Unlocking Brand Power

Branding in education, or brandED, is a strategic mindset of clearly highlighting what makes your classroom, school, or district unique in a way that showcases all of the great things taking place that create a positive culture.  It is all about TELLING, not “selling,” in order to build powerful relationships with all school stakeholders.  Effective branding elevates the work taking place, focusing on image, promise, and result.  We shared the following in BrandED:

PROMISE

... A compelling core connection to the value we guarantee to our community (WHY)

RESULT

...A consistent reason to believe by our stakeholders (HOW)

IMAGE

...Identity that grows awareness of the good we accomplish (WHAT)

The true power of brandED lies in the powerful learning experiences that you provide to the kids you serve.  It can be developed and sustained by focusing on the following questions:

• How does our audience perceive us?
• What end is in mind?
• What channels will we use?
• What kinds of original thinking can we advance? 
• How to show our value and create loyalty?

The questions above bolster and add context to a simple equation that can unlock the power of brand:

Improve the work + share and celebrate the work = brandED

Creating a connection with people is vital for all educators in today’s environment.  The power of brandED is that it can embody attributes that people will feel drawn to through compelling storytelling.  By leveraging well-crafted stories, the messaging can lead to the creation of emotional resonance in stakeholders' minds, leading to a greater understanding of and support for everything that is done to help students succeed.  By unlocking the power of brand, educators can:

1. Redefine the landscape by setting themselves and schools apart in a way that shows value by moving beyond a sole emphasis on tangible features such as logo, mascot, colors, and taglines.
2. Establish a focus that helps to better manage time, resources, and the strengths of the people you serve to make perception reality. 
3. Develop and sustain enduring relationships with all stakeholders through empowering stories that lead to an identity that resonates. 
4. Motivate colleagues by paying it forward through the consistent sharing of their innovative work.
5. Build on achieved success by continuously redefining what it takes to impact student success and achievement that results in lasting loyalty.  The key is to lead from awareness to fidelity.  
6. Amplify all the good that takes place to develop a critical awareness.  Identify the benefits that provide and appeal to emotions.

Brand power now and in the future is undeniable.  I shared the following in Digital Leadership:

Aren’t educators always building, brokering, and sustaining relationships?  With a brandED mindset, “initiating” relationships becomes the first step.  Strategic brand is grown through mutual trust and good faith as you strategically initiate new connections.  You can grow your own professional brand personality as well as that of your insti¬tution by purposefully creating relationships that lead to school improvement.

The most critical word above is improvement.  While part of unlocking the power of brand is sharing all of the good to build priceless relationships, it is also about unearthing additional areas of growth. 

Level Up Your Leadership

Like most kids, past, and present, I loved playing video games.  During my very early years, Atari was the best and only option.  My parents eventually bought an Apple IIe where we needed to use floppy disks to load any meaningful content, which added to our gaming experience.  However, once the Nintendo was invented and stationed in our basement, we toiled away immersed in classics such as Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, and Mike Tyson’s punchout.  Our goal was simple…acquire skills through analysis, practice, and watching others to reach new or more challenging levels.  I can still feel the rush when success was achieved and the bitter disappointment when I came up short.  In the case of the latter, this became motivation to press forward. 

We can take lessons learned from gaming and apply them to our own practice.  If we don’t push ourselves to grow and get better, it becomes increasingly difficult to empower those we work with to do the same.  You get what you model, for better or for worse. 

If leaders don’t get It, change rarely happens. 

In a world where technology is embedded in so many facets of society, it is incumbent upon leaders to look for ways to level up.  Social media is, and still represents, one of the most powerful ways to move a learning culture forward and engage with stakeholders.  For those who are still not seeing any value or are apprehensive by having their toe in the water instead of jumping all the way in, there is no better time than the present to make a change.  I encourage you to shift your mindset in order to create schools that work better for kids and, in the process, establish relevance as a leader, no matter your position.

In Digital Leadership, I presented an array of research and evidence-based strategies that can pave the way for any leader to level up.  I revisit some of these strategies as both a reminder and health-check for you to reflect on where you are, but more importantly, where you would like to be in the near future. 

• Strategically utilize an array of free tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok to communicate real-time information that stakeholders can access on any device.  Consistency aligned with intent is vital.  
• Become the storyteller-in-chief and take control of your public relations.  If you don't share your story, someone else will, and you then run the chance that it will not be the one you want to be told.  Stop reacting to public relations situations you have limited control of and begin to be more proactive.  When supplying a constant stream of positive news, you will help to mitigate any negative stories that might arise.  
• Any leader can harness the power of a brandED by telling, not selling, in order to build powerful relationships with stakeholders and empower learning like never before.  A brand presence is no longer restricted to the business world as everyone has access to the tools at their fingertips to do this in a way that won’t break the bank.  Simply communicating and telling your story with social media tools can accomplish this and organically develop your positive brand in the process. 
• If you are the brightest and most innovative person in the room, you are in the wrong room!  Develop or enhance your Personal Learning Network (PLN) to connect with experts, peers, and practitioners across the globe to grow professionally through knowledge acquisition, resource sharing, engaged discussion, and to receive feedback. 
• If you are an administrator, work to loosen up filtering policies and allow educators to use digital tools that can engage learners, unleash their creativity, and enhance learning.  As many schools know, CIPA does not require many of these to be blocked.  That’s a local decision. 
• There is a golden opportunity to teach kids about digital responsibility and positively address their social and emotional needs when digital tools are used with purpose across the curriculum. 

