The “Education Leader-shift” presentation was designed for K-12 Education leadership teams at both the building and/or district level. This engagement addresses the very real questions pondered by K-12 administrators, faculty, and staff across the country. Questions like, in a crisis how will I perform? What are my responsibilities? What role will I play as the event unfolds? In its aftermath, how will I and the actions I took be judged? Managing and mitigating crisis in any organization is most commonly tasked to those in leadership positions.  

 

The reality of crisis, regardless of what type, is that these responsibilities often supersede the capacity of those tasked with them. This is particularly true in schools…why? Leadership positions in schools exist to support the bulk of the staff…educators and support personnel. As a result, administrators and their designees routinely directly deal with any matter that does or could potentially disrupt the day to day operations of a building. 

 

This direct involvement in day to day operations allows the bulk of the staff to function unencumbered by disruption, but creates obstacles when building management transitions to crisis management. Obstacles such as lack of succession planning and training when key personnel are absent, unavailable, or overtasked. Additional obstacles include lack of initiative without clear direction amongst other personnel. In essence, it develops a condition of waiting to be told what to do…only compounding the potential for crisis to negatively impact a building.

 

This talk provides actionable solutions to these obstacles. It focuses on empowering staff to have initiative to take actions absent of leadership. It seeks to educate attendees on key terms and concepts surrounding crisis management. It is committed to aiding leadership in operating in a big-picture “strategic” role knowing they have properly developed their people and their teams to function independently with confidence. Finally, it will provide actionable items to aid in succession planning through mentorship, planning processes, and identifying both strengths and gaps in the current climate and culture within the organization.