I am going to start with some tough love my friends and I am going to give it to you straight. Consistent productivity, engagement, and results are determined by your commitment. Bottom line. If you are not committed, than these things just simply will stay in the shallow. However, this commitment isn’t what you think it is. Commitment isn’t working more hours in the day than there actually are. It isn’t you doing it all or missing out on your family or personal life. Commitment means planning, setting your levers of energy, sticking to those boundaries, delegating effectively, and going deep with your time every time. Consistent growth and success is determined by your commitment to REPEAT and REFINE. It is a commitment to find a way to NEVER start from scratch but rather to always build on and refine. This, my friends, is where you will get your life back. This is why I am always giving you ways to repeat what you do and refine it into a container system so that you can actually live the 80/20 rule. This rule states that 80% of your results will come from just 20% of your actions. This is because you have committed to the things or levers that really matter and stopped trying to do it all.
In this blog post, I am going to give you a three lever strategy that can help you to learn which places that you get the most traction and help you to determine where you should commit to the most so that you finally get results in a smaller amount of time, have a more engaged community, and promote solutions over always dwelling in the problems.
In order to determine, where you should commit your time and what levers to pull, you need to determine your three levers that are the most important. These are the ones that you pull consistently, plan for, and commit your energy to. Everyone may have different levers that they pull on. For me, mine are visibility, professional learning communities, and teacher leadership. I also have a bonus lever that I infuse throughout each of these levers and the bonus lever is to make it personal to each teacher. There are so many to choose from so choose wisely and commit fully. The reason for focusing on three levers is so that you can be more strategic in just a few areas, so that you don’t get exhausted with too many initiatives and ideas. Because I know that is exactly how you feel right now. You don’t need to do it all, or be the jack of all trades. By determining these three levers, you know when to rally and really go all in and when you find pockets of rest where B+ work happens. That’s right, I said B+ work. B+ work is still a pass and still ok. The three levers that you chose are where the A+ work happen. Does this mean that you ONLY focus on these three areas or levers? NO. It means that when it comes to these levers, they get your best energy, your deepest focus, and are a priority at all times. Everything else gets B+ work.
Here is the really neat thing about determining your three levers – you also teach your teachers how to do this too. They need this just as much as you do as their leader. So now, you are not only spending time with what they need or should do, but you are showing them ways to find clarity and get their lives back all while killing it with the results that they have been looking for for years! If you are giving teachers hacks in life and in their business, you have got them engaged, you have got them solving problems, and you have got them excited to come to work again. Bonus! You feel this exact same way too. The overwhelm goes down, the frustration lessens because you aren’t focusing on it all, and you have a plan to provide clarity for the next right move that is personalized to each person because they have a system and the permission to not try to do A+ effort in everything. It is a very freeing feeling that sparks a new kind of energy, dedication, and commitment. It isn’t always starting from scratch but rather it is always repeating and refining. Let’s face it…nobody wants to start from scratch.
Now, you are probably wondering how you would go about determining your three levers as a leader of your school. In order to determine them, I always think about an invisible bridge. This invisible bridge is the link between your expectations and what your community actually outputs. When thinking about your three levers, think about this question that will link you to them: What does my community of teachers need to know, be aware of, understand, and believe in order for them to ever be ready to get results? Next, go back to my leadership edit system. This is where you take it all out and write down ALL of the answers to this question (one idea per sticky note). After, you sort them into similar categories. Lastly, you edit them out and get rid of the noise and label them. The group that has the most sticky notes are probably your top three levers!
Once you have your three levers, what next? Well….this is where you repeat, refine, and plan, always. This is where you determine your next right move. I know what you are thinking. “Great Jacealyn, this all sounds lovely but what does this look like?” I’ve got you. These thoughts raced through my mind too. You know….that mean girl or guy voice that is there to take you out of the game and tell you it is too hard. That voice tells you to throw your hands up and give up, you will never figure this out, so why try? Yeah that one. Kick him or her to the curb and repeat and refine that action too! I am giving you a plan so that you will always commit, so that you know where to put your A+ and your B+ efforts so that finally, you will have your life back. It is also so that your teachers can use this system and apply it to their lives, and of course so that you get results. Commit your A+ effort to these strategies that I am going to give you next so you know what to do with these three levers now that you have determined them:
- Step one: Set a goal/priority within each lever. For example: One of my levers was visibility. Therefore, my one goal was to team teach with each teacher on the supervision list for a week throughout that year. That was where my A+ effort went. Yes, I had a few B+ efforts sprinkled in there as well (For example, leave sticky notes of what I noticed on their door as I walked through, etc), but I didn’t focus my energy on those ones. Just the team teaching.
- Step Two: Test the priority or goal you set. Commit fully to it and repeat and refine it.
- Step Three: Double down on that one strategy.
- Step Four: Experiment with your goal. This is where you are refining what you are repeating.
- Step Five: Increase engagement rate. This is where you look at this priority and how it is affecting your engagement of the person/group you are working with. Is there something you could do to boost engagement in this area only? For example, with my visibility example, is there a bonus I could add (template, checklist, worksheet, strategy, etc) to give them as a strategy while I team teach with them.
- Step Six: Perfect your message. What do you want them to know, articulate, and do? Paint the picture of your expectations for them. Tell them that you feel what they are feeling. Recognize ‘that it is all too much and that we are going to always be too busy and that they will think everything is more important than them learning this lever.’ But next, tell them how focusing on this lever will change their life personally and professionally. In other words, they need to know what is in it for them. How will this affect their life, their work load, their stress level. Not just how it will affect their student’s learning.
Do each of these steps to help you determine your next right move with each lever and then repeat and refine. The process of your mindset, workload, and launching your expectations through your leadership messaging has everything to do with how you PREPARE for it. Which 2-3 levers are you MOST committed to putting your A+ efforts into for your year so that you are finally putting your energy where it matters and you can finally get your life back?
I gave you examples of my three levers: Visibility, Professional Learning Communities, and Teacher Leadership. I have an example of how I repeat and refine my professional learning communities every time we meet. Download my free Ultimate Guide to Workshopping Your Meetings that shows you exactly how I pull this lever and repeat and refine it. You guys, like I said before, set your boundaries, plan for the three levers, and commit fully. But then…go home and live your life.
Want more? Join our Principals and Leadership facebook group or listen to our student wellness podcast called Even If You Miss. I also have a website that has all of the latest happenings! Check it out at www.jacealyn.com. I will see you there!
Even If You Miss..... 