In a disruptive world, societal change happens fast, and this has a ripple effect on education.  Leveling up your leadership flies in the face of the status quo, and “that’s the way we have always done it” to constantly move schools in a better direction.  By consistently chasing growth, you not only learn how to become a better leader, but you also empower those who you serve in the process.

Together we can continue to be the change we want to see in education. 

The Blueprint for a Great Story

Storytelling has quickly become a vital leadership tool in the digital age, something that I have written extensively about in Digital Leadership. Social media and a variety of other technologies allow for the mash-up of text, hyperlinks, audio, images, and video to craft compelling narratives that showcase all that is great in education. The tools we now have available allow for the creation of supercharged stories that can be shared with a vast audience near and far. For these reasons, it is crucial for educators to become the storyteller-in-chief to not only share but, more importantly, to celebrate the work that is done in schools across the globe.

So, what makes a great story? There are many pieces of advice out there that one can peruse through a Google search. However, I believe the image below captures the essence of what not only makes a good story but one that also effectively conveys a powerful message that caters to your stakeholders or a specific group you are targeting.

Image Credit

Let’s take a look at each of these elements that together create a blueprint for a great story.

Audience

It is essential to know for whom you are writing. Depending on your position, this will vary, of course. I like this point from Crystaline Randazzo:

But the truth is you have to give people the kind of content they want in order to keep their attention. And in order to give them what they want, you need to get to know them better. Once you start giving your target audience content they want, they are more inclined to engage with your other content.

Knowing what your audience cares about or is interested in is key, but it is equally as important to listen and understand what they want to hear and how they want to engage in the story. The act of listening will allow you to create a message that has more meaning. Consider their goals and priorities, not just yours. Doing some research on who you are trying to reach and why will also go a long way to crafting an impactful story.

Subtlety 

How you tell a story will make or break it. No one likes bragging — even those who humblebrag stick out like a sore thumb. The key to a great story in education is to make sure the message resonates in a way that doesn’t turn the audience off. To avoid this, make sure you follow the golden rule, which is “show, not tell” from multiple perspectives. Subtleness creates the conditions for more two-way dialogue

Inspiration

It goes without saying that for a story to be remembered and have an impact, it should be inspirational. Tapping into emotions is part art and part science that dramatically impacts not only a connection to the message but also more of a willingness to share it. An article in Scientific American sums it up nicely:

Stories stimulating positive emotions are more widely shared than those eliciting negative feelings, and content that produces greater emotional arousal (making your heart race) is more likely to go viral. This means that content that makes readers or viewers feel a positive emotion like awe or wonder is more likely to take off online than content that makes people feel sad or angry.

Truth

It is easy in today’s digital world to vet anything, including the content, ideas, points, and strategies inherent in any story. Honesty is a virtue, and a lack thereof will discredit both the message and the person conveying it. In other cases, many stories in education just share a positive outcome or point. While this definitely caters to a particular audience, being truthful about the journey and the challenges that are overcome along the will only strengthen the narrative. Substance and results matter in education, and stories should convey as such. 

Promise

In BrandED, we discuss the importance of delivering on a promise to those we serve, most notably our learners. We define this as a compelling core connection to the value educators, school, or district guarantees to their community.  It’s about benefits, not features, that have a unique value and that work to develop pivotal connections with your target audience. So, what does this really mean? Below is an excellent synopsis from Emotive Brand that I have edited slightly:

A contemporary promise articulates an idea that goes beyond the rational benefits that worked in the past and extols a higher-order emotional reward. It’s not a slogan, logo, or headline. It is not, by definition, a public statement (though it can be as long as you and the work truly live up to it). Indeed, its uniqueness and differentiating power comes not from what it says, but how it transforms the way you or your school creates strong and meaningful connections with people.

What the above statement conveys is the blueprint of a great story and how the promise establishes and sustains relationships. The best way to integrate this is to dive into your vision and think about how you can combine mission, goals, personality, values, and results in a deliverable story for stakeholders. 

As you begin to embrace or improve in your role as storyteller-in-chief, I hope this blueprint helps. In the words of the America Press Institute:

A good story is about something the audience decides is interesting or important. A great story often does both by using storytelling to make important news, information, ideas, and events interesting. A good story, however, does more than inform or amplify. It adds value to the topic.

You build relationships by making good stories great. 

Associate for Success

I cannot overstate the importance of trust in establishing the foundation for relationships.  In addition to trust various other elements contribute to the growth and strengthening of relationships.  One that might not readily come to mind is association.  The act of associating with others can contribute to positive relationship building and is linked to the awareness of your own defined leadership persona. Associating behavior is the essence of the classic model Management by Walking Around (MBWA), which is also sometimes referred to as Management by Wandering Around.  MBWA came to light in 1982 in Peters and Waterman’s classic management book, In Search of Excellence. 

The authors profiled the innovative owners of Hewlett-Packard who used MBWA as their signature way of communicating with their organization—not through emails, calls, or memos but by associating: They deliberately got to their people in repeated touch points, in regular face-to-face casual moments. It sounds commonsensical to do, but it was innovative at the time and still produces results. For those leaders needing practice in associating, this strategy can give you a chance to flex your relational muscles. MBWA isn’t haphazard; it is achieved with strategic thought. Getting into a daily routine of associating with a wide range of stakeholders, internal and external, is of primary importance to leadership and to the promotion of a school brand. Adding associating— the deliberate flexing of your communicative muscle as a part of your daily to-do list—builds trust, respect, and forms a base for school leadership power.

