Leading for Longevity: Musings since my Live on Leadership with Robin Johnson

Robin Johnson may have first come across my radar as a resume applying for a principal opening but it soon became clear she was actually a divine gift sent to help my network at a time when we needed it. She is a delight of a person, a humble servant leader and has been a principal for 15 years—which is a job where the average national tenure is 4 years! I’ve seen first hand both how impactful the role of the leader is in a school, and how much longevity in the role can help people be more effective, more efficient and more impactful. I was delighted to sit down with Robin and pre-record our live, which broadcast on March 10. (It was my children’s spring break which I take off from work: I am open about it because sometimes it feels like no one ever takes time off, and the reality is that time away is essential to recharge. I believe in it for me, my team and for leaders I work with) If you didn’t see the episode, you can catch the live here; and it is also available as a podcast through Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever else you get your podcasts.

 Achieving your goals is a delicate balance between achieving your goals. Robin is an extremely data-driven and goal-oriented leader, who came to the school I founded in the summer of 2020, when we had very little data from the past 5 months and no real idea of the way forward educating in a pandemic.  As we launched school virtually that year, I had to remind her frequently this was new to all of us, and while some of the tricks in our toolbox from leading in person worked, others were new and that was okay! What she talks about is how she had to release her focus on goals a bit to recognize where people were at during the 2020-2021 school year. It was a challenging time for kids, teachers, families, and while she really maintained a goal orientation, she had to also recognize the humanity in others and what was happening for them. That certainly resonates to this day, as we all start to hopefully emerge from this time, yet with the scars very much on us. How do you focus on what you want to achieve and also recognize and accommodate where people are?

The uncertainty of the last few years has had a lot of impact on how we lead. Robin talked about leading in the pandemic and how she has really noticed that before, people were okay if you said “X is happening and we’ll let you know the plan.” Now, people want to know the plan now—perhaps (likely) a reflection of the increased uncertainty in the world around us. In a world where we are poised to cancel plans if someone tests covid-positive, or the concert we’ve been looking forward to gets cancelled because of covid, or the supply chain woes exacerbated by covid mean that our favorite food is not at the grocery store… that wears on people, and thus their expectations of work shift. Robin talks about how this year she had three schedules based on enrollment, and how sharing those with her staff up front assured them that she knew what she was doing and no matter what happened, there was a way forward.

 Iron sharpens Iron. We borrowed this saying from the Relay Graduate School of Education, and it has been so true: the better we are as leaders and individuals and the more we work with each other and grapple with tough questions or spar over exemplars, the better everyone gets. As Robin talks about how she continues to get better and grow as a leader, she talks about surrounding herself with a community of people that challenge us and help us in our development.

Be present. Robin is extremely grounded and humble and people who interact with her always  feel like she is really with them. She talks about how critically important this is as a leader, even when it’s hard or difficult or tempting to duck in your office and do work. I have been reflecting in the last few days, monitoring how present I am and re-grounding myself in the humanity of my interactions, inspired by Robin.

Equity in grading is one of the most important ways equity shows up in schools. In all my years of education, a consistent tinderbox of a topic has always been grading. For some reason, this seems to bring up all kinds of personal baggage and everyone’s own experiences from growing up, and opinions are strong and firm on why… (effort should count, re-takes are allowed or not, a participation grade is or isn’t valid). Grades are complicated too—as a leader you know they need to be consistent and represent something meaningful for kids learning, which is hard to do across the board… and then kids and parents bring their own baggage to it! Robin and her team have handled equity in grading in a way that has tackled some tough subjects, made some clear decisions and helped ensure that kids are being graded based on mastery of rigorous content, not teacher mood or ability to sit quietly in class.

I always leave conversations inspired and refreshed after talking with Robin, and this was no exception. Coaching her and developing her was a true pleasure. If you want to talk about principal development or growing leaders with a lot of experience, book a call with me here and we can talk about how some of this greatness might translate into your school or organization.

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What do you want to know-or what are you thinking-when it comes to longevity in leadership? Leave a comment below!