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.