Are We Intentionally Looking for the Tree in the Seed?
I recently attended an administrators conference in Austin, Texas. These administrator conferences can be hit or miss depending on the latest educational hot topics. Since this requires time away from campus, the hope is to walk away with new ideas, things to challenge your thinking, and new friendships from those walking your current walk.
The first session challenged my thinking from the presenter’s opening statement. The session intended to share ideas and examples of building leadership teams on campus as well as the next layer leadership within your district. The session leader challenged all of us to write down all of our current leadership teams. The majority of us wrote down our building leadership teams, our central office teams, team leaders, or content leads. Then came the BIG aha moment… He told us to scrap that! Throw that away! What? There were great leaders on that piece of paper!
He proposed that ALL of the people that we listed have characteristics of leadership that have already been identified hence their current leadership roles. He then asked us a thought provoking question:
How are you intentionally looking for trees in the seeds?
Wow. Collective pause.
As campus leaders, how do we intentionally look for those trees within the seeds that are around us? Have we expressed to these seeds that there is great potential inside? How are we cultivating these seeds and encouraging them to grow in their time with us and then, when opportunity arises, move on to do greater things?
As district leaders, how do we intentionally look for those trees within the seeds at our campus levels to move into that next layer of campus or central office leadership? Are we nurturing those seeds and budding trees that are within our own grove or are we consistently sending the message that others have more select groves from which to choose?
As leaders, how will we build the next layer of leadership in a district, on a campus, or within a team if we are not consistently and intentionally looking for signs that there are mighty, capable, and eager trees waiting to be nurtured within the seeds that you are supporting and leading?
The challenge to us as leaders is not to stop supporting those in current leadership positions, but begin looking for those next trees that will sprout and grow into the next layer of leadership. The initiatives we bring to campus will not be our legacy, intentionally encouraging those we support to become greater will be our legacy.
How are you intentionally supporting those trees in the seeds?