Image credit: frederickmordi.files.wordpress.com

Use any of the many free communication channels available online that support an associative online daily routine as you take MBWA onto the digital and social media stage. Go on a hunt. Deliberately identify people you want to associate with in digital spaces and build relationships. There are opportunities for “walking around” in digital spaces today that weren’t existent in 1982. The power of association had a profound impact on me when Trish Rubin saw the chance to associate with me. It came from seeing that potential relationship source on TV after CBS NYC aired a story about how my teachers and I were using Twitter as a teaching, learning, and leadership tool. Our ensuing face-to-face conversations laid the foundation for how digital tools could vastly improve associative behavior. The digital world provides endless opportunities to associate with like-minded educators as well as experts in the field.  

Image credit: www.free-management-ebooks.com/

Consider adding the power of associating to your leadership toolbox.  If you need structure, set your phone on a timer and give yourself 3 minutes to associate with others at various points in your day both face-to-face and virtually. Push yourself to associate daily. Use the Google Calendar Speedy Meetings setting to keep your connecting to short (5–10 minute), meaningful, real-time or online meetings. Just the intention of reducing meeting length from 30 minutes on your calendar can help you be more efficient. Move outside your comfort zone. Identify and reach out to people beyond your brick and mortar building to push your thinking and gain invaluable insight on ways to improve your professional practice. Associating with people that you might not agree or see eye-to-eye with can help to build relationships that you might not have thought were possible. 

All stakeholders, including students, should be on your associating radar. Talk with them about school culture and initiatives. Ask for their impression of the school vision, mission, and values to gain insight on what can be changed as well as to cultivate greater student agency. Seek ideas and suggestions. Smile and say thanks, then follow up selectively with some of these new ambassadors. Include aspirational associations. Associate through “reach” in real time or online. Look above you in a metaphorical sense. Whom do you want to build a relationship with that may have a higher stature? Start wandering around in digital spaces where your prospects are engaging. Twitter is a good resource for this, and once you have “professional collateral” to share that shows who you are, you can use it to associate for connection.

As you associate, “see” around your circle. See people whom you may have the tendency to overlook or to take for granted: Service providers of any sort, businesses, media outlets, professional organizations, senior citizens, very young people, and diverse newcomers to your community can be part of your association plan. They are valuable contacts in their own right and may have additional associative power. Wander around, listen, ask questions, and engage to develop more associative relationships that can complement and improve your ability to lead change. So how have you leveraged the power of associative behavior? What other strategies would you provide to help others associate to succeed?

Content for this post was adapted from BrandED: Tell Your Story, Build Relationships, and Empower Learning. Get your copy TODAY!

Our Work is Our Message

The following post is adapted from BrandED: Tell Your Story, Build Relationships, and Empower Learning. 

Branding matters in the changing world of learning, fueled by powerful digital resources (Sheninger, 2014). It’s time to make a choice – define or be defined. Telling a powerful school story and reaching an audience have never been more possible than in today’s digital world, and never more necessary for a leader to embrace in a new world of competition and choice. Early brand adopters such as Brad Currie, Robert Zywicki, Joe Sanfelippo, Tony Sinanis, Angela Maiers, Vicki Davis, and Gwyneth Jones, are already out ahead of the pack on digital media, and they are passionate about what they do. They are inspired by their initial success and have developed professionally in ways that make them unique compared to other leaders. A brandED mindset takes professionals to the next level, adding strategic thinking and action steps for brand sustainability.

School leaders build a positive brand presence in the name of school improvement, to advance better teaching, learning and leadership, and to develop stronger school communities. The work advanced in the area of servant leadership reinforces the importance of having a brandED strategy. Sipe and Frick (2009) identify the following seven pillars of servant leadership:

• Person of character
• Puts people first
• Skilled communicator
• Compassionate collaborator
• Has foresight
• Systems thinker
• Leads with moral authority

The pillars of servant leadership speak to the underlying mission of brandED leaders; they define leadership as something to be shared, distributed, transparent, and focused on success and happiness. BrandED does not rest on the shoulders of one person. It is a distributed, collaborative, service-oriented school improvement effort articulated through the power of storytelling. 

Image credit: wedesign.la/how-to-tell-your-brands-story/

The marketing principle that guides business brand is its drive to build relationships. BrandED educators focus strongly on that aspect. Successful school leadership in today’s digital world is fueled by connectivity. Aren’t educators always building, brokering, and sustaining relationships? Focusing on relationships is a cornerstone of any leadership effort and one that supports a brandED strategy. Relationship building is a never-ending process, and in education it is not a part of a “sales cycle” (Connick, 2012) but is instead a part of an “awareness cycle.” For any school leader, being relational is as important as being knowledgeable.

BrandED behavior strategically focuses on relationships forged and sustained through trust. Mutual trust is a core element of brand loyalty in business and in schools, thanks to the digital age. A great workplace is created through organizational credibility, respect, fairness, and a foundation of trust (Mineo, 2014). The work involved in brandED development relies on building welcoming access in real time and online so that people feel connected and happy in their work. Access is supported by people who know that the calendar isn’t just about scheduling the day’s appointments but also about making time for a ritual of building trust. Your purposeful strategic effort to create relationships is vital.

Image credit: hwww.digibutterfly.com/

As you begin to develop your own brandED mindset and strategy, especially through a time of innovation, the following focus areas are places in which to access new connectivity for your own brand and the school’s brand. In each area, work on building relationships that promote both your brand and the school’s.

