2. The Journey of Authenticity: Core Values in Leadership

Ever wondered how your core values shape your leadership and decision-making process? Get ready to embark on an enlightening journey as we navigate the role core values play in authentic leadership with distinguished scholar and thought leader, Brené Brown, and our very own deputy superintendent of educational services, Dr. Lorraine Perez. We explore how identifying and embracing your core principles guide you to your authentic self, and how your experiences shape your decisions and interactions. 

Join us as we delve into the influence of core values on our decision-making process, fostering authenticity and vulnerability. Hear Dr. Perez share invaluable insights on how we can leverage our experiences to lead with courage and create conditions for others to flourish. Furthermore, we highlight how mentorship plays a crucial role in augmenting leadership. I share my personal journey of how my mentor, Arturo Ortega, played a pivotal role in honing my leadership skills, and how his influence continues to guide my work. This episode, packed with wisdom and insights, promises to nudge you towards being the best version of yourself through the power of core values in leadership.

Visit us at our Buzzsprout site for more ways to listen, links to our social media sites and any referenced materials, and complete transcripts of our full-length episodes: https://bit.ly/SAUSDAmplifyingLeadership

Transcript

Bianca Barquin: 0:07

Welcome back to SAUSD's Amplifying Leadership. I'm your host, Bianca Barquin, the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning at the Santa Ana Unified School District. Today we're diving into a subject that is fundamental, yet often overlooked: the crucial role of core values in leadership. Values aren't just words or ideas we casually throw around. They form the very bedrock of our actions, our decisions and how we interact with the world.

Bianca Barquin: 0:37

Brené Brown, a renowned scholar and thought leader, has emphasized time and again that embracing our core values is synonymous with embracing our authentic selves. To illuminate this compelling topic, we are once again joined by a dear friend and a beacon of educational leadership, Dr. Lorraine Perez, our Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services. Dr. Perez's insights and experiences promise to shed light on the intricate dance between values and leadership. So, whether you're an educational leader or an educator, or simply someone keen to dig deeper into the soul of leadership, today's conversation promises to be both insightful and transformative. Let's begin. Lorraine, thank you for joining us today. To start off, could you share with our listeners your perspective on what core values really mean, especially in the context of leadership?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 1:36

Thank you for inviting me back, Bianca. When I think about core values and I think about them a lot this is something that really is the compass for you as a person and provides directionality when you are thinking about your role as a leader or even as yourself, as just a person running around in life. What guides you, what is that compass that's pointing you in the direction that you're going to go, and that's going to actually provide that directionality when you have decisions to make or you have a situation before you and you're not really sure how to proceed? Our core values are the things that we lean back on, and it is our place of comfort when we actually know what they are.

Bianca Barquin: 2:25

So I know that we were going to engage in an activity during our leadership symposium and it was going to be around core values. So what I'm hoping this segment is for us, and really for our principals, is kind of a preview of what it's going to be like to engage in that activity. So when I ask the questions I want you to keep that in mind. Many of us might find it challenging to pinpoint our core values amidst the noise of societal expectations. How did you personally come to identify and embrace your core values?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 3:01

So that's a great question and I think it is a personal journey. I know that as people, we tend to lean towards core values that we think everybody wants to hear. We're the leader, so people want to hear us say that we value certain kind of things, or we want to be viewed as a good person, and so we say that we value certain things like family and faith, and those are beautiful and they may be your core values. But when you really dig deep and think about yourself as a person and yourself as a leader, what can you point to as evidence in your life of your core values? And I think it's not something that you only espouse, but something that other people, when they think of you, they think, wow, this person really exemplifies these things. So it's been a journey. I know for myself, getting to know myself better and being honest with myself about what's important to me was crucial in being able to identify my core values, accept them and really lean into them.

