Wishing a Fair Adieu

Thanks, friends and colleagues, for your interest in All Other Duties As Assigned, Quick Reads.  With a year now since the publication of my book for Assistant Principals, it's a continuing joy to work with you, alongside other amazing people around the nation and beyond, sharing our dedication for students and those who work to empower and uplift them.  

My interests in continuing written contribution and offering helpful conversation are ongoing, and I'm now turning my attention to additional writing projects that I'll share more publicly when they are ready.  One may very well be, "All Other Duties, AND THEN SOME!"  So it is with those pursuits and heartfelt gratitude that I wish you a fair adieu from this blog space, for the time being.

Please know your reading and reflecting alongside have been valued, for sure.  Continue to call, write, Zoom, and co-create with me.  You're the one keeping ME relevant.  

For now, I sign off, encouraging you to share what I've included in this blog this past year with those who might be interested, and watch for future work coming your way.  

My best.  Ryan Donlan

It’s the Summer Season: Time to Cultivate Your Counterspace

    Whether on traditional school calendars, or in those balanced or year-round, summertime brings with it opportunities for recalibration and rejuvenation for Assistant Principals. One of my many favorite things to do each summer was walking leisurely through my school’s hallways when no one was around, thinking fondly of the year gone by, and envisioning how I could be of better service to those around me in the year ahead. 

    My role as architect helped insurmountably each summer season. 

     Not an actual architect, mind you, but one figuratively as creative and potentially, as environmentally influential. 

    Each summer, I was an architect of counterspace. 

    As I share in All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal’s Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out, opportunities for Assistant Principals to cultivate counterspace are powerful, indeed. 

    Here’s how I conceive of it: 

    “Think about the wide array of students you have in your school and how some seem to fit in more seamlessly and function than others . . . the bottom line is that some students feel more connected with school as you have designed it, and others feel less connected, or othered” (p. 138). 

    Ok, are you with me?

    Now, as Assistant Principals, we have obligations to create spaces where all students experience a sense of belonging, so they feel a part of things—a place to go where they are valued, known, and matter. This is what the notion of counterspace is all about. Counterspace is a place where those of similar experience, perspective, or identity gather to celebrate one another and affirm their shared experience among the larger whole of the school. 

    Some fit more snugly with the larger whole of the institution and the way school is done; others experience more incongruence with structure or dynamic. 

    All need counterspace, especially the latter. 

    I share with educators, “Counterspaces need a physical element to them, a demarcation of territory where certain students are allowed and encouraged to go to be with their group” (p. 139). This is some of what’s on my mind each summer as I reflect back and think with about what we have accomplished and look ahead with hope anew. And yes, physical space—or place—has much to do with it. 

    So . . . what does this all mean [to me] anyway? 

    It means during the summer season, it’s time to cultivate our counterspace. 

    It’s time to take our principals, custodians, secretaries, counselors, teachers, staff, and maintenance teams on a stroll through the school and have conversations regarding which students meet where, what gets done socially and interpersonally, and who does and does not have a place. We might even involve students. 

    Further . . . ask ourselves, ‘What can we invest in to create more counterspace?’ As I note, “Look for spaces in the library, at the ends of certain hallways (nooks and crannies), in the gym mezzanine, in school courtyards, and on school groups if weather permits” (p. 140). While doing so, think about how you might maintain and buff-up existing spaces each summer season so that they have a fresh look and viability for the fall ahead. 

    Don’t change things radically, especially if it has to do with seating capacity or structural orientation. These things already have a way ‘of being’ to them—for students. Don’t disrupt students’ abilities to gather, in terms of how they’ve decided to gather prior if it’s working out for all involved. Don’t give students an unwelcome surprise, with something no longer around that they value. 

    Would almost be as bad as little kids having their age-ole’ playground equipment stripped from recess, as their newfound, frown-engendering fall surprise! Oh, and this does remind me . . . the need for counterspace exists in all schools, for all grade levels, so let's keep that in mind. 

    What we as Assistant Principals can do, of course, is to find new ways of creating and expanding opportunities for counterspace, so that groups can gather in the context of the school’s whole, yet with respectful partitioning so that they have the comfort and distance to step more into themselves, authentically. 

