be built in so many non-traditional ways today.”
Bock identifies five key attributes in hiring:
- learning ability — the ability to pull together disparate bits of information and process on the fly
- leadership — when faced with a problem at the appropriate time you step in and lead
- ownership — the feeling of responsibility
- humility — the ability to step back and embrace the better ideas of others
- expertise — it is important, but less important than the other four
The list really speaks to the skills we are looking for with our school administrators and the kind of attributes we are seeking in our leaders. We want them to be able to be smart and make decisions on the fly; to lead — not only from the front, but to feel like their school is theirs; to step back and allow others to share in the success and, finally, to have the expertise in many of the learning and management areas that are regular parts of the job. Friedman is right, “In an age when innovation is increasingly a group endeavour, it also cares about a lot of soft skills – leadership, humility, collaboration, adaptability and loving to learn.” This is why we almost always ask candidates about who is in their network and how they learn with their colleagues. We want our buildings to be about learning, and that includes our leaders being model learners themselves.
And, really, this entire list and conversation extends to the qualities we are looking for in our teachers. We want our teachers to be innovators, leaders, and owners of their classroom. We do want them to be humble and, yes, we want expertise — but I will take someone with the other four qualities and lacking in expertise rather than the reverse, any day. Good grades don’t hurt, but we are looking for more than that with our teachers and educational leaders. I agree with the notion Friedman shares, “Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job. The world only cares about – and pays off on – what you can do with what you know.”
Of course, the teaching, principal and vice-principal jobs in West Vancouver involves different perks than Google (sorry about that) but it looks like we are looking for many of the same qualities.
cultureofyes.ca 
Perhaps these are life lessons as well. Once again Chris, you look beneath the questions of the ordinary and move to the extraordinary. Kevin
Thanks Kevin for the kind words. Agreed – these are life lessons and the qualities we want for all of our kids!
I love getting your blog, Chris. From my point of view as a consultant I believe that the qualities you describe Google is looking for and that you are looking for in West Vancouver is very similar to those most c organizations want. I wish there were more people with those qualities to go around.
In my view you have all those qualities. It is a privilege to work with you.
Malcolm
Malcolm S. Weinstein, Ph.D. Organizational Consulting Services Turning Dreams into Results
Sent from my iPhone
>
Thank you so much Malcolm. I really appreciate the guidance you have given to our district over the last decade. Hopefully we are helping educate citizens that will have more of these qualities in greater degrees than in the past. It is part of the great challenge of our profession!
[…] See on cultureofyes.ca […]
I wonder what would happen in education if groups of teachers were able to collaborate and brainstorm about current and future trends following Google’s “20 percent time” model**?
I wonder what would happen if students were afforded the same gift?
**Another famous benefit of working at Google is the 20 percent time program. Google allows its employees to use up to 20 percent of their work week at Google to pursue special projects. That means for every standard work week, employees can take a full day to work on a project unrelated to their normal workload. Google claims that many of their products in Google Labs started out as pet projects in the 20 percent time program.
Thanks Tara – smart thinking. I do think what we are trying to do with personalized learning and giving increased choice to students in what and how they learn is in line with the Google thinking. If students feel they own their learning more they will be more invested . . . like at Google.
I loved reading this piece Chris. I agree with the points you’re making about effective principals and teachers. It’s an interesting dialectic that takes place when we compare the business world to the education world. Not all comparisons apply, but we have interesting lessons to learn from each other. I’m excited by the things I learn about Google ( a little bit scared too, have you read the Circle?) I think in 10 years we will be living in a Google world. great job!!
Thanks Donald. Yes, there are parts of the “Google World” that are exciting, others that make me nervous. And you are right – sometimes it is as stretch to take ideas from business and apply them to our work – but in general terms I think we could learn a lot from them, and also them from us – as we look for new ways to do our work.
Reblogged this on the KSS Learning Commons.