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The Innovator’s Path

Have you noticed how some people always seem to have new ideas, a creative twist on a process, or novel strategy to address a long-standing challenge? They move beyond traditional approaches and prolonged practices to find better ways to do what needs to be done. We might think that these people have a natural talent or special set of skills. However, in most cases, their ideas and creativity come from a simple but important set of actions that any of us can adopt and employ in our personal and professional lives. The innovation may be a new way to introduce a skill or teach a concept, a way to motivate and engage learners that builds ownership for learning, or a different way to leverage technology to assist learning. The application can be varied, but the general steps are often similar. Let’s explore how we can use these steps to discover opportunities and guide our efforts to innovate. The process of innovating may or may not have a clear beginning. Sometimes the need for change is clear. At other times, we may have a feeling that there is a better approach, but we need time to think and reflect. This realization is followed by intentional steps, and leads to an idea, strategy, or approach to test and build on. The process might be thought of as including four phases: orientation, exploration, innovation, and iteration. The first phase, orientation, is as much a mindset as it is a strategy. When our thinking is oriented toward wonder and curiosity, we are less likely to accept what is or has been without question. We are more prone to ask, “why not” and “what could be” than “why” and “what should be.” This orientation, or mindset, stimulates our imagination. We become more open and motivated to learn and discover. This phase is crucial. Unless we are curious, skeptical, and questioning, we can easily ignore opportunities to create and craft something new and better. The second phase, exploration, grows directly out of an orientation of curiosity and wonder. Our questions move beyond “could there be a better way” to “how can I find a better way?” We begin to interrogate why things are as they are. We investigate options and approaches others have tried to understand what has been learned and how what is known might lead to creating something new. Often, this phase leads to searching outside of our discipline, or even education, to see if there are ideas and approaches worth adapting and applying in our context. Sometimes adjacent fields of work have already solved a similar dilemma and may present a model with which to work. As this phase unfolds, we begin to form our own ideas and approaches worth trying. The third phase, innovation, moves us from questioning and exploring to design and formulation. We use what we learned during the exploration phase to imagine, tinker, and create. This phase calls for courage and willingness to risk. We cannot expect that our early efforts will be perfect. In fact, if everything works perfectly on the first attempt, we might ask ourselves whether we really are stretching and creating something new. Our goal needs to be to craft an idea worth investing time and energy to. Perfection can come later. The fourth phase, iteration, builds on the previous three phases. As noted earlier, rarely does a new strategy or approach work perfectly at first. The iteration phase invites us to observe how the innovation is working. We might test different versions of the approach. What we learn can lead to adjustments that improve on our idea and lead to even better outcomes. If we are working with a team, we might have team members try the innovation with different groups of students and collect data on results. The goal is to keep asking questions and finding ways to make the innovation ever more effective and useful, regardless of who is using it, where it is used, and with whom. Innovation is not magic, but it depends on the magic of curiosity and wonder. The more we allow ourselves to question, imagine, and dream, the more likely we will uncover an idea or concept worth exploring and creating. It is also true that times of challenge and disruption often present the best opportunities to innovate. Now may be the right time to take a risk and develop the idea and create the strategy you have been thinking about.