    In sum, take time this summer to cultivate your counterspace and give students a place to nurture their individualities, enjoy their dualities, and embrace their identities; while keeping a mindful watch, offer respectful autonomy and agency to them in the process.  In doing so, you’ll “…admittedly [provide] for a certain degree of separation and some might say segregation, yet in the end, with your intentional support, what it does is bring students together in engagement around their own identities, which actually furthers your school’s main purpose if it is to be inclusive” (p. 140).

A Stretch Opportunity in Elkhart, as I Ponder #2's

        I find it hard to turn-things-off when it comes to thoughts concerning Assistant Principals. What heroes! In fact, #2’s in all organizations present themselves vividly in my mind’s eye. Happens most every morning or evening as I walk, or during the day as I enjoy campus life at Indiana State University . . . or as I drive or fly. Other places too. 

        Such is the case for an opportunity provided me again this week, as part of the cherished joy I have in stepping-into my happy space among some greats in Thought Leadership. Granted these folks are the best of the best, so it’s a stretch opportunity for me to try to keep up with them. 

        The 2023 Thought Leadership Conference for Business, Education, and Community is held this week in Elkhart, Indiana at [and around] the beautiful Lerner Theatre. This conference focuses on equity, diversity, and inclusion, where business, education, and the non-profit sector connect and collaborate on the most pressing and critical topics facing intercultural relations, as well organizational and community success today. I’ve been involved for several years since the conference’s inception, at the encouragement and guidance of organizer and visionary, Dr. Tessa Sutton, Assistant Superintendent of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the South Bend School Corporation. 

        As the Thought Leadership Conference website notes, “Anyone who wants to collaborate across sectors to enact social change” can attend and notably, “Thought Leaders who want to work together to create a connected culture of inclusion, diversity, and equity in their organizations and communities."

        My point in all of this is that Dr. Sutton challenged and inspired me this year to extend my theories on #2’s in organizations—those presented and refined in this blog among other outlets—to include obligations and opportunities in leveraging access, equity, diversity, and inclusion for all. 

        And that’s what I’ve done—At least . . . I'm off to a modest start . . . an extension from where I’ve been. As I wrote to Dr. Sutton earlier today in preparing for my trip, I shared with gratitude, this is a “. . . wonderful opportunity you continue to provide under your leadership.” 

        So . . . for those in my conference sessions, I’ll share “The Critical Role of #2’s in Inclusive Organizational Leadership,” and it is within that context I’ve extended on my model by formulating new definitions to encourage conversation, reflection, difference-sharing, and co-creation—again, with a focus on access, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

        Please check out my working definitions below, and envision your role as an Assistant Principal, Dean, or otherwise-#2, invaluable to your organization, staff, and students, as I note in All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal's Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out. 

        Let me know if you’d like to extend this conversation, to help me refine and build further. I might just do so in future blogs, as some of these definitions are clear to the casual reader and others do better with additional context provided, as I’ll present to Thought Leaders this week. 

        Enjoy. 

 

The Critical Role of Your “#2” in Inclusive Organizational Leadership 

 

"Teaching Up," As we serve as Confidants . . . We as #2’s: 

Serve – Serving is not as much creating loyalty to leadership; rather, creating respectful connections among followership. This teaches us how to provide access for effective followership. 

Safeguard – Safeguarding is best ensured from the outside–in, and well the inside–out. This teaches us equitable opportunities for safety from all vantage points and respects diverse and competing values. 

Supplement – Supplementing includes both performance assistance and performance-enhancement. This teaches us diverse opportunities for growth and improvement, as well as when to show restraint in times when failing forward is appropriate. 

"Teaching Down," As we serve as Caretakers . . . We as #2’s: 

Prescribe – Prescription is often best accomplished in reverse: not when you impart directions, yet when others notice what you expect of yourself and wish to emulate. This teaches us how to encourage inclusive opportunities for agency. 

Protect – Protection is most effectively sustained through the side door—wherein the antecedents are acknowledged, affirmed, and right-sized by dialing-up awareness and resilience in those protected. This teaches us to embrace and honor another’s footsteps. 

Problem Solve – Problem solving takes both perspective and process. In the former (perspective), you don’t ban problems from your property, but make room in your house, and with the latter (process), you acknowledge a never-ending state of un-done-ness. This teaches us that difference is energy to be experienced. 

"Teaching Around," As we serve as Collaborators . . . We as #2’s: 

 Model – Modeling often involves recognizing first internally what we might not see as a part of ourselves, honoring it, and then moving ourselves into the edge of uncomfortability. This teaches us that growth is necessary and we’re a continual work-in-progress. 

