What is an educator’s most valuable resource?
While there will undoubtedly be a variety of fair answers to this question, I’d argue that the chief response should be this: Time.
In our roles as educational leaders, whether in the Superintendent’s seat or within the walls of a teacher’s classroom, we’re constantly juggling tasks and reacting to situations as they arise. Seemingly, we’re always adding more things to be done, but the time we’re given to complete them all remains stagnant. Despite this, some people seem to be able to get it all done without working endless hours after work.
How do they do it?
Again, I’d suggest there are probably a number of answers to this question, too. Despite this, I still believe one response would stand above the rest: Being proactive.
There are a dizzying amount of competing priorities that vie for a leader’s attention. I’m reminded of this each week as I talk to people across multiple states and in a variety of roles. And, yet, some of them are able to get it all done. In my experience, these are often those who behave in the most proactive ways.
Through strategic planning and careful action, these leaders create time for themselves and for their organizations. With an increased focus on what’s important, the unimportant – even the urgent – slips into the background of the business of education. Despite the ever-present challenges that arise within leadership, they do not allow themselves or their schools/classrooms to be controlled by reactive decision-making. When this happens, more time is found.
Here’s the kicker: taking proactive action not only saves time but also leads to greatness – for you and for your organization. Consider this excerpt from Current Psychology in 2020:
Growing consensus about the significance of workplace proactivity for organizations’ success has transformed our understanding of the organization dynamics in the past decades (Bateman & Crant, 1993; Crant & Bateman, 2000). Employees are expected to be more proactive than ever in the current turbulent business environment. Put forward by Bateman & Crant (1993), proactive personality is defined as a stable dispositional tendency, employees with which actively take initiatives to incite environment changes. Proactive employees are consistently predicted to demonstrate higher job performance (Fuller & Marler, 2009; Han, Harold, & Cheong et al., 2019), more helping behavior (Spitzmuller & van Dyne, 2013; Sun & van Emmerik, 2015), increasing innovative behavior (Horng, Tsai, Yang, Liu, & Hu et al., 2016), to generate greater job satisfaction (Li, Liang, & Crant et al., 2010), and to initiatively shape leaders’ behaviors (Han et al., 2019; Lam, Lee, Taylor, & Zhao et al., 2018). Moreover, evidence showed that those employees also contributed to higher organizational performance (Li, Harris, Boswell, & Xie et al., 2011; Thompson, 2005).1
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen solid leaders with great intentions repeatedly sidetrack themselves because they simply can’t stop reacting to everything at the expense of proactively planning and taking specific action toward strategic goals.
So, let’s shift gears and proactively shape our educational landscape. Whether it’s through strategic planning, team collaboration, or embracing innovative solutions, each proactive step moves us closer to greatness.
#ChooseToBeGreat
Angelo
1Zhang, Y., Wang, F., Cui, G. et al. When and why proactive employees get promoted: A trait activation perspective. Curr Psychol 42, 31701–31712 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-04142-3
CHOOSE TO BE GREAT 