Head of School Blog

As a new, young leader, I had an overinflated view of my importance to my team. I believed that if I was out, things wouldn't run as smoothly. Naively, I thought that was how leadership was supposed to look. The leader was the north star and without him the team would lose its way.

It took years of growth for me to realize that if I have the right people and lead them well, they will be just as effective without me as they are with me.

Whether you are a sports coach, leader of an organization, or administrator of a school, one of your most difficult tasks will be to assemble a strong, effective team. This is NOT an easy thing to do for several reasons. Not the least of which is because you are going to ask a group of people to work toward a goal that is bigger than each of them. In other words, they must be willing to put aside self-promotion and focus on what is best for the organization. 

Throughout my career in education, I have worked with several teams, many of which I assembled. At the time, I thought they were strong and effective. Unfortunately, that wasn't always true. In fact, many of the teams I assembled had major weaknesses with personnel that I had to address for the sake of the school. 

The longer I lead, the more I believe Patrick Lencioni when he says most “firing problems” are actually hiring problems. In my own words, it is because I failed to accurately assess whether the person truly aligns with the school's core values. 

As a result, Edison's hiring process has evolved every year since I took the helm in 2018. Today, the process involves several members of the current team, and every step is designed to assess a candidate's alignment with Edison's mission, values, and culture. 

In addition, we introduce candidates to the virtues we believe make an ideal Edison team player: humble, hungry, and smart — principles taken from Patrick Lencioni's book “The Ideal Team Player.” Our improved hiring process has allowed us to bring incredible educators who are fully committed to what we are building. Understanding our values, mission, and expectations allows each person to focus their energy on helping each other and helping each child reach his/her potential. 

Being a small school — 16 total employees, including me, each member of the team has multiple roles to fill. Which means, when one person is absent, the impact is felt immediately. In these instances, if a team member is misaligned, the strain on the rest of the team can be significant. Times like these test the character and strength of the team. 

Recently, the Edison team was tested unlike any other time in my eight years as Head of School, and they demonstrated why they are the best team I have ever had the privilege of working with. 

The test came while I was attending the NAIS Thrive 26 conference in Seattle. Two of our teachers were out due to family matters. During the week, two more got sick and ended up being out. That meant about one-third of our team was out during this week. With many of the teams I've worked with during my career, situations like this would have triggered calls for me to close the school. 

But NOT this team!

The rest of this team stepped in wherever they were needed. They covered classes, adjusted schedules, and supported each other to make sure our students continued to be served well. 

I had confidence that this team could handle any situation that arose in my absence, and they proved it!

One of my goals as Edison's leader is simple: I cannot become so important to Edison that the team cannot overcome challenges without me. 

When you build the right team, leading is not about being indispensable. It is about creating a group of people who are strong enough to succeed even when the leader is away.