Manage – Management is what many have defined as leadership, yet inward as opposed to outward and inspiring the ride upon mission toward vision. This teaches us new connections are needed, especially from voices not often heard. 

Motivate – Motivation involves frontloading The Platinum Rule, so that we can invite a better place in the lives of others, and as a natural byproduct, in ourselves. This teaches us that access, equity, inclusion, and diversity comprise an abundance mindset uniquely qualified for difference-making. 

        Thanks, my friends and those in admiration of #2’s everywhere in our nation’s schools and beyond. Particularly, to Assistant Principals, Deans, Vice Principals, and those serving in school buildings, my best to you as you head into the summer months. Please as always prioritize thinking, rejuvenation, and self-fullness.

When Might I Explore? Assistant Principals Do Not Have to Settle

Assistant Principals who are really, really good have options. They have options in terms of the leaders with whom they work and the communities in which they serve. In short, they have options to explore. The great thing about this is folks everywhere—students, staff, families, leadership teams, and communities—need what these Assistant Principals provide. Needs and opportunities exist in every community. Assistant Principals can self-actualize intentionally and do not have “to settle.” 

I often suggest to Principals, Superintendents, and Boards of Education that they strive to understand this very point above, and ensure due diligence is provided, in terms of attention to the quality of professional lives Assistant Principals enjoy. When the needs of Assistant Principal are an afterthought or if taken for granted, commentators like me might well suggest they explore other opportunities to do what they do in making that critical difference for schools inside and out. 

I don’t want to champion a revolving door for the Assistant Principalship. That would not be good for students and the adults in schools. What I do wish to do, is to have the backs of Assistant Principals who are not being recognized for the powerful differences they make, or those who are not valued or provided ample space to serve, learn, and grow. I wish for all Assistant Principals a certain strength of selffull-ness through the respect we provide, and with recognition that not everyone can do what they do. 

So, it is with cautionary mindfulness and hopeful tact that I provide three indicators that Assistant Principals might study if they are not feeling energized at this stage of the school year. I do so because the best circumstances would still foster flywheel energy, and that is what I want for the champions I adore. Following those three indicators are three look for’s Assistant Principals might identify if they are exploring relocation or reinvention. 

 If the following are taking place, it might be time to explore other venues that will embrace your gifts, both professionally and personally. 

First, if you’re feeling your ideas for making the school a better place are finding more and more “can’t do’s,” “probably should wait’s” or “reasons why not,” exploration might be needed. This could be an indicator that either you are out-of-sync through no intended fault of your own (not a judgement), or that the pace that you embrace a new way is at odds with the preferences of those above you. Pragmatically, you’ll not find a flurry of open arms for your ideas soon, not even after the reset of a new school year begins. 

Second, if you’re thinking of the demands of your daily plate during the after-hours when you need to recharge, there might be something unsavory lurking behind this seeming overabundance of worry. Considering the Assistant Principalship is a never-ending-state-of-undone-ness, the reality is that each day will leave things on the desk for the next. If you’re not giving yourself permission to let-that-go, then something must be lacking in overall permissions. Often, this is an unreasonable expectation levied or perceived from another. If truly persistent and unwelcome, you are owning too much of the worry, and another venue may be more a fit. 

Finally, if you being held to firm and fixed, temporally bound assignment in classrooms, under the notion of moving you more toward instructional leadership, then that is simply an unreasonable expectation. As I note in All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal’s Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out, Assistant Principals each day have goals, including “…positive relationships, prioritization, and efficiency, and they help keep the main thing the main thing,” which is leveraging “conflict as a catalyst for natural, positive energy” (p. 116). This cannot be accomplished if you’re tethered to one location, when needed in another. If this is occurring, you might need another venue where you can visit classrooms just because (also a strategy in my book) and not because someone wants to portray more instructional leadership on the leadership team, when it more practically would reside in teachers. 

And let’s say you DO explore and believe another venue could be more befitting of the way you roll leadership and life. Are there some look for’s that can potentially optimize opportunities for the best champions of children? I’d say so. Here are a few things you might take notice. 

