Control+Shift+Lead - Shift from Wait and See to Plan to Be

Are you a school leader striving for excellence? Do you crave actionable strategies and fresh perspectives to navigate the challenges of education today? Get ready to take charge. This is Control Shift Lead, giving you something to control, something to shift your thinking, and something concrete to help you lead your school. With Jim Witchman of Inspired Edification, and Adam Bush of AWB Education, your journey to empowered leadership starts now. All right, welcome back to Control Shift Lead. Here we go. We're into the month of September, Jim, and we're right back at it. Weather's turning a little bit. It's starting to get a little cooler here in the old great state of Iowa. And we got kids back. This has been this week. We've had kids right back in and holy cow, here we go. I kind of forgot about those first few days. It's been a while. Were you pretty Were you pretty tired? Uh? Yeah? The very first day getting home, Yeah, I just crashed. My wife looked at me, It's like, are you okay? Like, yeah, I'm okay. It kind of forgot about this part. When we think about it, we think about how tired our kids are. But man, it's the staff is tired too. They're very tired. Yeah, very tired. The way our calendar works this this year to most of the schools in Iowa started school on a Monday, and people might think we're a little weak, but typically we try to start like on a Wednesday, kind of you know, go into it for a few days, and oh no, we're we're all at it all five days right out of the gates this week. That's that's been trying for teachers, for sure. I have heard a lot of my former colleagues and your colleagues talk about I sure do like the Wednesday starts. It gives us three days and everybody can sleep for a couple of days, and then we have a full week, and then we have a three day weekend. So yep, yeah, no, that's good. How about you? What have you been up to? That's that's really been me the last week or two weeks. You're now with staff and students back and we're jumping straight forward. How about you? What you been up to? Well? I've had the opportunity blessed to be in Louisiana and in West Virginia mostly do a lot of the opening keynote speaking or communications with a lot of amazing people. I mean I was really deep in Louisiana and it was just amazing. Actually, there's a town right next to Louisiana. The town I was in, Jennings. The town is Iowa, So Iowa Louisiana. They pronounce it Iowa, which is probably the Ioway and Native Americans then uh, spend it. I mean West Virginia, if you have never been, is one of the most beautiful states I've ever been to. Where like where general area of the state do you remember? Yeah, all over so basically south of Morgantown for two or three days, and then I slipped over to the Ohio border at Jackson County and then back on the other side southern so it's like borders Virginia. So I kind of like zig zagged through the state. And one thing is for certain, there is not one straight road. Some facts I learned. It's the only state that has one hundred percent of the state is in the mountains. That's where the first Civil War happened. I was in that town to Philippi, West Virginia. The people are just amazing. Though here's another fact. I still a lot of cemeteries on lands like their family cemeteries. Yeah, okay, So they explained to. Me that they don't have a lot there in West Virginia, but when they do have is land, and land very important, so it just gets passed down generation and generation. So people already know kind of where they'll be living in the future, which is kind of it's kind of cool. Yeah, it is interesting. Cool. So back to the cemeteries on the land. I learned that that kind of like rattles me, like you know what happens if you move, Well, they don't move or they pass the land down. Except I was golfing there. I got an opportunity to golf on this mountain and a whole fourteen there's there's a cemetery, family cemetery. So sadly when people had to sell their land, oh that's too bad. So paid my respects. I mean, they said the headstones were like eighteen hundreds seventeen hundreds, so it was significantly long ago. And then if you like flash back, like, man, what was that land like, what did it look like? And so forth? So it was it was pretty cool. Again, the people are amazing and and just the way that they received the message and the value that they have as educators and the the dire need that we have that we have to celebrate each other. And if we don't celebrate each other, you know, no one knowing will it really is. It really is about we have to lean in as educators and celebrate the little things because we matter. And that's one of the things that I really walked away from West Virginia feeling accomplished, and I really appreciate the gratitude that they reached back out. I mean, Jackson County are just like so full of energy. Barbera County, they so grateful. They came up to me numerous times afterwards. In Heck, the instructional coaches just bought me a dairy King ice cream tree, which is okay, Harrison County that people just rolled with it the middle school. It was just wonderful. And then it ended with my tour in West Virginia ended with Monroe County, where man, it got pretty emotional in a good way where people were just just really grateful and just leaning into each other. So it left me kind of like a little emotional, a different kind of exhausting that you had, but it's also self fulfilling where you're still feeling like you're making a difference with that, so I appreciated. I was following you along on your Instagram and everything else. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little jealous. There were some really neat pictures there. You can see the people were really engaged in the work you're doing. That was awesome. Yeah, stepping into you know, stepping in this month is really going the coaching leadership. Coaching really kicks in and I'll be in I don't know, I think it's six different states in this this month and just really some really neat people that I love that we reach out and administrators don't really get a ton of support. When it comes to individual support, it's usually group or you know, call me if you need me. People don't really know. So when you have a coach and I get to be that person for people, it says that there's there is a need to lean into our administrators and we got to keep them in the profession. That's for sure. Yeah, that's that's absolutely for sure. Well, I'll tell you what. We have kind of a surprise today. So throughout a question for some mail bag question or throughout a risk here we go invitation, I'll spit that out eventually here throughout an invitation to see if anybody had any mail bag questions for for us to talk about it. We got two, We got two already. We just threw that thing out there. So thank you to our listeners out there that already that's right, that already comes and back with some ideas for us, which is awesome. So when we get back from our commercial break, we're going to go right into our control portion of our podcast and we are going to start with our first mailbag question. So stay tuned. We'll be right back after this. Where's your kid headed after high school? We are from carpool to college, two accomplished educators, college and career consultants and parents. You've guide families through the entire journey from freshman year planning to senior year's success. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back again to Control, Shift Lead. A quick reminder to everybody, we always do three things in every show. We are going to talk about something that you as an educator can control, something that is going to help shift our thinking, and something that we can use to help lead. Now you notice I said this time Jim Edge Cater didn't just say leader. Because the more you and I have talked about this and the feedback that we've gotten it, it's really obvious to me that it doesn't matter what role you're in within a school district, all three of these things can matter to you, and they certainly can't help you in your work of getting better. And a perfect example is our first mailbag question that we're going to talk about here comes from a teacher. This is from Noah out of Colorado, and Noah says, I am a new teacher and often feel like my ideas aren't taken seriously in department meetings. My department head is great, but I think they unintentionally overlook my contributions. Do you have any advice on how to effectively voice my ideas about new teaching methods or classroom technology and ensure they're heard without sounding like I'm challenging the established curriculum? Again, Noah from Colorado, Noah, that is an amazing question. That's a really yeah. I love the fact that he's like, I don't think it's the intention. I don't think there's a mouse to it is. Yeah, So how do I do this? How do we get into it and Noah is got the same question going is I don't know, probably every other first year teacher. Exactly, and we've all been there. We've all been there. I mean the technology may have changed a little bit for what we're talking about for you and me compared to the Noah here, but yeah, we've all been on that boat. So, jim first glance, how do you answer that question? What would you start? Well, the first thing I look at is again, I'm plotting Noah for you know, seeing that looking through the eyes of others, And I think that that phrase it's a it's one of Jimmy Costis's premises from his book Recaliberate, right, and it's looking through the eyes of others, and it's it's really kind of just so, what do I know? So the first thing is when we were in their control that we talk about is controlling what you can do. And so the first thing is continue to teach the way you are, listen to the ideas of the others. And if that doesn't, these ideas aren't being heard or you're not maybe being asked about what those ideas are in the group meetings. It's okay. And there's a couple of reasons that are probably for that. So I would highly encourage you to Noah and everybody else that has that is to set up a meeting with one of those teachers so it's like a one on one situation and not as a challenging It's just like, how do I I hear these ideas? I would like to share my ideas, but I don't know what people are hearing them or even want to hear them. And then I also think about now looking through the other lens, and you just got them saying we've all been there. Yeah, everyone, So the last. Thing we want to do is overload the new teachers. Yes, yeah, And I think sometimes too, like I don't know here, if Noah means new teacher new to the profession, could also just be new to this school. That's still a new teacher. It's still a team dynamic and how those how all of those personalities will work together, and you have to take time to build that trust so you have the opportunity to have real conversations about how we can move forward and how we can do that. We all know that when things get tough, everybody reverts back to what they're used to, what they're comfortable with versus the challenge of something. It does take a little bit of time to get to that. So one thing I want to make sure we're also clear on districts hire new staff members so they could be more like the new staff members, not vice versa. We don't want people to come in and do with everything what we're doing, do just what we've already been doing. We want those new ideas because we have to continually evolve in education. If we stay stagnant, our students are going to I'm going to guarantee that in every school district, our students are telling us they need something different based upon behavior data, attendance data, and academic data. Great point. So we need to be evolving. And the other part of if I've been doing teaching a certain processor method, I may not know and then it's also becomes a little scary to what does that look like? So I'm going to go back to and knowing everybody else like that. It is control what you can, and that is set up those individual meetings just to get work through and build a trust with them that you're not trying to be maliced. It just how do I get this because I need ideas too, and we want to have that give and take mold because it's really about the students as they're coming in with that. Well, I have those meetings. Sorry to interrupt you right there, Jim, but I like how you said have those meetings because I think too often we let that go too long. We just assume it will happen and many times and no even says it