Bianca Barquin: 4:13

Thank you for that, Lorraine. I remember engaging in this activity with you and looking at a sheet that had a list of core values on it and I know it's similar to an exercise we will engage in with principals and I actually identified with over 20 of the core values on that list and I remember you saying, okay, great B., that's wonderful, but can you figure out how to collapse those into headers that would really define who you are? And they can be collapsed and I realized, oh my gosh, this isn't as hard as I thought it would be. So you can pare it down to one, two or three that really truly define you. Can you tell me what your top two or three core values are?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 5:04

Sure, definitely. So this one sounds very cliche and it was why I didn't wanna accept it as my core value. I was like, no, that sounds real silly. But when I think about it and I look for evidence in my life, future generations really is a core value of mine and some people would say, well, of course she's in education, she cares about the future of the world and I do, but deeply it's about future generations.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 5:35

Of anybody who has sat in any seat that I've sat in, and I mean like, in particular, the principal role. It's why I made the crazy leap to say I think I want to do district leadership, because I had such a great experience and know what the role could be. And I asked myself how did that person create the conditions for me to fly and really thrive as a school site leader? And I wanted to do that for others because it was so fulfilling and my role as a principal was the best role ever and I want our principals to feel that way and, yes, it's tough, but I want them to be excited about the impact that they get to have. And so for me, future generations isn't just about the students that we serve, it's about the leaders that we serve as well, and knowing that when we're creating the space for the leaders to really thrive and work with their vision that our teachers and our staff are gonna be in a great place, that's how we create culture on our campus and we know it's gonna impact kids. So for me, future generations goes really, really deep, and I can relate that to my personal life as well and the decisions that I make in my life that are gonna benefit my own family members and the future generations of my family. So, through and through, I have to really acknowledge that that is a core value of mine, and now I lean into it and really just ask myself that question pretty much on a daily basis am I doing something that's going to positively impact future generations of principals, of students, of deputy superintendents? So that is really alive with me.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 7:38

And then you asked to identify one or two, and so courage is really a core value of mine and I will relate this to a couple of things and draw back to the example that you gave of having this list and can you categorize them. So when we think about being a risk- taker, I think it takes courage to take risks and to try new things. So I do see myself as a risk- taker and that can be a core value in and of itself, but I choose to couch it under courage, because in order to take those risks, I have to be courageous. And also equity. When we think about doing work, that is the equity work and it's the very, very tough work, you have to be courageous.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 8:25

And so I couch both of those values under courage in my leadership to speak up and to support folks who are also doing those things. And that's another thing, I do ask myself, as I prepare for my day, questions about what am I really doing today? Am I adding value? Am I living into my values? Because it's really important that you do that. That's how you feel fulfilled, that's how you make the difference and really continue to love what you're doing.

Bianca Barquin: 9:05

It makes me think. I mean, your answers are so profound, but it really makes me think of a lot of the courageous work we're doing in SAUSD right now. Just thinking based on what you said, our Ethnic Studies work, the stance we've taken in terms of not banning books, the stance that we've taken in terms of supporting all students, LGBTQ+ that is courageous work, which leads me to start thinking about is it so what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do you identify your personal core values and then you work your way into the organization's core values? Because I know we're gonna engage in this work as an organization as well. What are your thoughts around that?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 9:54

So I think the self-work is critical. We can't really go about identifying the values of the organization unless we know what we value, because collectively we make up this district and so the more that we understand ourselves and what drives us, the better we can identify what those core values are for the district and really think about alignment. So there might be some things that turn out to be outliers in the core value realm, like if we put all of our leaders together there might be things that are sitting on the periphery as core values and maybe we bring them to life by actually couching them under one of those larger values that is getting a lot of energy around it. It's not that it doesn't matter, it's how do we look at this so that each person can identify what they value and feel a part of the organization, that they belong, that what they have to contribute is an asset. So I think it starts with self.