First, if there’s a healthy governance/leadership balance at the upper levels of your school district, a good bet is your principal will best tee-up their expectations of you. Why’s this? Because stuff won’t then come rolling down hill, as the saying goes. It’s when Boards move from healthy governance into intrusive leadership, or when Superintendents move from healthy leadership into inappropriate governance, that things go awry. This is because the necessary symbiosis among the Board of Education, Board President, and Superintendent is no longer present, adversely affecting trust, deference, assurances, and humility. The Superintendent then loses the necessarily resilience to allow Principals to run their buildings, and many in all levels of leadership begin acting as insecure independent contractors. Be smart, watch those at the top, and if they’re acting a fool in telling you who they are, believe them. 

Second, if there’s meaningful community dissent on social media, yet respect for others with divergent views, then it’s probably a good place to explore. No dissent probably means that everyone likes things as they are, and this may bump-up against any good and new ideas you have. Internet posturing and localized, grandstanding drama will probably not play-out-well in how you will be portrayed,when you need to make more difficult decisions in your role. Often, small-minded folks have a big footprint, by virtue of how they influence. If a community seems to be living vicariously through weekly selection of a victim, forego the dance of drama, as it will become difficult to avoid if you become a professional resident. Healthy dissent, however, is an indicator of access (for you and all), inclusiveness, and diversity. That might be a place offering you room to live, learn, and grow. 

Finally, if your principal is hoping the leadership team will look more like you, with you in it, than you will eventually look like the leadership team prior to your arrival, it’s probably a great opportunity to explore. Ideally, you’ll be asked how your signature will ink the role—and will be provided the latitude to forge new relationships, do things uniquely within reason, make mistakes, learn from them, take calculated risks, and leverage new opportunities. This is an indicator that you will be able to do All Other Duties As Assigned, while simultaneously actualizing personally and professionally. It will then bring your life and leadership together, with the passion and purpose necessary to do what you’re called to do, in the way you best can do it.

Gifts of a Never-ending State of Un-doneness

        As I work with Assistant Principals, I marvel at the variety of roles in which they serve and how they support myriad communities. Among this diversity of deployment, I do however notice two things APs seem to have in common. 

        First, as I posed in my book’s title, All Other Duties As Assigned, they have a “. . . Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out.” Second, their daily roles are best described as existing in a never-ending state of un-doneness, meaning two things: (a) when APs arrive at school, they invariable end-up doing different things than they had planned, and (b) all the stuff society kicks-up keeps coming at them, continually and ongoing. 

        For some who might remember the movie Groundhog Day, (1993, Columbia Pictures, Director Harold Ramis; Story by Danny Rubin) it’s the same type of wake-up call; however, with something different happening each time the figurative alarm clock rings. The un-doneness of an AP's windshield is constant, yet the details of each experience can be unique. Makes for great memoir writing, one might muse, yet it also makes for something else indeed: Gift-giving. 

        I’ve noticed there’s a certain and predicable gift-giving done by un-doneness. I’ll bet many in AP roles have noticed it too, and even embrace more fully. Three of the gifts un-doneness bestows are Professional Fitness, Professional Impact, and Professional Opportunity. I’ll detail each. 

        Professional Fitness is maintaining peak performance in what we are being asked to do, like a professional exercise regimen—e.g., Assistant Principal calisthenics—with a slight-to-moderate change-up each work-out. The un-doneness of circumstantial “Incoming!”—with accompanying unpredictability keeps us sharp, nimble, and quick. We certainly aren’t allowed to be professionally sedentary. 

        Examples of maintaining Professional Fitness include the following: 

Honing our abilities to say what someone needs to hear, in the way they need to hear it, when they are behaviorally unpredictably. 

Getting students to share “the real story” with us, so they don’t compound the serious of their circumstance through untruthfulness. 

Moving parents into a positive perceptual light in front of their own children, when they are making it difficult to do so (Tip: Getting to the Nod, p. 69 AODAA). 

Moving quickly to where we need to go, to pre-empt others’ bad decisions, and not appearing to be in a hurry (Maximize Your Visibility, p. 11, AODAA) 

Appearing calm on the outside when we are “anything but, “on the inside. 

        Professional Impact is one of making a certain, powerful difference in others’ lives. It’s about students, friends, and colleagues relying upon us, on their not-so-best days. After all, they’re doing the best they can, and often they feel underwater doing it. We’re the life preservers. Our decisions have consequence; our perspectives have power. Our actions have impact. Let us not forget impact can go in all directions—positive, not, and otherwise. Impact is not light-weight. It’s an obligation to do no harm. 

        Examples of leveraging Professional Impact include the following: 

Ensuring students have at least one adult champion who will go to bat for them, even when they have few others (Empower Staff to Save and Adopt, p. 109, AODAA). 

