What we could learn about leadership from Willie Nelson

Recently, I watched the documentary Willie and Family on Paramount.  The four part series was an excellent walk down a musical memory lane.  I caught myself singing along during the documentary. You don’t have to have been a fan to enjoy the documentary and I highly recommend it.  

For fans, the voice of Willie is one of my most iconic voices in music.  His style is unique, his style and delivery is one of a kind, and he has collaborated with just about every performer for the last fifty years.  

While Willie wrote many of his own songs, he also covered numerous tracks.  The covers, no matter who performed them originally, became his.  His stamp is put on anything he sings.  He sang and toured with his friends.  He was an advocate for the underdog and he wasn’t afraid to turn his back on the norm to do what he felt was right.  

Why am I writing about Willie within my leadership blog?  

To be a successful leader, many of the characteristics I just described about Willie’s career is just what it takes to lead a school.  (Insert all jokes about Willie's life here). We won’t partake in some of his choices.  

As you read this blog, think about your school and your leadership style.  

There is an old saying that when the principal sneezes, everyone catches a cold.  As a building leader, do you set the tone on your campus?  Do you own your decisions?  Do you put a stamp on the culture and climate of the campus?  Do you collaborate with your colleagues?  Do you advocate for ALL kids & are you willing to go against the norm for your school community?  If not, leadership might not be for you.  (Just like the AirForce wasn’t the right fit for Willie Nelson after high school.)

Here are my leadership takeaways from the documentary.  

• As a leader, you are who you are.  You can’t be anyone else.  The problem is we often try to fit into a mold and act the way we think we need to act.  Oftentimes, we try to intimidate others, especially the leader we are replacing.  The problem is, we can only be who we are.  Willie Nelson never fit in a box.  He didn’t care.  He charted his own path.  As an educational leader, we all can try to be more like the great leaders that came before us.  But we cannot be someone else.  Leaders often fail when they try to be someone else.  If we are not real and  true to ourselves, students, staff, and parents will see right through us.  So wear those Adidas sneakers to school, participate in jersey day with the student body, and don’t be afraid to sit at a lunch table to visit with your students.  Be you!  

• Willie Nelson sang with Ray Charles (Seven Spanish Angels is one of my favorite all time songs), Kacey Musgraves (my celebrity crush), Julio Iglesias, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and many, many more.  He loved to collaborate with the best of the best.  As administrators, to be successful leaders, we need to do the same.  We need to partner with educational leaders that are doing the same work we are doing.  We need to spend time in thought, pondering questions and working to create a better world for our students with other leaders.  The job can be a lonely job, if we allow it to be.  When the going gets tough, grab a few friends and solve the world's problems over a burger and music.  I’m blessed to have a supportive PLN that I have traveled the country with and ate a few burgers with.  If you don’t have a strong PLN, reach out to me!  

• Willie Nelson was an advocate for the underdog.  From farmers to politicians, he was a champion for those that often were forgotten.  A friend of mine, while in college, was campaigning for a local political candidate in Austin, Texas at a  park.  He was told that he wasn’t allowed to campaign in the park.  Willie Nelson found out and invited my friend and the others working for the local politician to stand on the stage during his concert to be able to campaign for the candidate.  As an educational leader, our top responsibility is advocating for our school community.  How many times are we the only advocate for students?  I would venture to believe that we all have utilized the phrase, “All means All!”  Do we truly advocate for all kids? We have enormous gaps in state test scores amongst groups, we have declining enrollments, truancy on the rise, and a new pandemic — vaping — on the rise.  Texas singer songwriter Bruce Robinson sang a song about Willie Nelson and I want to use a quote here from the song.
  ”What would Willie do?” 

  Let’s channel Willie’s desire to advocate for the underdog so that “All means  All.” Is true!  

• In this day and age, parents are shopping schools to find the right one for their child.  They are looking for something unique and different.  They are looking for personal connections and they are looking for a home.  As school leaders, we all have math classes and a cafeteria. But what makes your school special or different from the rest?  Well, it starts with you as the instructional leader.  Are you different from everyone else?  Do parents feel that they can trust you?  Do students see you as approachable or their champion?  How does the staff view you as a leader?  Do you micromanage?  I mean, who cares if a teacher wears blue jeans on a Tuesday?  

I honestly believe that a great leader has to be a little different from the norm.   The job has changed and if we don’t change, we will be left behind.  We can either adapt and change or be left behind.  That is what has kept Willie Nelson relevant and an icon in the field.  We can learn a lot from Willie Nelson.  

Let’s get “On the Road Again.”  To finish the year successfully.