• Student achievement. Standardized test scores are most often used to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a school. Public relations and communication efforts focused on evidence of growth in this area and in other academic and nonacademic areas can be conveyed through social media. Doing so will help create and strengthen a school’s brand presence and convey why the brand matters. It is important to remember that this cannot be your only focus, as achievement will never tell the whole story of success (see other pillars below).
• Quality of teachers and administrators. Student learning and achievement are directly linked to the quality of the school staff. Stakeholders are often more than willing to move to towns with higher taxes that attract the best and brightest educators. Utilizing social media to convey staff statistics can build the confidence of any community, which has a positive impact on a school’s brand. Hire, support, and retain the best while also consistently sharing their great work.
• Innovative instructional practices and programs. Course offerings, curricular decisions, unique programs, and innovative instructional practices play a key role in student engagement while also having a positive impact on student outcomes (Whitehurst, 2009). Unique course offerings, curricula, and programs make a school or district stand out. The publication and dissemination of this information sends a powerful message related to college and career readiness and the ability of students to follow their passions.
• Extracurricular activities. Extracurricular, nonacademic activities are a valued component of any school community and help develop well-rounded students. Leaders who use social media as part of a combined communications and public relations strategy spotlight these activities to gain the attention of stakeholders.

Narratives both large and small are valued as tangible evidence of the school’s worth.  Stories come in different sizes and hold different purposes, but simply said they keep the engagement going. Sharing through big and small ideas aligned to the focus areas above will result in greater transparency that will help to build better relationships, support, and admiration for your noble work. It's time to join the brandED conversation.

Connick, W. (2012). The seven stages of the sales cycle. National Association of Sales Professionals. Retrieved from     
     https://www.nasp.com/article/AE1B7061-3F39/the-seven-stages-of-thesales-cycle.html

Mineo, L. D. (2014). The importance of trust in leadership. Research Management Review, 20(1), 1–6.

Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sipe, J. W., & Frick, D. M. (2009). Seven pillars of servant leadership: Practicing the wisdom of leading by serving. New 
     York, NY: Paulist Press.

Whitehurst, G. J. (2009). Don’t forget curriculum. Washington, DC: Brookings. Retrieved from 
     www.brookings.edu/papers/2009/1014_curriculum_whitehurst.aspx

The BrandED Conversation

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou 

When I was asked a while back to write a book for Jossey-Bass, I was relatively non-committal.  I had just finished back-to-back projects that resulted in Digital Leadership and Uncommon Learning, which took up a great deal of my time.  In my mind I needed a break from writing and on top of that really had no clue what to write about. For me, the ultimate goal I establish when taking on a book project is to try to write a unique piece that either greatly enhances existing work in the education and leadership space or creates an entirely new niche. I’m not going to lie – in this bold new digital world this is extremely hard.

The acquisitions editor at the time never gave up on me. This made me think hard and reflect on what topic I was truly passionate about. I eventually settled on branding in education, but not for the reason you might think. During my career as a principal branding became synonymous with the successful digital transformation that occurred at my former school. Using digital tools, we crafted a new narrative about the amazing work that was taking place that was backed by evidence of results.  We showed that embracing innovative practices aligned to a sound pedagogical foundation could create a learning culture rooted in meaningful learning and relationships. Efficacy, in part, was transparently integrated in our stories of struggle, systems change, and success. The power of telling our story galvanized and inspired us in ways we never could have imagined. 

The outcomes described above might never had come to pass had it not been for Trish Rubin.  In 2009 as I began my journey to becoming a digital leader, she relentlessly reached out to me and explained how I was incorporating branding principles in innovative ways.  Trish, a former educator turned business maven, helped me realize that a focus on telling, not selling, was creating unique value to my school community.  As a result we embarked on a journey to delve into how a brandED mindset could help promote, sustain, and amplify the great work taking place every day in schools across the world. We scratched the surface in 2013 as I worked with her to include a chapter on branding in Digital Leadership, which later came out early in 2014.  However, there was more to this story.

Order your copy TODAY!

As I reflected on my journey with Trish my mind became set on writing BrandED as a way to pay if forward with Trish and thank her for how she helped me as a leader. She opened my eyes to a concept that resonated not only with me, but also my stakeholders and countless educators across the world. She helped me address my own bias with a business only view of branding and together we worked to unlock the benefits of become the storyteller-in-chief.  To model this, we wrote the book using a conversational tone. Chapters have been re-titled conversations as we take readers on a journey through the history of brand and how a mindset shift can leverage powerful aspects resulting in an improved learning culture, expanded school performance, and increased resources. 

"If you want to change education, change the story being told." 

With change in education the brandED conversation is more important than ever.  As greatness occurs every single day it is imperative that we share in transparent ways to create a new status quo using brandED strategies. Quite simply, if you don’t tell your story someone else will.  Define before being defined. It is our hope that our book will lay the foundation for all educators to tell their story, empower learning, and build relationships. Relationships are built, in part, on feeling. BrandED illustrates to readers how feeling can be cultivated through image, promise, result, vision, belief, emotion, and value.  Below are some key takeaways:

• Leverage digital tools to become the storyteller-in-chief and build better community relationships
• Strengthen internal and external communications among students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders
• Increase resources by establishing strategic partnerships and strengthening ties to key stakeholders
• Promote connectivity, transparency, and community to build a positive culture that extends beyond the schoolhouse door to build powerful relationships

As with all books BrandED has been a labor of love.  One thing that Trish and I emphasize throughout the book is how the strategies presented connect to research. Some other key aspects include reflective questions at the end of each conversation to help readers think critically about how to implement the strategies presented.  There are also practitioner stories throughout the book that illustrate how brandED thinking can positively impact learning and leadership. Finally, the book wraps up with numerous resources curated in an appendix including digital tools that can be implemented immediately to begin, sustain, or enhance your brandED journey. 

