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00:00:00 --> 00:00:15 Music.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 Ready to take charge. This is Control Shift Lead,
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 giving you something to control, something to shift your thinking,
00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 and something concrete to help you lead your school with Jim Witchman of Inspired
00:00:27 --> 00:00:31 Edification and Adam Bush of AWB Education.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:40 Music.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:36 Your journey to empowered leadership starts now.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 Welcome back to Control Shift Lead on the AWB Education Network.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 I hope you're summer's off to a fantastic start.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:51 Absolutely it is. It's hot. It's hot here right now. All of a sudden in Iowa,
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 it's like the heat wave just hit us out of the blue. It's crazy.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:59 I got to tell you though, with 55 years of winters, I'm never going to complain
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 about the heat and humidity again. That's true.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 That's true. Good time to get out, get a little sun, enjoy the weather a little
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 bit. It's awesome. It's been great.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 It's good to be back in the studio with you, Jim. How you been?
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Well, thanks, Jim. I appreciate it. It's been great. I mean,
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 it was a heck of a June month.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 My son, my youngest graduated. Yeah. So he's going off to the University of
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 Iowa, go Hawk. Yeah. Okay. That's fine.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23 Cyclone fan on my side, but that's all right. I'm not going to hold that against you. That's okay.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 Right, right. But Summer, been treating you well? It has been.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:30 I've had the opportunity to work with educators in West Virginia and Virginia.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 Awesome. It has been awesome. Which makes it awesome.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:38 One of my side gigs, I guess you main gigs, is that I get the opportunity to coach leaders.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:43 Well, the last two times in the respectful estates have been working with middle
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 school principals or their teams.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:50 And what makes coaching wonderful is that people truly do just want to get better.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 They want to see things differently. They love their profession. And.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 Fog our thinking. And so we just need somebody to come in and how to help out
00:01:58 --> 00:02:02 a non-evaluative way of really kind of really clearly articulating,
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 which kind of goes along with what we're going to talk about later today.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 Gets you back to why a little bit. Oh, it helps you see the why.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:12 So sometimes you clear out the mud, get more targeted, get more focused and
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 what we're really intentionally trying to get accomplished.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 And then people know what they're doing, build a little capacity and kind of. Oh, that's awesome.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 Yeah. That's cool. Well, it hasn't been my summer. I haven't been nearly that
00:02:24 --> 00:02:25 busy so far, which is great.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:29 It's exactly what I tried to do. I mean, I've had so many vacation days to take
00:02:29 --> 00:02:33 by the end of June because that's when we had to get them taken care of so I
00:02:33 --> 00:02:34 don't get the angry email from HR.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 So I've been taking those, although we did from our last episode,
00:02:38 --> 00:02:43 we talked about taking some time to eat with your team a little bit.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 Did you get the opportunity? Yeah. Last week, I threw some turkey breasts and
00:02:46 --> 00:02:52 pulled a pork butt on the old smoker and brought it in and we all ate lunch
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 together and had a good time as well. Tell me you're from the Midwest without
00:02:55 --> 00:02:56 telling me you're from the Midwest.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 Yeah. Pulled pork on a smoker. That just sounds like a wonderful,
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 wonderful team lunch then. It'd be a little tricky to get that accomplished today. Yeah.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 Today it's a little windy here in old Iowa today. That's for sure.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 Well, that's good. That's good. But you know, outside of that,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:13 for me, it's been, it's been doing that stuff and trying to get caught up and
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 then getting, getting caught up on some of the readings and stuff too.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:19 It's that mix of a deep dive into new resources and just enjoying,
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 honestly, just enjoying some of that slower pace. It's amazing what a little
00:03:23 --> 00:03:27 clarity of breathing can do and get you kind of back in track.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:32 We talked a lot about over the last few episodes about being intentional of
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 taking care of yourself and keeping yourself at the center.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:39 My wife and I recently got the opportunity to attend a wedding of a longtime
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 friend where their daughter is, their youngest is getting married. Okay.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 And we talked about seeing her walk down the aisle and
00:03:48 --> 00:03:52 And all of a sudden you flash back to seeing her as a, as a young redheaded,
00:03:52 --> 00:03:57 curly girl hanging out playing dolls with your daughter and then all the family
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 time that you've had together.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:03 And then what's wonderful about that is as the adults, we still get to be a
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 part of those little celebrations of walking.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 As my wife would say, we enter into a new season.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:14 And, and I got to tell you that little moment, as I shared with the father of
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 the bride, I said, sometimes we just got to be very present.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 Mm-hmm take visual images pictures
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 and then just kind of sit with that for a little bit oh that's awesome
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 that energy is and i know we're going to talk about that here
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 a little bit kind of you know when we get to our shifter thinking piece that
00:04:30 --> 00:04:34 energy piece but it's kind of what you're talking about yes that's cool perfect
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 segue because today we've got some great insights coming your way giving you
00:04:38 --> 00:04:42 something to control something you shift your thinking and something concrete
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 to help you lead your school so hey let's get started absolutely Absolutely.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:53 Music.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:57 All right, welcome back. So yes, as Jim said, each episode, we are going to focus on three things.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 And our first one we're going to focus on, of course, is things that we could control.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:06 And today, our topic is planning your eval schedule or getting a head start
00:05:06 --> 00:05:11 on getting all of those evaluations, walkthroughs, all the meetings that go
00:05:11 --> 00:05:15 along with it, getting those into a calendar and getting them going,
00:05:15 --> 00:05:16 getting them ready to go.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 Now, I'm kind of guessing, Jim, I know you well enough to know this is probably
00:05:19 --> 00:05:24 not your number one priority in the summertime is getting everything in a calendar.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:29 Absolutely, it is not. I always think about it as you've, I've always got next week. Yeah.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 And we know what that means. And then next week. And then next week.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 And as a result, it's crazy, as a result of that kind of mentality. Mm-hmm.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:41 I'm scrambling in January, February, March to get things done.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 And then as a result, April becomes my most hated month. Yeah.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 Yeah. Well, and I was guilty of that this year too, which that's not,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:52 I'm not typically that way. I mean, my, my calendar is, you know, color coded.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 I mean, I've got everything lined up and ready to go for a year.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 I've heard about people like you. Yeah, I know.
