Avoiding the Trump Trap: A Primer for Aspiring School Leaders

By Jim Christopher

During the winter of 2017 as I watched the lumbering start to the Trump Era in American government, I was struck by how many “rookie mistakes” in leadership were being played out to a global audience on an almost daily basis. While marvelling at the impending train wreck that was emerging as the Trump style in management and governance, I was struck by the fact that it clearly had no equal as a highly public example of what not to do when taking over a new position of leadership. Over the course of the winter and spring, I wrote a series of blog posts considering all of the potential “traps” that new and aspiring school leaders could fall into. The responses that I received from trustees, Principals, Heads of School and leadership hopefuls convinced me that it would be helpful to republish my posts in chronological order for everyone to consider. From the publication of the first post on St. Patrick’s Day to my final observations on the anniversary of last November’s election, this series of posts reflects the chaotic path charted by the current U.S. administration.
What they present is a cautionary tale for new and aspiring administrators. And, while I don’t believe that any school leader would perform as erratically as the forty-fifth President, this real life caricature has clear parallels in the pitfalls suffered by a great many struggling Heads and Principals as they try to find their footing in a new and challenging role. It is my hope that it might provide both a warning and a road map to avoid the worst of these presidential missteps.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Christopher
• Release date: Feb 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370297139

Jim Christopher

Dr. Jim Christopher was appointed Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School in the Spring of 2012. Prior to coming to KGMS, Dr. Christopher was Head of Somersfield Academy, a pre-primary to Grade 10 Montessori and IB/MYP school in Devonshire Bermuda. Over his career, Jim has served as Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools and the Canadian Educational Standards Institute for nine years; was Head of Weston School, a school for underachieving and learning disabled students, in Montreal; and, had a long and successful career in the public education system in Ontario Canada where he was a teacher, elementary and secondary Principal, and ultimately Superintendent of Schools in a large rural school district. Dr. Christopher is a graduate in Honours History from Trinity College at the University of Toronto; has a Bachelor of Education in History; a Masters in Curriculum; and his doctorate in educational administration. Jim Christopher is the author of numerous books and articles on European and North American History; Gifted Education; strategic planning; independent school governance; and, the effective use of technology in schools. Dr. Christopher, and his wife, Rheanne Stevens, moved from Bermuda to North Vancouver, British Columbia in the summer of 2012 with their two sons, Morgan and Quinn.

Book preview

Avoiding the Trump Trap

A Primer for Aspiring School Leaders

Dr. Jim Christopher

Avoiding the Trump Trap:

A Primer for Aspiring School Leaders

Copyright 2018 Jim Christopher

All rights reserved.

Contents

Introduction

Trap #1: The Sales Pitch

Trap #2: Setting Yourself Up

Trap #3: Believing your own hype

Trap #4: Not doing your homework

Trap #5: The New Broom Syndrome

Trap #6: Out with the old, in with the new is not a plan

Trap #7: How to be sure that new is actually better

Trap #8: Communications: It’s not about you

Trap #9: The Bully Pulpit: Don’t Squander your gift

Trap #10: The Leader as Cyber Bully

Trap #11: Fake News: Spread at your own Risk

Trap #12: Big Mouth, Small Ears

Trap #13: Leadership by Fear

Trap #14: Leadership by Distraction

Trap #15: Prepare three envelopes

Trap #16: I’d Rather be Popular than right

Trap #17: Doubling Down on Mistakes

Trap #18: You did it, you own it! You didn’t do it, you still own it!

Trap #19: Don’t pick a fight that you can’t win

Trap #20: Implausible Deniability

Epilogue

Introduction

During the winter of 2017 as I watched the lumbering start to the Trump Era in American government, I was struck by how many rookie mistakes in leadership were being played out to a global audience on an almost daily basis. While marveling at the impending train wreck that was emerging as the Trump style in management and governance, I was struck by the fact that it clearly had no equal as a highly public example of what not to do when taking over a new position of leadership.

Over the course of the winter and spring, I wrote a series of blog posts considering all of the potential traps that new and aspiring school leaders could fall into. The responses that I received from trustees, Principals, Heads of School and leadership hopefuls convinced me that it would be helpful to republish my posts in chronological order for everyone to consider.

In order to maintain a sense of the evolution of the Trump Administration of this period, I have kept them in the time frame within which they were written. From the publication of the first post on St. Patrick’s Day to my final observations on the anniversary of last November’s election, this series of posts reflects the chaotic path charted by the current U.S. administration.

What it presents is a cautionary tale for new and aspiring administrators. And, while I don’t believe that any school leader would perform as erratically as the forty-fifth President, this real life caricature has clear parallels in the pitfalls suffered by a great many struggling Heads and Principals as they try to find their footing in a new and challenging role. It is my hope that it might provide both a warning and a road map to avoid the worst of these presidential missteps.

—Dr. Jim Christopher, North Vancouver, January 2018

March-April 2017

Trap #1: The Sales Pitch

No matter what you think of his politics, President Donald Trump has stepped onto the world’s largest stage and has given us a daily lesson in how not to lead. School leaders, both aspiring and current, can use the style and actions of the current President as a cautionary note about what works, and doesn’t, in contemporary school leadership. In the following series of posts, we will examine some of the characteristics of the emergent style governing the White House and look at its application to the context of effective leadership.

There is no better place to start then how he got the job in the first place...

Selling yourself without selling your soul

In spite of the fact that research supports the observation of Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, that most great companies are led by internal candidates, a majority of Boards (and Heads) believe that bringing in external candidates will shake up the school or bring in fresh ideas that will spark improvement. This is sometimes the case, but in many instances the myth of the outsider turns out to be just that, a myth. Donald Trump’s drain the swamp mantra is a prime example of a candidate framing himself as the person who can bring positive change to an institution without being sullied by actually having any experience working in it. Hilary Clinton, by contrast, was seen as the ultimate insider which was just a way to frame decades of experience and hard work as a weakness.

In schools, headhunters usually propagate