School Leadership

To stay prepared for any obstacle in the road, education leaders actively pursue new skills that allow them to learn and grow. It is not an option, it is a priority if you want to enjoy a long career. From taking salsa lessons to taking a trip to Finland to tour its schools, challenge yourself to be better by enjoying new experiences. Read everything related to business, leadership, and the education field that you can get your hands on, both print and digital.

Continuing education is mandatory

Education leaders go out of their way to stay educated and up-to-date, and their pursuit of learning is intentional. Intentional learning is a never-ending process of gaining, understanding information to make your self more intelligent and prepared on a specific subject.

Education leaders understand that education does not stop after school; you need to stay informed 24/7. Education leaders are often compelled by a voracious desire to learn, push the limits of what is thought possible, and explore uncharted territory. Growing your mind can often be as easy as reading, asking, “why?” more often and enjoying the journey alone.

In a pursuit to learn as much as possible, you will notice that successful people ask a lot of questions. They are not embarrassed by the thought of not knowing something; they are intrigued and energized. They want to know all that they can about that subject and use it on their journey to realize their potential as a leader and as a person.

Concluding thoughts

Like a professional athlete, education leaders strive to make improvements and become better every single day. Great education leaders are driven by performance and the motivation to see how far they can go in their personal lives and careers. Never pass up an opportunity to grow. Accept the challenge and be grateful for it. As you look back over your life, after you retire, you will be amazed at how this one decision changed the course of your entire career and your personal life.

Education leaders working toward a brighter tomorrow want to share that future and its success with the people they love. This includes family, friends, colleagues, etc. They don’t want to be the only one that makes it to the top of the mountain, they want to bring lots of people with them. They are not concerned with the possibility that people that they help might surpass them in terms of status and wealth. They see it as a badge of honor, something to be proud of.

Leaders mentor other leaders

Leaders must act with generosity by effecting positive change in the lives of the educators around them. As an education leader, you will not be judged by just test scores and student outcomes; you will also be judged by the number of educators that you help to become leaders in their own right. These leaders become your extended family, a testament to your leadership character.

Improving the lives of educators who are a part of your life, also means helping them become better individuals. Help other people grow by encouraging their potential both professionally and personally and allowing them to learn from your experiences, good and bad. Teach them that only 10% of good leadership is ability and skills, and the other 90% is comprised of leadership character. Leadership character encompasses virtues such as putting others first, taking responsibility, seeking wisdom, acting with courage, and being optimistic. If you help them to gain these often elusive human attributes, they will win in leadership and in life.

A brief anecdote

Let me share a brief anecdote on what it means to help people reach their potential. The world’s greatest and most distinguished mountain climber was being interviewed. He had the distinction of summiting more mountains than any human being who had ever lived. The interviewer asked him, “Which of your accomplishments are you most proud of?” He replied, “I have helped more people make it to the top of the world’s tallest mountains than anyone in history.” You see, his greatest achievement didn’t focus himself, but on all of the people that he had helped reach their goals.

Aptitude in most scenarios pertains to a person’s ability to learn new things, but just because some people can learn things more rapidly than others does not automatically mean they are more intelligent. Why is aptitude so crucial for education leaders? Because you are expected to develop a large amount of expertise and knowledge, not only in the field of education but also in fields like human psychology, behavior management, education law, health, and wellness, etc. To make this task even more difficult, these fields are continuously changing.

A guide to leveraging aptitude

So, to stay up to date, you will need to be continuously learning, often trying to master several topics at once. If you do not have an aptitude for learning new things quickly, then it will be hard for you to keep up with the deluge of information. If you lack expertise and skills in any of the aforementioned subjects, your deficiencies will make it easier for you to make a mistake.

Sure, you could try to lean on someone else’s expertise in your areas of weakness, but just remember that other people have their own agendas. In cases like this, you don’t have to be an expert on the subject, but you need to know enough to gauge the reliability of expert advice.

Aptitude is one of those skills that is highly coveted, but all of us are not blessed with a high one. If you have a low aptitude for learning and want to develop it, there are lots of apps on the internet that can to help you increase it.