in his email here, doesn't think it's intentional, you know, Brene Brown clai is kind right. We got to be clear. We got to take the time to just start that relationship, start that conversation. Otherwise all we're doing is wasting time waiting for something to happen that we just need to we need we need to do. We need to go and have that conversation. So what we need to have is also our energy is going to be at top notch, and if we have that undercurrent of doubt or wonder or whatever the case is, that's going to be pulling our energy and we need we need it for our students and so forth. So it's really just like leaning in having that. Now with that said, I also heavily believe in that the disc profile personality profile as I knew this was you knew it was going to come up. Yeah, as a princiful right, Yeah, as a principle, I leaned into it with the staff, and then now as a as a coach or workshop person, I leaned into it as well. And that is first of all, we got into who we are and how we communicate. You know, there's a lot of different ways you can personality profiles or whatever the case is, but the disc is this like four simple ways. Yeah, and you have to know who you are and what you're about first, and then the other three is how do I speak the different languages there? Because we tend to hear and and understand better, comprehend better in our own language. So someone's going to great example is Adam, you and I are opposite ends of the spectrum, but it works because we lean in and we value the expertise or what I would call the superpower. And so I think, if if I'm Noah, I'm also going to be like, Okay, what is this discprofile? What does this actually mean? And then it probably would be leaning into something like that. I think I. Wonder if yeah, I was going to say, if they're if their school district doesn't do so and I lot of school districts don't A lot of them do or a version of this personality profile piece. I wonder if that would be something where like, hey, you know, this might be something There's a lot of free versions out there. They're not nearly as an apt to some of the stuff that you work with, but at least maybe a start to give you that start of that conversation. At anytime we have a new team, we need to take the time to really, you know, talk about how we operate as a team. It's not just that easy of putting four or five educators in a room together and say, go, it's not that simple, you do. We have to be matter yep, we have to be intentional with that. And I think about you know, Elaine Aguilar has something in one of her books, the article teams is one of the things that she's got there. You're write about the disc profile. What I'm talking about is actually free. In fact, if listeners wanted to reach out to me directly, I'll connect you and I'll give you slides from my presentation some of my training. So because it's so valuable, I mean, our purpose is to support educators, So just reach out and I'll take care of you and all that, that's for sure, But yeah, it's just time is also something that patience maybe is something we have to lean into. So it's the control of what you can and that is keep working what we are doing, but be intentional with that meeting. And like Adam says, we got to be clear. We can't assume that they're going to figure it out the other teachers, whatever the case is. And the reason why I say in a one to one conversation because people are pretty much it's a little less guarded on that. And then if I really wanted to give some advice, I would have I would advise Noah to have that conversation in the other teacher's room so it's in their safe place. They're not you know, just keeps it like light because that's what we're really talking about. And Noah said it himself. I don't believe it's intentional, but how do. I Yeah, don't have to challenge this or anything like that. It's just it. It's time to have the conversation. It's time to just be open and honest with it. I think the old saying I heard from somebody is being professionally persistent in that in that conversation or in that challenge. It's that's a good way to do it. Well. Thanks Noah, we appreciate that question. That was a wonder certainly something that you can control. I'm hoping to be out there in the Denver area, I think later in October or something like that and Noah can reach out Noah, Yeah, that's right. That you get your tour, the Jim Witchmand tour out there so we know where to stop. That's perfect. Yeah, right, thanks for staying with us. I'm Jim Witchman. I'm here with Addam Bush in our Control Shift lead episode. We've been covering a lot of ground for new staff about what it's like to what we can control with how we navigate certain things, and the value and the importance of not letting things fester and creating an undercurrent leaning into it. Brene Brown clear as kind kind of concept, We're going to take the show a little further and look at our shift and looking a little deeper on what are some practices that we might have in place that we might need to shift a little bit to change the direction, evolve to a different direction or maybe more intentional. So Adam you've been in schools the first few weeks of school. I guess this is the first week in Iowa. I mean, have you been You had a chance to get into school buildings so far? I have, I have. I had, you know, one that I lead part of the part of my roles I do lead once kind of a small program. It's been good to see those kids coming back. I've made it to every school so far. Wonderful and yeah, and it's great, you know those first few days. You know, you and I both spent a lot of time in the middle school or secondary. I spent a lot of time in upper secondary. So I'm not going to say that elementary kiddos are, you know, the the thing I'm most used to dealing with. I'll tell you what. I just love them with their excitement. They elementary buildings. Yeah, one of the elementary buildings. I was there as buses were coming to let let kids out for the day. Is first day of school. And some little guy comes running by and like, hey man, I was first day of school. And he looks right at me two thumbs up and goes, it was awesome. That's just praise. It was just great. That's I went and found principle real quick said, Hey, at least there's one