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 I was kind of that weird guy, but even like this past year, just,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:04 it didn't work out that way as much as I had some plans and wanted it to.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:08 I'm sitting here in late April, early May, just trying to finish out some evaluations.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:13 And when we're doing them at that pace and we're not doing them when we should
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 be doing them, I don't know, to me, I think we're cheating our employees.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 We're cheating their ability to get the good leadership that they need from
00:06:20 --> 00:06:25 us. We struggle with constantly the evaluation system being a hoop,
00:06:26 --> 00:06:27 something to jump through. Checkbox.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:32 Checkbox, which is so, it's not a waste, it's not a good use of our time and
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 energy, but it's also a waste of time.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:37 It's true. And we can avoid some, we can avoid all that. Yeah.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:42 It's kind of funny, the checkbox piece and, you know, old colleague of ours,
00:06:42 --> 00:06:46 Dan Meyer and I, when Dan and I, we started this when we worked together.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 And then when I moved to another building and we just, we kept going with it,
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 we would get to that point of the year where you got your last walkthrough done.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 And it was a, it was a text to the other person of like, Hey,
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 got my last walkthrough done. Where are you at, sucka?
00:06:59 --> 00:07:03 You know, I mean, it was kind of a competition at that point in time.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 But although it was, it did feel good to get your last walkthrough done.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 Right. I also didn't want to just rush through them because otherwise it is
00:07:11 --> 00:07:15 just a checkbox. And then again, like you said, the energy piece,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 why are we doing it if we're not doing it for the right reason? Right.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 No, nobody got time for that. No, nobody has time. So what do you do?
00:07:20 --> 00:07:21 How do you get scheduled?
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 How do you get over? Well, I think to me, first things first,
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 I got to look to see what does your load look like? And that was part of the
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 reason why last year was hard for me because-
00:07:29 --> 00:07:34 80% of the people on my roster for evaluation were in their major year.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:40 So they all had the full, no, it was pretty brutal. So they had the full gamut
00:07:40 --> 00:07:41 of evaluation expectations, right?
00:07:41 --> 00:07:45 But you got to look at that first. What do we have? How many evaluations do
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 I have to do versus walkthroughs?
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 You know, how many new teachers do I have? How many, maybe people that are in
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 a new team, you know, there's going to be a little bit of a difference,
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 even if it's not evaluative, It's more coaching piece, just to try to get an
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 idea for myself of what I'm getting myself into.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:04 And then start trying to plot that out a little bit. Make sure that I'm getting
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 the people that I really need to get to early in the calendar.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 We all know how the calendar works. We know how the year starts to spiral at times.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 Predictable. Yeah. You know, it just is what it is. So trying to hammer those
00:08:15 --> 00:08:19 things out ahead of time. You don't want to micromanage everybody's time. It might be windows.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:24 You know, I'm going to try to do this evaluation during this two-week window or I don't know.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 That's how I do it. But again, I'm, I'm one of those weirdos that has everything in the calendar anyway.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:32 So we talk about my, I mentioned my system in my process and it wasn't effective
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 and it became hoops for everybody. And it just, it actually created tension
00:08:36 --> 00:08:37 sometimes too. Oh, sure.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 So while I evolved to, I know you're going to like this, I evolved to a spreadsheet
00:08:42 --> 00:08:47 and in that spreadsheet, it had all the, I had this, the number of slots you
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 needed for walkthroughs, the evaluations I had first year, I had second year,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 I had new, and it was, it was beautiful.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 And then when you completed the walkthrough or the evaluation,
00:08:56 --> 00:09:00 whatever, you'd put the data in there and then I customized it. I learned how to do this.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 When you put it in there, it turns to green. Oh, yeah. So the goal was to get
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 everything green. That's right.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 That's right. So I set all that up and I had a conversation with my,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:14 the assistant principal. So we're all on the same page, but I needed help still.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:19 So I always leaned in on my administrative assistant. Yeah. And explained the process to her. Yep.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 Had her kind of schedule. I say when I want them scheduled, just kind of like
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 what you did. So she would coordinate with the teachers to schedule within the timeframe.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:33 And as a result, I was on pace. I think that's probably one of the most underutilized.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 Solutions because we try to take care of each other so much.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:41 I think people are worried that that feels impersonal when you do it that way.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 And I've done it this, in fact, this year is exactly, probably the only reason
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 why I even survived it at all this year was that I did that exact thing,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:52 was I have a handful of administrative assistants that do various roles for
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 me just because of the role I'm in.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 And I thought that was- The roles you're in. The roles, yeah, exactly.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:01 And that was my first fear was that it was going to feel very impersonal,
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 like, well, he doesn't even have the time to email.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 No, that was not the reaction that I got from my staff.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:11 The staff really felt kind of more empowered about, oh, he's giving me this
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 window. We can, it's not a surprise.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:18 It doesn't feel like, you know, we have this major deadline. It's a general idea.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 And, you know, I had, I had somebody like, Hey, you know, you always get a little
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 bit of the dog and pony show sometimes with these.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 And we understand that's part of it, but they had said, Hey,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 I'd really like some feedback on a certain lesson I'm doing,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 but that's not going to be for two more weeks.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 Would you be okay shifting that window?
