Poker Principal?

Poker Principal

To the untrained eye, the above looks like nothing more than gibberish. A number of different symbols with no specific meaning, reason, or rules. Given an opportunity someone can get "lucky" and figure out that the symbols above actually represent the name of this blog, Poker Principal. Others, having studied technology and fonts, would quickly recognize that the symbols is nothing more than a wingding font. They would highlight the symbols change the font to something easier to read, maybe Times Roman, and decipher the message quickly, no "luck" involved. Instead, it was knowledge, with experience, with practice that lead the second reader to figure out the symbols.

So what the heck does any of this have to do with anything?

I recently was asked to explain what I meant when I said, I studied poker, the game and its strategies in order to make me a better school principal. Afterall, how could one benefit the other? On the surface, one seems to have nothing to do with the other. Dig a little deeper however and you'll find that they are a lot more similiar than you think. The same person that asked me to explain myself, asked me to begin blogging about this topic. SO here it is. My first blog, and the first poker principal...players.

In two of the several excellent books Todd Whitaker has written about teachers and principals What Great Principals Do Differently: Fifteen Things That Matter Most

and What Great Teachers Do Differently:Fourteen Things That Matter Most he has labeled a chapter It's People not Programs. I may not be the brightest bulb, but when an author and respected educator discusses the same topic in two different books, I notice, and I listen.

This chapter struck a chord with me. Two schools same types of students, same economic background, maybe within the same school district both implement the "program". (Educators have enough experience with programs that they can fill in the blank with their favorite program). In one school the program is a success. It does what it is meant to do. In the other school, the program suffers the fate of so many other programs that have come before it. It dies a slow, lingering, death, in which some educators are frustrated, some are angry about the money spent on another failed program, some simply shrug their shoulders in indifference, and of course, some simply walk around telling everyone who will listen, how they knew it would fail in"this school". So what is the difference? The PEOPLE not the PROGRAM.

I know, again you are asking, what the heck does this have to do with poker? I'm getting there. If the principal at the school where the program failed had some concept of poker stratgey, the program might have had more success.

1. Players

Any poker player just learning the basics of the game has to start by learning who the players sitting at the table are. Knowing, and identifying correctly, who is playing against you helps you maximize your style of play so that you minimize your losses and increase your winning potential. No one wins all the time, but the people who study and practice winning strategies do better more often than those who don't. But what if you are not playing in a home game, where you know Uncle Bob will try to bluff every hand, and Aunt Mary won't bet unless she has at least Aces? With a little practice, player styles can be catergorized and your style of play should be altered to maximize your success against these players. Their position will also have an effect on the way you play, but that will be the topic of my next blog.

Let's get to know the players:

• Tight Players -are ones that won't raise or call unless they have a very strong hand. This type of player will very seldom take a risk on their hand. Also Known As: rock . Tight players are our Aunt Mary style players. These are people who won't play in the game unless they feel they have a better than average chance of winning. When this player bets you had better have as good, or better a hand than she does, if you are going to play against her.
• Loose Players - Playing a lot of hands or freely getting into a lot of betting confrontations; usually loose applies to weak players who play too many hands, but many top players play looser than average. Uncle Bob falls into this category. Loose poker players are actually very aggressive. A loose player will take a lot of risks while chasing the big rewards at the end of the rainbow. They play a lot of hands and are less likely to fold when challenged. But there are also two kinds of “Loose Players.” There is the passive loose player who seldom fold and will continue to call regardless of the strength of their hand, or what they believe the strength of their opponents hand is. They are the perfect example of the eternal optimists believing that at any moment any two cards can make the difference. What makes them passive is that they will call almost every time, but rarely raise. They will stay in the game to the bitter end, but do not add that extra element of risk. Almost as a rule, these folks don’t bluff well. The other type of loose player is an aggressive loose player. They are extremely aggressive and see raising as form of worship to the card gods. These players attempt to bully the table. This style is very good at winning a lot of small pots but when it comes to the big pots and the big bucks they tend to loose their momentem and peter out.
• Maniac- aggressively bet or raise with just about anything and they play far too many starting hands, using their aggressive betting style to make up for their lack of good hands.
  Be very careful when you encounter these types, as they can quickly injure you. Since they play so many hands, you never really know when they have a trash handor a real hand. Basically, remain patient and figure out how to get under these players' skin and trigger their aggressive response systems, doing so when you're holding a great hand, and they'll often bet heavily into you, exposing most or all of their chips to you!
  

So now you have the basic definitions of players playing against you. Using the chart at the top of the blog you even see how the styles blend together. What is your style? Even if you have never played poker before where do you think you fall within the spectrum of players? Go ahead, take a few minutes to re-read the definitions. I'll go get a cup of coffee while you do.

Ok I'm back. Did you pick your style? Are you sure? How do you know? If you have never played before how do you know this is the style you would more than likely play? Chances are good that your style of play at the poker table is your style of leadership within your office. Know how I know? You identified the people within your building, department, or district as all the other types of styles. Some people you identified as having a similiar styleto yours.

Let's get back to our example of the two schools with the same program. One was successful one wasn't. Was it luck? No. More than likely it had to do with the administrator knowing who the "players" were and using the correct strategies to get the most out of them.

In the school with the failing program, the program died a slow, lingering death. Could it be that the teachers who were implementing it, or even the administrator was a "tight player"? The program was not a "strong hand". So it was played as such. No one, or few people took a risk. Everyone, or at least too many people took a safe approach to the program, and did not maximize the potential of the hand they were dealt. It died.

The successful school? Well maybe it had teachers or an administrator who was more of a "loose player"? Maybe they played the hand they were dealt a little more aggressively than their counterparts at the other school. Maybe the administrator represented to his/her staff that the program was a winning hand. Throughout the "game" the administrator continued to represent the program as a winning hand. Played correctly, with enough aggression and "betting" (or support) the administrator was able to convince the other players that he/she had a strong"hand" ( program). Your tight teachers, well they'll abandon their safe positions if they believe the administrator or other teachers have a stronger hand. ( something better). The Maniacs, well they are going to be in the game no matter what. They are going to challenge the people/person using the program, it is in their nature. If you know who your maniacs are, you isolate their game, by making certain that your momentum continues to grow.

Next blog, we'll talk about position. Some positions are stronger than others. By knowing where other people are positioned and what type of style they use to play, principals can continue to maximize their potential for success.