Essentialism- Necessary for all School Leaders

Essentialism by Greg McKeown was an excellent read.
 As a school leader, you believe that you can do a million things at the same time.
The author reminds us that the essentialist relentlessly pursues less but better. A school leader has to put this mantra in the forefront because schoolhouses have the capability to become chaotic if a leader doesn't know which direction to lead a school.

On a personal note, I have always had a hard time saying no. I would do just about anything a teacher, counselor, administrator, district personnel asked me to do. At the conclusion of the day or the week, I realized that I did not accomplish anything substantive."If you do not prioritize your life, someone else will" is an accurate descriptor of the direction my work as an assistant principal was headed. At first, I felt as though I was being a true servant leader. In actuality, I was not working toward the mission and vision of the school. I was not spending my time on meaningful work such as teacher observations, PLCs, or analyzing student data. McKeown writes "only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter" (p. 4). After I decided that saying no was not a bad thing, I began to concentrate my efforts on activities that resulted in actual student achievement and teacher growth.

One area where I can apply the principals of Essentialism is the school improvement planning process.  As school leaders, we write lofty school improvement goals and action steps that are never revisited. How groundbreaking would it be to actually draft a plan with less fluff and meaningful goals and action steps that the school will be intentional about completing? Being an essentialist means doing the right work. As leaders were are responsible for steering our school in the direction we believe will yield positive outcomes. If we apply the principles from the book we will create plans that are concise and targeted.

McKeown, Greg. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. First edition. Crown Business, 2014.