March 28,2008

A Teacher's Lessons for Business Leaders

Ron Clark is known as "America's Educator," but his formula for motivating
students applies beyond the classroom
Carmine Gallo
One of the most inspiring leaders I've met in the last several years does not run a
Fortune 500 company, did not launch a startup in his garage, and has not led an army.
He's a schoolteacher. But his persuasion skills are so effective they should be adopted
by anyone who manages anyone.
Ron Clark taught elementary school in North Carolina. After watching a program about a
New York City school that had a hard time attracting qualified teachers, he decided to
head to New York with the goal of teaching in one of its toughest schools. Clark
eventually landed a job doing just thatin Harlem. He asked if he could teach a class of
fifth-graders who had been performing at a second-grade level. The school's
administrators wanted to give him the gifted class, but Clark insisted on the
underperforming students. In one school year, Clark's fifth-grade class outperformed the
gifted class. Clark became Disney's teacher of the year, a best-selling author, an Oprah
guest, and the subject of a made-for-TV movie, The Ron Clark Story, starring Matthew
Perry. When I was writing my last book, Fire Them Up! I caught up with Clark to discuss
how managers can use his techniques to motivate their teams. Here are some of the
things he said:
Raise expectations.
Students and employees will improve their game in response to a challenge. When Clark
walked in to his Harlem class, he announced what seemed to be an absurd goal: The
class would test at grade level by the end of the school year. Once the students learned
Clark was serious, they responded and began to act like the successful students he had
known they could be. One month later, after Clark had seen the results, he began to
express a vision nobody had dared to dreamthey would outperform the gifted class by
the end of the year. As a leader, your job is to think one step ahead of the rest of your
team and then equip it with the tools and confidence to get there.
Explain why before how.
"It's not enough to set a goal," Clark told me. "You need to tell your students why it's
important to reach that goal. For my students, it meant a better future. I told them why
they needed to know a certain subject, how it would be an advantage to them in their
lives."
When it comes to inspiring your employees, the "why" is also often more important than
the "how." Why should they exceed quarterly sales goals? Why should they improve

customer service scores? Show your team how accomplishing these goals will improve
their lives as well as the lives of those around them.
Encourage celebration and praise.
In Clark's book, The Essential 55his rules for success in the classroomrule No. 3 is
applicable in almost any business setting: If someone in the class wins a game or does
something well, we will congratulate that person. Clark believes that anyonestudent or
employeewill do a better job when he receives praise. But he went one step further in
his class. He encouraged the students to celebrate each other's achievements as if they
were a supportive family.
He writes: "If you want a team to be successful, you have to create [] an atmosphere
where everyone on the team is proud of each other. If you set a goal and everyone is
working toward that goal as an individual and not as a team, it can be intimidating. But if
you feel like you have the support of an entire team [] then you can set the goal as
high as you want because there is no fear associated with it. Every person on that team
will want to contribute to achieving that goal because they are doing it together."
Show genuine interest beyond business.
Clark cultivated a sense of curiosity and respect in his Harlem classroom, requiring
students to respond to a question with a question (his rule No. 6). "You are far more
likable and respectful when you are asking about the thoughts and opinions of others,"
Clark writes.
Showing a genuine interest is a consistent theme among inspiring communicators.
Motivating is about bringing out the best in people, but people will not listen to your
message until they know you care. Show you care about them personally and you will
bring out their best professionally.
Be positive and enjoy life.
Clark's can-do spirit is infectious. His words reflect his optimism, and he refuses to let
any of his students speak the language of defeat. Rule No. 50 is simply: Be positive and
enjoy life. Clark told me a leader must set the tone, especially with the words he chooses
to use. It is up to the leader to set high expectations, to praise people, to believe in them,
and to do whatever it takes to help people meet their goals and have fun in the process.
Despite the challenges Clark faced as a teacher, he remained optimistic and steadfast in
his belief that his rules would unlock the students' potential. His passion and positive
energy allowed him to see opportunity where everyone else saw obstacles.
Clark's rules are intended to draw out the best in students. They can also help bring out
the best in any team. And by inspiring your colleagues and employees in the workplace,
you become the kind of person people want to be around.
Carmine Gallo is a Pleasanton, Calif. communications coach and author of the book,
Fire Them Up! (John Wiley & Sons; October, 2007).