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 Absolutely. I'd be okay shifting that window to give that opportunity for people
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 to be able to have that input in when this, when's the best time to actually
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 get something out of this experience.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:48 So let's think back about the whole purpose of this is to grow, not gotcha, grow.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 So if we look at it through the lens of this is about a growth and then sure,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 it does matter to do that.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 In fact, I think at any time an administrator goes into a classroom,
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 it should be completely transparent about what you're looking for,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:05 what the focus is and understanding that that is a part of the evaluation. It's not.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:10 Now you mentioned Dan Meyer. Well, I had a former principal, Daniel Meyer. Yeah.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:16 And he would come in. This is old school. This is way back with his notepad. Yeah.
00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 Script everything and write an evaluation from that. Those days are gone. Yeah.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 So you have to understand the observation, the walkthroughs,
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 it's just a story we're looking for. And why wouldn't you want the author to
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 be a part of telling the story? Yeah, that's true.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 Very true. You know, something else, as you were talking there,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:36 made me think of another little trick, I suppose you could call it,
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 that somebody shared with me a few years ago.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 When they were planning their walkthroughs, they would have,
00:11:42 --> 00:11:46 like you said, a clipboard, had paper on there ready to go. but they plotted
00:11:46 --> 00:11:50 out, okay, I'm going to try to get to these five teachers today or these four teachers today.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 On that clipboard, not only did they write the teacher's name,
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 you know, room, whatever, all the things that they needed for the paperwork
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 piece are going to have to fill out later.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 They also took a quick moment to go back to those beginning of the year meetings
00:12:02 --> 00:12:07 where they met with everybody one-on-one and goals that were established and
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 some of the priorities that the teachers were trying to do that year.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 Yeah. And just put that right on that piece of paper. So But when they walked
00:12:14 --> 00:12:19 into the room to do the walkthrough, they had that goal in mind.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 So they're looking for feedback that was related to that goal,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:26 knowing that that would be far more purposeful for that teacher afterwards.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 And I've tried to do that every once in a while, I get in that room like,
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 I forgot to do that part. And then I'm scrambling to try to go find it quick.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:38 But it makes perfect sense to, again, make that part be as meaningful as you
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 can, since you're going to do it anyway.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:44 So we don't want it to be a hoop. We actually know that teachers want us in the room. Yeah.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 We just make sure we need to, as administrators, we need to make sure that it's
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 intentional and purposeful when we're in the room.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Teachers want to be great. And we have to be able to give them the opportunity
00:12:55 --> 00:12:59 to be great by being supportive of their professional growth and their professional
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 learning. Absolutely. Kind of like what you were talking about right there.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:08 Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Hill, a longtime educator of nearly 40 years as a teacher,
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 counselor, professor, and vice principal.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:14 And I've seen just about everything public schools can throw at you.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:19 And now I'm sharing my tales on my comedy podcast, Vice Principal Unofficed.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 It's where school leadership meets laugh-out-loud stories.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:26 From underwear-required parent-teacher conferences, yes, really,
00:13:26 --> 00:13:30 to staff lounge confessions and more, you won't believe. I'm telling it all
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 with humor and a whole lot of heart.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:37 I also tackle the serious stuff, too, like what schools really need to change
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 and those behind-the-scenes moments no one talks about.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 So if you're ready to laugh, learn, and maybe even cry a little,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:48 but mostly laugh, join me and my 90-year-old mom, my unofficial co-host,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 on Vice Principal Unofficed.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:56 New episodes drop bi-weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast picks.