On behalf of Trish and I we really hope you enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed writing it. Grab your copy today and join the conversation on social media by using #brandEDU. Below are a few reviews.

"Branding instead of being branded. Defining instead of being defined. Innovative educators must stand up for their ideas and actions instead of being judged and branded by external agencies using standardized measures. Eric Sheninger and Trish Rubin present an excellent guide for educators and education leaders to tell their stories through BrandED."
—Yong Zhao, PhD, Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas and author of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?

"A great resource for educators who want to strengthen their connections with students, teachers, parents, and the wider community. These two innovative leaders don't just capture how to tell the story of a school—they show how to create it."
—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

"Every day in every one of your schools, great things happen. How does your community know? Schools that are Future Ready boldly engage their community to build relationships and empower both students and families. Powerful yet practical, BrandED is the perfect resource to help your school share its story with the world."
—Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools

"Eric and Trish demystify what it means to brand one's school by providing eight compelling conversations that not only lead to a deeper understanding of branding, but provide relevant ways for school leaders to frame their work… . In the vast sea of information in which we currently reside, using the BrandED Leadership methods described in this book will help school leaders reach their audiences in ways that create trusting relationships and loyalty."
—Dwight Carter, Principal, New Albany High School

"Disruption is the new normal. And the great disruptors of our time are shaping the culture itself in innovative ways. Eric and Trish's book BrandED sends a very compelling message to school leaders that developing and executing a smart, innovative brand strategy can disrupt the best practices' conventions of the existing school system. Like great disruptive brands from Apple to Uber, educators now have the ability to get the community engaged and immersed in the school's brand equity—and BrandED provides the roadmap for getting there." 
—Scott Kerr, Executive Director of Strategy and Insights, Time Inc.

Get the Good News Out

Let’s face it – great things occur in all schools on a daily basis. We see the fruits of our labor through our students as they show growth in learning over time. There is nothing more gratifying as a servant of education then when our passion translates into helping students of various ability levels accomplish tasks that they themselves never thought possible.  There are countless stories to be shared that illustrate how schools are meeting the diverse needs of learners today while preparing them for success in their future. Telling these stories adds another layer to initiatives and strategies developed to empower students and energize a community of stakeholders.

The good news doesn’t stop there.  Teachers, administrators, and parents go above and beyond to serve kids and the profession. Each story told helps to establish a new reality instead of one that historically has been dominated by perception.  As I have been writing since 2009, if you don’t tell your story someone else will. When someone else controls the narrative, chances are it might not paint an accurate picture of what is truly happening in your classroom, school, or district. Embracing a storyteller-in-chief mindset should no longer be optional, but instead a decision grounded in the benefits of being transparent and building powerful relationships with stakeholders (parents, media, businesses, community members, etc.). This is the premise behind brandED leadership.

To get the good news out you don’t have to continue to wait patiently for the mainstream media to cover your stories. It also doesn’t have to result in a drain on your time.  By working smarter, not harder, you can begin the process of curating and then sharing powerful learning success stories that will help to establish a new, better identity in a digital world. One strategy I developed as a principal was to create a template for my staff to easily share all the amazing work they were engaged in both with students and their own learning. This template was used to create the monthly Principal’s Report as I called it. The categories included the following:

• Guest speakers
• Innovative practices
• Student honors
• Field trips
• Guidance news
• Professional learning
• Theater arts
• Facility updates
• Other

The categories above are what I used and provide a frame of reference to create your own template. Each month I would send the template out and ask my teachers to share any pertinent work. Everything was then curated into a final document, edited twice, and then sent out to my stakeholders using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Remind, our school app, and an email blast. The final product was nothing fancy, but loaded with valuable news and insights to show everyone in our community the great work happening inside and outside the walls of our building. Check out an example HERE. Want to share content like this across multiple social media platforms with one tool to save time? If so check out IFTTT. Want to program specific times to send out tweets and other social media messages? Well there are tools for that as well. Check out Buffer and Hootsuite. 

The report became an invaluable resource for me to pull content into other digital channels and further amplify the work taking place at my school.  With my teachers permission I copied and pasted excerpts and worked the content into more elaborate blog posts.  You could even apply the same concept to Smore.  I also began to incorporate the ideas, strategies, and innovative practices into presentations I was delivering both at the local and state level. When video and pictures are incorporated you ultimately develop a digital leadership strategy that not only gets the good news out, but does so in a way that builds a positive brand presence. 

Keep in mind this simple equation to consistently get the good news out:

Communications + Public Relations = Brand presence

For more tips and ideas on how this equation can help you get the good news out click HERE. What other ways are you leveraging to get the good news out on your classroom, school, or district?

Blended Family Engagement

To this day I still remember the article that I read about Twitter in the Staten Island Advance one cold Sunday in March of 2009.  As someone who was totally against the use of social media for both personal and professional reasons, that article was intriguing to read as it essentially reinforced my negative perception. However, as I neared the end of the piece a light bulb went on.  Finally, I saw a professional connection as to how I could use social media to be a better communicator and engage more stakeholders in everything that was happening at my school. This was the beginning of my digital leadership journey that started with the simple goal of building better relationships with families in the community. 

