Jody Spiro

Collective efficacy — the belief that a group has the power to achieve its goals — is important for leadership teams’ success. As described in a previous column in this series, one of the key ways to develop collective efficacy is to build on team members’ strengths (Spiro & Fisher, […]

The hallmark of an effective leadership team is members’ ability to collaborate with each other in planning and implementing the steps to achieve the team’s vision and objectives. When done well, this collaborative work facilitates the growth of each team member and a learning culture for the larger school community […]

Good communication skills are essential for leadership teams to function well and meet their goals. Communication is fundamental to all aspects of teams’ work, including the steps of getting off the ground and establishing early wins, which we have written about in previous columns in this series (Spiro & Fisher, […]

The last Leadership Teams column, “Strong teams start with collective vision and early wins,” described how it is helpful for teams to see early progress toward achievement of the members’ vision. Early wins should be tangible, observable, evidence-based, and accomplished in just a few weeks. This helps create and maintain […]

In summer 2023, we shared an overview of why leadership teams are important for school success on Learning Forward’s blog (Spiro & Fisher, 2023). We are pleased to have the opportunity to write a recurring column for The Learning Professional to explore leadership teams in more depth, focusing on what […]

School leaders have a major impact on student achievement and schoolwide improvement, but they can’t achieve success by acting alone. Excellent results require a team effort. High-functioning leadership teams are built intentionally and are, on average, five times more productive than average teams (Keller, 2017). Even when leaders recognize the […]

The last couple of years have brought unprecedented challenges to us all, especially to the dedicated educators who lead and teach our children. For all educators, change has been constant and the issues to address are many, including student health and safety (physical, emotional, and mental), educator well-being and burnout, […]