making time to lead

Aaron Hansen, Leadership Consultant, NNRPDP
 
One of the most common complaints I hear from school leaders today is, “I don’t have time to get it all done!”  It’s true!  Barraged by a litany of demands, now, more than ever, the list is just too long.  The pressures that have always been there are still there, student discipline, parent concerns, leading and managing personnel, extra-curriculars, management of facilities, budgets, schedules, and more.  As if those tried and true time demands weren’t enough, administrators now have new evaluation systems, bullying legislation requiring intense amounts of time and paperwork, new state and local testing systems, new student information systems, Read by 3, RTI and any initiatives that the school may have had the audacity to self-select because they thought those initiatives might actually be good for their kids.  It’s intense!

With so many demands, it’s impossible, that’s right, impossible to do everything well!  That said, I’m not sure we should.

Don’t mistake what I’m saying.  I do believe it’s still possible to not only do a good job, but a great job as a principal.  But, my image of being a good principal is someone who is leading change and improvement in a school, not someone who’s getting all of the demands done.  In my opinion, the principal who is getting all of the demands done is a distracted principal, not an effective one.  We’ve all had those days where we could have been the poster child for Starbuck’s Venti double expresso, super productive and efficient all day, yet never actually doing anything of meaning to lead the changes or improvements we envision.  With real change as the goal, time management isn’t as much about efficiency as it is about priorities.

“What are you saying?  Just don’t do those things that aren’t relevant to reaching our vision?”  Yes, stop doing STUFF that doesn’t get you closer to your vision.  “Leaders in sustained successful organizations focus on a small number of core priorities, stay on message, and develop others toward the same end, making corrections as new learnings occur.” (Fullan, Change Leader: Learning to Do What Matters Most (2011), p. 30)  If you’re not comfortable stopping things cold turkey, at least consider doing some things less well so that your limited resources of time and mental energy can focus on the things that really matter, those things that are going to really move the needle in your school. 

Assuming you’ve taken the time to truly articulate your vision, where you want your school to go and what it will look like in 5 to 10 years, then following are a few tips to help you move towards it:

1. Do what matters most first.  Many people make a to-do list first thing in the morning.  They empty their brain onto a piece of paper and then start at the top, working their way to the end.  Or, they start with whatever is most time sensitive. Instead try writing each of your to-do’s on its own sticky note. Then prioritize, asking yourself, “Which of these to-do’s is going to get our school closer to our vision than anything else today?” Write an A at the top of that sticky.  Do your A priority first!  Take the time that you need and do A quality work!

To have the kind of mental space needed for A priority tasks, try finding a place outside of your office that you can be uninterrupted.  Part of my A priority work as a principal, involved working with my leadership team as we planned and carried out plans toward our vision.  Occasionally I took them to breakfast for special meetings.  Those breakfast meetings were always extremely productive because to warrant the time away, we had a very specific focus relevant to our vision and we were uninterrupted from the distractions of meeting in the school.  Believe it or not, there were never any crisis that took place during that time that couldn’t be dealt with when we returned. 

2. Do, Delegate or Dump.  With the rest of your sticky notes, divide them in half as B or C priorities.  B priorities might support the vision in an indirect way.  B tasks often have direct consequences for the school, others or you if they don’t get done.  You have to do them and do them well.  Okay, fair enough, but do your B’s after your A priority. 

When considering C level tasks, ask yourself if this is really a priority.  If it isn’t, dump it right there.  If it is necessary, who in your organization could do this adequately- not well, adequately?  Done is better than perfect for C level tasks and the less time you spend on C level tasks, the more time you have to do what you’ve been paid to do, think about and lead toward the vision (NEPF Instructional Leadership Standard 1).  The people who sit outside of your office are called Administrative Assistants for a reason.  Use them!  Likely you won’t get to all of your C level tasks every day.  If a C task roles over more than 3 days, let’s get real!  You were never going to do it anyway.  Dump it!
 
The famous quote attributed to Bill Gates comes to mind, “People over estimate what they can accomplish in a year and grossly underestimate what they can do in a decade.”  I think the concept applies in the shorter run.  Think about your best teachers.  They have a clear vision of outcomes they desire and they are intentional about what they do every day in order to reach those outcomes.  As a product of staying focused, they get amazing results.  Good leaders are no different.  They know what they want and they prioritize their time to do what matters most without getting distracted.  Being too busy to really lead isn’t necessarily a symptom of a lack of time or poor time management.  Being too busy to take time on those things that matter most is a symptom of a lack of priorities.  Get clear about what you want, do priority A’s first every day and recognize and accept that not getting it all done is okay.    
 
Note: Momentum is an App that can help you create your priority A for the day and to-do’s digitally.  The app pops up to remind you each time you open a new tab in your browser.  Just make sure to label your to-do’s A, B or C.    
 
To request consulting services for your organization, visit NNRPDP.com