kid all right there that is super excited about coming back tomorrow. Now, I might have been a kindergartener, so he might not realize like he has to come back every day. And here's the other thing. If it was a kindergartener, they were away because they get really exhausted through the day. It's short, stand is an elementary principle. What I what I see is that there's tons of energy from the excitement from the students and the staff at the elementary level, tons of worry for parents, and we got to lean into it. So you're a little kid, he's going to go home amazing. The same thing to the parent. And now what's that parent going to say to everybody else is just exactly what you said. Exactly we get to the middle school. We got that worry on the kid's face at the end of the day. If we can get them doing that, that says a lot about our staff and where our staff is pouring into the people and seeing the value of that. Well. I just think it showed that this building well, and I think all of our buildings, honestly, I saw a lot of things just like that everywhere that I was going, and I think it just showed that power of like the planning that they had put together. We had a lot of PD days this year, the way our calendar work, we had a lot a lot of days to get ready to go. But they had a plan and you could see that it was it was rolling out they had. That first day was successful. It was really successful a lot of our buildings and certainly something to be proud of. I think when we start talking about the planning of that, which parents a lot of parents don't understand, is the planning for those days didn't start in August, didn't start in July, and it didn't start in June. That started in April and May, as they were trying to wrap up one school. The planning of what that could look like when the kids who comby, I mean I was at the school I was at. We were very intentional with that first day. Well actually, and the planning of making that transition started for me, it was for our school. It started in February when I would go to the schools and sit with their students. So but those teachers, because those teachers were going to be the ambassadors come parent teacher conference. I needed them speaking to on our behalf, and we created a solid partnership between the fifth grade teachers and then you know, administration at the middle school so that they don't go into the big scary place. It was this transition that started there. They knew the principal, They went home and talked to the principal. They went home and talked about the principal talked about They replied to the three rules I gave them about how to be prepared for a middle school, which was finished strong, and they heard me endorse the teacher. The second one was where deodorant, which that got a lot of chuckles along that and a lot of praises from parents and teacher. And the third is know your advisory teacher or your homeroom teacher. Because when they came in, it wasn't go find your class, it was we're going to come to you, and we're going to take you to your class, and we're going to teach you how to be a middle school student here, so you didn't have to worry about things. Mom and dad didn't have to worry about can the kid open the locker? And nobody had to worry about getting lost to what launch looks. We taught them that we were intentional with that planning, like you said, and I think about whatever happened at that elementary school, the planning was very intentional with that, and we kids got a common experience using common language, There's no doubt about that. And in any of those I think you have what ten schools in your district? Yeah, something like that, Yes, ten buildings, got ten buildings with programs everything else. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, No, it's got a lot lot going on there. But it's interesting though you talk about that planning piece, and I know and as we were chatting before, I think you were out West California someplace, were talking about that planning yep. Share a little bit of that because I think that what you had kind of talked about, what you learned with that crew, can really apply to how we can shift moving forward because most of our school districts they're either starting right about now. We know, of course we have twelve month calendars, but a lot of school districts are going to start in these kind of this three week window here or so, where most school districts in the United States are going to get started up and I think something you were sharing could be something we should be prepared for as we try to shift how we do things to be more successful. So when I think about school administration or when we're welcoming kids, everybody's being very intentional with those two days, that those first two weeks, whatever it is, our words, our actions are solidly intentional. We want to be, as we've talked about, with our control portion, clear as kind. Then we talk about, well, we probably need to do something in January to keep it alive, you know that kind of like a booster, a halftime, or whatever you want to call that. But we forget about the months of of September, October, and then November, maybe even December. We kind of forget about that. And I think of some of the schools I had worked with in Virginia, they were jokingly calling November no school November because of the disruptions that they have within that holidays and and breaks and so forth. So when I was talking to COVID testing window or something in there, so I. Was talking to the school in California. As a group of them, they were going through and talking about how the day started, and one of them said, I know it's the first two weeks, so the honeymoon's going to be over. And I've heard that before, so it wasn't just a California, but I heard that before, and I got me thinking about, well, that's true. A lot of us say that, But what do we do about it? We sit there and absorb the punishment or whatever the case is when it comes consequences to come with it, instead of we need to be planning of with us a whole school. What does it look like here? What does it look like here? And I know that there's programs out there or pbis if some people lean into the concept of that, or leader and me might be another thing. There's