Lead, follow, AND, get out of the way.

I just spent two days of the last month of summer fully immersed in school stuff. Am I nuts?

No!

Having been lucky enough to have been invited to my school district's first ever Admin/Staff Leadership retreat, I had the unique opportunity to see my Hamilton Community Schools admin team in a bit more human light. I had the unique opportunity to help create the professional development schedule and offerings for the coming year. I discovered the amazing talent we have teaching down the hall from me and in the other Hamilton buildings. I had my voice valued by colleagues and supervisors.

This was no sacrifice, this was a gift.

Not only did I leave the retreat feeling energized and excited that as a leadership team we had drawn great relevance around our staff meetings, grade level time, and PD days...all focused on school improvement and putting individual needs of kids first, I gained some insight on being a leader

My biggest take away was what I learned about leadership. We have heard many times that so-and-so needs to either lead, follow, or get out of the way. For me though, I want to do all three.

Lead: Set the example. Share your vision. Contribute insight. Be a helpful guy.
Follow: Understand that you don't know everything and that a lot can be learned from those who have more experience, or are better at something than you are.
Get out of the way: Don't let your ego get in the way of progress because you insist on putting your stamp on it or "showing them who's in charge". Know when to keep your mouth shut and when to support something great.

I hope the Hamilton retreat becomes a yearly event and I hope to see more colleagues invited to future gatherings...and accept the opportunity to learn and build together.

Let's all lead, follow, and get out of the way during this upcoming school year.