Aptitude is not fixed. You can improve your aptitude by practicing your ability to solve multi-step problems, think critically, and handle complex reasoning. It is not as hard as it seems. Just do a google search, and find an aptitude boosting solution that works for you. One thing is for sure, not having a decent aptitude for learning will put you at a huge disadvantage in the field of education leadership.

Life is filled with distractions; great education leaders know how to remain on course and block distractions out. Remaining attentive involves staying focused on the endgame, allocating your time strategically, and training your brain like a muscle to eliminate work that is non-essential.

Let’s look at a scenario

The key to being attentive is defining what your primary focus is at the moment. If you are working on a critical report that needs to be submitted by 5:00 pm, then strategically focus on completing that. Tune out all distractions and let the task in front of you become the most important thing in the world.

Before you lock in on the task at hand, make sure that you isolate potential distractions and neutralize them. For instance, you know that your wife calls you on your lunch break to catch up, so ask her to refrain from doing so for that particular day. Also, let your administrative assistant run interference by routing non-emergency requests to your assistant principals. This includes discipline issues, teacher questions, parental inquiries, etc. You know that these things are important, but for this one day, someone else can handle them.

Also, remember to turn your phone on silent and close out your email screen. And don’t even think of checking your social media. You want to remain focused, and you don’t want anything to distract you from the task at hand. Anyone urgently trying to reach you would know to call your office phone if they can’t reach your cell.

Speaking of your office phone, make you this line is rerouted to your administrative assistant. Imagine yourself as the quarterback, and your office staff as an offensive lineman, who will help you complete a pass for the game-winning touchdown by blocking all distractions. It might sound like a lot, but this is what it takes to sometimes remain attentive on projects that have an imminent deadline.

Education leaders know that sometimes when we ignore conventional wisdom, there can be incredible successes and innovations. The key is knowing when to risk going against conventional wisdom and when to embrace it. How can we accomplish this? Conventional wisdom is meant to guide us in the decision-making process by providing us with tried and true methods for handling situations and issues. Those who go against conventional wisdom can reap great rewards if they are correct. However, going against it, and being wrong can potentially cost you your job.

The fight to end corporal punishment in U.S. Schools

Let’s look at an example of how education leaders challenged the status quo by confronting corporal punishment. Corporal punishment involves inflicting physical punishment and pain on students for misbehavior and also for failing academically. Its use is older than America, being a mainstay in the colonial one-room schoolhouses of the 1600s and 1700s. Corporal punishment can be administered with a paddle, ruler, cane, etc. At present, it is outlawed in 19 U.S. states. Back when I was in elementary school (Mississippi) in the nineteen-eighties, teachers could administer corporal punishment to students by using a paddle. All they needed was another teacher to witness the act, in case something went wrong, or they were accused of using excessive force.

Principals could do use it with impunity, and I remember students getting paddled for things like not turning in homework or failing or do their classwork. In the case of the latter, this always seemed especially punitive to me. What if the student is sick, tired, hungry, or emotional, and just doesn’t feel up to completing their classwork? Does that mean that they should be physically punished to convince them to fall in line? It all just sounds like an Orson Well’s dystopian novel.

Corporal punishment is still practiced in 19 U.S. States. As of 2019, my home state of Mississippi still allows school districts to use corporal punishment, but it has to be administered by an administrator. Can you believe it? I can, but that is not the point. At one time in U.S. history, corporal punishment existed in all 50 states, and the punishment was much more substantial.

Now, let’s get to my reason for discussing corporal punishment. At some point, courageous educators and educational psychologists said enough is enough. They started to speak out against corporal punishment and share research on the negative effects that it had on students. Initially, they were ridiculed and dismissed as bleeding heart liberals that did not know how to discipline children. Their critics reasoned that if educators followed their suggestions, students would be out of control and running K-12 schools.

