Anyone
who has coached knows that you can’t always be as skilled as the people you
lead. However,
a good coach has other skills that allow the team members to learn and pull
together for improved performance as a system. Principals need to focus
on instruction through others by “fostering coalescing leadership in which
combinations of leaders are working together on instructional improvement,”
says Fullan.
With this comes the inevitable question of how to set up the environment in which all stakeholders are expected to be leaders. It is important to send the message that the system is a learning organization with high expectations for all members. As Outcome Two of the Iowa Core Curriculum further explains, “IF multiple partners including parents, school boards, business and industry, supporting agencies and other community entities are interdependent, THEN schools will function as an integrated system to provide a coordinated approach, consistent communication, additional opportunities for learning, and the ongoing supports needed for students to be successful.”
Growing other leaders requires a multifaceted communication plan that both gives and solicits input to and from all stakeholders. Luckily, through the use of technology, all members of the learning organization can be directly involved. From blogs to surveys, growing other leaders is as close as the click of a mouse. The tricky part is the substance of the involvement, as former math teacher Lewis Carroll foretold in a dialogue between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in his 1898 classic “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland:”
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where---” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“--- so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” (pp. 64-65)
Growing other leaders requires intentional mindfulness, and the call to involve all stakeholders in communicating the urgency behind the Iowa Core Curriculum requires both endurance (“walk long enough”) and specificity (“where you want to get to. . .”). Gathering input and using it needs to be a natural way of doing business in order to grow the new leaders needed for both the present and the future of any school system.