something in and if we want to keep it alive and it's how we operate, then we have to be really intentional with it. Just like we're planning for the first day of school, we need to be planning for the rest of those middle months. They go along with that. That's the shift. That's it right there, because and I'm I'm really guilty of that too. There's some times where Okay, finally we got that off, Okay, we're done. Feels good, you know, feels good. We'll check on it. In January, like you said, but you're right. I mean that that piece where you know, I think we we have to we have to plan to be in that moment all the time. We have to plan that way. We've got to be there rather than just wait and see what happens. You know, we we do. That's part of that planning process, to make sure that we are intentional throughout that rollout and then check check along with that. My my boss, Supertellent gave her credit Superintendent NICKI Rota, doctor Nick Rota Johnston. She she always says, measure, monitor, adjust, That's her three favorite words. We're going to measure, monitor, adjust, and sometimes we forget that when it comes to these initial too. It's not just a roll out and hope everybody remembers it. We have to see how we're doing and then make those adjustments based on what you see. It's almost like I got another Adam Bush proverb here. Plan to be in that moment. Yeah, yeah, we don't. Sometimes we react to it later, but I don't know. I tell you, Jim, I need to we need to start the T shirt list or something I do. Well, you know, when we're talking about this before you also dropped it and I wrote it down. Plan to be versus wait and see. Yeah, I mean think about that in the learning world and we're talking about reteaching versus intentional interventions. Yeah, reteaching is kind of like a wait and see did it work? Whereas planned to be In that moment plan to be, We're wanting to see is it and how do we know? And then what are we going to do about it? What did? What did? What did nikky doctor rhor. To say, measure monitor and measure monitor and adjust, measure monitor and adjust. I think those are three very strong. I want to point out the last letter was in to see, as in change, it was to adjust. So often we get worried about that. We're just talking about adjusting or evolving. I think it's for a shift, Yeah, I really do. I think that'll that's one of those things. We're just shifting our mindset from checking off a box. And that sounds negative when I say it feels, but it does. It feels good to get something done. Now I can move on to the next thing. Well, we need to plan on how we revisit that, how we come back to that, and that can really apply to pre service. That can apply to my evaluations that I'm doing with teachers. How I'm going to come back to that it's not just a one time thing. If it's a one time thing, we're not going to be successful. How do we measure, how do we monitor, and then how do we adjust? So I think that's one thing that wanted to make sure we're clear on an education is there's very few things that we can actually check off a list. And the reason why that, and sometimes it can be frustrating, especially for those who have that personality where they like to list across some off erase the do whatever, check ye feel so good, Rip out the page, throw it away, it feel so good. There's very few things that could happen like that in his system, and more soy because we're humans working with humans, and the complexity of what we're talking working with every single day can be a little tricky. So we need to lean in and understand that this is part of our world that we operate in. And knowing that, we got to be able to lean in. And I like how you're talking about plan to be in that moment. I had to write it down because I like it so much. Plan to be in that moment, versus wait and see, And if we don't plan to be in that moment, we're going to create our own little undercurrent which we're going to drain our energy and it's going to drain the energy of others around us when we need to be saving and conserving that energy for our students. Yeah, absolutely agree. Okay. Hi, I'm doctor Lisa Hill, a longtime educator of nearly forty years as a teacher, counselor, professor, and vice principal, and I've seen just about everything public schools can throw at you, and now I'm sharing my tails on my comedy podcast, Vice Principal Unofficed. It's where school leadership meets laugh out loud stories from underwear required parent teacher conferences yes really, to staff launch confessions and more. You won't believe I'm telling it all with humor and a whole lot of heart. I also tackle the serious stuff too, like what schools really need to change and those behind the scenes moments no one talks about. So if you're ready to laugh, learn, and maybe even cry a little, but mostly laugh, join me and my ninety year old mom, my unofficial co host on Vice Principal Unofficed. New episodes drop bi weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast picks. Trust me, this is one detention you'll actually look forward to. Okay, Jim, we've done Control, we've done Shift. Now it's time for lead. And I said, we got mail bag questions here. Oh, we're going to go back to this one. I like this one too. I know this is awesome, so I'm just gonna read this one Offreddy. Hello. My name is Mia from Texas and I'm a big fan of the show. That's awesome. Thanks Mia, thanks for reaching out. I am a first year principle and I'm struggling with a veteran teacher who's technically excellent but consistently misses deadlines on lesson plans and report cards. How do I address this performance issue without demotivating them or creating a negative dynamic with the rest of the staff. Thanks for all you do. Now, before I let you talk about that, Jim, one thing I want to point out that I really liked in this question is she talks about addressing the issue, which is good because we do as leaders, we have to address those things right. However, she talks about without demotivating them or creating a negative dynamic with the rest of the staff. I think that's huge. She's not saying, how do I fire this person? How do I get rid of this person? No, she's saying that this is somebody who's really really good, technically excellent. How do I help lead