Posted on: November 13, 2018 / Categories: Blogapalooza, leadership
My Mistakes! They say that you learn from your mistakes and I am living proof of that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I learned to be a leader from my fearless mother and many other dynamic role models in my life. I’m blessed to have had many amazing people to guide me and encourage me through the years. Leadership, from leadership in college, to leadership in the classroom, to leadership at the school level, to leadership at the division level (and hopefully beyond at some point) has been more of an assumed role for me than a choice. But, becoming a GOOD LEADER…that came from the school of hard knocks.
I assume we all go into these leadership roles believing that we have what it takes to make it. We research, read, learn, and fight for the roles and we have the attitude that we will do our best and be great at it. And then reality hits…sometimes hard…and the realization that we may not be great at it sets in. That is when we have an important choice to make. We have to decide if we are truly cut out to be a leader. The “grit” I learned from mother told my new leader self that I was…but my insecurities, and sometimes the people around me, told me otherwise.
Through my years (29 of them) in the education world I have made many mistakes. I’ve made small mistakes that were quickly fixed and I’ve made monumental ones that I still have nightmares about at present. Each time, I have learned a lesson from that mistake. Sometimes the lesson is as simple as: If you don’t meet the deadline for turning in grades, you have to input them all by hand. The lessons I’ve learned that have been the most impactful are the ones that hurt the most, the ones that impacted other people not just myself, and the ones that altered student lives. While I could have a long list of lessons learned, to date there are three lessons that have hit home the hardest.
Triangulate your data. When I first began as a school administrator I had teachers, parents, or even students come to me with problems and give me details about complaints or situations that I needed to address. Being the “proactive” administrator, I would take the information given to me and go straight to the source. Whether it was about test scores or instructional strategies or even student/student drama, I went right to the person on whom the complaint had been launched and address it right away. I quickly learned that before I jumped straight to the source, I needed to gather as much information as possible. This helped me to think through situations and act responsibly, not impulsively. Don’t forget…we are all innocent until proven guilty.
Delegate wisely. It has always been good practice to surround yourself with people who will support you and have your back when you need them to, but often we don’t have a choice about who surrounds us. Often, we are placed into a situation where the supports are already in place. I have learned that when that happens, you must be very careful about assuming everyone around you shares your enthusiasm, work ethic, and passion. I am the type of leader who thrives in a group and who strongly believes that shared responsibility brings about the best change. However, just because you give someone a directive, does not mean that they will follow through with the same tenacity or fervor as you would (or at all), and this was a hard lesson for me. (As a side note here, I have also learned that you must spot check frequently and with fidelity if you want something done well – which is why I often do not delegate, but try to do everything myself).
It will still be there. I have worked a lot of long, hard hours through the years. Again, I was taught that hard work pays off, and I believe that. The older I get, and the longer I work in education administration, the more clearly I realize that I will never be “caught up” and allowing myself to live in a constant state of panic or anxiety over trying to be will cause you to miss out on some of the most important things in life. You will do a better job, be a better leader, when you understand that at the end of the day, if you have to leave something undone on your desk to go play with your kids, it will still be there in the morning. Leave it! Come back the next day rested and with fresh perspective. Don’t look back one day when someone you love is gone or circumstances change that you can’t control and have regrets. To be the best leader you can be, you have to be the best YOU you can be.