Bianca Barquin: 11:06

Thank you. Let me ask you another question. Brené Brown emphasizes the courage to be vulnerable in leadership. How do you feel our core values play a role in embracing that vulnerability?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 11:19

So that's a really, really great question and I think again I'm gonna relate this back to myself I could not really be vulnerable until I knew myself better. There are a lot of things that shape us, you know, and that's for each and every one of us our childhood and experiences and I used to lead in a way that wasn't really authentic. You know, I had some walls up, some, you know, things that I put up to protect myself, that I thought were protecting myself so that I can do the work. And once I learned about myself more and really dug deep around my drivers and why I do a lot of the things that I do, it all came back to my experiences.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 12:12

And it wasn't until I started sharing those experiences with people that they then started to buy into my vision. They were like oh, this is why she does the things that she does and the way that she does them not just what she does, but the way that I go about the work. And it was telling those stories about my childhood and how I came into education and why I advocate for certain things that I advocate for. But I couldn't do that because I didn't feel comfortable with myself. I tried to shield people from seeing those things, because I thought they were a weakness. I thought people were gonna look at me and say that I'm not good enough, that I'm not, I don't belong here, when I realized that those were the things that actually would be the point of connection for me with people and people with me.

Bianca Barquin: 13:04

So it directly connects with one of the questions I was gonna ask you, but you've already answered it for us. So would you agree with what Brené Brown says? She says when we have the courage to walk into our story and own it, we get to write our own ending. Do you believe that's true?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 13:24

I do. I do. I had to step into the space and acknowledge my experiences, my family's experiences, because we're not just shaped by the things that happen to us alone, but what happens to our families. And some people know this. But my siblings didn't have the experience that I had in the educational setting and they had different paths in their life, and it really wasn't until I could openly embrace their experiences and their stories that I was able to become the leader for all students and for our most vulnerable students, because many of those students are my siblings. Our students that are involved in gangs those students are my siblings. The teen parent, those students are my siblings. And so, as I became kind of the representative for my family and for my community in the educational system was when I was able to actually fully step into the role and the way that I serve now.

Bianca Barquin: 14:39

Thank you. Can you recount a specific instance where your core values were put to the test? How did they guide your decision-making during that challenging time?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 14:52

So I think this happens often because we live in such a dynamic environment.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 15:01

You know, I can think of a couple of instances and many times it comes back to, in this role, having folks making the decisions and be part of the decisions of who will the next leaders be and how we set people up for success.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 15:19

So many times we're grappling with folks who might not be ready and how do we get them ready? And really doing that through my lens of my core value, believing in future generations and building systems that create and allow that space for people to grow in our organization. And I've been quite challenged by that, because at times we're not in control of all things and so when is it appropriate to speak up? And how do you speak up to say you know what you believe and what you see evidence of, and not leave it there just to always live in that state, but to put the ball in motion to actually create conditions for better learning and better growth opportunities for our leaders, because we want everybody to be successful and sometimes, sadly, folks are successful in spite of us, not because of what we're doing, and that that's hard.

Bianca Barquin: 16:34

So, in an educational setting, how do you see the alignment or misalignment of core values affecting the dynamics between educators, administrators, students and parents?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 16:48

So I'm actually going to draw on women in leadership. I won't stay there, but I'm going to draw on that for a second because I think when we are inauthentic, it comes through, and so the example that I'm going to give is many times, as women, we have seen leaders before us, likely male leaders operate in a certain way that works for them. And we, as women and I will say, speaking for myself, you see that and you think the way that I am successful is to emulate that, when in actuality, that is our biggest detriment, because each of us and women you know in particular we bring certain things to a role and we lead differently, and that's okay, that's beautiful. And it's when we don't pay attention to our core values and I'm going to use a term that we might be familiar with from the work with Arbinger it's when we betray ourselves that the misalignment comes. So when you ask the question about when there's misalignment between you know administrators, teachers, students, all of you know parents I think that comes at the point of self-betrayal. We can come to common ground as long as we don't betray ourselves and start making decisions that we wouldn't normally make and are driven by some other outside pressure. If we're true to ourselves and we're authentic and we're honest about that, I believe that we can come to the table and solve anything together.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 19:00

Now there are going to be times where people are drastically misaligned and I'm going to speak specifically to things that you mentioned earlier with the work that we're doing around Ethnic Studies, around the support of our LGBTQ students and families and staff. There are times when people just are misaligned. They view things drastically different. At that point, decisions for ourselves we have to make them to say this is not the place for me. There is a place for you, but it might not be here and that's okay, because, ultimately, if you are betraying yourself and you're staying in a space where your core values aren't lining up, you are going to be miserable and that's the last thing that we want for people. Just as human beings, that's the last thing we want for people, because you're not going to be able to live and lead to your potential.