00:13:56 --> 00:14:00 Trust me, this is one detention you'll actually look forward to.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 All right, Adam, it's time to shift your thinking.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 Yes. When I was a young parent, and I firmly believe that every parent is doing
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 the best they know how, so keep that in mind.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 Yep. I leaned in on a little bit of love and logic.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 Okay. Kind of give me some focus, some structure, whatever. Some language,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:21 I believe it's from there, that we used to share with our kids because of their behavior.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 We would say, you're draining our energy. Yeah, that's true.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:28 Really didn't know what that meant as an adult, but you're upsetting me as a
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 parent. Uh-huh. Kind of like that.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 Uh-huh. So it might be the crying, not sharing the toys. It could be whatever,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 not eating your food. Absolutely. Yep.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 Name whatever it is, following the rules that we set up. And as parents,
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 first time parents, we probably weren't very clear what those rules are. Anyway.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 Just expect you to know them. Just expect you to know them. You know,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 and upset when you didn't. Yeah, that's true.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:52 So as a principal, I used to really try to, in the effort of protecting the
00:14:52 --> 00:14:56 time and energy about all the other teachers, I would try to do everything,
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 through my lens, I guess you would kind of say. So it meant planning all the
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 professional development and
00:15:02 --> 00:15:07 assuming I knew what they needed and then planning out certain schedules.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:11 When I'm not, I think I kind of alluded to already, I'm not the best planner,
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 best scheduler within that.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 So I would try to take care of all the problems. Actually, as a result,
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 I was draining people's energy because they had to figure out what the heck
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 I was trying to say, figure out what the heck I was trying to do.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:29 As a result, I learned that if I don't lean into their strengths or what I would
00:15:29 --> 00:15:33 call their superpowers, then I am the problem.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:37 I actually started building a compliant culture instead of building capacity.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:41 Well, and how successful was that anyway when you were controlling all that?
00:15:43 --> 00:15:47 I remember having a conversation with an instructional coach at a time and she
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 said, pointed all this stuff out and said, I was building a culture of compliance.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 And I argued with her. And then she started naming data points that I couldn't argue with.
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 And I'm doing the right thing. I got mad and walked out of my own office,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:04 walked around, came back in, sat down, and then said, okay, what do we do?
00:16:05 --> 00:16:10 It was that moment that was really clear to me. The title just describes our main lead roles.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:14 We're humans first and we need to lean in as humans first.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:18 And we got to figure out who we are and what gives us energy and what takes
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 energy and share that. Well, and I may have shared this quote before,
00:16:22 --> 00:16:26 but when I was a head football coach back many, many years ago now,
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 it keeps getting further and further away from today.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 But, you know, I, I remember having that conversation with assistant coaches
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 and, you know, Hey, I want you to coach.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 I don't want you to stand around waiting for me to tell you what to do.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 Cause if, if we're waiting, first of all, we're going to be way behind everybody
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 else and we're not gonna be very good.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 If we're, if you want me to be the smartest, you know.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 Grand poobah of information person. It's just not going to happen.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:52 We're not going to be successful doing that. And that's exactly what you're talking about there.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:58 So the shift here that we're talking about, though, is shifting from that mindset
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 of controlling everything.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:05 Some would call that micromanaging, but certainly having to have control or
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 being the person that does everything,
00:17:08 --> 00:17:13 but instead shifting to that art of delegation and delegating the right way
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 because it's not just about assigning tasks.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 I know you mentioned this before when we were talking about the show today.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 It's not assigning tasks.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:25 It's about building capacity so that your team gets stronger and the people
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 within the team get stronger.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 Now, I haven't done a lot of that. I'll be honest. This is an area for me,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:33 Jim, that I struggle at because I want people to do things.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 And it's not that I want it to be done my way.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:41 I just sometimes struggle with what's the best way for me to unload that or
00:17:41 --> 00:17:46 offload that onto that person so they have success and I don't set them up for
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 failure. It's a great question.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:51 First of all, before we go any further, I have to give you a little credit there
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 with the Flintstones comment with the Grand Poobot.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 I don't know if all of our listeners understand that language,
00:17:56 --> 00:18:02 but the Grand Poobot is the leader of the lodge or whatever that is called.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:07 Now you've just hit the limit of my recollection of the Flintstones,
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 But that was it right there. I did my best.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:14 So you're right about when we build capacity, we have to actually walk with people first.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 So Jimmy Casas would talk about, you have to build up in his book, Recalibrate.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:23 You have to walk with people, making sure that the expectations is clear and
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 so forth. So you don't just assume.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:29 People give you your 38 credits and so now you can be a principal or whatever
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 the case is. No, you have to walk with.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:35 So you model it, you practice, you plan with, let them go, kind of like a coaching
00:18:35 --> 00:18:40 cycle. and then we're going to close the loop at the end and letting people sail on.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 Prior to that, I think we also have to make sure that we have a clear anchor
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 and which is our purpose here.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 So at my last school, I was at,
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 We had really two focus. Professional development can be anything in standard
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 mindset. So it's understanding your standards, unpacking your standards.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 How do you, what does it meet?
