Leadership is a lonely endeavor, and the saying goes that success has multiple parents while failure is an orphan rings true. Often times as a leader you are working alone. There is only one CEO, one plant manager, one principal or one head coach. This solitude takes an already hard job and makes it exponentially more difficult. So how do you deal with this as a leader?
My cousin is a plant manager for a large cosmetic company. He is a key piece of my personal professional network. He is younger than me and we both lean on each other for advice. As we were talking about me taking on my new role as a principal, he asked me if I would take some advice from my younger cousin. I am always looking for advice, so I obliged. He told me to find other principals that I know and trust, and that I can lean on during my time as a principal. He stressed that other people will listen and offer advice, but nobody has sat in the chair as a principal, and unless you know the daily challenges, you cannot really understand the challenges. He told me when he became a plant manager, he did this, and it was the most crucial piece to his growth professionally.
Since accepting the principal position, I have been leaning on my professional network and growing my professional network. Previously, I was a high school football coach and I had an extensive network of coaches around the country that I could collaborate with and push my personal development as a coach. As I have transitioned to leadership in education it has been more challenging to develop that network of professionals who are eagerly looking to collaborate and grow together. In the past week I have talked to the following:
- A former Naval Special Operations member that is now a leadership consultant
- A retired superintendent of schools
- My cousin the plant manager
- A leadership coaching consultation firm
- My wife
- Leadership at my new school district
- A national education consultant
- My new team
All of these people have offered insight into what I need to consider and reflect on as I begin to lead a school. This network has eliminated the loneliness of leadership, and really opened my mind on the endless power of technology to grow and develop professionally. During these difficult times with stay at home orders across the county, I am leveraging that scary situation to build my capacity as a leader, and further develop my professional learning community. In one exercise I had to reflect on what I am grateful for during this pandemic. This professional growth and expansion of my network are one of the pieces of gratitude that have come from this unprecedented time.