I don't know about you guys, but I feel like my soul is running barefoot through a grassy field with my arms spread wide singing, "Hallelujah!" The Dispositions and Indicator assignment, the book study selection, Essentialism (McKeown, 2014), and our discussions in the EPEL 8650 class are exactly what I need right now.
I am ready to confess that I have been working harder, not smarter, during the last two years.
I thought that leading with a "Servant's Heart" meant doing what I can to make the lives of teachers, students, and families easier. With that in mind, I've tried to be all things to all people and it hasn't worked out quite the way I had hoped. I thought that the little tasks I spent many hours doing to make a big impact would take the burden away from others and simplify things for them.
WRONG.
I posted the Dispositions survey in my faculty's closed Facebook group in order get responses. At the time of this post, I had 9 faculty members participate. WOW. The comments include, "Amanda takes on too many responsibilities, spreading herself thin.", "She has overwhelmed herself by trying to do too much all of the times', "Let others take things off of your plate-don't be afraid to delegate things like SIEP. Let a teacher run it for you!" (Great suggestion-GLADLY!)
I have become a nonessentialist, y'all.
I am certain that my behaviors are not only stemming from good intentions, but also from the fact that, for 12 years, I taught in a classroom where I was the only person to ensure "things" got done. I delegated what I could to students, parents, or teammates, but it was me that took on much of the responsibility. I didn't have an assistant, office staff, or faculty ready to assume the duties I really didn't need to take care of myself...now I do.
My goal for the 2017-2018 school year is to exercise my "power of choice" to "discover my highest point of contribution" (McKeown, p.25). There is a reason I am in the position of leadership and it's not to be the savior of mundane tasks. I have almost 100 people on my staff; really talented people that are skilled in logistics, organization, creative ideas, etc. They WANT these tasks and so...
I will give the people what they want.
(And you can hold me to that promise.)
I'll follow up with a post later in the summer to share how I plan to delegate this year and say "no" to the nonessential "stuff".
Suggestions welcome. :-)
Hello Amanda,
ReplyDeleteIn my first year as an administrator, I learned quickly that I could not do it all. Even though I tried, I had to learn to delegate to others (which I was not used to doing). In the beginning, when someone would ask me if they could help me with a task, I declined the help. The first reason was because I had "my own way" of doing things. My second reason was because I was new to the job and wanted to be able to "manage" ALL of my duties and responsibilities. I discovered that the people in my building are so valuable, so now I respond yes (well more than I used to). Yes, you can help me count scratch paper. Yes, you can count testing pencils and bag them up for me. I even ask for more help now. Not because I can't handle it all, but because I have the human resources to do so. So, I do ask for people to make copies for me for professional development, etc. I also fill there buckets as much as possible to ensure that when I ask for help people are willing to assist.
Leadership 101: Know your people and build relationships. When you are successful in completing those two tasks, this will allow for you to use the people in your building. There are people who want to contribute outside of their classrooms/office/desk and of course we have those who run when they think they will be asked to do “more.” Once you know your people and build positive relationships, your trust in your staff will lead you to release some of those mundane task
I think you have made the first step in the right direction, which was to acknowledge that there are times where you become overwhelmed and can use assistance. You have made a sound personal goal for the 17-18 school year and I wish you luck as you embark on another year of phenomenal leadership.
(Original reply posted to the previous blog 6-15-17)
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda,
I had the opposite experience this school year. Before I began my job, my mentor from the Aspiring Leader Program through my county warned me about taking on too much. And when I landed my job as an assistant principal, I was warned that the assistant principal I replaced had been all things for all the teachers for the past 17 (yes, 17) years and that my department may be weaker for it. Turns out, that's just what I walked into. I quickly realized that my biggest job as a new administrator would be to empower my teachers and convince them that it was something they wanted.
I began small. When a teacher would come to me with a problem, or question how to complete something that I knew I'd completed or would solve as a teacher (which at that time had only been a few months previous), I would show them where to find the information they needed to complete the task and assist a little while they completed what they needed. I found that most of my teachers wanted to know how to do things independently and eventually all of them grew to support themselves and each other.
The biggest piece of advice that my mentor gave and continues to give me was to prioritize and not sweat the small stuff. As a teacher (and in my personal life) I prided myself on being able to plan my day and check things off of my list. As an administrator, I laugh at that because things change every day. Some days I'm lucky if I get to complete one planned task off of my list. And I've learned to be okay with that. It didn't happen over night. I had to take it one day at a time. So I guess my advice to you is just that: take it one day at a time. Eventually, you'll find your way.