them through an area that maybe isn't their strongest part. I think that's a great, great question out of media from Texas. So thanks Mia for that question. What I also love about it is she's leaning into the human side of things first. And sometimes there's principles we hear. Sometimes I get bad advice as young principles and that is, well, it's time for you to have a tough conversation. We don't need to have tough conversations. We need to have clear conversations and direct conversations instead of spinning around. And this is a I work with principles throughout the country, and one of the things that we look at is some of the undercurrents that are happening. People are watching how you address situations one way or the other, and how you're going to navigate whatever the situation is. And this one is really more of a district probably expectations that go along with it. And I also know that people forget that principles are middle management, and so we have expectations that we have to uphold. You have to be here at certain time, you gotta leave a certain time. This is the curriculum we're given. So principles are the middle management. So they come here and get this information, they come over here and that to make sure it happens. And I think sometimes our staff privately forgets that, and her parents as well with that, and I think our principles. By forget that MM. So prompts to reaching out and saying, hey, what are some ways to navigate this? Yeah? I like that, you know, as you're talking there too, Jim, And it's going to point out most principles I talk to when when we talk about the why behind the work, why you really are doing what you're doing. It's rare that anybody says to me, all the all of the logistical stuff that you have to do, like that's the stuff they really love to boy, I really like making a bell schedule, man, I just can't wait to you know, ensure that I have duty coverage at the bus line. You know that people don't focus on that stuff what they focus on. What they want to focus on is exactly what MEA is asking about here, and that is growing your staff and be able to be that person that can be the thought leader, can be the instructional component for that person for their growth. And I think that part's really cool out of this. I think the common theme that we'd brought up a lot with our control and shift is lead with clarity. So the first thing I am as a principal, I'm going to go back and say, am I being clear with all the expectations. Sometimes the answers no on that, So then it's kind of on me, which is okay, you need. To own it. Yes, yeah. And then the next part is back to the disc profile. Am I speaking the right language to the people, so again, wanting to learn more about disc let me know? And then it becomes a Then it becomes a conversation. And I probably would have this conversation in that teacher's room. It's their safe place and not alarming, because I think in this case me has said I believe in this. I just got to have these things done. And then why behind it? Now, the why behind it has to be very clear there. I mean when I think about report cards. I'm thinking about there's parents that are wanting to have that, and I am certain certain with my involvement in Texas and everywhere else that parents are going to talk as soon as those report cards come out. So if Adam Bush gets his report card for his kids before Jim Witchmand does, I can guarantee Jim Wichman's gonna be like, why So one of the middle management texts is making sure that we're consistent and we're providing a common experience for our families. Mm hmmm hm. So I'm going to invite and that conversations. I'm going to make sure that I bring up what happens behind the outside of just in this classroom, the ripple effect throughout with me, with the superintendent, you know, and if there's multiple sections on that, I mean, it looks, it doesn't feel good and we don't need any educators getting kicked around for missing deadlines like that. When it became comes a a lesson planned expectation and we're missing those deadlines, we're going to lean in and say, Okay, this is the expectation and this is why it's there, and I need this to happen. So the minimum expectation is this, How can I help you make this happen? Yeah, So then moving on to that piece of you know, hopefully through good coaching, we're not going to just give them, give them the things they should do. I heard how I should pull off this guy's name, but a guy who just spoke at the school administrator as a viable conference. He was the keynote speaker. I think he talks about your advice monster and that you we all jump to our advice monster just to give that versus having this opportunity for this staff and we're like, hey, we have this expectation that's not going to change. We know it is. It's a district expectation. We need to do it. We talked about the why and what's in and allow that person to really come through or come to their realization of what is causing them not to be able to do that. Is it a deficit? Is it a tech skill deficit? Is there something? Is it a scheduling piece that I'm not giving them the operatity? What is that piece? But it's going to have to come from them. I can't guess. I can't tell them. I'm going to have to help coach that out of them so they understand what that is and then we can address what we come up with. But that coaching piece for me is going to be really huge. Out of the gates you're you're gonna have to have that conversation and help that person understand the why behind what's causing the rippling. So the parts about having that conversation in their space is how I always start off with. And the reason is because I want to be very clear. My job is to support you and be the principle you need versus the best principle. Whatever the best principle looks like it sounds like that be the principle they need. Then we're going to identify the resource as much like you just talked about, and then we're going to come up with some solutions. And that solution may not be coming from the principle. It may be coming from an instructional coach, it might be coming from a colleague, but we're going to partner up on how do we get this done. Would you say at the last session planned to be in that moment, So we need a plan to be