Developing the means to communicate more effectively and better engage families was one of the main goals of our Twitter strategy that evolved from the article I read.  We were still using traditional means of communication such as memos, on-site events such as our annual Back to School Night, PTO meetings, email blasts, and face-to-face conferences when needed. We also instituted a positive referral system that combined a paper note sent home and a phone call.  I am not saying that we were awful at engaging our families, but in a rapidly evolving digital world we were not meeting them where they were at, let alone giving them a choice as to how they wanted to engage with us. It was time to transform our communications for a digital world.

Image credit

The fact of the matter was that many of our parents and students were disconnected from the school.  Many parents worked multiple jobs and just didn’t have the time to attend events and meetings on-site or even read an email or memo.  In terms of our students, we were pretty much clueless as to the tools and means they were using to communicate.  With Twitter as a starting point, my goal was to engage just a few more parents and students and if I did then that was a success.  I still remember getting so giddy when parents would tell me that they read my tweet or a student would comment on a news item I shared. These little morale boosters helped me to develop a more comprehensive digital strategy, which integrated more and more tools.

Over time we learned that the real key to success was meeting these key stakeholder groups where they were at and engaging them in two-way communications using a blended approach. I was all about getting rid of paper, but we soon realized that this was still an effective way to get information out. Some families did not have Internet access or were not on social media. Thus, I still communicated using these tried and true methods. Over time I began to integrate a variety of tools in addition to Twitter such as Flickr, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Google+, Google Docs, Google Voice, and a school app for push notifications.  Email messages were still blasted out, but instead of just all text, I began inserting video messages using YouTube to make my message more personal. 

The blended approach served our school community well as we provided numerous choices as to how parents and students wanted to interact with our school.  We embraced the storyteller-in-chief mindset to unleash the positive energy embedded in the great work that was taking place in our school on a daily basis. The lesson learned here was how we could create an image and identity for our school through transparency that would forge greater trust and support from our stakeholders. Thus, our concerted strategy of consistent communications and taking control of public relations resulted in the creation of a positive brand presence.  Going forward the brandED strategy was all about better engaging our families while building relationships in the process.

Engaging families goes well beyond just sending out information whether it is through traditional or digital means. Communication, in general, tends to be impersonal even if video is used.  As part of our engagement strategy, we made improved efforts to interact with families face-to-face.  In addition to the annual Back-to-School night, we began hosting more interactive events to educate parents on our emerging innovative practices. Parents and students were invited to sit on interview committees for new teachers and administrators.  When we changed homework practices as a district, parents, and students were invited to be part of the entire process, including reviewing synthesized research.  

All in all, we looked for more opportunities to give families a greater sense of involvement in the school community. As partnerships were formed near and far, we always looked for ways to make the connection to an improved school culture. Involvement, either active or passive, was one of our goals. However, the major goal was to build better relationships with families by showing them how much we cared about the success of their kids and the pride we had as a school in the local community. 

5 Tips to Strengthen Your School’s Identity

There are many lessons we can learn from the business world and adapt in ways that align with education. Take the concept of branding that Trish Rubin and I discuss in detail in BrandED. Since the advent of media, organizations across the globe have worked tirelessly to build a positive brand presence that resonates with potential consumers.  In short, it represents a promise that is woven into a combination of words, design, colors, music, video, logo, service, etc. The promise that companies promote is aligned to specific attributes with the goal of creating a memorable experience.  If this goal is met the likelihood increases that a consumer will purchase their product. Mega brands like Apple, McDonald’s, and Nike have long embraced this concept of branding and the result has been the creation of a clear identity.

When it comes to education, people line up on both sides of the branding debate. From a purely business sense, I would be against the concept myself. The purpose of school is not to sell and increase profits.  This is something that we can all agree on. However, a school’s identity is extremely important in the eyes of the beholder, which in this case are key stakeholder groups consisting of students, parents, community members, local businesses, and educators. The idea of a promise to educate all learners and prepare them for success in a rapidly changing world is an expectation that cannot be ignored.  If this can’t be promised, then why would stakeholders support our schools or trust their children to educate them?

Identity matters in a digital world.  Do you want this created for your school, or would you like to be proactive in developing one? This is where the concept of branding has value and significance for schools.  The overreaching goal of a brandED strategy is to develop and sustain positive relationships with all stakeholders. It is not about selling, but a consistent focus on sharing and telling your story. The bottom line is that if you don’t tell your story, someone else will and the result could be an identity that does not align with your school’s mission, vision, or values.  

Embracing these elements of brandED thinking by becoming the storyteller-in-chief can begin the process of developing a powerful school identity that resonates.  Strengthen your school’s identity with these simple tips:

1. Amplify great work that takes place on a daily basis by consistently sharing using a multi-faceted approach that blends traditional (newsletters, email, phone, face-to-face) with digital-age tools (social media). With social media, tools make sure your account pages are up to date (website links, avatars, profile information, etc.). It is also wise to educate your stakeholders on social media tools and how you will be using them to increase engagement.
2. Build trust through transparency.  The benefits here are numerous, including attracting families to move to your local district or, in the case of tuition (private, parochial, independent) schools, making a greater financial investment. It can also help when it comes to referendums, passing the school budget, and engaging alumni with the hopes of donating time, money, and resources.
3. Focus on elements that align with a thriving school culture, such as innovative learning, student achievement, staff accomplishments, college/career readiness, partnerships, unique traditions, and extra-curricular activities.
4. Empower others to be active sharers and avoid a gatekeeper mentality when it comes to sharing the story of your school.  Encourage different departments, student groups, parent organizations, and extra-curricular activities to maintain social media accounts.
5. Regularly recognizing the work of educators and students in your school can be inspirational. The result can be greater levels of motivation and appreciation, which helps to develop a positive school culture. Develop a template to curate all the great work occurring on a monthly basis. The report can then be shared in its entirety or broken up into numerous blog posts.  