October 04, 2021

When Change Comes Calling: Four Choices We Can Make

The past 18 months have presented each of us with the need to adjust in our personal and professional lives. We may have confined our social interactions, modified our work arrangements, and made other accommodations in response to the pandemic. While we could not avoid the push and pull we experienced, we were able to choose how we would respond to and meet the challenges we faced and the vulnerability we experienced. The choices we have made likely had a significant influence on how we have experienced the pandemic. Depending on our choices, we may have struggled, navigated the experience, or even thrived. Interestingly, this experience offers a useful example of the importance of how we respond to changing circumstances and environments. The choices we make can determine how well we find our way forward and emerge from the uncertainty and shifting currents of life. To help us understand the choices available and the outcomes to which they might lead, we can divide our choice options into four general categories: seeking stability, practicing flexibility, embracing adaptability, and designing for agility. Let’s explore each of these responses to pressure for change and how they can support or undermine our personal and professional success. When we seek stability in response to the press for change, we focus on creating consistency and predictability. Our response to the pressure to change is to hone our current skills, reinforce our “go to” practices, and rely on “tried and true” approaches. In short, we bet that what we normally do and how we typically behave will carry us through. While this approach can carry us when the pressure to change is light and temporary, it can significantly undermine our effectiveness and compromise our success when circumstances call for significant adjustments. In fact, our inability or unwillingness to adjust can erode our competence and confidence to the point where it threatens the survival of personal relationships and viability of our professional future. A choice to practice flexibility in response to the press to change broadens our focus and leads us to consider and employ the full array of strategies, approaches, and tools we possess, including practices we may have embraced in the past, but have since neglected. The broader the array of options, resources, and strategies we have developed and adopted, the better able we are to respond to the circumstances we face. This choice challenges us to use all that we currently possess to respond and meet the demands of the situation. When we embrace adaptability, we move beyond what is familiar and has served us well in the past to ask ourselves what we need to learn and what skills will be required to respond to the press for change we are experiencing. We open ourselves to learning new strategies, creating new approaches, and adopting new tools. While often uncomfortable at first, this response to the need to change can be invigorating and growth evoking as we adapt our behavior, practices, and learning to move to a new level of success and satisfaction. Choosing to design for agility shifts our position relative to the need to change from one of reaction to proactivity. Rather than waiting for pressure to fully develop and demand a response, this choice invites us to anticipate changes that may be necessary. We explore possibilities and develop strategies, approaches, and tools that will position us for success. This choice helps us to leverage change as an opportunity rather than a demand to which we must respond. The application of the continuum of choices in the context of the pandemic may be obvious. Some people tried to ignore the need to change and cling to what used to be. Others shifted to other familiar strategies and practices hoping that they would be enough. Still others assessed the situation and embraced the learning necessary to succeed as they understood more about what was needed. Of course, there were those who saw the pandemic as an opportunity to imagine and create new strategies, invent new tools, and employ new approaches, and, as a result, thrived during uncertain and unpredictable times. Nevertheless, it is important for us to recognize that this set of choices is available to us in myriad life circumstances. We are not always able to control the need to change, but we can choose how we will respond. The choices we make will likely determine our success and happiness during and well beyond the experience.

September 27, 2021

Our Choice: Hang Together or Hang Separately

At a crucial point in our nation’s history when faced with unprecedented threats and challenges, one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, challenged his colleagues to consider their behavior and commitment to each other. He is quoted as urging, “We must, indeed, hang together or, most assuredly, we will all hang separately.” It is true that educators and educational leaders may not be facing the existential threat presented early in our nation’s history. Yet, it is difficult to deny the extraordinary circumstances and political attacks under which schools and school districts find themselves as we begin a new school year. The disruption created by COVID-19 has left many students in a kind of “learning limbo” and families frustrated and impatient for stability and predictability. Meanwhile, conflicts over masking and other virus countermeasures continue. If these issues are not enough, educational policymakers, leaders, and educators are being barraged with accusations of biased instruction and engaging in the examination of issues some constituents want to be avoided. New laws are placing greater restrictions on what can be taught and even discussed in classrooms and with students. Unfortunately, schools and school districts do not have a history of collaboration. Too often we choose to be competitive, even isolating. We focus internally and “do our own thing” rather than learning from and adapting what others have developed. In fact, sometimes a decision made in one school or school district can be the reason for making a different decision in another. This tendency can deprive us of useful ideas, creative options, and effective strategies even in stable times. However, these are far from normal, predictable times. Still, many educational leaders are trying to “go it on their own” and are not reaching out to colleagues for advice and support or to engage in collaborative efforts. It is time to put away our natural tendency and overcome our inclination go it alone. The issues facing schools now are not unique to any one school or community. In fact, some of the contentions and disruptions we are experiencing are not random, nor do they originate within any single community. Many of the conflicts and demonstrations are coordinated across communities and calculated to sow suspicion, doubt, and skepticism. Of course, each of us reports to our own school board. They will make their own decisions within the bounds of state requirements and local policy. However, school board decisions are typically made with our advice and counsel. This is the way the system works. School boards depend on staff members to keep them informed, offer insights, and present well-informed recommendations. The leadership and policy support we provide locally can benefit from the thinking, experience, and successes of others within the region and beyond. We do not need, nor should we attempt, to be in full lockstep with others who may not share cultural nuances and face circumstances different from ours. Just knowing the thinking, rationale, ideas, and options considered by others can position each of us to make wiser decisions. Knowing the issues and challenges other leaders and organizations are facing can help us to plan and prepare should they spread to our communities. This knowledge can reduce the opportunities to be played against each other and criticized for not doing what others have decided to do. Further, the connections we make and relationships we build can give us important emotional and psychological support when we find ourselves buffeted by accusations, false assumptions, and untruths. In the long term, the relationships and processes we develop to help us navigate the current circumstances can help us continue to learn and grow together when the issues we face have passed and a new set of challenges emerges. We can build a foundation of working together that reduces the likelihood that in the future we will have to consider whether we will “hang together, or hang separately.”

