Let’s talk about leadership and focus—because if I’ve learned anything in 30+ years in the education sector, it’s that being a leader is not about doing ALL the things!  It just can’t be done (even though we all secretly want to sometimes.)  It is HARD to delegate.  It’s HARD to relinquish control.  It’s HARD to watch others try to do what you would have done….and most certainly not in the way you would have done it!  I still struggle with it every day.  But there are a few lessons I’ve learned in the past year that I really wanted to share in this quick blog post.

About once a week, I need to stop and realign myself as a leader.  As the Educational Technology Specialist for a public school district, I focus on big vision, spark innovation, creation of quality professional development resources for the district, and make the critical connections that keep us moving forward.  Lucky for me, I’ve got a team of operational wizards who are way better than me at handling the day-to-day data-focused nuts and bolts…the “integration” part of our district.   My small-but-mighty team of three “Technology Integration Specialists” fixes things like account setup issues for staff & students, integration of multiple programs working together, all kinds of crazy rostering issues, making the SIS and LMS work together, and sometimes even helping our IT department with things like wiggly wires or adequate cables.  They take on all the “fixing stuff”, and our whole district is grateful for this role that they play.  But nobody….NOBODY is more grateful than I am, because it frees me up to focus on project management for our team and professional development for our staff. That professional development part is the most critical part of my job, and the part I cherish most.

Thanks to the rest of my team for taking on the “integration” work, I get to focus on the “education” work of teaching and learning for staff.  A few weeks ago, someone asked me what I like best about my job, and without a second of hesitation, I said,

“The teachers…I love my teachers so much…..every one of them!  I have actually been a teacher for every grade level ages 3-21 in my career,  so I’ve BEEN them and I KNOW their challenges!   I want to support my teachers, save them time, and remove obstacles for them however I can.  Most of all, in my role as their Educational Technolgy Specialist, I cherish every opportunity to teach them how & when to use technology to make teaching & learning engaging again!   THAT is what drives me!” 

Since they’ve got the mechanics covered, I can dive into the that really matters:

  • •Dreaming up new projects and ideas that make edtech learning SUPER relevant, timely, and informe
  • •Building relationships across the district teams (and beyond to vendors, partners, organizations, etc.)
  • •Creating frameworks that make life easier for everyone (or at least don’t make it harder)
  • •Running QUALITY professional development that’s actually interesting (or at least, I try to keep people awake)
  • •Steering strategic planning so we’re not just drifting aimlessly (as edtech/ I.T./ Leadership/ Curriculum/ Data Integration) can sometimes do).

So here’s a big part of what I’ve learned:  The most effective leaders know where their skills make the biggest impact.  We know when it’s time to get out of the weeds.  Every hour I that I spend on those rote, routine tasks is an hour I’m not putting my creativity to work on innovative projects or developing real solutions that benefit schools or the entire district.  I get my “small but mighty” team to take care of the critical day-to-day bits, troubles, and issues, and as their leader I am able to focus removing all kinds of obstacles for them – things with which they needn’t bother themselves.  It’s about knowing why only I can do a few certain things, and then letting others on my team shine…in all the brilliant ways that they do best!

So – if you’re a leader too, continue to think about the best ways to make the best use of resources—including the most important ones: your time and talent (which is really just the use and strategic allocation of human resources!)

Delegate like it’s your superpower, keep your eyes on the big stuff, and focus on the impact you can make.