in that moment. So when the when we come up with a plan of structure, planning that of support for that staff member to get that accomplished. It might mean a colleague is going to partner up with them to make sure that they're getting them done at the same time, or whatever the case is. I will say this though, be very clear on this letting it go. People were going to notice and then there's your undercurrent right there. It's going to chip away. It's your culture. And if we are serving the profession versus chasing the title for serving the profession, having that conversation is going to be a positive because our families deserve it and our children deserve it. And I love I love the celebration that she's technically a great teacher or impactful teacher. I can't remember exactly what it said in the email, but really is it's about our families deserve this. And while it might not be as is important or seem like it's so important to one person, there's going to be someone else where it is important. And I think of thinking of Adam and Jim when we start. We're going to be at four thirty. Adam's going to be there at four o'clock, Jim's going to be there. Probably cool for the four thirty is maybe a couple minutes later. But I need to be sure that. We have a good story coming in, so I know that part's going to be there. We'll have some fun with it too. But yeah, you're exactly right and that and that's that piece of we're all going to fit in this puzzle together as long as we have the same goal. And that's the part that I think. I really think that this is good of Mia. In fact, it's I think this is a really good trait here. If already as a first year of principle, it'd be really easy just to push that aside, not do anything with it. Yep, you know, and I'm I've heard tell you ad guys like don't change. Yeah. Yeah, Then all of a sudden, like you said, it's the undercurrent, it's the problem because you allowed the problem to persist, and then that makes it harder, makes it harder to dress down the road. So I think that's really good that Mia is going to tackle out right out of the gates. There's a teacher. Real quickly, there's a teacher, Tiffany, Tiffany at the school I was at. Tiffany, I kind of had a conversation. It started with I don't know how it really kind of got to the level. But the example was this, if Tiffany sets a meeting with me at one o'clock, it's my job to be there at one o'clock or a couple of minutes before. In my world, it's twelve fifty eight. I got plenty of time to get to Tiffany's room by one o'clock. I step out, and you know what's happening between me and Tiffany's room is I'm gonna get Stoppedjim, Do you have a minute? Jim, do you have a second physically get stuck there? Because I don't know how to say no to that person because I feel horrible. And then I have Tiffany up there. She's there. I'll be up there in a little bit. It's her room. What I'm telling Tiffany is by not being there at one o'clock, is that she's not as important as that person there. Correct. So I actually leaned into that with Tiffany and I said, Okay, here's where I'm at. I get it. I need to be at your meeting at one o'clock. I don't know what to say to this teacher. So this teacher and I sat down. We came up with responses I could have, and then we went up to it. We went to the staff and said, Okay, here's the scenario. I said, just like I shared with you, So I'm going to share these things. These are three options you have. You can text me, you can email me in the subject, or I can stop back and see you after my meeting with Tiffany. You get to choose. I'll do any of those. Now I feel good about there's closure there. I didn't hurt anybody's feelings, and most importantly, I got to Tiffany about one o'clock. Yeah, I think that's good. You're not giving that half kind of paying attention. Uh as you're walking away and for some good points. So now you waste time getting to Tiffany. But they also didn't feel heard, and that's a good point there, Jim, that's good point. Mia, thank you for that question. That was a really really good question. I wish you luck with that. The fact that you're willing to take on that challenge I think is really really awesome. That's really good out of a first year prim. I'm I'm going to jump in hate and then Mia or anybody else that has those I encourage you to reach out directly too if you want and say we can have a quick phone call or zoom, whatever the case is. Adam and I are more than willing to help support your situations like that. And again, keep those questions coming in in the mail bag. I think that that's really been that helps us give a purpose. I mean, our purpose is to support our educators in a meaningful and manageable and tangible way. If we're not hitting the mark, then we need to evolve as well with that. So but me and Noah thank you for reaching out. All right, Jim, that is going to wrap us up today another episode of Control Shift Lead. Can you give us a quick recap on what we talked about today? Certainly when we started off, I don't think we intentionally plan it to be like this, but really there's a common theme throughout this and it was lead with clarity. Start with are you making sure that you're clear? And then when you're not being received the way you were hoping it to be received, lean in, have those conversations and what can we control we can control by leaning in. So we talked about I think Noah m having that conversation with someone to learn more about their wide behind way they're doing it and kind of giving them the benefit of doubt. We can control that. In the absence of doing that, we're going to fester and we're going to create intercurrence within the system and within our team. So we want to make sure that we are leaning in as a shift. How would you say it planned to be in that moment? I love that phrase. Tend to be rather than wait and see, yes, and. To be versus wait and see. So we've got the big flash at the front, but the flash will fade if we're not intentional with that. So we have to plan to be in those moments throughout. What does it look like specifically for everyone involved beyond the first week, two weeks of school absolutely, and then finally with lead lead through support. I think we've a lot of people like think about evaluations or