Colleagues,
You can tell spring is coming because I’m starting back with garden analogies! Yesterday I bought several bags of soil, brought my seed trays and seed into my greenhouse, and began planting. I had envisioned filling the greenhouse with newly planted trays of all kinds of produce. As I began, I realized that I really didn’t need that much. I already have some lettuce and spinach going. Much of what I want can be planted in the ground in another week or so. I had also already started some cherry tomatoes, and how many of those do we need? I wound up planting more than I needed to, but it was still only half of what I had imagined. So, what happened? I got caught up in the urgency of starting the garden without really thinking about the specific outcome I wanted. That sense of urgency led me to buy more soil and plant more seeds than I really needed. That is what urgency does. It interferes with our ability to invest in what is most important. Do good and be well, Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
Last week, Seth Godin wrote about taking back control of your day. He said, “And even if your schedule isn’t completely up to you, you might get to decide when to tackle mindless chores and when to work on the creative elements of the new plan.” By calling on us to be intentional, Seth is advocating for strategic leadership. Many of us may feel that we don’t have much control over our schedules. If you are an assistant principal and there is a discipline issue, your schedule doesn’t matter. Or does it? Think about being more intentional with one aspect of your leadership: developing people. Try this:
Do this for one week and tell me how it goes. You will be surprised. And pleased. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues, I hate plumbing! We discovered a leak in the kitchen. I could see the drip, so I grabbed onto the joint and tightened it up. Problem solved! This is a plumbing story, so you know it is not that simple. A day later the leak was back. Or was it? The leak actually never went away because I “fixed” the wrong joint! I tightened the joint right above where the drip was, but the actual leak was occurring at a junction closer to the drain. As leaders, we do this all the time. We treat the symptom (water dripping) without fully diagnosing the actual problem (which joint needs help).
So today, I suggest you inspect some pipes, and pay close attention to each joint! Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues, Almost every morning I drink coffee from the same mug. I have been using that mug since 1982, when I talked my college roommate, who made it, into giving it to me instead of his girlfriend. (Four years later they were split up, but he and I were still roommates! =;^})
And here is the kicker: after almost 40 years, that mug is still around! Mindful of the fact that it will some day break, I take much better care of it. Consequently, it has survived.
If I take special care of the people I lead, understanding that we won’t always be together, maybe more of them will stay for longer. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
On Friday, I wrote about APEx and how I needed to include more options for districts. That thinking was prompted by something that happened the week before. One of the challenges in supporting assistant principals (APs) is that their schedules are crazy. They are the firefighters of the school, and the alarm can go off at any time! In an effort to accommodate, I offered our February webinar at two different times. One of the times just happened to correspond with two different district’s monthly AP meetings. Both of those districts wrapped the webinar into their meetings. This is a fantastic example of leveraging something you already have. Without investing any more money at all, these districts could do the following to make the APEx benefits have a greater impact:
I’m probably missing some, but the point has been made. Think about the different things happening in your organization. Is there something that you could capitalize on without making a significant investment? Do good and be well, Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|