August 16, 2021

Three Secrets for Building and Reinforcing Staff Engagement

In just a few weeks we will be welcoming staff members back for the start of a new year. While the start of this year may not be as uncertain and stressful as a year ago, there remain myriad questions to be answered and challenges to be met in the months ahead. At the same time, many staff members have yet to fully recover from the exhaustion and frustrations they felt as the past year ended. Our leadership challenge is to find ways to re-engage and re-energize employees across our organization to serve students who need them now as much or more than ever. The fact is that we cannot improve the learning and lives of students without supporting and reconnecting adults who work with them. Fortunately, recent research from the London Business School may provide some useful hints to help us meet this challenge. Despite the context of the research in the business world, people are people. What moves and motivates us is likely to be more alike than different. The research was conducted during the height of the pandemic and focused on what led employees to be more or less engaged despite the life and work challenges they faced. The researchers were able to isolate three key leadership behaviors that appeared to make the greatest difference on the level of employee engagement over time. First, the study found that our perspective as leaders matters more than we might think. Adopting an optimistic, opportunistic attitude during times of crisis and challenge can make an important difference. If we treat the challenges we face as permission to innovate, explore, adjust, and improve, we project energy and possibility. The researchers noted something called “emotional contagion,” a phenomenon in which emotions and attitudes are psychologically contagious. The emotions and perspectives of those around us, especially people who are important to us, can lift our spirits and inspire us, or drain our energy and leave us depressed. If we want to lift the spirits of those in our organizations and inspire people to engage, we must adopt and project the attitudes and perspectives we want to see. Of course, we need to be realistic and not ignore the reality we face, but we do not have to allow ourselves to be defeated by it. A second important finding was that inquiring about and staying informed of people’s lives outside of work matters. Challenges remaining after the pandemic are not confined to what is happening at work. Staff members may still be dealing with family loss and disruption. Lingering aftereffects of the virus may be an ongoing challenge. Of course, life outside of work with its predictable challenges and pressures also influences how people feel about work, how much energy they have available to invest, and other choices they must make. The researchers found that inquiring about and remaining interested in and informed about employees’ lives outside of work makes a significant difference in the level of investment and engagement people feel in their work. Importantly, our inquiries need to be authentic and we need to avoid prying into areas that employees might feel are private. The third key finding was that we need to reinforce the importance of the work people are doing and its connection to the larger purpose of the organization. We might assume that people know and see how their work is important in the larger picture, but they also need to hear it regularly from leaders. Reminding people of the crucial difference they make in the lives of students, how they are building a future for today’s learners, and the long-term importance of having an educated public are important messages that need to be repeated and reinforced regularly. Interestingly, the researchers discovered that connections to and internalization of the purpose of the work not only better prepare people to navigate adversity and uncertainty, but they can also lead to better ideas and innovative strategies for improvement. In the coming weeks we will be “setting the stage” for the year ahead. How we start the year will have an important influence on how the year unfolds. Now is the time to think about what we can do to build energy, invite engagement, and prepare the path for a successful year. Resource: Cable, D. & Gino, F. (2021, June 22) What to do if your employees have switched off. London Business School. https://www.london.edu/think/what-to-do-if-your-employees-have-switched-off