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 What does it mean to meet it? What are our assessments? Okay. Yeah. All that.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 And then the other one is we want 100% of our students to identify with a trusted
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 adult. So now we're talking about, we've got to know the adolescent.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:10 We got to know the words that we use and the actions we do and the depth of
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 the science. All together. All together. Yep.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:16 Then of course, you can lean into the parents a little bit with that as well.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:20 So I talk about the giving and taking of energy from my child's had thrown the
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 temper tantrum to me as a principal.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:26 It really comes down to, I use the personality profile, the disc profile.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 Every one of the teachers had, we had, we knew all the information about the
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 teachers and myself and so forth.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:37 So I would hire assistant principals that were not like me and then learn to
00:19:37 --> 00:19:42 value those skill sets versus judge those skill sets.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 So while we would say you, you're the planner, you're the planner,
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 I'm the influencer, the fun guy, whatever it is. Yep. Okay.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 Those two work great together when you lean in.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:56 They can also be battles if you don't value that person. Don't understand how they work together.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 So I had a great assistant principal
00:19:59 --> 00:20:04 where she, she could plan out and structure out anything so fast.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 I mean, meaning that I could spend hours doing it and I'm tired.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:13 She could be 10 minutes and she loves it. I mean, it's like crazy. Be like you.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:17 I would come to, if I needed a spreadsheet, Adam, you'd be the first person I'd come to. Yeah.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 Because you could see things that I can't see. I mean, I can get there,
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 but I can lean in on your superpower.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 And then all of a sudden now we're building capacity.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:30 I had a teacher at the last, I had a lot of great teachers, a lot of great humans
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 I work with. I was in a meeting and I was trying to give directions.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:38 And like I shared before the show started, my brain sometimes works faster than my words. Yep.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 Okay. I'm guilty of that. We had such a great, in my opinion,
00:20:41 --> 00:20:46 great culture that a staff member felt safe enough to raise her hand and say,
00:20:46 --> 00:20:51 hey, Jim, do you mind if, and she asked if the assistant principal could give
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 the directions moving forward.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 So two things, three things happened
00:20:54 --> 00:20:57 there. First of all, the teacher felt safe to be able to say that.
00:20:57 --> 00:21:02 Two, we empowered the assistant principal now to be a leader and to show her superpower.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:08 And three, oh my God, that was like rocket blocks falling off my shoulders because
00:21:08 --> 00:21:12 it was so stressful to be able to give those directions and speak in the way
00:21:12 --> 00:21:15 that they needed to be spoken. Now all of a sudden I've got energy.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 The assistant principal has energy. The teachers have energy because they have
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 to stop figuring out what I'm trying to articulate.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 I mean, that's really what it comes down to. It's true. So, you know,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 so you take away that shift you're thinking of, the principal's got to be the
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 boss, the principal's got to give the directions and all that,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 when really we've got to find the people and lean in.
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 And when we are asking people to operate within their, in this particular case, their desk.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 Their lead disc profile, we are actually giving them energy.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 Yeah. And I think that's, you know, we were talking about that whole concept
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 of energy takers, energy givers.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:52 If we don't understand that we're taking energy, it's, it's really hard to ever
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 give it or give that opportunity for someone to grow in that piece.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 Hi, it's me. I'm the problem.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 That kind of thing. No kidding. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:05 So when we become very clear on what it is we're asking and what we're wanting,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:10 what strengths we have within our system, then we can really start diving in.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:15 And again, it's about maximizing the superpowers, valuing versus judging because
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 they don't think the same way. Yeah.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 And we talk about this with assistant principals and teachers.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:24 I think also, I mean, we all know the person that runs a school building is
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 usually the front office assistant, right?
00:22:26 --> 00:22:30 The person who's really got the pulse of the building.
00:22:30 --> 00:22:35 And I struggle sometimes there too about, I don't want to just give something
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 to somebody because I don't want to do it.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 But then also there's times where I've, I've had to, where I've like,
00:22:40 --> 00:22:44 Hey, can you please, I just, this needs to get done. I can't squeeze it in right now.
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 And I always get the, yeah, sure. I'll take care of it, which is great.
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 But then I come back later and I realized that that was the best thing I could have done.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:55 They, they wanted something to have some ownership piece, you know,
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 within the school that is really their thing to do.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:02 And I just had to, I had to get out of the way. I had to understand it was okay.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 One of my favorite sayings is you should only do what only you can do.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:12 And I forget that at times, that there are certain things that only I can do
00:23:12 --> 00:23:15 because of the role or because of the degree or something like that.
00:23:15 --> 00:23:20 There's an awful lot of stuff that's on my plate that somebody else could do
00:23:20 --> 00:23:24 and probably do it better than I can if I just allow them to do it.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 How'd you say that again?
00:23:25 --> 00:23:29 Only do what you can only do? Only do what only you can do.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:35 Every single administrative assistant that I work with throughout the country
00:23:35 --> 00:23:39 in a coaching environment or whatever the case is, has said,
00:23:39 --> 00:23:44 I wish they would, I wish they, meaning the principals, know that I knew that I could do more.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:48 And so as principals, it doesn't mean that you just go dump things on them. You walk them through.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 I sat down with the administrative secretary that was talking about the scheduling earlier.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:57 This is what I'm doing. This is what I need help with, can you do this?
00:23:57 --> 00:23:59 They would ask a couple of clarifying questions.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:04 We'd practice a little bit. So now all of a sudden they have a bigger understanding
00:24:04 --> 00:24:09 of why we're doing the evaluation system for hours, hours of time.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:12 So I'm going to end scheduling those drained my energy.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 And now all of a sudden I don't have that drain anymore. So we're talking about
00:24:15 --> 00:24:20 principals who are like tired. There's stop doing the things that you don't need to do.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:25 Be intentional with how you build that capacity. and follow up again.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 And follow up. Yep, absolutely. And celebrate when things go well,
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 even if it is, thank you. Thank you for scheduling these. Be happy.
