“… To change before disaster demands
it requires leadership. ... Many times people confuse
leadership with authority, power, or influence, but true leadership involves
direction, protection, and order.
Direction is the ability to have a clear and detailed vision of where
the organization is going. Protection is
remaining focused on your core mission.
Order is dedicated work to achieve the common goal.” C.
Ed Massey
Direction, protection, and
order. These words resonate with
me. I found them because I was searching
for quotes on the fear associated with change, and this passage by Massey is
directly related to change in education.
As an Instructional Coach
supporting the work that accompanies change, I am struggling to understand (and
accept) resistance to change. In this
struggle, I have tried several different methods to wrap my head around it.
Sometimes I have thought of it in the five stages of grief context. Other times, I have just lost patience and
thrown my hands up. Most of the time, I am somewhere in between those two spots.
After sitting with Massey’s words
for a time, I am now thinking of resistance as a call (or maybe even a cry) for
leadership. Not in the authoritarian
manner, but, as Massey writes, as a need to know and feel that there is
direction (we have a clear and detailed vision of where we are going),
protection (we will not get distracted), and order (we will keep working
together). Sure, we can wait until
disaster strikes and change is thrust upon us, but then there will be no true
leadership – just edicts.
Still, many people feel any
change not of their initiation is in fact “thrust upon them.” In educational systems, many changes are
initiated at the district, rather than the building, level. But it is vital to distinguish between those
born of disaster, and those that are proactively made in the best interest of all
kids.
We are in the midst of a lot of
proactive change in our district -- completing year one of the long-term implementation
of the Instructional Framework, aligning curriculum to new standards and using
the opportunity to make it our own, and embracing school improvement on a
deeper level -- just to name a few. The
thread that binds all of our work is doing what is best for all kids. We know that the research behind the
Instructional Framework is solid and adapting our practices to align with it is
best for all kids. We know that a strong
curriculum implemented with fidelity, so as to achieve college and career
readiness, is best for all kids. And, we
know that school improvement is a continual cycle of goal-setting,
implementation, data review, and revision, whose sole purpose is to do what is
best for all kids.
So, I must continue to lead with
direction, protection, and order, even when there is resistance. The principals and teachers I support must
know that we are in it for the long haul, and that I will always roll up my
sleeves and join in the work, shoulder to shoulder. Even when we feel like giving up, we have to
push through. It is what is best for all
kids, and they deserve nothing less from us.