August 02, 2021

Now Is the Time to Ramp Up Our Resilience

We stand at the threshold of a new school year. In the coming weeks, we will be getting acquainted and forming new relationships with our students. We will be starting a new journey of learning and teaching. We will watch our students grow and mature. They will build new skills, gain new knowledge, and build new confidence. These are the reasons we chose to be educators. Few other professions offer such rewards and opportunities to make a difference in the lives we touch. We also know that the coming year will bring a good measure of stress, pressure, and frustration. These, too, are predictable elements in the lives of educators. However, the impact they have on us and our well-being is within our control. We can allow these experiences to drive our emotions and control our lives, or we can develop skills, habits, and strategies to counter them. Now—before we find ourselves facing the inevitable uncertainty, complexity, and conflicting emotions ahead—is a good time to commit ourselves to becoming a more resilient person and professional. The good news is that we can learn the skills and develop the habits associated with managing difficult situations. Being resilient is not confined to those who “were born that way.” However, we need to avoid delaying this important work until we are already feeling overburdened with stress and exhaustion. Starting now before we are fully experiencing the intensity of our day-to-day work can provide the space to develop new skills, try out some new perspectives, and focus on effective strategies that work for us. Ramping up this work now can help us to be better prepared and build our resilience before we begin to feel overwhelmed. The American Psychological Association identifies four key factors that define resilience: capacity to make and carry out realistic plans, a positive view of ourselves and confidence in our strengths and abilities, communication and problem-solving skills, and capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses. Obviously, the greater our strengths in these areas, the better able we will be to protect our emotional well-being while attending to the needs of our students. So, how can we develop the resilience necessary to confront and prevail with the challenges that may lie ahead? Here are five strategies to consider. First, we can build and expand our network of trusting relationships inside and beyond our profession. The more people with whom we can confide and from whom we can receive advice and support, the more options and support we can tap. Often it’s enough just knowing we have someone who is willing to listen, understands us, and can provide us with reassurance and another perspective. Second, we can identify and set realistic goals in areas of our personal and professional lives over which we have control. When we focus our attention and efforts in areas where we control the key variables, we can build confidence in our abilities and develop a positive view of ourselves, despite what may be happening elsewhere. Third, we can develop routines to build and protect our emotional and physical health. Physical exercise can do much to counter the impact of stress and frustration. It can lead to better sleep. An exercise routine can also contribute to a sense of control and a positive view of who we are. Yoga, meditation, and even going for regular walks can also provide important benefits. The consistency of a routine can send a signal to our minds and bodies that it is time to relax, even when we are feeling pressure and stress. Fourth, we can build the habit of focusing on the gap that exists between what happens in our lives and our response or reaction to it. Obviously, we cannot always control what happens around or to us. However, we can always choose what we will think and which actions we will take in response. This insight can provide a sense of control, give us time to manage our emotions, and avoid reactions that can add to our frustrations and feelings of regret. Fifth, we can accept that we cannot control everything. Obviously, some things in our lives, personal and professional, are beyond our control and influence. Yet, our need to control can leave us frustrated and depressed. The energy we spend wishing things were different and the frustration we allow to build in us can deplete the mental and emotional resources we need to be healthy and happy. Sometimes, our best strategy is to let go and focus elsewhere. Some of us are about to begin the new year in the next few weeks. Others may have more time before students return. Regardless, the best time to develop the skills, habits, and attitudes to carry us through the coming year is right now. Consider choosing one, two, or three of the strategies and get started.

