It is interesting what stands out in one’s mind years later.
I was thinking this past weekend about a talk I heard Chris Kelly, the then Superintendent of Richmond School District, give at the BCPVPA Short Course about 15 years ago. The BCPVPA Short Course is generally for new administrators. At the time, I was an aspiring vice-principal.
Chris brought to the podium a kinetic chrome figurine like the one above. I remember these as popular at the time, a regular “executive” gift for one to put on their desk. They were the kind of figurines that you had to carefully balance one part on the other, or it would fall. Chris said it was one shared with him by a principal in his school district.
He used the sculpture to talk about the balancing act of leadership. As someone just entering the school vice-principalship at the time, I am reminded of the phrase, you don’t know what you don’t know. Chris spoke about the great balancing act of school and district leadership – with so many competing interests – the Ministry, the District, parents, teachers, students, and others. And the amazing diversity of the work, one minute you can be talking about reading strategies with a teacher, the next you are thrown in the midst of a parent squabble related to custody, then you are off to support the music production, and the next you are disciplining students for smoking on school property. The good leaders are those who are able to keep it all in balance.
That talk and that notion has stuck with me for fifteen years. I was used to teaching in my classroom, and there were largely defined start and end times to work – classes were built around a bell schedule and my work was largely defined by lessons, units and courses. The biggest shift I found moving into school administration is that work was rarely “done”. At some point one has to leave it where it is, and pick it up tomorrow. I have found this continue in district leadership.
As a teacher, I could often be very concrete with the answer, “So what did you do today?” As a school, and now district administrator, I find this more difficult. It is not that there is not a lot of work, or that one is not making a difference, there is just a lot that is ongoing. There seems to be a lot more that does not tie-up nicely. I find there is a continual ongoing nature of the topics, whether they are parent concerns, budget recommendations, curriculum implementation or ongoing working with the Board.
I look at the variety of tasks that our school administrators complete, and look at what my own days looks like – and diverse would be an understatement. Chris’ notion of balance is still very much alive for me. I often think positions like the one I currently have are like being a juggler at the circus, working to make sure all the balls stay in the air.
Our best leaders in schools and districts are able to balance all of these priorities without ever looking “busy”. They always have time for a question, rarely look rushed or flustered, and recognize that each encounter, no matter how significant it is for them, might be pivotal for the person they are interacting with.
I often think of Chris’ chrome balancing figurine. It feels like the story of my life – an endless balancing act.
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Thanks for the image Chris. I am a school counsellor and can really relate to the balancing act that is part of this amazing job. I may go and look for a figurine like this to balance beside this quote that also describes my plan for each day.
Peace
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise , trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
Thanks for your blog. I enjoy following it
Thanks Gail – what a perfect quote.
Thank you Chris Kennedy for passing all the balls in the air with such a harmony while smiling. Thank you for dedicating your time to be there for the one who needs your advice while performing the endless balancing act!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I am lucky to have such a wonderful job and be surrounded by such a dedicated and professional team. I really appreciate your support.
I believe anyone in education would agree that a school leaders’ job is complex and requires ongoing attention to ‘balance’. What I wonder is what effect does ‘hiding’ the busyness of their day, and the corresponding feelings and emotions have on the tenure of people to take on that leadership role. With the emerging acknowledgement that student and teacher mental health is declining (of perhaps the vail has been lifted), I am wondering how schools leaders are managing.
This has been on my mind a lot lately this year. We always strive for that balance (and never quite get there) but what do we do when the immediate demands of the job make this such a challenge and health becomes a concern?
This conversation needs to be discussed and shared more often as I do worry about colleagues and all that is required in various leadership positions.
#sorryfortheDebbieDownercomment #beenthatkindofyear
I think we are searching for balance in our ability to balance the competing interests and duties, but I have become less keen on the notion of work / life balance. I don’t think it really is a thing. I am persuaded what we are really talking about is workload. For example, I don’t want to “shut off” after 8:00 at night for “balance”. I manage my workload by getting stuff done then – and in exchange I carve out time with my family sometimes earlier in the evening and on weekends. I am not keen on those who suggest a common work / life balance for all of us – but I do think we need to talk about workload.
I also think we need to come back to the idea of busyness that our friend Dean Shareski and others raise from time to time – there is no badge for being busy so let’s look closely at what we are doing.
I am sure it is also an important topic for you and your counselling colleagues Dave. It is an interesting notion – is it hiding the busyness or is it the ability to put the busyness into perspective . . . I think it could be either. I have been thinking less about work / life balance lately and far more about the notion of workload management. It is an interesting discussion and yes, interesting to see if we are seeing shifts in the mental health of our school leaders.
Thanks Chris. As I read this, I was thinking back to my Masters Degree program at Royal Roads University where Milt McClaren and Peter Norman would talk about the value of a “set point” and how we fluctuate about that as we move toward either balance or excellence. As an airplane’s auto-pilot, or car’s cruise control works similarly to a thermostat, there is a “set point” or end goal. Balance needs to be one of our most important personal goals, and yet we teeter on both sides of it on any given day. I also agree that our work is never done and while I know you believe a teacher’s work is never done either, the point you were making is clear to me… our work as school administrators needs to be dropped sometimes mid-way and picked up later. Sometimes the tyranny of the urgent simply wins. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Brad – I really like this idea of a set point. I really think this ability to quickly find perspective is something that sets apart average from exceptional school leaders.
Love the image of the balancer….whose job never really ends…! And I’m looking forward to returning to shortcourse this summer – last year things changed a bit (I like to think it was to match the change in venues to the new UBC Nest) and I think has continued to improve each year!
I think Short Course is a must for school leaders. Even in large districts, the work of school leaders can be lonely work and Short Course helps build networks and also the stories help one realize, it is not just you.
I think we were at the same Short Course, Chris. This post really resonated with me and will also resonate with the other educational leaders in our district. One of the bigger challenges of educational leadership is leaving one conversation about a student’s suicide attempt and immediately launching into another conversation about a parking lot concern. Only the leader knows that both conversations have happened, and each topic is extremely important to the person who has brought forward the concern. Every person with whom we communicate needs to feel that their topic is the most important topic in our world right now. Not always easy to do.
Thank you for this reminder. As a long time school principal, I appreciate your mention of taking the time to listen. Of all we do, this may be the most important. I’ve found so many problems can be averted, by allowing others the chance to be heard.
Thanks Alan. The work of the school principal is such an interesting mix of art and science.
Leadership has always required the management of tensions caused by the simultaneous need for such things as short-term and long-term performance, the exploitation of existing ideas and the search for new ones, and the staffing and motivation of leadership teams with people of diverse backgrounds and capabilities.