Accentuate the Positive to Be a Fair Leader

Connie Podesta

Regardless of where people work, what is the number one thing they look for in a manager? Fairness, according to Connie Podesta, a therapist, a former educator, and the keynote speaker at the 2005 Women in Leadership Forum at the NASSP Convention. Podesta discussed how "Life Would Be Easy If It Weren't for Other People" with humor and real-life examples from her 17 years as a teacher and her time as an in-house district therapist near New Orleans.

"You are obligated and responsible for creating a school with a healthy and functional environment," Podesta said. However, this can be challenging for educators, considering that education and health care providers have the highest rates of professionals who come from dysfunctional families.

To be a good leader, one needs to know herself as well as the psychology of why and what people do what they do. When determining a person's leadership ability, it is imperative to look beyond just what she does in the workplace and also notice how she lives her life outside of work.

Podesta gave several criteria for a functional and healthy home life and workplace:

• It is free from abuse, which is more than yelling and hitting — it includes sarcasm, which she described as humiliating someone in front of his or her peers and pretending it's funny, and setting up someone for failure by asking a question and then calling on a student who does not know the answer



• It is fair and predictable, with consistent and fair rules



• Being there makes you feel good about yourself.

To help principals work with staff members, Podesta stressed that every individual craves attention and wants to be liked and appreciated. In any given situation, managers can choose to give positive or negative attention or can choose to ignore the situation. "Every time we do a behavior, we watch a reaction. If you give positive feedback, the behavior will repeat. Don't ignore anything that you don't want to happen again," Podesta said.

Instead, Podesta encourages the use of the firm and practical "nice negative," which involves acknowledging the negative behavior and making it clear that the behavior is not acceptable without being harsh.

"The nice negative is the secret of leadership," Podesta said.