August 02, 2021

Five Questions Can Launch a Rewarding New Year

One of the unique and energizing aspects of being an educator is that each fall we can begin anew. Most of us will be meeting new groups of students. We will form new relationships. We will begin a new journey of learning. We will meet new colleagues and may join a new professional team. This is a time of excitement and opportunity. The beginning of a new year also invites us to revisit, reevaluate, and reimagine our approach and commitment to our work and the difference we want to make. We make a lasting impact when we see teaching not just as a job to do, but as a calling and mission to be fulfilled. Each of us is invited to begin our professional journey anew every year. A close look will reveal that we need to be intentional about what we want to contribute and the difference we want to make. We can quickly fall into old habits and routines without noticing our choices and seizing opportunities available to us. Shifting focus, adjusting behaviors, and increasing our impact require reflection, analysis, and clear intentions. Fortunately, five questions can help us to explore where and how to focus our attention and energy this year. First, what gifts will I bring? Each of us have gifts we can offer to enrich student experiences and conversations, provide insights, stimulate discussion, and inspire new thinking. Our gift may be to be a better listener and give more opportunities for students and colleagues to express their thoughts and concerns. We may choose to be a better reflector to help others hear themselves and discover their own solutions. It may be that our gift is finding common ground and areas of agreement to allow our team to move forward. Or we may be the one who asks the questions that need to be examined and answered. Our gift may also be exactly what is needed to unlock the gifts and contributions of others. Second, what role will I play? Is it time for me to take a more active leadership role on my team? Do I need to become a more active mentor for the talents of less experienced educators? Do I need to be a more engaged coach? Or is this the year when I become a more committed and contributing team member? Each of us have roles to play. The choices we make can make our year—and increase the impact we have on student learning. Third, who will need my support? Now more than ever, we need to support each other. The past year brought loss and grief. Tension and controversy have sapped energy and led to separation and isolation. Now is the time to reach out and be present for those who need a friend, an advocate, or someone to just listen and understand. Our availability and support can make a difference in the lives of those we touch that goes well beyond what we might think or imagine. Fourth, how will I grow? It has been said that if we are not growing, we are falling back. These are times that challenge and give countless opportunities to all of us, and growth has never been more important. Our students return to school with learning, social and emotional needs, and, in many cases, physical health and safety needs. Issues of equity and social justice demand effective responses. Every student deserves to feel they belong and the opportunity to thrive as a learner, classmate, and unique individual. Our learning can take many forms and lead us down many paths, but growth is what keeps us fresh, energized, and effective in our work and professional relationships. Fifth, what legacy do I want to leave? We might think that legacy is something about which we should be concerned as we near the end of our careers, but in truth, our legacy is built each day, each week, and each year. How do we want our students to remember their experience with us? What insights, advice, and examples do we want students to recall as they build and live their lives? How will colleagues learn and what will they recall from our time with them? How might our school be different because of our time in it? The most powerful legacies are not found in tangible objects. Rather, they exist in the lives of those we have touched. As difficult as these times are, they present us with opportunities to make a special difference. We have never been needed more. As we begin a new year, let’s commit to making it the best ever, and commit ourselves to being our best ever.

August 02, 2021

Share Your Tips & Stories

Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.

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Lessons From Remote Learning for Handling Behavior

One of the key lessons presented by remote learning was that many of the behavior management tools available with in-person learning were not accessible when our students were not physically present. Moving a non-compliant student to a remote part of the room was not an option. Imposing progressive disciplinary sanctions was often impractical. And we could not send a student out of the room to see the principal. The shift to remote learning drove us to develop new strategies and approaches to gain student attention, cooperation, and engagement. It took time, repeated attempts, and more than a few missteps before many of us became adept at using commitment-based approaches and intrinsic motivational strategies. Our return to in-person learning offers the opportunity to rethink compliance-driven behavior management and progressive discipline practices before we again become reliant on these approaches. We need to examine the extent to which compliance-driven approaches undermine and interfere with our goal of developing independent, mature, self-regulating young people. Here’s why:

We risk communicating to students that their behavior should be controlled by external sources and forces rather than through their own choices, self-discipline, and sense of direction.
The causes of individual choices and drivers of behavior are complex and varied. For example, the lack of completed homework or a negative attitude early in the day may be the result of factors and forces at home or outside of school that have little to do with a student’s valuing of class rules or academic expectations.
Incentives only work if students place a reasonably high value on them. Once we reduce student behavior and academic engagement to rewards and punishment, we risk losing student compliance if they do not see the reward as compelling, or do not consider the punishment to be severe enough to drive the choice to comply.

