Posted on by

Warm Hearted Leadership

warm heartOver the course of a day one deals with so many people and encounters so many stories.  Each one those stories, and the resulting behaviours, elicits in us an internal response. It may provoke anger, compassion, anxiety, sympathy, and  a host of emotions.  What we feel is beyond our control, but it is our ability to look beyond the behaviours and deep into those stories that is the sign of a warm hearted leader.

The term “warm hearted” is associated with qualities such as compassion, caring, understanding and empathy.  We all possess those traits to some extent, though any one of them can be more or less developed in some individuals than in others.  It is the warm hearted person who, equipped with these qualities, has a keen ability to look beneath the surface -beyond a person’s actions and into their underlying intent – and see the world with compassionate eyes.

How often, when we encounter someone who is displaying an inappropriate response, do we  deliberately ask the question: “what is their intent?”.  Is anger more a means of defence than attack?  Is judgement a way to curtail being judged oneself?  It is surprising how focusing on the intent can quickly re-frame the situation and help one to understand another’s actions.

I intentionally referred to understanding a response, not necessarily accepting or tacitly supporting it through silence.  Understanding the rationale for a behavior is the first step in confronting it however.

I believe that warm hearted people are specially equipped to respond to even the most difficult situations – those that provoke anxiety and distress, that negatively impact on interpersonal harmony and that have the potential to harm the mental health and wellness of themselves and others.

Warm hearted leaders have a responsibility to do even more:

  • They are obliged to not only temper their own responses, but empower those around them to do likewise.
  • They have the special ability to look beyond and beneath – beyond the walls that individuals might build or defences they may employ, and beneath the surface behaviors to which we often react.
  • They have the ability to affect climate and foster a culture of compassion.

To do any less is to squander the gifts that have been bestowed upon them.

 

Posted on by

Is Your School Lockdown Relevant?

lockdown2The signal is given.  Doors lock. Students huddle in the safest possible location.  The building goes quiet.

We live in a world where school  lockdown drills are a fact of life.  A response to violent incidents of which we are well aware, their purpose is to prepare people for an event we all hope never occurs.

Of course, these sort of activities can cause anxiety on their own, but how we conduct these drills is often left to the discretion of the school.  An unannounced drill will most certainly induce some level of panic and urgency, just as in a real emergency situation.  But is that the best way to prepare people for the real thing?  A surprise drill where staff and students are inadequately prepared is a poor way to equip them to respond to a safety threat.

An effective school leader will, at the very least, do the following to make an emergency lockdown drill a relevant learning experience:

Make it meaningful

Give staff and students ample time to prepare in advance of the drill.  At our school, I advise staff a week in advance of the event, specifying the date and time, and encouraging them to review the procedure with the class.  I will usually provide links to relevant articles to serve as a discussion point as to why we have emergency lockdown drills.  This puts the activity in context and demystifies some of the reasons for practicing it.

Teach the response

During the drill, I will inform staff and students over the school’s public address system as to what is occurring at each stage of the drill.  They need to know why it is important for them to sit in silence and to know what is going on in other parts of the building as they participate in the activity.

Transfer the learning

Following the drill, I will typically go to each class for a debriefing.  One of the questions I will pose to the students is “What did you learn from this drill that you can apply to other situations?”  I suggest to students to consider how they would react if they were in a dangerous situation in a shopping mall or movie theatre.  What did they learn in the school drill that would keep them and others safe in those situations?  Students generally provide some insightful answers related to minimizing their exposure to the risk and to helping others to remain safe as well.

Providing staff and students with the opportunity to go through this type of exercise in an open, informed and structured way builds their capacity to respond appropriately in an emergency.   Subsequent drills typically involve a less guided approach requiring a more independent response.

People can learn how to stay safe when confronted with a potentially dangerous situation.  Our role is to educate and these types of drills give us the chance to teach some important lessons.  Schools must seize the opportunity to make them meaningful.

Posted on by

Graduation: Not Just a Celebration of Student Achievement.

grad-capThe following is the text of my Principal’s Address to the High School Graduates of 2014.

My mother was the type of person who was cautious about throwing an item away, always thinking that someone might have a use for it someday. So when rummaging through a box of papers some time back, I was not surprised to come across something that I had thought was thrown out long ago.  It was a hand written copy the first graduation speech I ever delivered.  What I mean is that this was the speech I wrote and gave at my own high school graduation.  A speech that I delivered as a very nervous seventeen year old to a crowd much like this one.

