Teacher Leadership Mini-Series: F.E.E.D the Teacher Leader in You! Part #4: Deliver

Greetings fellow teacher leaders! I can't believe I'm saying this but...we are one week away from the KDP, Delta Rho, Teacher Leadership Development Summit on 2/24/24. If you haven't heard by now, it is a free virtual summit open to all educators everywhere! Please visit my social media for information, or reach out to me! There’s still time to register, so grab all your teacher besties and sign up! 

Our theme this year is “Leaders are hungry... F.E.E.D the teacher leader in you!” Each week we have broken down F.E.E.D to get excited to hear our amazing presenters and keynote speakers that will give us the fuel we need to confidently lead in our classrooms, schools, and beyond! With one week left, we only have one last concept to unpack! 

So far we talked about “F”- Foundations. Discovering our own definition for teacher leadership is the foundation for growing as a teacher leader, and embracing the role. We then discussed “E”- Engagement, and how it is all about what you make of it! How you stay engaged is up to you and what your areas of interest are. Engagement is key to feeling like you belong. Last week we talked about the second “E”- elevate and the different approaches we can try to elevate our own leadership, including elevating others and finding what we are passionate about and enriching our own teaching by lifelong learning.

Today let’s jump into our last letter “D”- deliver. You might think immediately that teachers are always trying to deliver effective instruction to their students, and we are! When I think of teacher leaders (and leaders in general,) I automatically think of what they deliver to others. Many probably think of a checklist of goals that were achieved because of their “hands-on” effectiveness. My question is,  is our goal to check off the boxes and say we "completed" goals, or is the true goal of leadership to continue our growth and elevate others? (Love making the connection with the other letters in the acronym!) As a growing teacher leader, I try and ask myself “What message did I deliver to someone today that helps them see themselves as a leader?” It’s important as teacher leaders we take the time to leverage the talents of others to help them deliver their best effort and work, which will in turn help us to grow as a leader, and together, more can be accomplished. It's not about putting checks in the boxes that tasks were done, or goals were achieved, but about how we get there together that helps us develop our leadership skills. 

I believe that leadership is a give-and-take process where the more you deliver to others, the more comes back to you. If we take the time to learn about others and harness their talents, build relationships with them, the more trust we will establish. Trust is a key component to success in the classroom with our students, and with one another. Effective leaders are able to deliver a message of trust, and that they trust the professionalism of those they are working with. Sadly, there are situations where specific teams such as PLC’s, PLN’s, focus groups, etc do not have trust. The dynamic is clear and outcomes are often not as productive as they could be if a trusting relationship was established. I'm sure we all have an experience that comes to mind. An active take-away from this should be "If I were the leader, what would I do/have done differently?, and how can I reframe my thinking for this to help others and build our effectiveness as a team and individually?" This isn't a quick answer teacher friends, but if you pause here to think about it, I know you'll have a wealth of ideas. I'd love to hear them so feel free to share. Also, by coming up with these solutions, you are developing your own leadership skills, as well as creating leaders in others. It can be a challenge to do this, but learn from the mistakes of others to help you as you navigate through your leadership journey. Leaders have the responsibility to deliver a model of what they expect from the other educators they work with; just like we model for our students. Be the positive role model that others may need, and you will uplift other leaders around you.

Taking time to reflect and ask others how we can improve can be uncomfortable but a necessary process in order to grow. We can deliver growth to ourselves by seeking the feedback from others. We owe this moment of growth to ourselves teacher friends! Although we might hear things that trigger our emotions, remember it’s an opportunity to improve. We only grow from those moments of failing forward. Success keeps us stagnate but failing delivers opportunities to improve, and that's what leadership is all about. Getting better at leading is a process, and always "doing well" won't teach us how to be better. It's like I tell my students, if we are good, we want to be great... and take it from there! As a leader, take the time to fail forward and deliver what you’ve learned to your own practice, and you’ll automatically give back to others, which is our goal to begin with! 

Final Thoughts: Keep thinking of how you can deliver positivity and encouragement to others to help them grow as a leader and contribute to your group. Keep delivering trust in your relationships; this will improve the productivity of everyone you work with and make you feel confident in yourself as a leader. Keep delivering opportunities for your own improvement through the feedback of others- failing forward is the true success of a leader, success keeps us "stuck" where we are. Finally, keep believing in yourself as a leader, and believe me you will be a great leader, not just a good one! 

Can't wait to see you all at the Summit next week friends! Please view the flyer below to register and my next blog will be a full debrief on lessons learned and take-aways from the summit!