Embracing the Unknown: A Journey through School Leadership

What if true leadership in education isn't about having all the answers, but about embracing the unknown? In this enlightening episode of The Sneaker Principal Podcast, I take you on a journey through the intricate and often unpredictable world of school leadership. Here, we'll dive into the challenges and the unexpected beauty found in embracing uncertainty. This episode goes beyond the traditional view of leadership; it's about sparking change and inspiring others. True leadership is not just about personal triumphs; it's about lighting a spark in others that could change the world.

I'll share my personal experiences, talking about the moments filled with self-doubt, the difficult decisions, and how I've worked to cultivate a team culture that thrives amidst uncertainty. We'll explore how the fear of the unknown, far from being an obstacle, can be a powerful catalyst for discovery, joy, fulfillment, and progress. Join me as we affirm that in the realm of leadership, the unknown should not be feared but embraced. It's an opportunity for growth, learning, and truly impactful leadership.

Chapters

• 0:01 Embracing the Unknown in School Leadership
• 18:30 Embracing the Unknown as a Leader

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

One of the hardest things about being a leader or the person who's in the position of leadership meaning that everything comes to you, especially in the school building is embracing the unknown. The unknown could be a lot of different things to different people, but the one thing that doesn't change is that the unknown is literally the unknown. Let's talk about it.

Speaker 2: 0:35

When they see me. They know that every day, when I'm breathing, it's for us to go farther. You know, every time I speak, I want the truth to come out. You know what I'm saying. Every time I speak, I want to shiver. You know I don't want them to be like. They know what I'm going to say, because it's polite. They know what I'm going to say and even if I get in trouble, you know what I'm saying. That ain't that what we're supposed to do. I'm not saying I'm going to rule the world or I'm going to change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world, and that's our job. It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the ones, but let's not be selfish. And because we're not going to change the world, let's not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it, but I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's going to clean it up.

Speaker 1: 1:22

And now he's been promoted His job principle. Good morning everyone. It is some time around five o'clock in the morning and I decided to make this episode of the Sneaker Principle podcast to discuss the unknown and unfortunately, as I was here going over my notes that's on my tab to run for me, the tab had died. It's about you for not charging it, but it's okay, I am going to go ahead and proceed with my phone, my notes, and I'm not one of those content creators who has everything memorized. I know what I want to say. I want to make sure that I don't ramble on as I've done in the past. I'm trying to have a more professional feel to my podcast. So this morning I want to talk to you about embracing the unknown, especially when it comes to school transformation and just leadership and life in general.

Speaker 1: 2:31

You know, one of the things that is so hard about being a school leader is the fact that often what you do and who you are can become one. People are unable to separate the two, and maybe that's something that is actually the reality for almost every profession. But something that's different about being a school leader is that as a school leader because as a school leader, there is an expectation that you are everything in that space. And let's first of all understand what we're talking about here. We're talking about the school building. School is where children, young adults, people are sent to learn, to learn information, to learn how to be in society, to do all the things that they need to do to be able to function as informed citizens. Right At least that's what we're told. And for schools to function, you have to have your students, of course, but then also have your instructors, the teachers. Students without teachers kind of hard to have a school. But within that space also, you'd need support staff, because teachers can't do it all. Their primary responsibility is to engage students.

Speaker 1: 4:04

So you have front-off staff secretaries, purchasing, procurement people, accounting, payroll. You have school aides very important. They're the ones who are doing a lot of day-to-day operational things Dropping off, picking up laptops, making sure attendance is on point, making sure kids are in the classrooms and not just wandering the hallways. Sometimes they take over in the main office answering phone calls. Sometimes they drop it off in the post office. They're picking up packages, they're delivering packages, they're taking care of supplies. You have the cafeteria staff who are cooking, cleaning, providing, making sure the cafeteria is presentable for the kids who come and eat Breakfast and lunch. You have, typically, a nurse or, in our case, you have nearly medical staff. You have a doctor, you have a clinic. It's winter time right now, so kids have to sniffle, they have to cough. Covid is kind of like an uptick.

Speaker 1: 5:10

All these little things are happening all within the school building. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot the cafeteria staff. You have a broken door, broken door knobs, the classrooms have to be cleaned. There's just a million and one things happening within the school. People just see, literally, the school building and they see kids walking in there and they think students, classrooms and that's it. But then you also have, you have to have the point person who is the one to make sure that all the little nuances of daily life in the school building is operating fluidly. And you have school leadership, principal, system principal In some cases. You know teacher leaders, like the deans, academic deans. You know coaches, the guidance counselors, all these facets, all these parts of a system that needs to be in play for a school to function.