Choosing occasionally, not to act—even when we can—as students are pushing our buttons and making themselves an easy target for school discipline. 

Honoring a parent’s voice and option for handling a situation their own way, even if you believe you know a better way to raise their children. 

Making a difficult decision to remove a student from school for a time, because the needs of the circumstance and safety of others call for it, or when an appropriate teaching tool. 

Spending the necessary time teaching, reteaching, and re-reteaching social skills that arguably should have been learned in kindergarten. 

        Professional Opportunity is one of securing ways in which to learn and grow, moving into our better selves, each day, one day at a time. With hundreds of experiences granted to us, we learn continually that the closing of doors opens windows of opportunity. While opportunities branch-out, borne of our last thing done, they don’t allow us to walk backwards and un-do; however, we do at times walk-things-back. Opportunity provides us that. This creates another way of approaching a situation and re-inventing our capacity to deal with it. 

        Examples of harnessing Professional Opportunity include the following: 

Asking students if you could have the honor and permission to try to reinvent your relationship with them. 

Finding the place for a daily do-over of perspective, focusing on best outcomes amid ever-present worst fears that all around. 

Taking the opportunity to visit classrooms, as a respite and because we deserve to see great teaching with student interest, success, and engagement (Visit, Just Because, p. 164, AODAA). 

Asking our secretaries and administrative assistants how we are coming across and encouraging them to provide us at least one gift of observational advice that could serve us well. 

Advancing our graduate education through university degrees and professional development and training opportunities—those that may or may not have anything to do with our days of un-doneness. 

        Again, I marvel at what Assistant Principals strive to influence daily, which is typically something different than what they expected they would, when pulling into the school parking lot. In doing so, I find true gifts at what un-doneness offers amid All Other Duties As Assigned.

The Good and Hard Work of Educational Equity

Addressing equity in education is good and hard work. When visiting schools, I’m inclined to pay close attention to issues of access, opportunity, fairness, resource allocation, and personnel deployment. I find each has a common thread, if done well—a commitment to equity. 

Equity is both good and hard to leverage, in part the latter because some of us doing the work have not experienced existential inequity. This can result in mis-identification of other factors detracting from the school experience or student success when systemic inequity is more the problem. 

Assistant principals can serve as champions of educational equity, as I share in All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal’s Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out. I note, “Schools, as much as society, inherently contain a certain amount of power, privilege, domination, and inequity that has developed over time. You must safeguard against this,” (p. 134). Additionally, “In your role, you must honestly recognize whether your school has fallen short in terms of access, equity, diversity, and identity . . . Doing the right things has to do with who you are as a person and as an assistant principal” (p. 135). 

In my book, I share specific strategies to address inequity, include leveling the playing field (p. 137), cultivating counterspace (p. 138), protecting safe zones and lifelines (p. 141), and doing difference differently (p. 142). These efforts take us to the edge of uncomfortability (“discomfort,” said more traditionally), and this is both good and hard. At that edge (of uncomfortability), I often see a few things occurring in circumstances where educators struggle to move critical conversations toward positive outcomes.

Observation One: Certain topics are hard to navigate with enough commitment to see the conversation through, toward a better place: 

One such topic is microaggressions (I use the term assumptive aggressions), “…words or actions that discriminate, usually subtly or unintentionally, against marginalized groups” (p. 136). In discussions regarding microaggressions, a point of contention can involve whether the person committing such “meant so,” or not. Wise assistant principals recognize privilege as inherent in such point-making, and address with resolve. With candor and compassion, they share microaggressions are borne of pernicious assumptions that undergird our values, beliefs, and behaviors. While often unrecognizable to the person manifesting them, they do influence what we say and do. Other persons can see these assumptions rather clearly—to use a metaphor, they quack like a duck when the duck doesn’t even know it’s quacking. 

Assumptions are borne of vicarious experiences; thus, the forces curating learned microaggressions are, by any definition, harmful. So, while one might say they did not intend to commit a microaggression, there is something inside of them—or something that has happened to them—that explains why the microaggression occurred. Once identified, one should become curious and commit to doing something about it, to reflect, reframe, and grow. 