Bianca Barquin: 20:06

Wow, that requires deep reflection, right, and we have to look inward and do a lot of self-work to really understand and to truly be authentic. Tell me a little bit about the future work you see in SAUSD around core values, which should lead to our vision and mission statement, right? So what will that look like for us?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 20:35

So, I think I talked about the self-work being most important in this journey, and so I would like for us to invest that time and energy for leaders and staff and even, at some point, our students, to have space to explore and identify their core values. Think about how powerful that is for a student. I did not know what my core values were and that's probably what prompted me to flounder and be all over the place as a young person. But if we're sending students out, kind of in the vein of the graduate profile, into the world, knowing who they are and accepting and identifying what they bring as assets, I think that's beautiful. So the future work in our district, I would like for that to be felt really all through the system, the self-work and really knowing who we are. The better we know who we are, the better we can serve others and know that kind of the deep why around why we serve and how we serve. But then ultimately, yes, looking at how we honor the individuals in the organization and use that as a launching pad for identifying what we as a district hold dear in our core values and how will that shape the mission and the vision of the district and really what's to come.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 22:15

Like I say this often, and people who are in space with me will be very familiar with how I think and what I'm going to share now around. Everything we're doing in this plan, in any planning, is not for us. It will be felt in three to five years from now. The things we experience now today in our personal lives or in our organization and our professional lives, was planted some time ago, and so it's really important that we take the time and spend the energy to prepare for that future. Three to five years from now, what do we want our organization to look like? If we want it to be more personal and authentic, then I think this is the way that we need to invest knowing each other, having people know themselves, so that way, we know how we all come together as an organization and what we value and how we serve.

Bianca Barquin: 23:18

It makes me think about whenever I work with young people or teenagers and we start talking about core values and mission statements, really, and even vision statements. It's almost like asking the question hey, do you want to go on a road trip with me? And what's the first question that people will ask it's where you are going. If you've never identified your core values and you don't have a mission statement or a vision statement as a group or an organization. It's almost like going on a road trip not having any idea of what your destination is or what's important to you and what are we going to see. So thank you for that. I'm actually really super excited about the direction that we're going in.

Bianca Barquin: 24:09

So our time has come to an end, but before we sign off, it's time for our amplifier acknowledgement segment. So, Lorraine, if you could amplify the message or lesson of one educator or leader who's made a significant impact in your journey, who would it be and what is that resonating message? I know that during our first episode, you mentioned how your first grade teacher recognizing something special or potential in you, how that's made a profound impact on you to this day. Is there anybody else that you'd like to acknowledge?

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 24:43

Yeah, I've been a really blessed in my life.

Dr. Lorraine Perez: 24:45

I have so many people that have really had an impact on me. I'm going to hold this space for my former assistant superintendent, Arturo Ortega, who is now the superintendent in Azusa Unified. He created that space for me as a leader. He created the conditions that made me love being a principal, and it really was and is where the desire came for me to create that space and those conditions for others. He gave me the tools, provided the resources and constantly invested in me and said go and supported the direction that we went, and so he really has had an impact and I know so much of that was guided by his own core values. He believed in us and all of us as principals, all of the group that we were with at the time, and just created that space, and so he is definitely the person that I feel very blessed and honored to have had in my path and has had an impact and continues to have an impact on my leadership. I don't know, almost 15 years later.

Bianca Barquin: 26:17

That's pretty powerful, and I actually see it reflected in your leadership, because it's exactly what you do with all of us. You try to give us the space, you encourage us. When we have crazy ideas, you're happy to go along with it, as long as it's going to help us get our messages across and improve student outcomes, and you truly are a supporter, and we are grateful for that. Remember leadership is not just about guiding, but also celebrating and acknowledging those who have paved the way. To our listeners, may these stories inspire you, challenge you and remind you of your own amplifiers. So until our next deep dive, keep amplifying, keep leading and keep making a difference within the walls of our schools and in the hearts of our students. I'm Bianca Barquin, and this has been SAUSD's Amplifying Leadership.