I took it out of the dusty brown envelope, sat cross legged on the floor and began to read the words I had written many years ago.  After silently going over nearly all of the speech, I put it down and thought:  how embarrassing!

I could see that I attempted to be witty, and I guess I wrote the best speech I was capable of at that point in my life. Really, I was just glad that the speech was 37 years in the past and delivered in the days before anyone owned a video camera, so I could be certain that no one had any record or memory of those awkward words.

But the last paragraph of that speech was different.  Maybe I felt it would be appropriate for me to end on a serious note.  And as I reflected upon the closing paragraph, I realized that what I wrote then still holds true today.  In fact, it is highly appropriate to share it with you right now, since, I wrote it on the occasion of a high school graduation and I wrote it when I was as old as the people up on this stage today.  Here is what it said:

“Remember that we owe a lot to the people that are with us here today, for they have influenced us, and helped us to become who and what we are.  In a lot of ways, a school is a little world in itself, a world where we learn how to solve problems and adjust to different situations.  Sometimes we mess up, but that is kind of what school is for too.  And when we run into obstacles, we have people around us to help show us the way.”

I did not realize it at the time, but I know now that what I was referring to was a sense of community.  The importance of community is an enduring reality.  The strength that comes from a caring supportive community is as powerful now as it was then.

I look around this room and I see proud parents, grandparents, relatives and friends. I see teachers, educational assistants, secretaries, bus drivers and custodians. You are here because you care and because you want to share in this wonderful community celebration.  You are here, because you are the community.  And while we are here to celebrate the graduation of these students, we also celebrate your contribution in making this happen.

So on behalf of the person you see standing here before you as well as on behalf of my seventeen year old self who is speaking to you from across the years, I wish all the best to these young people, and extend my gratitude to all of you who have provided the support and encouragement that makes their high school graduation a reality.

Posted on by

The Permanent Bookshelf of Your Mind

3booksI do not keep many books in my office.  While I like to read for professional growth, nearly all the books that I read enjoy only a temporary stop on my personal bookshelf en route to the staffroom.  It is there that I have established a small professional library for all staff, an expanding resource located in a prominent spot and arranged in a fashion so as to serve as a tasteful focal point in that room.

My office bookshelf typically includes books I am currently reading as well as a few prospects that I have on deck.  However, there are three particular titles with which I simply cannot seem to part.  In fact, I have given away copies of them only to later purchase another so that I could have it on hand.  I have found these particular books to be invaluable in helping me define my role as principal.  They are resources I turn to when I am looking for direction and they have helped shaped my reflective practice.  These three titles enjoy a permanent spot on my personal bookshelf:

  • The Power of Servant Leadership, by Robert K. Greenleaf

The subtitle of the original 1977 book Servant Leadership is “A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness”.  The key word in all of that is “legitimate”.  People enjoy power by virtue of their position, but true power is characterized by situations where people are willing to work with and for you because they have a genuine desire to do so.  I have concluded that people cannot become servant leaders.  It is either within one’s nature or it is not.  However, there are lessons for all within these pages which highlight how the greatest leaders are those who have genuine empathy, wisdom, and an authentic sense of service to others.

  • The Prince, by Niccolo Machaiavelli

Such has been the impact of this book that the author’s surname has evolved into an adjective, albeit a somewhat undesirable one synonymous with deception and unscrupulous deeds.  However, what Machiavelli offers is a pragmatic view of how systems operate.  His keen observations are as relevant today as they were in the 16th century.  Is it a stretch to think that they apply to school administration?  I certainly don’t think so.  The lessons in this book have helped me to clearly understand many of the processes I see around me and I would be lying to say that I have never exploited that knowledge in navigating my way through the mine field of education politics.

  • Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, by Daniel Goleman

It seemed as though there would only be two books I would keep within arm’s reach during my career.  Then I read Focus.  We live in a world where diverse elements compete for our attention.  It is impossible to respond to every demand, but how are we to react to the expectation to always be on our game and respond to competing requests for our time?  What choices should we make?  Goleman addresses this by encouraging us to take a mindful approach in which we genuinely attend to others, balance our goal seeking with a sense of empathy and strive to focus on what is truly important in the grander scheme.  The impact of our actions ripples far wider than we imagine.