What are some ways to leverage commitment and intrinsic motivation?

We can start by engaging students in the process of developing class rules and expectations so they feel ownership and understand the reasons for rules and expectations. We can coach and model positive, productive behaviors. Further, we can brainstorm with students strategies to use when they face situations that might lead to behaviors that are not acceptable or do not contribute to their success.
We can also pay attention to circumstances that may lead to unacceptable and non-productive behaviors. Often charting of patterns of misbehavior can offer clues to where and how we can make changes in routines, practices, and expectations to prevent poor choices and inclinations toward unacceptable behaviors. For example, we may discover that at a certain time of the day students struggle to pay attention because they are hungry, so we might schedule a snack time.
We can focus on the purpose, or the “why” of what we ask of students. Exploring why certain behaviors and limits are important to the effective and efficient operation of the class can help students see how their behavior can have an impact on their and other’s success.
We can commit to developing strong, positive relationships with our students. When students know we care about them and their success, we can have a powerful influence on how they think and feel about behaving and learning in our class.

The experience of the pandemic and remote learning, undoubtedly, has led to even more lessons about commitment-based and intrinsic-driven behavior approaches. Now is a good time to share with colleagues what you have learned and listen to their insights and strategies.

August 02, 2021

What is Worth Looking Forward to in the New School Year?

I recently heard a superintendent recount that she had been asked what she is looking forward to as students and staff return this fall. Sadly, she admitted that she struggled to give an authentic, positive answer. The pressures, stresses, and struggles of the past year combined with uncertainties regarding the lingering presence of the pandemic have robbed her of the excitement and anticipation that usually accompany the start of a new school year. The admission was particularly striking to me because the superintendent is a skilled, committed, impactful leader. We can ill afford to enter the year already feeling defeated. It is particularly difficult to engage, inspire, and lead those who depend on us if we are not confident about and motivated and inspired by what lies ahead. Rather than give in and allow what lies ahead to defeat us, now is the time to take stock and focus on how we can make this coming year the most impactful and successful of our careers. History is filled with examples of great leaders and leadership that prevailed in the face of what seemed like insurmountable challenges. Consider Winston Churchill’s circumstances as a leader in the early days of World War ll. England was standing alone in the face of Germany’s aggression. Its major cities were under daily attack, and many of Churchill’s advisors lacked confidence in his leadership and doubted his decisions. Yet, he knew that the strength of the nation was in its people and their resilience. His challenge was to engage their resilience and inspire their hope. In the end, the bombings they endured were a source of strength and pride, and a major force in their eventual success. As we consider the start of a new year, we do well to identify the opportunities to lead and make a positive difference through our leadership. Those around us are depending on us and need our best thinking, judgement, and ideas. Here are some places to start as we position ourselves to lead and become inspired in this difficult, but potential-filled time. We can remind ourselves and those we lead of what we accomplished, how we persevered, and why it matters now. We have learned much in the past year about ourselves, our work, our learners, and what can help us to succeed. We can give people permission to let go of regrets and less than successful efforts in favor of gleaning what was learned, celebrating successes, and taking pride in our resilience and persistence. We do not know what lies ahead, but we can be confident that we are better positioned and prepared than we were when we first faced the pandemic. We are more skilled, better informed, and a more potent force as we face the future. We can continue to prove that educators matter. We need to celebrate the crucial role we play. The past year brought more attention to and appreciation for what it means to teach, guide, support, and protect learners and learning than any time in recent memory. Ironically, the current controversies about teaching are evidence that what we do matters. These times also call on us to be courageous on behalf of our students and their learning experiences. Now is the time when we can make the greatest difference in our work and for our profession. We can make this a year for healing. We can look forward to rebuilding a culture of caring, belonging, and mutual support. Many of our students have experienced trauma and chaos in their lives and need understanding, acceptance, and tolerance as they recover. The same is true for our colleagues. Our opportunity in the coming year is to be there for people who need us. To support each other as we provide support to our students. This work can be truly inspiring and difference-making. We can be a source of hope and optimism. Importantly, being optimistic is a choice. We can choose to focus on what is difficult and discouraging, or we can focus on building a path to a better future. We can claim hope and not allow the frustrations of the moment to distract us from long-term goals and eventual success. Hope and optimism are not “soft ideas” to be dispelled when challenged. Rather, they can be life sustaining and success-building tools that inspire despite our current reality. The people in our organization will depend on us as a source of hope and optimism to draw energy and inspiration from. Interestingly, each of these items will have the effect of making our lives and work better, even worth looking forward to, as we make life, work, and learning better for others. Of course, we need to take care of ourselves, too, but making a difference in the lives of others is a great way to make our own lives better.