In an educational sense, the identity of your school (or even yourself) is not only determined by the work, but also by how the work is shared.  It stands for who you are.  Being cognizant of this fact allows you to be proactive in creating an identity that resonates with all stakeholders. Think about the identity that you, your students, and your staff want. By using the tips above, engaging stakeholders in two-way communications, and taking control of your public relations, in time, you will create an identity that truly depicts the amazing work taking place on a daily basis.

Pay Attention to Your Digital Footprint

“Your digital footprint paints a portrait of who you are as an educator, leader, school, or district. Make sure it conveys your true values and work.” – Eric Sheninger

In the age where billions of people have taken both their personal and professional lives online you better be cognizant of your digital footprint.  With each Facebook post, email, Instagram photo, comment on a blog, YouTube video, Skype call, etc. you are leaving a trail that can be seen, searched, or tracked. Basically all of your activity on the Internet leads to the creation of a digital identity and footprint.  Check out the short video from Common Sense Media below that nicely sums up the facets of a digital footprint.

In some cases you might think that you have everything under control, right? Wrong! Your digital footprint is not only formed by what you post, but also what others put online about you. As Wikipedia explains there are two main classifications for digital footprints: passive and active. A passive digital footprint is created when data is collected without the owner knowing, whereas active digital footprints are created when a user for the purpose of sharing information about oneself by means of websites or social media deliberately releases data. Educators who have embraced a brandED mindset understand how important their digital footprint is to him/her.

It can seem daunting to not only keep tabs on the digital footprint that you are actively crafting, but also on what other people are creating at times unbeknownst to you. Here are some free tools that you can begin to use right away to track both your active and passive digital footprint.

Google Alerts

This free tool allows you to monitor the web for content that you specify. My advice is to set up alerts for your name as well as that of your school and/or district. When I was a principal I had an alert set up for New Milford High School so that anytime content was shared specific to my school on the web I could either read or react if necessary. Now I have alerts set up for different iterations of my name including Eric Sheninger, Mr. Sheninger, and Principal Sheninger. Each day I receive an email with news of what people write about me on the web from Google. Set up your Google Alert(s) today using these simple steps or refer to this simple video tutorial.

Mention

Mention is a solid alternative to Google Alerts and in my opinion is much better. It allows users to monitor any keywords related to you, your professional brand, your schools/districts, or anything else you want to monitor.  The alert settings are much more robust than that of Google Alerts.  Not only can you set it up to monitor the Web (news, blogs, videos, forums, images), but you can also have it monitor mentions on Facebook, Twitter, or an array of other social media services if you want. What is even better about Mention is the variety of ways you can access and be notified of new alerts (website, Google Chrome extension, desktop application, apps for iOS and Android). Check out the Mention site or this brief tutorial to get started.

Tweetdeck and Hootsuite

These applications not only enhance your Twitter experience, but they also allow you to create different columns or categories in your respective dashboard. Each column or category in a sense becomes a search based on the keywords you identify (i.e. Twitter username, your real name, hash tags, school/district name, etc.). 

The above tools will greatly assist you in tracking your digital footprint, especially in terms of what other people post about you. A brandED strategy not only employs these tools, but also some common sense tips to help you actively create a positive digital footprint. When posting content online always:

• Keep it professional and focus on your work
• Remember your role within the school and/or professional community
• Think before you post
• Be consistent
• Don't be afraid to engage

For a few more bonus tips check out the image below.

Developing a BrandED Strategy

Here is a reality check for everyone that does not believe in the value of branding in education.  Your brand is what stakeholders and others say about you as well as your district/school.  Social media has changed the landscape and broadened the concept of branding to education whether you like it or not. Your digital footprint is not only crafted by what you create and post, but also what other people and organizations create and post about you.   Just do a simple Google search and see for yourself. You might very well be surprised what’s out there in regards to you and your school/district.  

Now more than ever educators, leaders, schools, and districts need to begin to think about a brand strategy. This is essential to not only control the narrative but to also be proactive in order to deal with negative content that can tarnish an image while influencing the perception of key stakeholders. It is important to differentiate between a brand in the business sense and one in education. A brand in business is meant to sell. On the other hand, a brand in education is meant to build support, admiration, and respect for the honorable work you do each day for kids.  

Image credit: http://themarketingnutz.com/

The foundation of a BrandED mindset is focusing on sharing valuable content related to the mission, vision, and values of your school/district or what you embrace as an educator.  It requires a focus on strategies and ideas that are being successfully implemented to positively impact student learning. Here are some specific reasons why a BrandED mindset matters:

• Your brand will attract others to your work and that of your school. This can result in more qualified candidates applying for jobs, greater stakeholder support, or parents deciding to move to your district. It can also result in building a more vibrant learning network.
• It promotes recognition of amazing work that takes place in schools each and every day.  With social media, anyone can now craft an accurate narrative of how our schools are preparing students for success.
• A positive brand presence motivates and inspires your staff/co-workers as well as colleagues across the globe in terms of what is truly possible. Success is amplified in a way that others can then replicate it.  
• Your brand tells stakeholders about your school DNA. From logos, mascots, tweets, and hashtags a positive brand presence helps you tell the real story
• A positive BrandED presence clearly articulates to stakeholders what to expect from your district, school, or you as a professional.  This promise not only builds precious support but also invaluable relationships.
• A clear BrandED strategy helps you stay focused on your mission, vision, and values related to your work to ensure the success of all students.
• By reaching people at an emotional level, stronger relationships will be built with key stakeholders.  There is no better way to do this than consistently sharing ways that you are making a positive difference in the life of kids each day.