Various factors  shape our character.  We all learn in unique ways, which means that while people like me prefer the printed page, others are impacted by different experiences, a handful of which will undoubtedly earn a prominent place in their consciousness.

What is on your “permanent bookshelf”?

Posted on by

Value Added Professional Learning: Using Twitter to Enrich the Conference Experience

twitter_appI recently returned from an annual school leaders’ conference.  The format of the conference has remained largely unchanged over the years and followed the traditional approach of keynote speakers followed by breakout sessions catering to more specific interests.

But this year, things were different.  I found the conference focused on relevant topics aligned with my own professional growth objectives, which is what I expected. But what I did not expect was the real time exchange of ideas and observations invisibly occurring amongst Twitter savvy participants which significantly enriched the learning experience.

Participants engage in the sessions in different ways. Some pay rapt attention to the speaker.  Others may take hand written notes to reinforce the message.  Twitter provides participants with another means of engaging in the presentation, and the interactive nature of this resource can result in a rich learning experience

I sense that conference participants who exploit Twitter experience the event on a different level than those who do not utilize this tool.  Conference organizers are becoming increasingly aware of this.  It is becoming more common to see “#conference_name” on registration forms, name tags and the speaker’s podium.  There are numerous helpful articles to assist event planners in embedding Twitter into conferences.

The running dialogue occurring just below the surface has the potential to be extremely helpful in sharing learning reflections, but there is more to it than that.  For those with the ability to exploit this resource, the Twitter enriched conference has the potential to accomplish three things:

  • The collected tweets of people posting their observations comprise notes far more thorough that one person is likely to compile.
  • Tweets enrich the presentation when they provide immediate links to material or resources to which the speaker has referred.
  • It provides unparalleled access to the speaker for follow up.

Participants may choose to exploit this resource or not, but those who are unaware of the potential of Twitter as a conference resource are missing a significant opportunity to enrich their professional learning experience.

Posted on by

Academic Awards: Who Are They Really For?

Oscars.  Grammies.  Golden Globes.  ‘Tis the season of awards ceremonies –  the entertainment industry’s exercise in self promotion in which it showcases the best it has to offer .  Pop culture would have you believe that “the best” truly is worth viewing, downloading, or tuning into. 

awardsIs the song of the year necessarily better than others?  It might be to some.  The best actor, film, screenplay, or daytime drama is only the best in the context of that particular award ceremony, nothing more.  The industry has cleverly created these events not necessarily to determine and celebrate the subjective “best”, but to promote the product and heighten its own profile within our consumer society.

And the Academic Award Goes To…

Much has been written about school based awards.  Many jurisdictions maintain a traditional approach where top marks or proficiency in a strictly defined category is recognized and rewarded.  In some, they have metamorphasized into more general celebrations of learning.  In a handful of others, they have been abolished altogether.

Who benefits from school based awards?  Is it the student?  No doubt there is some impact on a students’ self esteem when they are selected  for recognition from amongst their peers .  But for every winner, there is a runner up and a host of others who did not merit consideration.  What of the self esteem of these people?

Is it for parents?  Certainly there is a measure of pride in seeing one’s child recognized for significant achievement, as evidenced by the existence of bumper stickers proclaiming that “My Child is on the Honour Roll” at a particular school.  And what does this say about the parents whose children are not selected for an award?  If a child’s success reflects upon the parent, surely their lack of recognition must similarly have some impact.

Is it for the school?  Award nights that bring people together under the tagline of “a celebration of excellence” certainly can impact upon the profile of the school within the community.  Such events are frequently built on the foundation of tradition.  For parents long removed from the public school setting themselves, it is something that they immediately understand.  The presitige associated with receiving an award echoes across time.

An Exercise in Self Promotion

Perhaps the school system itself reaps the most benefit from traditional school based awards.  It is the system that creates the awards and then establishes the typically narrow parameters for recognition. This frequently results in an excellent public relations opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of a handful of students and heighten the profile of the school.  Does it improve student learning?  It may impact for those few students who require the extrinsic motivation of an award to achieve their best, but it accomplishes little more.