duties that we instantly jump to gotcha versus growth. So we wanted we wanted to focus on the growth versus gotcha, sitting down with people, this is the why we have to do with certain things. How can I help support you or what supports do you need? And I think when you're leading within that, leading with compassion a little bit more, you might find out a lot people have some really cool stories and a reason behind it. And then also understand that when people are struggling, we're going to figure out how to support them in the manner that they need supported. And I think you kind of pointed this out earlier in our segment. We don't need to come in with answers all the time, that's right. Yeah, is that kind of how you said that? Or yeah? And the permission to know that you don't have to have all the answers and people don't always expect that. Sometimes the best answer is huh, I don't know, but I'm going to go find out and I'm going to work through this with you. And it's a great question. That's okay, we have give yourself permission to do that. That's that's really I had a teacher tell me that went them Jim. I'm just I'm not expecting any answers. In fact, I don't want you to solve this. I just want to think out loud. I'm like, man, thank you, because I really was struggling with coming up with something. So but when you said that, it took pressure off me. But also provided the clarity leading with clarity, you know all of us that you're talking about, this is the work we want to do. This is the bucket filling, you know, fulfilling jobs that are fulfilling part of the job that we struggle with sometimes because we just all of the other stuff is there. We need to get to this stuff. And if you know, if we can really truly push ourselves in our leadership to this type of work, it's just going to keep us coming back for more every single day. That is really good stuff. I would be interested in learning from other people about areas or examples about how they did lean in or someone lead into them for support or solutions and or you know, how do you do more effective you do your job mot and more effectively. I would be interested to see hear those stories about how others have so that we can share them and others can kind of like work together on that. Absolutely. Yeah, so, and that's a great point. So Jim is saying that we would love to hear from you. In the show notes, you'll see emails for both of both Jim and myself if you want to reach out for a couple reasons, not only to hear some of the good stuff that you got going on, as it's going on all over the place, and love good stuff absolutely, and I would also want to hear your questions if nothing else. Again, we might not have the answer, and that's okay. We've had enough time in this business to have had a chance to experience a lot of things, but we still don't know it all either. And we have our colleagues that we reach out to and that we work with just like you do, so you know, please reach out for that. We'll make sure that that information is in the show notes so you can get to us at any point in time, and we'll bring back the mail bag for this next month as well. So if you have any other questions that you would love to hear your name on our show, or have a question that you love Jim and I to tackle on Control Shift Lead, we'd love to hear from you, So please send that out to us. Perfect Perfect Jim. The first month look like for you, what's what's gonna be the next few days? So the next few days is kind of like a little break, but then I start into some virtual coaching. Next week was a lot of virtual coaching actually, and then I jump into headed back over to West Virginia to my no offense to anybody else, but my favorite spot is ups Your County because there's so many wonderful people that I've been there with for three years. I do love the people in that state. Slide over to Arkansas for a little bit, slip up to Nebraska for a little bit, and then out to Virginia for a few days out there. But other than that, and then I end a month with do get. I'm excited about getting away with some friends that I old neighbors and my wife. We going to slip away for a little mini vacation. Good for you, Good for you. I'm I will be shocked if I make it out of Central Iowa for the next month. But you never know. Things might happen, but I'm pretty sure that's where I'm gonna be. As we get rolling down the school year and get things going, it's just it's fun to get get it going. I Mean, there's there's those moments where you're like, all right, let's just get everybody here and we'll get all the stuff settled in. And it's true, every year, every year, it's just great. Well, one of these days I'm gonna have to get over to Johnston and get in some of those buildings with you, just to see some of the great things happening there and and see how the principles there are planning to be in that moment. I got to get that phrase of em betting it in there. I'm still kind of proud of using the term power of simple. I mean, that's right, you know it. Can come up with another one for you for next month. I'll just keep feeding your stuff you can use. I love it, I appreciate it. Well. Thank you, listeners. We appreciate you coming on with us again. And this month if you want to on YouTube, you can watch Jim and I if you dare. But you can see uh see see uh Jim's excitement and energy and seeing me wiggle around in my chair all the times it's hard for me to sit still. But if that's something you're into where we're on YouTube as well, and we'll try to keep that going each. Listeners, like I say, no matter what, under any circumstance, are you ever alone. Adam and I are here always for you, but you also have other people. Education can be a lonely position, but only as lonely as you want it to be, and we asked that you reach out because we wholeheartedly believe that you do matter. So thanks for listening to us and we look forward to next episode. You've been listening to Control Shift Lead, brought to you by Inspired Edification and AWB Education. We're glad you joined us for today's discussion on empowering school leadership. To dive deeper and explore more of Jim and Adam's work, find us at www dot AWB education dot org. Thanks for listening. We look forward to connecting with you again soon