00:24:31 --> 00:24:38 Music.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:43 Lastly, let's get on to the lead segment. Earlier in our episode here,
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 we were talking about how we're scheduling out our evaluations and how we're
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 staying focused, trying to get ahead of the game, or actually keeping up with
00:24:49 --> 00:24:49 the game. Yeah, that's true.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 Give yourself a fighting chance at it. Give yourself a fighting chance with
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 our control, because we can control that.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:59 We talked about how we can build capacity, staying still within that evaluation system.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 We talked about how you can lean into your administrative secretary or assistant
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 to kind of get them scheduled. So let's get a head start with how do we lead
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09 now? So get really intentional with the lead.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:12 So when we know our staff and we've been working with teachers,
00:25:12 --> 00:25:17 thinking about growth as a, instead of a year to year, thinking of it as more of a global process.
00:25:17 --> 00:25:21 And one of our favorite authors, Brene Brown, says it in a couple of different
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 books actually, but she says clear as kind.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 And there's people like myself and there's, if we talk about the disc profile,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:31 people like myself or somebody maybe in the S world that they don't want to
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 hurt anybody's feeling.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:37 And the worry of hurting people's feelings, we start getting wishy-washy and
00:25:37 --> 00:25:41 then we're not clear. And then all of a sudden the administrator gets mad because
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 the teacher's not following what they were saying.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:48 So now we've got a collision. The collision could a lot of times be avoided with just clarity.
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 If we don't have that, then it becomes, there's some animosity that gets filled
00:25:52 --> 00:25:56 up on the target or why doesn't she just listen or he doesn't listen?
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 Well, that's because I just don't understand in the first place because we didn't
00:25:58 --> 00:26:02 do a good enough job of explaining it. A lot of times, that's exactly right. That's just it.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 And, you know, ignoring it doesn't solve any problems.
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 It might be easier, but it doesn't. Sugar coating is a good thing.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:13 Doesn't solve any problems. Again, might be easier. Short-term loss.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 Short-term wins, sorry, long-term loss.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:19 We're not moving anybody and we're not actually getting to the heart of what we need to do.
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 I truly believe that every teacher we have is there for the right reason.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:27 They're there because they love kids and they want to see kids grow.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:33 I also know that the world of education changes constantly and so does life
00:26:33 --> 00:26:38 in general. And so based on where everybody's at within that continuum,
00:26:38 --> 00:26:42 we may be at our peak or we may not be. And I'm just as guilty of that as anybody.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:46 I also know that now is a good time for us to start kind of being a little bit
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51 proactive and planning those harder conversations that are going to have to happen.
00:26:51 --> 00:26:57 They have to happen because the longer they don't happen, the more we just prolong
00:26:57 --> 00:27:04 either bad behavior, bad habits, or just a lack of knowledge that we need to improve a little bit.
00:27:04 --> 00:27:08 So from this leadership standpoint about how we lead through that,
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 I know you've had a lot of those difficult conversations.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 You've been in this game long enough, so have I. How do you set up yourself
00:27:13 --> 00:27:18 for success when you know, I have a teacher willing to say for this example,
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 I have a teacher coming in this fall.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 Things just haven't been going great. We've been over a couple,
00:27:23 --> 00:27:27 you know, I've been through a couple of different cycles with them and it's
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 time that we're going to need to do some improvement. We're going to need to grow.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 And I know this is coming. How do you prepare for that conversation?
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 I think of three aspects.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:40 One, former mentor spoke with me when you get into those conversations and we
00:27:40 --> 00:27:44 call them tricky, navigation, whatever it is. You have to get in the zone.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:49 That means you prepare for the conversation. You don't just jump into it.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:53 So you get in the zone and sometimes emotions will try to pull you out or deflection
00:27:53 --> 00:27:56 or lack of clarity on your part, pull you out. You got to stay in the zone.
00:27:57 --> 00:28:02 Two, another mentor, Troye Fisher, leader in the state at one time,
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 actually always knew me there.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 She mentioned sometimes that you have to lead with your soul.
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 And when leading with your soul means that if there's something that needs to
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 be addressed, you're not going to be able to sleep at night.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 Your soul is going to be rattled and then something's going to bother you.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 So now you're draining your own energy and you don't even know it.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:21 So you have to address whatever the matter is. And third...
00:28:22 --> 00:28:25 Doggone it, our kids deserve it. Because really, it isn't about the adults.
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 It's about the children.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:29 That's right. Or I would like to say the souls that are coming into that classroom.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:34 They deserve to have the adults on the same page.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 They deserve to have clarity. They deserve it.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 We don't need to be putting more blocks, barriers in their way.