However, they stuck to there guns and changed the status quo. Also, even though corporal punishment is still legal in 19 states, parents have the right to opt-in or out of practice. Most don’t optin, and the practice of corporal punishment is looked at as a barbaric act from days long past. This is because compassionate educators saw that the practice of corporal punishment was cruel and counterproductive, and decided to take action.

While it may seem counterintuitive, the best education leaders often act as servants. If you want to be great, if you want to be important; then you must find a way to serve others. When we put others in a position to win, it helps the entire organization to win. Unfortunately, it is hard for most people to understand this concept because most people are selfish. They believe that to be great, they have to outshine everyone else. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Servant leadership 101

As an education leader, you have more resources at your command than the average person; you must share them with people on your leadership team. You want them to have everything that they need to be successful. When they shine, the whole team shines. When they do, you want them to get all of the praise, and you want to stand in the background. Also, when they fail, you want to step up and take the blame.

Great education leaders believe that success should be shared with everyone because there is no “I” in team. When you share credit and accolades with others, you build loyalty, trust, and admiration that enables you to push the envelope even further.

What? So you want me to take none of the credit when we win and all of the blame when we lose? This is hard for most would-be education leaders to understand. If you can’t, you are exhibiting weak leadership character, and you will never reach the pinnacles of leadership. It means that you still don’t get it. Being a leader is about serving others, not your self-interest.

Concluding thoughts

A selfish leader can be successful but not as successful as they could be if they were selfless. That is because being selfless is the best way to empower others and to develop leaders within their organizations. You are not afraid of people outshining you, because like a parent, you want your mentees to eclipse you in life.

Smart education leaders know that their journey is often more rewarding than their destination. That’s why they take the time to enjoy life and what they have already achieved because they know nothing can last forever. When you are patient, you will be amazed by how satisfying life can be.

Patience beats impatience every time

Education leaders shouldn’t be in a rush to climb the ladder. Just commit yourself to do outstanding work and serving others, and you will ultimately end up where you want to be. Take time and enjoy your leadership journey, because once it is all over, and when you are somewhere sitting in a rocking chair, you won’t be concerned with accolades, you will be reflecting on the good times that you had with friends family and colleagues. So make time for the things that are truly important in life, and you will see how fulfilling it can be.

And really, what does being impatient ever give us? It gives us a nasty case of anxiety, high blood press, premature aging, and gray hair. What will be, will be and you can’t make things happen any faster than they are supposed to. Those who have tried ended up burned out, with nothing to show for it but poor health. So take it from me and be patient. Your achievements will come in due time and on their own timetable.

Concluding thoughts

Now, being patient doesn’t mean that education leaders lack urgency. They know that some things, such as emergencies, and pressing needs, must be handled immediately. They take care of these items with swiftness and then move on to the next task. Knowing which things require patience and which require urgency is all a part of being a good leader. It may seem hard to figure out the differences between the two, but with time and practice, you will become a pro in no time.

A steadfast belief in a cause can often be a driving force in an education leader’s ability to affect change in their school or district. This conviction often comes from being inspired and staying inspired throughout your leadership journey. Of all of the leadership skills, this is hands down one of the most essential.

A little self-confidence goes a long way

Smart education leaders know not to expect results overnight, whether it is a new anti-bullying policy or a new academic initiative. They know that it will take days, weeks, months, and even years for their hard work to pay off. During this time, there will be a lot of naysayers that believe that you should just give up, but in the face of doubt, you must have the conviction to keep going. When it’s hard to defend your position, you will have to push back against some of your initial supporters, who are now opponents. They will say, “Your way is not working out, and we need to reverse course.” In times like this, you find out who you really are.

Education leaders know that patience is not about waiting around for results; it is about executing the plan, following through and not giving up when you face obstacles, working diligently, and learning how to love the journey as much as the destination. Since you have already anticipated setbacks and naysayers, you will be able to fight back and expose all of the reasons why everyone needs to stay the course.

The defendant’s lack of conviction gave him away

Let me end this tip with a story that demonstrates the importance of having conviction. There was a man who was on trial for murder, and although the body had not been found, there was lots of circumstantial evidence. His lawyer knew that he needed to do something grand to ensure that his client would not be convicted. He instructed the jury and everyone in the courtroom to look at the door because, in 60 seconds, the man that his client supposedly killed would come walking through the door. Everyone was on the edge of their seat, wondering if he was right.