Observation Two: Dialogue on inequity in education can bring inequity to a critically equitable conversation. Not all persons with insistent perspective provide informed contribution: 

At times, those who are the loudest or most frequent voices take conversations in the wrong direction. They can avoid a clear-and-specific naming of what they cannot or do not want to see (e.g. inequity), to be replaced by what they can or want to see (e.g. external circumstances deemed beyond their control for current states of affairs). Systems, policy, society, the media, children’s behavior, school readiness, and abrogation of traditional values and/or family responsibility are commonly attributed, as is an over-emphasis on high-stakes testing. Could these detours from conversations on inequity be indirect pleas, for greater self-efficacy in fostering interest, engagement, and success in schools (i.e., educator insecurity and a lack of confidence)? 

Consider that the quieter voices in critical conversations are often pillars of equitable practice with potential for fostering collective efficacy in their colleagues. Voices not shared are, perhaps, inequity at another level—adult-to-adult. A compassionate, open, courageous, and vulnerable meeting facilitator is needed, honoring all voices equitably. Assistant principals can accept this call. 

Observation Three: Sometimes the well-intentioned are not current on cultural humility, diversity, and social justice. 

An example of this would be the person who says they do not see color, noting, “We have one race, the human race.” Or they say they don’t discriminate or harbor racist beliefs, because they have a black or brown friend. Some may even use pejorative terms without realizing they are antiquated, counterintuitive, and harmful. Others toss around opinions on Critical Race Theory without even knowing its definition. In addressing, it’s best to leverage compassion in educating. Someone without grace, jumping all over another who commits an insensitivity, does not further dignity or build trust. 

Again, this is why assistant principals are key—guiding us into deeper understandings of difference and persons who have been marginalized or minoritized, and as well calling-out generational, systemic inequity that still exists. Research shows persons in the majority shy away from difficult conversations regarding race, a powerful illustration that we have a long way to go. 

Addressing equity in education is good and hard work. Are you ready to take these conversations to the next, critical and equitable level?

Teaching Never Ends When Assistant Principal’ing Begins

        Readers may recall from a few months ago that I was developing a theory on #2’s in organizations. At the time, it was a two-dimensional opportunity for Assistant Principal to teach, and to teach every day, all the time. Now I’m not sure whether this is an emergent theory, or rather a framework or paradigm, I’m getting more excited about it all the time. And, it’s now three dimensional. 

        Just this week, I had the opportunity to air a national Assistant Principal podcast with Dr. Frederick Buskey of Strategic Leadership Consulting. It’s available at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html. In it, we discussed my conceptual model’s development at length, and I’m including it here with visual complement, so as to further and strengthen our conversation with Assistant Principals in the field. 

        I think my theoretical depiction holds true for #2’s in all sectors and industries, including Chief Operating Officers to their Chief Executive Officer, or a Chief of Staff or Vice President to a President, or a Associate Dean to a Dean . . . or particularly Assistant/Vice Principals to Principals. Will you let me know? 

        Here's it, visually. 

        I’ll now describe. 

        Number 2’s in all organizations, in particular Assistant Principals, teach UP, DOWN, and AROUND all the time. Again, teaching never ends when Assistant Principal’ing begins. 

        When Assistant Principals teach UP, they serve as confidants. In such, they serve, providing quiet and thoughtful feedback that is not shared outside of a private office for their leader’s consideration, use, or decision not to use. They also safeguard, offering wise counsel on the potential results of leadership decisions, or deflecting the criticism from their leaders. Finally, they supplement, allowing for their own skillsets and talents to complement and/or offset those of their leaders, so that they are an extension of their leader’s strengths and leadership effectiveness. 

        While Assistant Principals teach DOWN, they serve as caretakers. With such, they prescribe what is good for the persons who entrust them with their care. They protect those who need such, even if at times . . . it is from themselves. And they problem-solve, helping others go from where they are to a better place of life and living. 

        As Assistant Principals teach AROUND, they serve as collaborators. In such, they manage colleagues to help you move the organization’s mission to their leader’s vision. They also motivate others to accomplish things that they might think are unreachable. Finally, they model the way to show that all things are possible, and that they are willing to do what they ask of others, as well. I’d be interested to see if this resonates with current Assistant Principals. Initial conference and training reactions have been particularly powerful with this notion. 

        In my book, All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal’s Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out, I say “Taking time for teaching is important because it inspires students. The school experience, no matter its quality, starts students on a pathway to their dreams” (p. 158). I believe this inspirational obligation as well applies to Assistant Principals interacting with ALL in our school setting—to those with whom they teach up, down, and around. 

