Is Leadership One of the Essentials?

I found the statement below over on Leader Talk and immediately began to reflect on leadership and its impact on the culture of our school system and individual schools and departments. It should be no surprise to anyone of my belief and commitment to expanding our leadership base to support teachers and other staff engaged in changes to belief and practice. In the absence of leadership beyond the "official" administrative positions I don't believe that it is possible to successfully create and sustain PLC's. I also believe that our success in this work is partly the result of our leadership training that we have done with our administrative team, building leadership teams, and classified leadership groups.

"The real test of exemplary leadership is not making yourself an irreplaceable icon but developing a deep, talented bench who, when their turn comes, can unite a company and unleash creativity into their own way"

Unfortunately, my mind then began to go to the process we have begun to adjust our budget to the changing economic situation. I have shared before that this will require changes as we look to find those areas where we can suspend expenditures over the next biennium or adjust programs to the changing revenue picture. At some point in this process, it will be necessary to prioritize these adjustments so that decisions can be made.

One of the words that is often used in this process is identifying the "essential" components of our work. I have learned over time that for most people this means find those things furthest from the classroom and start with the Central Office. I understand and accept this and I am sure that there will be adjustments at the Central Office.

What I have also learned is that it is very difficult for most people to develop and maintain a system perspective in this process. When adjustments are proposed most of us view them from the context of the place that we work every day. We evaluate the proposed option from this vantage point. It is very difficult for most of us to suspend the assumptions that we have made that have resulted in ladders of inference that reinforce our beliefs and drive our behavior. To have a system view requires that we identify and suspend our assumptions, something that is very hard to do. In the absence of this capacity, however, there will be people that will not be able to accept certain proposed adjustments. This is to be expected and accepted as this is a very emotional process.

So, what is essential for one may be unbelievable to another. Does essential mean we make attempts to preserve the "most important" programs as whole as possible? Does it mean we make equal adjustments across all programs? Does it mean we eliminate all staff development and adult learning before we look at staffing adjustments? Does it mean that extra curricular athletics and activities are not essential if staffing adjustments are necessary? So many questions with so many varied answers driven by one's vantage point and assumptions about our work.

I feel badly that we find ourselves in this situation and for the added stress and anxiety that it is causing many in our system. I want us to consider that there are no right or wrong decisions there are choices, good or bad people, nonessential people or job functions. I also ask each of us to reflect on the assumptions we have that will drive our response to the decisions that must be made.