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 Yeah, there's enough of them already. Oh, most definitely.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:46 Let's not add to it. So when it comes down to how do I have that conversation,
00:28:46 --> 00:28:50 I do plan them out and I think about, okay, what is it specifically that I'm
00:28:50 --> 00:28:54 targeting and anchoring it to a standard of some sort, whether it be a teaching standard,
00:28:54 --> 00:28:58 an academic standard, a belief that we have, but have it anchored so that we
00:28:58 --> 00:29:00 take the emotions out of it.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:04 When we're human, it's easy to get our emotions locked in. We want to take the
00:29:04 --> 00:29:08 emotions out and get very targeted with that. Now, I don't surprise.
00:29:08 --> 00:29:12 I try my best never to surprise. Sometimes if I do, then that's really on me,
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 but I try not to surprise any of them.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:17 So I have it kind of mapped out what the conversation is. I know what I have
00:29:17 --> 00:29:21 to have, what does the targeted outcome look like. Again, clear as kind.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:25 And then we started having a conversation. And a lot of times that's just a
00:29:25 --> 00:29:29 conversation. There's no documentation. There's no computer open. There's nothing.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:32 In fact, one time I was having a conversation similar to what we're talking about.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:36 I knew that curriculum was going to change. I know that classroom management was a problem right now.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 So I was like, we got to lean in on that classroom management so that when we
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41 are evolving with the curriculum. So we're ready to go. Yep.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:46 And I remember having a conversation, no barrier between us.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 It was just chair to chair.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:51 Not across the desk. People don't understand how much that matters.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 It does. It clearly matters.
00:29:53 --> 00:29:58 So no barriers between having a conversation. And it was, it was about what I just mentioned.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 And I remember that that person, it went well.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:07 That person went and spoke with, actually was a little worried about it because
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 it was the principal in the principal's office. Of course. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:12 Yeah. Anxiety is a little higher. Yeah, I get it. I get it.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15 Went and had a conversation with another colleague and that colleague,
00:30:15 --> 00:30:17 she expressed that she was worried a little bit.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:21 And so then the other teacher said, tell me about that conversation.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:25 Was there a table between you two? And the answer was no.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:33 Was his computer open? The answer was no. Was he writing anything down? The answer again was no.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:39 To you and to me. Yep. Yep. And that teacher, that colleague of that teacher
00:30:39 --> 00:30:41 says, sounds like he's trying to help.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:44 That's good. So now I got that endorsement a little bit there too.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:47 You know, as you're talking about that plan piece, I'm sure you're familiar
00:30:47 --> 00:30:51 with Fierce Conversations, the Susan Scott work, right? Yep.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 One of the things she talks about, and I'm not going to be able to pull exactly
00:30:54 --> 00:30:58 out of which conversation this is in that wonderful little flip book that she's got there.
00:30:58 --> 00:31:01 But one of the things she talks in there too is about owning your portion of
00:31:01 --> 00:31:04 it. And I think that's hard sometimes for us to understand that,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 oh, teachers struggle in classrooms, not going well.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:11 Well, I have a portion in that too, because I could have recognized this sooner.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:14 I could have gone in there and tried to offer some support sooner.
00:31:15 --> 00:31:18 I have a portion in this. And yeah.
00:31:19 --> 00:31:25 Owning that piece right out of the gate of, hey, yeah, we, we are going to need
00:31:25 --> 00:31:29 to grow here because we want to give a better service for our students, but it is a we piece.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:33 And I'm going to be part of this from this, you know, because again,
00:31:33 --> 00:31:35 the point here is not a gotcha.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:39 If we're at a stage of, we're going to jump all the way to a gotcha,
00:31:39 --> 00:31:43 either one of two things have happened, either a really, really poor decision,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:47 which we know is the license type decision, things have happened and it just
00:31:47 --> 00:31:51 is what it is, or I haven't worked hard enough yet and haven't been clear enough
00:31:51 --> 00:31:54 with that person that, that this is a problem.
00:31:54 --> 00:31:57 I've got to get to that second piece and start breaking down that barrier and
00:31:57 --> 00:32:00 try to refill the stuff that I should have done in the first place.
00:32:00 --> 00:32:04 So communicating is always something that I have to be really thoughtful of how I operate.
00:32:05 --> 00:32:08 When you're meeting with a teacher like that, I always like to have something
00:32:08 --> 00:32:12 written down so that we can make sure we're on the same page because of all
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 past experiences and some, Once
00:32:14 --> 00:32:17 you write it down, it becomes like documentation and spooky and so forth.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:21 I would write, do what you're talking about, like with working together.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 And sometimes we're writing on the whiteboard. I didn't have a whiteboard.
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 I had a wall that was painted with whiteboard and it was wonderful.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:31 But just to show that we were, we're navigating this together.
00:32:31 --> 00:32:34 We're communicating. Feels like a role. Feels like a plan. It actually.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:39 Not, not the plan. It's not the plan. Just. A plan of support.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 Yeah. For me and her, actually for the students.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:45 And this is what has to happen. So as a result of that, it might mean a little
00:32:45 --> 00:32:47 bit more work with the instructional coach.
00:32:47 --> 00:32:50 Yeah. It might mean, hey, I'm not exactly sure what it looks like,
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 but let's talk it through.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:55 Yeah. So when we come up with clear focuses and just targets that we need to
00:32:55 --> 00:33:00 get, we named professional learning they might need and the manner they need it as well.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:03 Not just me saying it or go read a book. Go read a book. Yeah.