We live in a competitive world where we are taught to strive to be the best.  However, what constitutes that ideal is frequently subjective and rarely inclusive.   The practice of creating and distributing school based awards does not necessarily need to be abolished, but it is important that we recognize this practice for what it is.  It is the recognition of the high achievement of some students within the context of rigid parameters, and exclusion of the rest.

It is time for all school systems that perpetuate the traditional model to shift focus. Practice must be inclusive and recognize the special talents that each individual brings to the table.  This is at odds with awards based approaches which, while they might serve the purposes of the school system, need to be rethought with a view to bringing tradition into line with current practice in teaching and learning.

Our actions must reflect and reinforce that doing one’s best is more important than being “the best”.

Posted on by

Remembrance Day: How to Engage Students and Build Empathy

Remembrance_001I have participated in numerous school based Remembrance Day ceremonies.  From my observations over the years, I have concluded that the participation of the student population in a traditional assembly style Remembrance Day ceremony typically falls into one of three categories:

  •  A segment of the school population is invested in the activity and emotionally engaged in the act of remembrance. 
  • A portion of the population is compliant in that they display the expected behaviours, though they may or may not relate to the underlying message behind the day.
  • The final category includes those disengaged students who do not appear to grasp the spirit of Remembrance Day.

What are schools to do to make this day meaningful?  To answer that, one must first answer the question:  What is the purpose of Remembrance Day?  According to Veterans Affairs Canada, “Remembrance Day commemorates Canadians who died in service to Canada from the South African War to current missions.”  Simply holding a traditional assembly style service may or may not be the best way to enhance student understanding and build empathy.

When it comes to educating students about Remembrance Day, I favour a participatory approach designed to engage the students in dialogue, provoke thoughtful reflection, and challenge students and staff alike to make the connection between their own lives and “Canadians who died in service”.

Veteran’s week is an opportunity to set the tone for Remembrance Day.  As Principal, why not seize this opportunity to orchestrate a series of school wide activities geared toward enhancing students’ understanding of the significance of this day?  The Veterans Affairs web site includes a number of resources designed for classroom use. These can serve as excellent launch points for a variety of engaging learning experiences.

During our day of observance, we carry out activities meant to educate and to build empathy.  Each period of the day begins with a structured, guided activity designed to be meaningful to all.

PoppiesFor example, one period may see all teachers have their students view a particular video from the Veterans Affairs Video Gallery.  Staff is provided with a simple discussion guide to use in engaging the students in dialogue about what they viewed.  The next period may start with students reading Remembrance Day reflections over the school PA system, or perhaps explore classroom based reading selections.  The Veterans Affairs “Ways to Remember” page provides a wealth of school and classroom based approaches to foster active participation in Remembrance Day.

Whether schools carry out these activities as a lead-in to a traditional assembly style ceremony, or incorporate them into a more participatory “Day of Remembrance”,  it is the spirit of Remembrance Day that must be at the heart of what we do. 

As educators, we are obliged to

  • engage our students in activities related to Remembrance Day,
  • build empathy towards those died in service,
  • help students clearly understand the connection between the sacrifices made by others and the lives we are living today.

That is the least we can do.

 

Posted on by

Bi-Tech: Relating to Both the Digital and Analog Generations

old phone new phoneI am of the generation that grew up in a largely pre-digital era. With the pace of technological innovation in today’s world being what it is, nearly all of us can say we have seen a tremendous amount of change in our lifetime. Yet I find myself in a challenging and somewhat frustrating position;  I need to be able to competently use the latest technology while maintaining a skill set related to that which is rapidly being rendered obsolete.

The best way to illustrate the need for this is to reference my own family. I communicate with my adult children via text messaging and occasionally through a social networking medium. Typical of most digital natives, online media is their first choice when it comes to news, sports and entertainment. We carry our smartphones with us practically everywhere and can connect in seconds, although I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times we actually used those devices as telephones.  Our practice has been to exchange bite sized pieces of text information. I respect that they prefer to communicate in this fashion

My elderly mother receives a daily printed newspaper. She does not have internet access in her home, and relies on the radio and television for her news and entertainment. She has a cell phone and I continue to try to persuade her that the device is essentially useless when turned off.  (From her perspective, there is no reason to turn it on if she is not actively using it.)  She relies on her land line telephone, preferring real time conversation as her primary means of distance communication. I respect that she prefers to communicate in this fashion.