At the end of 60 seconds, he confessed that it was all a ruse, but that, based on the fact that the juror’s eyes were glued to the door during his exercise, they must have believed that there was a possibility that it would happen. This meant that they had a reasonable doubt as to whether or not his client was guilty. He also informed the jury that before dismissing them for deliberations, the judge would tell them that returning a verdict of guilty meant that they all were 100% sure that his client had committed murder.

A few minutes later, the judge gave his instructions and released the juror for deliberations. One hour later, they came back with their verdict. The jury foreman announced that they had found the defendant guilty of murder, and the defense attorney was livid. He chided them for returning a verdict of guilty even though they had reasonable doubt. The jury foreman said those doubts dissipated when they noticed that the defense attorney and his client never glanced at the door during those 60 seconds because they didn’t believe it themselves, which means that the defendant is guilty. The moral of the story is, how can you expect other people to believe in you if you don’t even believe in yourself?

It takes a lot to affect the status quo. Education leaders not only have to be energetic, but they also must understand how to find and utilize their time productively. Remember, working long hours does not always equal success because time is a finite resource. However, energy can be fueled by staying healthy and active, passionate, and positive about your work as well as establishing productive rituals.

You can’t fake being energetic

Remember the old adage, you are only as young as you feel? Well, to a certain extent, this holds up. You can hold on to your youthful vigor forever, as long as you don’t lose sight of this. As a young professional, conditioning your mind and body in a way that is conducive to hard work will help you handle heavy workloads when necessary. This ability can be utilized into old age, though it may wane a bit.

Your energetic spirit is what will set you apart from your competitors. That is because, in the face of hard work and stress, many people crumble, and their bodies shut down. This usually comes out of the blue, and it takes a nervous breakdown or heart attack for them to get the message.

Being energetic is not about sacrificing your health to be successful or working long hours continuously. It is about balancing your health, work, and personal life, and knowing when to slow down a bit. This allows your energy level to stay at equilibrium and for you to remain on top of things. Take care of yourself, as you only get one life. If you die today, your job will probably be posted before your funeral arrangements have been made.

Concluding thoughts

Don’t define yourself by a position or title and don’t define your level of success based on what others think. Just work hard each and every day, using your endless energy to affect change. Even if other people don’t reward you for your efforts, the skills and confidence that you gain should be recompense enough. I know, because although I often felt overlooked at my teaching and leadership stops, I gain millions of dollars worth of connections and skills. I used these connections and skills to build my own education company, and now the only person that I try to impress each day is myself.

Effective education leaders learn how to live within the flow of life. This means taking action without judgment, resistance, or regret. You are, in theory, living your life disconnected emotionally from circumstances and disconnected mentally from judging the conditions that life throws your way. This is very advantageous because it allows you to perceive events from an observer’s perspective, enabling you to make better choices and decisions as you go about your day as an education leader.

Just go with the flow?

Living within the flow of life requires you to think abundantly. This involves the process of thinking about what you want to accomplish, do, have, etc. It involves the process of seeing opportunity where there is none or seeing solutions where other people only see obstacles and problems. When you think abundantly, you will have feelings of abundance, and this will illuminate your thought process and allow you to make more informed choices and decisions.

When you choose to live in the present moment, it does not mean that you cannot think about your future goals and objectives. It means is that you are concentrating all your energy on the present to maximize your comprehension of the present moment and the situation you find yourself in. This enables you to make better decisions that will help you attain your goals and objectives.

Concluding thoughts

What do you think? Can living within the flow of life help education leaders make better choices? I think so, and as a matter of fact, it is the only way to lead. I have been practicing this technique not only in my business dealings but also in my personal life. It has brought me untold success, happiness, and a deep sense of serenity. I am confident that it can do the same for you. You just have to embrace it wholeheartedly and live in the here and now.