July 26, 2021

Tap Five Success-Generating Leadership Affirmations

Affirmations have long been known to be effective ways to shift thinking and pursue important goals in our personal lives. They have been shown to create clarity and focus our thinking. Affirmations can also help us to align our energy and attention in ways that produce tangible results. However, we don’t often think about affirmations as contributing to leadership success. Yet, the same factors that can make affirmations useful tools to achieve personal goals can help us focus our professional attention, align our energy, and see opportunities that we otherwise might miss. Regardless of life context, our thoughts are powerful shapers of how we see reality. What we tell ourselves influences our perceptions. What we think drives where we invest our energy and how we respond to experiences. Affirmations help us to form intentions and shape goals. Of course, affirmations work when they are repeated, reflected upon, and regularly applied in our actions. The more frequently we say, think about, and act on affirmations, the more powerful their impact can be. When affirmations become part of our leadership thinking and actions, they can help us to gain new insights, discover new strategies, and form stronger, more influential relationships. Let’s explore five leadership affirmations worth tapping in our daily thinking, actions, and routines:

Keep the main thing the main thing. This affirmation can help us to remain focused when we face myriad issues and challenges and are at risk of becoming distracted by detail or overwhelmed by demands. Remaining focused on what matters most, whether student learning, health and safety, or instructional effectiveness, can help us to ignore what does not deserve our attention and energy and prioritize what does. This affirmation can prompt us to ask, “What really matters here?”
The most important step in any journey is the next step. When beginning major projects or undertaking a challenging change process, we can become so focused on potential problems, strategies to employ, or what will be required that we forget that every journey is a series of steps and actions. We may want to immediately be at the end point. Or we may become overwhelmed with what lies ahead. Yet, what we do next will often play a key role in determining whether the ultimate outcome will be reached. The truth is that each step matters and the opportunity to make progress lies in taking the next step. We need to ask ourselves, “What is the next step that will move me forward?”
Intentions matter more than motivation. At first, this affirmation might seem counterintuitive. Motivation creates energy and excitement for what may lie ahead. Yet, while motivation can be useful in getting started, it can lack focus and wane as the reality of the work and struggle necessary for success becomes evident. Intentions, on the other hand, position us to commit. Intentions can help us to focus our energy and carry us through when our motivation may not be as strong as it was at the beginning. We can “power through” even when our motivation wanes by asking, “What am I committed to and why does it matter?”
Time is my most important resource. Each day we face requests, distractions, opportunities, and expectations that compete for our time. We may be inclined to respond as much and as often as we can, believing that engaging with people and responding to their needs and interests are important. While to an extent, this perspective makes sense, it overlooks an important fact. We have a limited number of hours and minutes each day. How we choose to use the time we have will determine our success and the extent to which we can serve the needs of those who depend on our leadership. We do well to ask ourselves often, “What is the best use of my time in this moment?”
Gratefulness makes everyone’s day. Life is often hectic, even chaotic at times. We face multiple demands and must respond to varied situations. It can be easy to fall into a habit of finding fault, lamenting problems, and regretting actions taken, or not. Yet, during even the most difficult times, there are opportunities, experiences, and relationships for which we can be grateful. Reflecting on, appreciating, and sharing what we can be grateful for can immediately change our attitude, help us to reframe a situation, or lift the spirits of those around us. When gratefulness becomes part of each day, it makes each day better. We can summon these feelings by asking ourselves, “What can I be grateful for right now and who needs to hear it?”