I am caught in the middle with a perspective that yields a unique understanding of both digital cultures.  As a result, I am proficient in accessing communication technologies across generations, something of which I am not confident either generational extreme can boast.

Out with the old and in with the new?

A number of my age cohorts are tech savy, others are decidedly not. As a high school principal, many of the parents with whom I interact typically fall somewhere within that continuum. Does that impact on how I communicate with them?  It most certainly does.

Consider the traditional school newsletter, which continues to be a commonly used communication tool. Stuffed into backpacks and binders, some might find their way home to their intended audience, but many do not. Recognizing that they could improve on their delivery rate, schools began to make newsletters available online or to email them directly to parents, yet they did not necessarily abandon the hard copy backpack-delivery model. This is in recognition of the fact that we are dealing with parents who relate best to a paper newsletter as well as those who prefer to receive that information electronically.

So are schools then to exploit new technologies while maintaining older, even obsolete means of communication?  My answer to that is a qualified no. While we are obliged to communicate with parents and with the community at large, it is our responsibility to enable them to receive information in more current formats and  move away from yesterday’s practice.

IMG_4446aThe Digital Divide.

It has been years since I have sent home a regular printed school newsletter. Our school sends one major newsletter style publication home each year as an insert in the year-end report card. It includes information about the upcoming school year and frequently references the school website as an information source. QR codes direct the more tech savy parents to relevant sections of the school website and it is clearly indicated that this is the one printed newsletter parents can expect to receive. Our goal is education, and that includes enabling the ability to access school information through modern means.

I recognize that some people may be incapable of accessing information through current technology, and for these people we gladly print and send the relevant sections of the school website. These are increasingly rare cases.

Straddling that digital divide can be a challenge. Parents, particularly those of high school students, are largely digital immigants.  While one may deem it necessary to preserve dated strategies to faciliate communication with all parents, the resulting reality sees the same information available in a variety formats and delivery models.  This redundancy is ultimately inefficient.

At some point we must abandon the obsolete.  As communication technologies evolve, so must our practices.

Posted on by

Professional Development: Don’t Waste Your Time!

professional developmentOn any given day, both my physical and electronic inboxes contain notices about high profile speakers, regional workshops, webinars, seminars, and more – a plethora of chances to build on one’s professional skill set.

Targeted professional development results from thoughtful self analysis culmunating in a professional growth plan. Yet professional development activities also have the potential be an expensive waste of time.  This is most likely to be the case where PD is reactive, pursued with little consideration for personal or organizational needs, and receives no follow up.

I write “The Principal in Practice” to share what experience has taught.  The focus of this article is on how to target PD initiatives and virtually eliminate wasteful PD practices.

Personal vs System Based PD

There are essentially two types of PD – personal and system based.  Personal PD is just that, and related to one’s personal growth plan.  System based is linked to providing those engaged in a shared initiative to develop their skill set in a generally similar way.

Personal Professional Development:

At the start of each school year, I engage each individual teacher in a dialogue regarding their professional goals for the year.  This is an opportunity to have a frank discussion about what they view as their most pressing needs. As principal, my role is to keep a number of influencing factors in the mix, including school goals, Division priorities, effective teaching practices, and above all, student learning.

I typically encourage teachers to formulate two or three goals related to some or all of the above and we invariably negotiate some mutually agreeable target areas.

Those professional goals become the filter through which all prospective PD activities must pass.  When a teacher approaches me about attending a PD session, my first response is to initiate a discussion about how the activity relates to those goals.  If there is a clear connection, my job is to find a way to support that activity.  If there is not, then my job is to redirect the conversation toward the teacher’s professional growth plan and to determining the types of activities that will help him or her to achieve the objectives in that plan.

System Based Professional Development:

System based PD is typically put in place to support a school based or Division wide initiative.  It is challenging to create these types of PD activities because the target population is often at different learning stages.  Some may be well versed in the topic while others are only beginning their learning journey.  Where that is the case, the wise PD planner will turn that into an advantage by exploiting the skills of those who have the background to support or mentor those who do not.

When PD fails

A critical first step in creating meaningful system wide PD activities is to conduct a needs analysis to target interventions.   PD planners can err by targeting too low.  When they fail to recognize that a particular skill set already exists, participants will be bored, and subsequently disengaged from the activity.  Alternately, planners can target too high and by making assumptions about the audience’s knowledge base, they risk disengagement from participants who feel they are in over their heads.