Speaker 1: 6:20

However, everything, literally everything, has to go through the filter of the principal, the person who, at the end of the day, is held accountable. You know and I'm gonna change that that's not. Who's in charge Is the person who's held accountable for making sure that the system is functioning properly. Okay, I'm gonna say it again People have the assumption principle you're in charge. No, you're not in charge. There steps above you that are in charge. Your job is to make sure that everything is running and functioning as it should. You know, you're the one who's held accountable, which means now that all accountability Comes to you. The kids are not fed. You're accountable. What happened? Kids are sick and and they don't make your way to, to the nurse or the doctor. And it was known, you know, or it was seen, or those perception of those, something wrong and that didn't happen. It falls on you. You're accountable. Kids are not performing no, test scores are dropping, attendance is dropping, all these different things, guess what? You are held accountable as the leader, specifically as the principal. In some cases, the system principal might be thrown into the mix, but at the end of the day, you are the one who's accountable and and and.

Speaker 1: 8:02

The problem with this, you know, I'm not even a problem to reality, there are so many unknowns, so many unknowns, and when you have these unknowns, it does create anxiety, you know, for veteran and new and middle career school leaders. I Know people who walk into their building every day with a sense of dread. Literally, they walk into their building and their thing to themselves was gonna go wrong today. I also know those who move into the buildings and everything is always always the glasses almost to the top and I've been half full. They're always the glasses almost to the top. Now they find excitement in what they do every day and they keep building the body of knowledge and they have a clarity of Forsythed insight into what should be happening in their spaces. But typically these people people have been doing this for a long time. You know, and no matter, and yes, there are some time things will happen that you are not ready for. You know, I've had that through my career. Many things have happened I'm not ready for. But however, you know, even when you know are you experienced a lot? The unknown is always gonna be there. So now Was it important to embrace the unknown? And Let me see here what is my notes here on my phone, because I tap, my tablet is still charging.

Speaker 1: 9:39

First of all, let's go back the fear of the unknown in leadership. Okay, so Leaders are often afraid of the unknown. You know, when we talk about those things that could happen or those areas that they're being pushed to move into, those uncharted territories, like I said earlier, it creates a sense of anxiety, fear, they, they, they start to doubt themselves, because often what they're known as in those areas where you feel weak is that, or those areas where you feel Not as well prepared for or trained for so and so you, of course, you start to get nervous, you start to re question yourself and the other part is and no one was supposed to say this often what's really happening is you fear being found out, to found out that you don't know. You know we're in the education business, and in education business there's a perception that you have to have all the answers, that you are smart, that your abilities are tied into your intelligence. So if you walk into a space and, as a leader, and you ask something about education, then obviously you think to yourself I should know the answer. Why don't I know the answer? And then, because of that, you start to second guess yourself or, better yet, you lie and ask like you know what's going on. You know, and you might say, hey, I'm gonna take care of that, I'm gonna make sure that that's done, but you don't even know how to do it. It might be a reading program, it might be scheduling, it might be handling a situation you know, and then you find yourself going to the manual or trying to find the answer online or, even worse, not asking for help. You know so, all of a sudden, in this place, this space of the unknown, because again now you have, you know, bitten off money you can chew and you now fear being found out. And these are things that often cripple schools, because, as the point person that everyone goes to, you start to kind of hide behind, you know, your inadequacies, those things that you that weaken you, those things that you fear. You hide behind, you know they take over and all of a sudden you're asking yourself like, oh my God, how to get out of this. And I'm saying this because there are those of you out there right now who, every day you wake up, you are literally like suffocating in fear because you let the unknown take over. You let the unknown be your crutch, and I have to say to you that you cannot let that be the case. You have to embrace the unknown.

Speaker 1: 12:54

So my career so far, I have not been perfect at all, and thank God for that, but I choose to not be perfect. I choose to be excellent excellent in my, in what I do, in my outcomes or in my growth and in my learning. I tend to be I like. I tend to be excellent in admitting that I have no idea what you're talking about and excellent in saying I can find out, I can improve. But I choose not to be perfect, so I embraced the unknown.

Speaker 1: 13:28

You know, one of the things that I've been proud about in my career is that every space I've walked into, I've opted to go into dark places. What I mean by dark places? To go for those challenges that I know this right here might be a bad idea In the sense that I might be taking on more than I can chew, but the thing I've loved about doing that is that it's allowed me to be in a space of learning, of assessing, of engaging others and saying, hey, how do I do this? How do I get better at this? How do I figure this problem out? You know, how do I build a team to make this thing not a weakness but a strength? And, um, the challenge of that has always been not knowing, because often you might plan, you know and have an idea of what the outcome is going to be and you get kicked in the mouth and it's completely the opposite.

Speaker 1: 14:36

But, however, the best part of it all is when you walk into the unknown and you've done your homework, you've asked the right questions, you've gotten the right help, you have the right supports, you built the right team. The unknown doesn't become as scary anymore. What happens is that the unknown starts to unravel. You take a step forward. You realize, hmm, that didn't work. You take another step oh, okay, that's working better. They make adjustments and you, and all of a sudden you have a flashlight, so that dark space is not dark anymore. You have a flashlight, you have companions and you're moving forward into the darkness, figuring out where the problem is. So that problem might be how do I improve my attendance? I mean, I have no idea. Then you study data, you look at historical trends, you visit and talk to schools that have, you know, solved that problem or have improved upon that problem. You know student performance same thing. You know teacher efficacy same thing. Parental engagement same thing.

