Guiding Your Rising Leaders

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 tales on my comedy podcast, Vice Principle Unofficed. It's where school leadership meets laugh out loud. Stories from underwear required parent teacher conferences yes really, two 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 bis. Trust me, this is one detention you'll actually look forward to. Welcome to your morning boost, your daily leadership advice to help you lead your school community. Brought to you by AWB Education and sponsored by Grundmeier Leader Services, where together we are transforming education, one leader at a time. Now here's your host, Adam Bush. Good morning, visionary school leaders, and a fantastic Friday to all of you. Welcome to your morning boost. As we wrap up the week, our focus shifts to professional growth, not just for ourselves but for our amazing teams. Today, we're going to talk about guiding your assistant Principles assistant directors, or any other rising leaders you have to develop the precise skills and experiences they need for their next career move. It's about being a mentor and consciously cultivating the next generation of leadership. Well, it's easy for us and for our teams to get caught in the daily grind, focusing solely on the immediate demands of the job. However, true leadership involves not only managing the present, but also strategically preparing for the future, both for yourself and for those you lead. The mark of a truly great leader is often measured by this success of those they've mentored. We should actively want our people to leave us for bigger and better things. So here's how to guide your aspiring leaders and how to apply these principles to your own career. Trajectory to begin help them understand the next step requirements. Encourage your assistant principles to research the specific requirements for the next level of leadership, whether it's a principleship or a district level role, or beyond. What specific skills are listed in the job descriptions, what type of experiences are sought after. Help them connect their current responsibilities to those future needs. This means we need to facilitate strategic experience building. Once we have identified those future requirements, pro actively assign projects and responsibilities that directly align with them. For instance, of a principal role requires budget management experience, give your AP the lead on a specific budget line item. If curriculum development is key, involve them deeply in a curriculum review process. Another valuable exercise is honestly, to conduct a resume gap analysis, and you can do this together. Work with your aps to identify what experiences are missing from their current resume that would make them a stronger candidate for these desired roles. Then collaboratively create a plan to fill those gaps through intentional professional development, committee work, or even specific assignments. Beyond that, be sure to provide targeted feedback and coaching on these as well. Don't just assign tasks, provide focused feedback on how their performance in these developmental roles aligns with the expectations of the next level. Offer coaching on crucial leadership aspects like presence, strategic thinking, conflict resolution, and communication skills. All of these are critical for higher roles. Furthermore, encourage networking beyond the school. Just as you might network for your own growth, Encourage your aps to build connections with leaders in other schools and districts. These connections can provide insights into different leadership styles and often open doors to future opportunities. Lastly, for yourself, continuously ask what's my next job? Asking for apply these same principles to your own career. What does a superintendent role require? What experiences are typical for a director of curriculum? When we continuously assess our own skills set against another aspirational role, and seek opportunities to develop these missing pieces, maybe by attending leadership academies or pursuing certifications, or maybe even volunteering for district wide initiatives, all of these things are going to better prepare us not only for another role, but certainly prepares better for our current role. The goal is to move beyond simply just performing the job, and instead we want to intentionally build a portfolio of experience that demonstrates readiness for advancement. In essence, preparing our team for the next career move and preparing ourselves is about intentional development. It involves understanding the requirements of future roles, strategically building relevant experience, conducting resume gap analysis, providing targeted coaching, and fostering broad networking. This is a proactive approach to career growth, ensuring that both you and your rising stars are not just doing the job, but truly preparing for the job after next. There's immense satisfaction in seeing your mentees ascend to higher positions knowing that you played a part in their journey, And for ourselves, it ensures that we're always growing and ready for what comes next. Thank you for listening. I hope you've had a wonderful week, and I hope you have an even better week and ahead of you. We'll be back again on Monday, as always with some more insights as we dive into the Fitting five newsletter from Grunmeyer Leader Services that came out today. If you didn't get that reach out to us at AWB Education. We'll make sure that we get that on your email list as it comes out every single month. There's a lot of great stuff in that newsletter, but otherwise, like I said, thank you for listening. Have a wonderful Friday. We will talk with you again next week. You have been listening to your Morning Boost by AWB Education in partnership with Grunmeyer Leader Services. You can find out more about our services by clicking on the links in the description. Remember, you are doing this vital job that only a few can do. So until next time, thank you for your service to your community.