Even a simple needs analysis can inform PD planners about their audience and enable them to create a valuable, meaningful experience.

Follow up

The phrase “drive-by PD” refers to those one-off activities that receive little or no follow up.  While it may be tempting to become involved in a hot topic PD session, such events rarely provide much benefit in the long run.  The concept that any professional development is good professional development is simply not valid.  PD is expensive in terms of both time and money, and there is no excuse for wasting either.

How do you know PD is impacting student learning?

PD activities must ultimately lead to one important thing – an improvement in student learning.  A good PD plan will articulate some means of determining that relationship. What that looks like is dependent upon the situation and it does not have to be particularly complex.  The key elements to include are:

  • Determining the need
  • Formulating the PD plan
  • Carrying out the plan
  • Evaluating the impact of the plan

Stay the Course

It may be tempting to veer off course now and then, but following a well thought out plan will provide the greatest impact in the long run. Our time and resources must never be wasted as we provide leadership and foster professional growth in those around us.

Posted on by

New Teachers: I’m Your Principal and I’m Here to Help.

booksIt has occurred a number of times over my career that I have supervised a first year teacher. I have always found something exciting about that. Typically, these individuals display hopeful enthusiasm combined with a measure of anxiety and an incredible amount of energy. Their youthful optimism and determination to make a difference inspires me to go the extra mile in helping to make their first year in the profession a highly successful one.

The degree of influence the principal exerts on the school-community is well documented. The principal of a new teacher is in a unique position to significantly impact on that person’s career. Nurturing these individuals takes time, requires a great deal of understanding, a supportive attitude, and sensitivity to the needs of the teacher while at the same time keeping the focus on student learning.

While every situation is unique, there are some essential functions that an educational leader must fulfill in supporting the beginning teacher:

Know the teacher’s learning style.

We talk about how students have unique needs and learning styles. Adults are no different. The best thing about having a conversation with teachers about their own learning styles is that they are likely more self aware on this topic than any other segment of the population. They know what works for them and possess the vocabulary to articulate it. As principal, I need to know how my teachers learn.  Only then can I effectivley support their professional growth and learning.

Build the Relationship.

When I am having a conversation with a teacher about professional practice, I want the teacher to see that I am completely invested in that discussion and will do whatever I can to enhance the classroom learning experience.

The foundation of any relationship is trust. The beginning teacher needs to know that you will tolerate “mistakes” with a view to using them as the basis of lessons on how to improve instructional practice. Help the teacher to see, through your actions, that your priority is to help that individual grow professionally. Prove it by always following through on the things you have pledged to do to achieve that.

Facilitate networking.

A beginning teacher is not likely to know of all the resources upon which they can rely. As I bring resource people into the school – consultants, co-ordinators, technicians, clinicians, and so on – I make sure they take some time to connect with the new teacher. It is not difficult to arrange for a 15 minute meeting where the individual can meet face to face with the teacher and explain his or her role in supporting student learning. I have found that these resource people are always grateful for the chance to make the teacher aware of their services, and it often proves to be the initial step in building a supportive professional relationship.

Creating mentorship opportunities and the chance to network with colleagues is an excellent way to support the beginning teacher. The well connected principal will exploit opportunities for collaboration between the new teacher and those from whom he or she can learn and seek support.

Articulate procedures.

Experienced principals know how important it is to have procedures in place to govern common every day school based practices. With time, they become our routines and we rarely give them second thought. Yet, new teachers don’t know the procedures for ordering materials, getting field trip approvals, submitting leave forms, and the dozens of day to day activities that we may take for granted. This is easily dealt with by creating a staff handbook that concisely details all of these routines. No teacher should feel lost when it comes to daily procedures; there is  no reason for this to ever cause anxiety.

Recognize that the beginning teacher may not be aware of the critically important role played by support staff. Ensure the teacher knows what he or she can ask of the school secretary or custodian.

Handle with Care

The above functions indeed apply to all teachers and not just those starting out in the profession. However, the needs of beginning teachers are amplified during that important first year in the classroom. As principal, you have significant influence on the direction of that person’s career. True educational leaders will seize the opportunity and create the conditions for success.