Many years ago I was involved in a fascinating project with Canada's postal service. I was asked to consult with managers across the country to help them become systems thinkers as they approached the retail aspects of the postal service. As I interviewed more than 100 regional managers and directors about the challenges and opportunities they saw for their regions, I learned a lot about leadership. A theme repeated in almost every interview: leaders who are respected are the ones who "walk the talk," people who are always willing to do whatever they ask their direct reports to do.

When leaders walk the talk, by employing partnership communication strategies, they communicate that they are committed to the goals of a change initiative, and they are seen as credible, thereby winning their colleagues' respect. Further, leaders who walk the talk have a deep knowledge of the work done by people in the field. In schools, this means that principals understand good instruction and support and lead professional learning that makes an impact.

When it comes to ensuring that professional learning is focused, effective, integrated, and leading to change, the principal is the hub of a rapidly moving wheel. There are simple but specific actions principals can take to keep professional learning on track and moving forward. Principals can take the partnership approach to leading change in schools.

Here is what that looks like.

Equality

Whenever a boss and employee meet, their relationship is structurally unequal. Within the school setting, the same is true. In the overall structure of a school, the principal and the teacher are not equal. However, this inequality is only structural.

If principals confuse structural inequality with true inequality they will lose the respect of their staff and almost always fail as leaders.

Choice

Freedom occurs best within form. The principal is the person who designs opportunities for freedom within form. He offers real choices that have real implications, but he recognizes and sometimes creates structures for those choices.

Voice

To honor voice, principals need to listen to teachers. Principals who see teachers as equals embrace the opportunity to hear what others think and feel.

I recommend principals make a point of having frequent one-to-one conversations with teachers so that (a) teachers have a chance to communicate the joys and frustrations they're experiencing with their work and (b) principals gather an understanding of what teachers think about what is happening in the school.

Here, again, the concept of freedom within form applies. Decisions must be made. Principals must lead team and school meetings that provide an opportunity for everyone to speak, but they also need to use dialogue structures and facilitation skills to keep the conversation focused on action and moving forward.

Reflection

When administrators honor the principle of reflection, they make sure that, whenever possible, teachers are the ones doing the thinking.

When people come together to really think through challenging issues, by brainstorming, synthesizing, and planning for implementation, when they are involved in designing and acting on solutions, there is almost always a humane and encouraging positive energy in the room. Furthermore, people who create solutions are more committed to the solutions.

Dialogue

Principals can encourage dialogue at both the micro and the macro level. In one-to-one conversations, they can take a listening rather than a telling stance.

Across the school, principals can foster a culture of dialogue by facilitating group discussions in a manner that opens up conversation rather than shuts it down by using facilitation skills. Principals also increase the chances of authentic dialogue by setting up workshops and other learning opportunities to increase the communication skills of everyone in the school.

Praxis

Principals can ensure that all forms of professional learning are meaningful and relevant to teachers. They can also ensure that teachers have the freedom to make real decisions about the way they teach. The more opportunities teachers have to creatively think through teaching and learning, the more they can think and plan how they are going to teach, and the more committed they will be to implementing improvement plans. Praxis involves reflecting on reality so that you can act.

Reciprocity

At one level, when principals honor reciprocity, they see themselves as learners in the school. Thus, they approach teachers humbly, expecting to learn from them every day.

Reciprocity is a way for principals to communicate that they see the talent and expertise of their teachers, but at the same time, it enables principals to expand their understanding of effective teaching practices, thanks to all they learn from staff.

Beyond a more personal level, reciprocity should also occur at the organizational level, with principals creating structures that enable the school as an organization to learn. To create schools where organizational learning is the norm, principals need to constantly look for ways to learn what is happening within the school.

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Principals adhering to the partnership approach recognize that although they have different roles than teachers, everyone is equally valuable. Leaders who genuinely win the respect of their staff are those who never miss an opportunity to demonstrate their respect for others. That respect is manifested in the six other partnership principles - choice, voice, reflection, dialogue, praxis, and reciprocity.