The One Thing

Today was the day. I submitted to Wake County Public Schools Human Resources my paperwork for retirement from the North Carolina Teachers and State Employees Retirement System. My effective termination date is Thursday, June 30, about 90 days from now.

The decision to retire was hastened, of course, by an economy which provided little financial incentive to stay. Joblessness, home foreclosures, and depressed consumer sales continue to strain public budgets such that next year for the third year in a row, North Carolina teachers and principals will have no raise.

On a personal level, another year in the system at my current salary amounts to a monthly benefit approximately equal to the cost of my cable bill. So economically, it is just a smart move.

But we have unfinished business, you and I. So let me be clear: I intend to work very hard in the next 90 days to effect whatever transition we need to make to ensure that a regional organization remains as a preferred provider for developing NC Triangle leaders. If it is possible for me to continue to be a part of the vision we created for ourselves in the summer of 2005, I too will remain.

There are, however, three abiding principles that, for me, are important. First, the regional approach to leadership development is the only one that makes sense. Forget economies of scale for the moment and concentrate on impact. It is a fact--school leadership improves when practitioners have the opportunity to learn with and from cross-district peers. It is a matter of convening and catalyzing.

The inaugural cohort of the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association new Distinguished Leadership in Practice is a case in point. Thirty-three principals from across the state graduated this afternoon from the 10-month program. Not only did I have the privilege of co-developing their course of study and teaching them, but I was there to applaud them. They have no intention of discontinuing their cross-district learning now.

Second, leadership needs to be developed at every level. Distinguished Leadership in Practice is about principal development. Principal development is necessary but insufficient. Unprecedented high performance from teachers, assistant principals, principals, central service staff, and even support staff is required to transform public schools into a system capable of educating workers and citizens of the global village that is the 21st century. We need to tap the power of participation by everyone.

In creating new citizens, as important as what is to be done, is how it is to be done. Leadership development is about the "how." Think about it: the most effective, research-based intervention in the world is no better than the process skills of the people implementing the intervention, including skills of dialogue, conflict resolution, decision-making, team-building, problem-solving and collaborating. 

Third, it would be helpful if leadership development could become integrated and aligned with district staff work. I know folk think they are doing it, but ask the customer and see if you are remain persuaded that what you think is happening is actually happening. No disrespect to my district-level colleagues, but what you need is an organization with a singular focus on leadership development and succession planning. You are already doing four or five jobs now.

To the last point, do you remember the Jack Palance character, Curly, from 1990s movie, City Slickers? I haven't seen the movie in a long time, so I expect I'll be taking some unintended poetic license here. But here's how I remember it.

Curly is sitting by the campfire with Billy Crystal's character who is in the throes of mid-life crisis. New Yorker Billy and two buddies have signed up for a week at a dude ranch and now find themselves on a cattle drive. Crystal's character carelessly lets some "doggies" stray and so, alone with Curly, goes in search of them. Against a starless night sky and howling coyotes, Crystal's character, in both fear and awe of old Curly and after a long silence, finally asks:

"Curly, what is the meaning of life?" Curly slowly holds up his right-hand index finger, gloved in worn black leather. "Your finger? That's the meaning of life," Billy jokes.

"It's the one thing," said Curly. "When you can answer for yourself what is the one thing that makes you get up in the morning, that makes all other things less by comparison, then the meaning of life will become clear."

I found my one thing six years ago. Maybe together we can keep my one thing working for you.