It is important to understand that a BrandED mindset is a natural part of being a digital leader. When you communicate consistently with social media and use it for public relations to tell your story, a brand presence will manifest itself. It will also form just by posting your own work, ideas, and thoughts on a variety of platforms. Whatever is the case keep these tips in mind to develop a mindset for a successful BrandED strategy:

• Be consistent
• Keep the message focused on work (school, district, your own) to provide value to stakeholders
• Engage in two-way communication to build and strengthen relationships
• Maintain a presence across a variety of platforms
• Build around the logo, mascot, name, etc.
• Review analytics and adapt when needed by embracing new tools
• Focus on transparency through honesty and sharing accurate information
• Monitor your brand presence using Google Alerts, Mention, and/or columns in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite

Developing a BrandED mindset and strategy in the digital age just makes plain sense. It begins and ends with the amazing work you and your staff are doing with students or to advance the profession of education. That's the hard part. The easy part consists of creating and then sharing content using a blend of traditional and new age (i.e. social media) tools. 

I am excited to have been able to expand on the topic of BrandED in my new book that I co-authored with Trish Rubin for Jossey-Bass.  Trish opened my eyes up to the concept of BrandED way back in 2009. Get your copy of BrandED today.

Leading With Video

There is no denying the power of video in society.  In a 2014 Forbes article, Richard Tiland makes some significant points when it comes to video and leadership. For example:

The use of video is so ubiquitous in our everyday lives; it has become part of our subconscious. We don’t even realize how much we know and learn from video—news, commercials, documentaries, even YouTube.  

As Tiland continues to explain, the use of video in society extends well beyond entertainment:

It has become a critical component in business, politics, communication, social media and even in music.   We need video to market and sell products, promote new ideas and share beliefs.

This paradigm shift has resulted in one of the most powerful tools available to leaders across the globe as explained by Tiland:

Ultimately, therein lies the power of video—the ability to effectively share beliefs and impact audiences worldwide from the comfort of their homes to the screens of their smart phones 24 hours per day, 7 days per week!

Image credit: http://success8760.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Power-of-video-infograph.png

Digital leaders know full well the power of video. As principal I routinely used video tools to improve communications, enhance public relations, and create a positive brand presence.  Leaders today can harness mainstay video tools to build better connections and relationships with all stakeholders while telling the story of their school/district in a way that was never possible. Video tools can also be used as pivotal learning tools that save precious time and money.  Below I break down four main categories of digital tools:

Archived video (moderate/long length)

YouTube has long been the video tool of choice for digital leaders. Principal Tony Sinanis has used it as a communication tool for years by having his elementary students deliver morning announcements.  As principal I used a tool called ZippSlip where I could record video messages to my parents that were then embedded as YouTube videos right into the email.  Using YouTube as a public relations and branding tool is a seamless shift when leaders record and then share school events focusing on students such as art shows, concerts, athletic events, and award ceremonies.  For videos longer than fifteen minutes leaders can take advantage of Vimeo for free.  Want to learn something new? Check out YouTube EDU.

Archived video (short length)

Tools such Instagram have revolutionized the way leaders can share innovative practices in brevity.  With less than fifteen seconds, tools like this can capture short highlights that demonstrate the awesomeness occurring in our schools every day. These short video clips go a long way towards building a brand presence that extends well beyond a local school or district.  With such a short window to record, the excuses not to use these tools quickly fades. Want to use short video to support your learning? Well the popular walkie talkie app Voxer has you covered.  Voxer now allows users to take and share videos up to fifteen seconds in length.

Live video

Ustream set the standard for streaming video live, even in HD. When my New Milford HS students engaged in a book discussion on Drive with Dan Pink, I streamed the session live using this free tool and archived it to share with my superintendent and BOE.  The latest rage is Periscope, a free, live video streaming app for iOS and Android device.   As a “live video streaming platform”, educators can transmit live recordings of themselves to Persicope and Twitter followers.  Since Periscope is owned by Twitter it automatically links to your Twitter account.  Users get a notification anytime the educators you’re following do a live transmission. Periscope is great for catching glimpses of live presentations at conferences or sharing knowledge instantly using the power of video. You can re-watch any video from your followers for 24 hours after the live broadcast, but after that they disappear and are not permanently archived. For more information on Periscope check out these great resources:

• Periscope: top tips for using Twitter’s latest app
• The Scoop on Periscope: Broadcast Live Video to the World
• Periscope the School

Videoconferencing

Free applications such as Skype and Google Hangouts allow leaders to easily connect with both experts and practitioners. We used videoconferencing in my district to make better use of our precious time. In lieu of face-to-face meetings where we had to leave our buildings, I suggested to all of the building leaders across all schools to meet via Google Hangouts. The free group video chat feature was a game-changer for us.

Great leaders always strive to continuously improve professional practice.  Don't neglect the power of video to become a better communicator, learn on the go at times convenient for you, become the storyteller-in chief, and construct a school/district brand that will build greater support and appreciation from all stakeholders.