        Yes, students have dreams, and we are here to teach and encourage them how to embrace and pursue. Adults have dreams. Our principals, for instance, are moving school mission toward vision: professional dreams, one might say. Principals have personal dreams as well. Friends and colleagues as teachers and staff are pursuing their own paths toward self-actualization, which is what dreams can be made upon. This obligation to teach, is really an opportunity to pursue our dreams as well, if we allow. 

        Thanks to all Assistant Principals who serve as some of our nation’s best teachers, and to #2’s everywhere —with life as their curriculum and daily difference-making as their lesson plans. Know that you make positive contributions in all directions.

An Adjacent Space

Recently pondering the notion of an Assistant Principal’s blind spot, I happened across an assets-based discovery – An Adjacent Space. 

Here’s how it occurred. 

I was on my morning walk the day Dr. Frederick Buskey of Strategic Leadership Consulting was to interview me for a taping of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Will be out in late January/early February, and I’m excited about it! What a great opportunity and true visionary for Assistant Principals in Frederick. 

When I was readying a few examples for conversation from All Other Duties As Assigned: The Assistant Principal’s Critical Role in Supporting Schools Inside and Out, I realized that the choice of details pertained more to what was in my Assistant Principal’s head space, than from any other perspective. Makes sense, I guess. 

For instance, when conceiving for the podcast of staff members who were exceptionally good in empowering to save and adopt (p. 109), or in noting the need to play catch each morning (p. 83), or the importance of developing nuanced observation (p. 44), my mind would invariably focus on students who need a bit more time and intervention. 

Those were examples I pondered sharing with Frederick. Then, more ruminating as I walked. I wondered if this was how I rolled-life as an Assistant Principal, now professor and author—thinking predominantly about those more in-need of intervention, rather than those more in-tune with agency. 

Perhaps is this is why Assistant Principals are sometimes on different and unique pages than others during the school day—our foreground is disproportionately weighted toward problem solving for those who find such difficult?? Do we default naturally into inspecting, detecting, and resolving, rather than pausing, observing, and celebrating? 

Often, it seems archetype behaviors advertise a world view borne of daily gig. I wonder how often those with whom we work might wish for a different way we pay attention. 

Let’s consider how often we think intentionally about kids who love to be in class, about those who learn for the sake of learning, or about those whom we really don’t know, because they’re quiet. What about our teachers who never send students to the office or choose not to champion anyone? They’re contributing at a distance from our foreground yet probably would do well with more of our affirmations or noticing. 

Do we provide? Possibly. 

It is with these musings I thought of blind spots . . . yet then almost immediately, imagined something else with potential. After all, a blind spot seems something we need to fix; something we hope to avoid, or at least minimize over time. In short, it’s deficit thinking, really. 

What if we considered the space outside of our immediate awareness more positively with potential to leverage rather than to minimize or eradicate. What if we instead conceived of An Adjacent Space—one that offered us another way to engage in the conversations we have, to select anew what we notice and allow into our head and heart. 

An asset. 

 I love the comedy improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and remember the game played by comedians called “The Three-headed Broadway Star,” in which three incredibly gifted presenters locked arms and helped each other compose lyrics to a song extemporaneously—doing so as one three-headed singer. 

What if Assistant Principals had three heads, one literal and two figurative, sitting adjacent through which to view situations and help generate choices during conversation? It might triple our acuity. 

Taking this further, what if we thought of every situation with the potential to view multiple ways—from vantage points of diverse experiences or from others not preoccupied with our daily drumbeat? 

Imagine the next time in conversation if one of our figurative heads in An Adjacent Space whispered in our ear, “Hey, this person might need you to notice or conceive of things differently.” 

 “What about this?” 

“Did you notice?” 

“You might want to . . .” 

“They may need to hear you say . . .” 

We all have the potential to reframe how An Adjacent Space can help reset—broadening and deepening the relationships we have with others and ourselves? What could this look like? 

Well, it could be using more intentionality in what we notice during “class calls” (p. 26) sending complimentary notes for teachable moments seen; it could be spending more time debriefing with parents whose students are in “the fringe” (p. 102) of disciplinary situations; or listening with more interest to teachers who are “comfortable” and part of the status quo (p. 181), to be wiser in the questions we’re asking. 

Do we have blind spots as Assistant Principals? For sure. Yet can we turn a dial on deficit thinking and conceive of our periphery as an asset—An Adjacent Space with the potential for access, development, and potency? 

 Multi-directionally.