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It takes commitment to change the game
At a large family Fourth of July party I was chatting with my husband’s relatives in the normal, polite cocktail party way.
“How’s work?”
“Good.”
“How old are the kids now?”
You know the drill.
But one uncle, a career school leader of a charter network in downtown St. Louis, he pushed.
He really wanted to know about my work, why it mattered, AND how I think about the impact I’m having.
Dang.
That’s the million dollar question and one I’ve been thinking about for the last two years.
What is the impact of adaptive leadership work?
I found that I clicked out of “polite cocktail party mode” and into “impassioned educator mode.”
Holistic, adaptive leadership work is a gamer changer.
It is the antidote to strategies that fall flat, drama dynamics in teams, and burnout across the board that has adults unable to fully show up for kids in the ways that change outcomes.
Holistic adaptive leadership work addresses the challenges of mindset, beliefs, embodied overwhelm and stress, and the adult shut down that occurs when conflict arises and “us vs them” starts to take hold.
But, and this is what I said to Uncle John, it requires commitment across time, practice, and integration.
Bottom line, I haven’t figured out a sleek way to measure impact but I have observed different teams take different approaches to the work.
The most successful teams do this:
The come on retreat with me to clarify their leadership identity
They practice what they learned on retreat, include it in weekly leadership meetings, and reflect and refine their practice of leadership throughout the year
They get support from me in the form of on-going coaching
They come on retreat again with a focus on team
They embrace weirdness, newness, and awkwardness as nervous system practices are taught along the way
The use the common tools and vernacular they get from retreats with each other
I know you are coming back to your schools with a dream in your heart.
Better instruction
Openness to learning and growth
Staff satisfaction and collaboration
Improved outcomes for all kids
Health and wellbeing in the work
Dreaming of a new way requires us to act in new ways.
I know that adding holistic, adaptive leadership practices will usher in the transformation you long for for your school and I’d love to partner with you in the work. Just reply to this email and let me know you want to talk about charting a new path.
If you want a great place to start, download this FREE guide, The Five Rule Successful Leadership Teams Follow. It gives you actionable direction for how to kick off the year with your teams.
Cheering you on in this back to school season,
Maggie
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