Now is a great time to begin tapping the power of these and other leadership affirmations, if you are not already doing so. We change our behaviors by changing our thinking. We ensure our success by the choices we make, actions we take, and habits we practice.

July 15, 2021

Five Leadership Lessons From the Pandemic

Times of disruption, conflict, and crisis always shine a spotlight on leadership. The pandemic has not been an exception. Employees, students and families, and communities looked to those in positions of leadership in schools and school districts for guidance, judgment, clarity, and understanding. The pandemic reinforced and, at times, amplified the importance of leadership skills and behaviors that we have always valued and expected from leaders. Leaders are expected to take steps to protect everyone. People look to leaders to consult with experts, make sense of what’s happening, and develop plans for the organization to follow. As the pandemic unfolded, leaders were expected to maintain a focus on the mission and role of schools to educate students and support instruction despite the challenges and distractions. Leaders were looked to for acquisition and distribution of resources needed to allow instruction and learning to continue as effectively as practical. Yet, within these larger leadership roles and expectations, the pandemic experience offered several specific lessons worth noting and heeding before the next extended, disruptive challenge emerges. Here are five of those leadership lessons and the implications associated with them. First, relationships are key. We know the importance of relationships in the context of teaching and learning. The pandemic demonstrated that relationships are equally important for adults. Where leaders had developed strong, trusting relationships prior to the pandemic, stakeholders found it easier to accept leadership decisions and direction despite the fear and confusion they experienced. The pandemic taught us that we need to develop relationships before we ask people to trust us, do difficult things, and face the unknown. It was possible to develop trust and credibility during the pandemic experience, but too often it meant the loss of crucial time and sacrificed some early opportunities to respond. We also learned that when there is no relationship and trust is absent, asking people to take risks, engage without full understanding, and press forward despite uncertainty is likely to be futile. Second, authenticity matters. People want to know that leaders really care and are not just “going through the motions” or “checking boxes” when they inquire about what followers are experiencing, questions they have, and answers they need. Perfunctory responses and generalized expressions of caring can leave stakeholders feeling dismissed and diminished rather than supported. Careful listening, empathetic responses, and honest commitment to follow-up are especially important when people are hurting, frightened, and uncertain of where to turn. Third, positivity has its limits. While it is important for leaders to project a positive attitude and be optimistic about what is happening, messages they send must be grounded. Positivity must be connected to reality. When leaders ignore the level of pressure and stress people are feeling and project unfettered positivity, they risk perceptions of being disconnected and out of touch with what people are experiencing. Too much positivity without grounding can be toxic. Fourth, strength does not mean having all the answers. Leaders often believe that to lead they must be fully in control and free of questions and doubt. Yet, the pandemic was plagued with uncertainty, unanswered questions, and changing conditions. In times such as these, leaders are often asked to lead without all the information they would like or need. Being willing to commit when commitment is called for, choosing to risk when action is necessary, and pressing forward when inaction would sacrifice the mission are steps leaders are called to take in times of crisis. Of course, even making the correct call does not always mean universal support and agreement. Fifth, conflict is not always what it seems. Arguments over face masks, insistence on remote or in-person learning, and other pandemic-related issues were not always about safety and learning. The presenting conflict can be a proxy for other issues. Political perspective can override science. Childcare needs can prevail over risks of exposure to the virus. What people oppose or support can have as much to do with what they fear, personal priorities, and partisan politics as the importance of the stated issue with which they identify. Without question, the pandemic reinforced what we know about the importance of leadership. It also invited us to learn the importance of less visible and more nuanced aspects of leading successfully during extended disruption.

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