The School Leader as “Communicator-in-Chief”

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

March 26, 2019

As school leaders we have many responsibilities, but none is more important than our role as “Communicator in Chief.” It is our responsibility to persuasively communicate our school’s mission and values. We communicate biblical truth and how it applies to people, programs, and policies. We communicate in groups and one-to-one with parents, staff, and students. We are the media and marketing voice for our school, and we speak into conflict and controversy. Even our non-verbals speak volumes — the stickers on our vehicles, signs in our yards, what we write on social media, and how we respond to emails — all reflect upon our school. Whenever and wherever we speak, we represent our schools. We are never just a private citizen. In his excellent book, The Conviction to Lead, Albert Mohler writes:

To be a leader is to communicate constantly, skillfully, intentionally, and strategically. The effective leader communicates so pervasively that it seems second nature, and so intentionally that no strategic opportunity is ever surrendered. Many people try to contrast communication with action, as if the two are at odds. But communication is action, and the leader will spend more time communicating than in any other activity.¹

The Five Golden Rules of Communication

The following principles were developed by a communications professional with some forty years of experience studying and shaping the communications of leaders. While her principles are focused on business leaders, they apply equally to school leaders. I have adapted them here for the Christian school leader’s unique context.

The best leaders begin every conversation, every speech, every interview, and every employee meeting with an intense focus on their customers and their mission of advancing those customers’ interests. Make no mistake — parents are our customers. They are investing in an educational service. We must care deeply about those we serve and consistently communicate that care. If we genuinely care, we will create an educational service that parents love. It is not enough to care; we must deliver.

This does not mean that we compromise our mission, our values, or biblical truth to make employees or parents “happy.” Apple is rigorous in upholding its business model and values even when doing so requires saying no. Wall Street often clamors for short-term profits, whereas Apple insists on focusing on the long term. Chick-fil-A does the same. Investors pressure Chick-fil-A to open on Sundays, and they refuse. They are uncompromisingly purpose-driven: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” They do not compromise their purpose, but they do deliver a superior product and service that their customers love. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, once said that the company “should be about more than just selling chicken. We should be a part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve.”

This same focus applies to our employees. Leaders who talk to employees about institutional interests rather than about serving customers will find that their employees devalue the importance of satisfied customers, often taking shortcuts that may seem efficient in the short term but eventually erode goodwill.

For Christian school employees the danger is not the pursuit of profit — it is focusing on our own convenience. We are tempted to do what is easiest, what is in our own best interest rather than what is best for a student or a parent. While we must sometimes say no, our bias should be yes whenever we can do so consistent with our mission, values, and biblical principles.

It is essential to know the right words before undertaking any communications effort. Too often leaders make communication decisions based on their own frame of reference without validating those assumptions with the people they are trying to reach.

A significant communication problem I see in Christian schools is what I call “education speak.” When we use terminology such as pedagogy, worldview, or phonemic and phonological awareness, we are not communicating in language that is simple, clear, and persuasive — let alone understandable — for most parents. It is better to use words and phrases such as teaching method, biblical perspective, and the ability to recognize individual sounds. The words we use must communicate how children and parents will benefit. “Mrs. Jones’s teaching style will help your daughter better understand how to sound out words so that she will become a stronger reader” is far more meaningful to the average parent than “Mrs. Jones’s pedagogical method will increase your daughter’s phonemic and phonological awareness.” Our words matter. Keep them simple and focused on how the student and parent will benefit from a program or decision.

We know intuitively that branding is important, but our branding must be more than intuitive — it must be strategic. Gallup research demonstrates that organizations which understand their brand promise and live it consistently achieve a significantly higher return on investment for their brands. As schools we have what I call “EROI — Educational Return on Investment.” That means our students and parents have experienced our brand promise. When they do, our investment in spiritual development, staff, programs, and facilities will produce spiritual and academic fruit, resulting in our parents spreading the word about our school’s positive impact on their children and their family.

Organizations all make mistakes — they are run by human beings. Those who earn the respect of the people they serve will acknowledge mistakes honestly and communicate clearly what steps they are taking to prevent them in the future.

I recently encountered a situation in which a student had not fulfilled his or her responsibilities as a student leader in one of our programs. The program and others were negatively impacted, and the parent involved did not handle the situation well. But the school had also made a mistake by not following established protocol for addressing the situation early and by not partnering with the parent to address the student’s behavior. While we had every right to remove the student from the program, we chose instead to deal primarily with our own failure and to give the student an opportunity to correct the behavior. Time will tell whether this approach succeeds, but the point is that we did mess up — so did the student and the parent — and we first needed to remove the log from our own eye before addressing the splinter in theirs. We messed up, and we dressed up by fixing our mistakes before addressing theirs.

Speaking the truth in love is not merely good communications strategy — it is a biblical imperative. I recently had my senior leadership team read a book on the practice of radical candor in leadership. While it is not a Christian book, its message is consistent with the principle of speaking the truth in love. It has meaningfully changed the conversations we have with students, parents, and colleagues. No more beating around the bush. No more minimizing or avoiding. We are far more direct and honest in dealing with failure — especially among employees. This is biblical when motivated by love for all concerned. In this context love is not a feeling; it is a determination to do good and right by others — by the employee and by all of the students and parents we serve.

The most important role we play is as “Communicator in Chief.” In that role, our communication should:

• Be parent-focused and mission-driven.
• Use the right words.
• Reflect our brand promise.
• Fess up and dress up when we make mistakes.
• Always be truthful.

Our words matter — a great deal. Make them count.