Speaker 1: 15:43

You know, turning a whole entire school around Making that big, that big monster of a task and saying how do I break it down to the smallest parts? How do I filter out the noise so I can focus in on what I need to do? These are all part of embracing the unknown. I've always looked at the work as a game, and please do not let me just understand when I say by game, I'm not talking about, like some you know, child's play. I'm liking it more like the chess or strategy Some.

Speaker 1: 16:32

Something requires immense strategy, you know, like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. You have the problem, you know, but the problem comes with so many questions, and your goal is to solve this mystery, this series of problems, to get to an outcome that is beneficial to all parties involved. So, sitting down and being able to think, engage, assess, you know, these are the things that I believe you know makes the unknown like an amazing space to be. Go to my notes here. And one of the things, too, is you can't, as a leader, make their known only about you. I always, always, relate this to my team. I am not the smartest person in the room and I do not want to be the smartest person in the room. If anything, I want to attract and bring together the smartest people that I can find, so collectively we can figure out the problem, we can come to a solution, you know. But if you're going to do that, which you must do bring amazing, smart people together, figuring out who your staff can be of immense asset not just to you but to the whole entire journey towards improvement and solving the mystery or, you know, going into the unknown. But you have to empower them to be able to do so. You cannot take your fear and put on them. You know, I'll tell you this right now, guys, I am constantly in my head doubting myself, and it's not a bad kind of like doubting yourself. I'm not like saying, oh my God, I can't do this, this cannot be done. I question every move, I question every decision and again, I think that's that is the act of responsible leader. You know, you don't let it paralyze you, but you always, your brain is always on and you're always assessing. But sometimes you might have to make a pivot at the drop of a dime, like we got to make a shift here. I just saw something, you know, and I just did my numbers, and that doesn't add up and that's why I live.

Speaker 1: 19:13

And I have to live there because, you know, my leadership team is about six. Six to seven people, brilliant people, very intelligent, very capable, but again it's six to seven people, some personality, seven ability levels, several emotional intelligences, and it's like an orchestra. I have to manage them all because they are all intertwined. You know, one piece connects to all the other seven pieces and this is how they move. So often they don't see the full picture, they don't see how they connect to each other and that's my responsibility. So I'm the one who sits there and says OK, making sure the team is functioning properly, but at the same time I have to give them the leeway and the ability to truly embrace the unknown, to be excited about the work, to move forward, but also knowing that you know it's my responsibility if one of them is drifting two, four to the left or two, four to the right, that I bring him back to center. I have to pay attention to them and see how, what their part is in our journey through the unknown.

Speaker 1: 20:30

We have to have to create and maintain a culture that embraces the unknown, but you, the leader, are the one kind of to oversee how the ship is sailing, how the bus is driving, how all the members of this team you know, and also your overall community, are moving in that direction. You're the one setting the standard, you're the one setting the pace, you're the one setting the vision of where you're going as a leader. But the most important thing is you cannot be afraid. You must embrace the unknown more than anybody else. You know the greatest outcomes have come from people who are willing to step into the dark, who are willing to move into spaces where others were not wanting to go.

Speaker 1: 21:32

I've taken schools, I've moved into communities where most people would have said you know, you gotta be in mind that that's not a good move, that's not a good career move. And I made my decisions not because of career. I made my decisions because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do something that others were not willing to do because I knew at the back end of it there are children, young adults, teachers, a whole community of stakeholders who needed. They needed vision, they needed a mission to fight for, they needed something to move them forward, to get them out their rut, to see themselves differently, to smile again, to laugh again, to enjoy the work. For me, that is the impact that I've always wanted to have, wherever I was assigned, wherever I chose to be. But when you move in that direction and move like that, you're always dealing with unknowns and the biggest unknown is always like it fails nothing, that you're not able to make the moves or make the shifts that are needed.

Speaker 1: 22:59

So, in conclusion, stepping into the unknown and embracing potential failure or what the bad things can happen, and when you do it intentionally, when you truly intentionally embrace these things, it is freeing. It gives you this centering. When you're like okay, I know what I'm doing. At minimum I know why I'm doing it, versus being in a space where you're just shaking in your boots and when people show up in the district or wherever, you're like oh my God, am I in trouble? Why are you here? I don't know If you do it right. You're an open book. You're like listen, come, come, help me, look at this. It's like working on a classic car and you're around other enthusiasts and they come in and you're like come see what I'm doing, look at this engine I'm building, but I have a problem. I can't figure out how to do this thing right here. And all of a sudden you're like oh yeah come on, we got you.

Speaker 2: 23:59

Now have you thought?

Speaker 1: 24:00

about this? Have you thought about that? And you're like, huh, okay, you put all these pieces together and you're seeing the mystery unravel. You seem the unknown become known. Then, ultimately, you see an outcome that was always intended, and that is the success, the joy, the happiness, the fulfillment, the progress, the excellence of the school community. All right, y'all. This is Uche and Jogu. Thank you again for being here on the Sneaker Principal podcast. Until next time.