Connecting Your Influence and your WHY for Impact on Student Learning and Leadership

My WHY, which took time to dig into and really arrive at, is Impact Through Connections. It was reinforced when a former Superintendent asked us Principals to take the 5 Voices Assessment. Connector is my primary leadership voice, followed by Creative and third, Pioneer. This year especially, I have been internally challenging myself when I consider my impact on our biggest asset, our kids. No matter whether you serve as a School Principal, Head of Department, PLC team leader, adviser or coach of some kind, you’ve likely reflected at some point on the challenges you’ve faced this year, where we’ve been forced to shift our paradigm to think inside the box about what we can do to keep moving our kids and our organizations forward. Personally, this has been a gift in disguise, something from outside our control forcing a paradigm shift, which presents so many opportunities for a necessary mindshift about what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how we are doing it for kids. Undoubtedly, many probably have questioned their role as a leader and the impact they have had when we get stuck in the 30,000 foot view or even the granular daily logistics it takes to lead in an educational organization. I return to my WHY, Impact Through Connections. Then I remember that, sometimes, all it takes is one question or one nudge to make an impact and have an influence, no matter in years passed or this year, a time when many of us often wonder whether what we are doing is making a sustainable, lasting difference in the lives of those we serve.

If you are like me, you probably did not set out on the leadership path to become a Principal or other leadership role. Many of us started as classroom teachers, and we miss it! As a teacher, you did the best you knew how to do at the time you were doing it for your kids. You became an Educator to influence the lives of kids. For me, now as a school Principal, that has not subsided. My WHY is my north star, and it is grounded in creating conditions necessary for success. To me, as a Secondary Principal, that always means helping ensure that kids are LIFE Ready and Literate. In a nutshell, this amounts to our kids being prepared for their tomorrow. It means that our kids learn to learn, so they truly know who they are (their identity), and they understand and can navigate how they fit into the world around them. Then, they apply the essential life skills of effectively communicating with others, collaborating with others, flexing their creative muscles, and practicing empathy by taking action to positively influence this world around us.