Week 20:
The Art of Delegation #SAVMP
Delegation,
has over the years, been an area of personal growth for me. As I began
exploring this week’s topic, I waxed nostalgic and pulled out an early
assessment of my leadership capacity. At the start of my leadership journey,
our former Superintendent saw some potential in me and selected me to attend
what I lovingly refer to as…Administrators Boot Camp. My “pet” name for this
program is much simpler than its real name: The Florida Principal Competency
Assessment Center.
To go
through the program, a group of potential leaders is selected and undergo
several exercises to demonstrate their leadership capacity. While they are
navigating the exercises, they are watched by a panel of objective viewers who
rate their abilities according to various leadership competencies. This “boot
camp” happened many years ago for me, but from what I remember, it was actually
quite fun. One of the other members of the group I was in is now an Assistant
Superintendent, and it was exciting to be around other leaders who I could
learn from as well as develop friendships with that would later lead to my
personal network of friends.
After we
concluded the activity, the raters scored us and debriefed us on our strengths.
I dusted off my copy of their findings today and was truly astonished at what
they revealed so very long ago when I started this journey toward being a Principal.
My strengths
were:
- Proactivity
- Continuous Improvement (Always striving to get better)
- Communication
- Facilitation (Getting others to work together
effectively)
- Critical Thinking (Analysis of data before
arriving at a solution)
- Organizational Abilities (Knowing how to design,
plan, and organize activities to achieve goals)
Ironically,
my one area of Growth that the team referred to as an “Adequacy” was the
competency of delegation. All those years ago, following that exercise, I chose to work on that skill as
a personal goal. And, since, as the report indicated, I have strength in
continuous improvement, I have grown enormously in that area. I now have some
delegation swag. LOL.
Over the
years as I have set goals to improve in this area, I have learned just how
critical a skill that delegation has to be for a successful leader. Here is why
I believe this:
1. Leadership Delegation Is Necessary
for Personal Survival
My approach to taking on new challenges is usually to learn as much as possible about a new situation. Sometimes this means that I will get down in the trenches and learn something from the bottom all the way to the top. This helps me make wise choices because I have a deeper understanding of the whole picture. However, I try and quickly move on to delegation once I learn the new program or process. If I didn't, I would drown under the weight of trying to juggle all the nuts and bolts of the system. Once my knowledge base is developed, I can look to the qualified specialists around me and I can move into the background and just facilitate.
I was able to attend a fabulous leadership training this summer by some job coaches. One analogy they used has stuck with me and continued to be an anchor for me as I move toward more efficient delegation. The job coaches compared the system leader to a baseball manager. The team manager should be overseeing and making certain the team has what it needs to win. If the team manager is out on the field playing 1st base and 3rd base, the manager will not only fail to develop his players whose position is 1st and 3rd, but he will be inefficient at managing the whole process because he is busy playing all the roles. I love this analogy, and I have used it to help my faculty and leadership team understand when I refer them to other leaders on campus. I can not be the sole source of knowledge for the campus, or else when I am away from campus, things will collapse. It is my greatest goal to build such a strong team and strong infrastructure that it runs without me.
2. Leadership Delegation Is Necessary
for System Survival
So let's talk about the team. Wow. This takes time because you have to have the players with the capacity to partake in the execution of the vision. It is a delight when I get to bring on new staff members who are malleable and can quickly adopt the campus vision and then can align their skill set in ways to promote and protect that vision.
I am always looking for folks who are ready to own the campus challenges and lead others in the ways that we can meet the challenges.
First, the appropriate people must be identified.
Next, the resources to support them must be provided.
To encourage their success, they need to be given the matching authority and trust to complete the task.
They need to understand the expectations clearly.
Lastly, I need to follow up to make certain they stay on the correct path and ultimately reach the destination.
If the delegation works, then the system gets stronger and stronger because the power base is distributed among all the team members. If EVERYONE wants to win the game, then everyone will play their hardest. This creates a strong team.
3. Leadership Delegation Is Necessary
for Success
Ownership by all stakeholders is critical for the system to succeed. We are still in the process of building this ownership across multiple leadership groups on our campus. Two great examples are our Safety Committee and our Positive Behavior Support System. We have been working to have members of both of these teams make critical decisions for the whole school so that they understand the process and implications for how those decisions impact everyone at the school .... from the teacher all the way down to the student and their family. After a recent safety assessment by our District Safety Officer, our Safety Committee broke down all of the recommendations from the officer into individual action items. Each team member carried out those action items to completion because they saw how a break in the safety plan could impact the safety of our students and staff. Team members were checking campus evacuation maps and confirming that current maps were posted in every classroom. Our PE Coach worked with the custodian to develop a rotating schedule for determining if fire extinguishers are in working order monthly. AND...this has enhanced everyone's awareness of what it means to be "safe" on our campus. No longer is the safety of the school a prescient thought in the Principal and Assistant Principal's minds only. Now, we have a team of folks who are aware and proactively working on the behalf of our school's safety goals. This makes us so much stronger! We are more successful for the leadership that has been delegated to these team members.
Leadership delegation works, and it creates a strong organization. Now, there are problems to address when you have employees without the willingness to lead or participate. There are great resources out there for those situations such as Todd Whitaker's book Shifting the Monkey.
Whatever the case, as a leader, FIND WAYS TO DELEGATE. You and your team will be stronger for it.
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