00:33:03 --> 00:33:05 So if I have that employee that I know right out of the gates,
00:33:06 --> 00:33:08 we're talking about planning for it, getting yourself in the zone.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:14 The other thing I think that sometimes we forget is that follow-up piece is so absolutely crucial.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:19 It can't just be a, well, I just had that meeting and, and you're gone and you
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 walk out of my office. Your schedule of observation.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:24 Yeah, exactly. Otherwise that's just a butt chewing is all that is,
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 and that doesn't accomplish anything.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:31 How long should we wait before we have that initial follow-up? Are we talking next day?
00:33:31 --> 00:33:35 I mean, how long do we need to give people some time to, because it's likely
00:33:35 --> 00:33:39 going to be a pretty traumatic experience for people, especially if I haven't
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 done a good job of letting people know ahead of time.
00:33:41 --> 00:33:44 And again, that's my portion. Correct. It shouldn't be a surprise if I'm doing
00:33:44 --> 00:33:47 my job the way I should be doing it. But how long do I need to give people?
00:33:47 --> 00:33:52 I think that's a conversation you have at that, when you're sitting down having that That's a good idea.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:57 Have that conversation. So is it, is it within a week? Is it a day or two to
00:33:57 --> 00:33:59 three weeks? Let's touch base and see how it's going.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:03 Or is it a, hey, can you give me a month? Cause I got to learn this.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:06 Okay, let's talk. So then when are we going to follow up with the learning or
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 when are we going to follow up with the instruction?
00:34:08 --> 00:34:11 Hey, when I go into your classroom, what is it that you'd want me to look for?
00:34:11 --> 00:34:15 So you empower the person as well. I mean, let's face it.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:20 We need, and we typically have great human beings in the school,
00:34:20 --> 00:34:23 like you were mentioning earlier. So if we get people to lead with their soul,
00:34:24 --> 00:34:27 We get them to understand that we have a clear anchor of what the expectation is.
00:34:28 --> 00:34:32 Give them say on what they need instead of us guessing. Remember that building
00:34:32 --> 00:34:34 capacity part we're talking about?
00:34:34 --> 00:34:36 We're building it here. We're building it right here.
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00:36:00 --> 00:36:03 All right, Jim, it's time we start wrapping this up today. So let's go ahead
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 and start this with a recap.
00:36:04 --> 00:36:09 Today, we talked about for control, we're going to get a head start on planning
00:36:09 --> 00:36:14 that eval schedule and get things ready to go so that we're structured and ready
00:36:14 --> 00:36:16 to make those meaningful as we head into next year.
00:36:16 --> 00:36:20 The shift, we talked about being an energy giver, not an energy taker,
00:36:20 --> 00:36:25 and that it can be done through some purposeful delegation, building capacity
00:36:25 --> 00:36:29 within our staff and really understanding that importance for doing so as a team.
00:36:29 --> 00:36:34 And then we're talking about leading. We have those struggling employee conversations
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 that are going to be coming,
00:36:35 --> 00:36:39 how we best prepare for those that we're doing our, the hard job,
00:36:39 --> 00:36:43 not the fun job of leadership, but doing the job that's very important as we
00:36:43 --> 00:36:45 continue to grow forward. I miss anything there?
00:36:45 --> 00:36:48 No, actually, you know, just keeping the focus in it because our kids deserve
00:36:48 --> 00:36:50 it. Our kids deserve us to be better.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:55 Our kids deserve our staff to be better as a whole with that. Yeah, no, good, good.
00:36:55 --> 00:36:59 Yeah. These, so listeners out there, this is Jim and Adam's take on how we can,
00:36:59 --> 00:37:03 you know, the control, lead and shift, focusing in on how we can stay organized,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:06 how we can continue to lead and be working,
00:37:06 --> 00:37:10 being clear with our expectations with staff. We'd love to hear from all of you.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:14 There's a link in our show notes where we, we'd love it if you could share some tips,
00:37:15 --> 00:37:18 tricks, and maybe even some examples that you've done when it comes to staying
00:37:18 --> 00:37:23 organized with the evaluation process, and maybe even some ways that you prepare
00:37:23 --> 00:37:27 for some of those sometimes considered tricky conversations that you have with staff.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:32 This is a conversation, again, our whole purpose is to support all educators
00:37:32 --> 00:37:35 through different types of lenses, and we'd love to hear from you.
00:37:35 --> 00:37:37 Well, like Jim said, thanks for listening to us, everybody.
00:37:38 --> 00:37:41 We appreciate you hopping on to Control Shift Lead. If you do like the show,
00:37:41 --> 00:37:43 please take a moment to like, follow, or share.
00:37:43 --> 00:37:46 It does certainly help keep this podcast growing and we appreciate you tuning
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00:37:48 --> 00:37:51 We'll talk with you again next time on Control Shift Lead.
00:37:54 --> 00:37:56 You've been listening to Control
00:37:56 --> 00:38:01 Shift Lead, brought to you by Inspired Edification and AWB Education.
00:38:03 --> 00:38:29 Music.