Breaking the Urgency Cycle: How to Coach Leaders Back to Instructional Focus
Including four strategies you can start using Monday
One of the most challenging aspects of coaching for systemic change is getting administration to commit to the process. I suspect the reasons go beyond putting out fires.
This is not to say that school leaders don’t have these daily challenges. In my sixteen years as a building principal, I recall days that disappeared under a deluge of student behaviors, as an example. But almost every day? I would never have lasted sixteen years under those conditions.
Here’s my current theory:
Leaders get inundated with urgent tasks they cannot handle within one day.
They use the following day to catch up on all the paperwork from yesterday.
In the meantime, they are not present in classrooms or common areas.
This becomes a pattern. There is less accountability or support due to a lack of visibility.
A lack of consistency across classrooms leads to incoherent practices in the building.
Frequent student behaviors and other time-intensive outcomes become daily experiences.
This reality can reset a leader’s sense of what is normal. They aren’t fixing the problem and begin to feel guilty about it. Leaders want teachers to feel like they are addressing the issues. So they live in this state of urgency instead of working on what’s important because at least they feel they are helping teachers in some way, i.e. keeping challenging behaviors out of the classroom. I wonder if some leaders become addicted to the stress.
While I don’t want to create a stereotype of the typical overwhelmed leader, I do want to offer some general strategies for coaches, district administrators, and teacher leaders to help school leaders reclaim their time for instructional-focused interactions.
Build Trust by Making Frequent Visits
Psychiatrist and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry finds that trust is built initially with a client by the quantity of interactions as much as quality. When he begins working with someone new, he may meet with them 10-12 times before there is a level of trust that leads to the client sharing more personal information. Dr. Perry notes that frequent positive interactions retrains people’s brains to learn that someone is safe and is not going to hurt them.
Leaders who have experienced constant challenges may be experiencing a unique form of trauma: not feeling effective in solving the ongoing challenges in their school. A lack of agency leads to a desire for quick fixes when the actual work requires long term commitment, 5-7 years. This starts with cultivating trust through frequent visits.
Listen to Learn
While I do some preparation prior to any coaching session, this time is mostly spent in thinking about my intentions. What are their potential needs? Who does this person need me to be?
That means that I leave my agenda at the door when I come into a school or an office. I might see indicators that suggest an area of improvement. But these initial interactions are not the time to engage in solving a problem. Instead, I ask lots of questions. For example, instead of diving into literacy, I ask the leader to share their behavior data. What are your most frequent types of behaviors? In what locations? At what time? Supporting leaders to address their immediate challenges can help them feel listened to while getting some quick wins.
Notice and Name Their Emotions
Eventually, leaders will share how they are feeling about their situation. This communication is often a mix of verbal and nonverbal: a pause and a shaking of the head while venting about whatever intractable situation is on their minds.
My desire to fix the problem arises in these situations. When I am mindful as a coach, I instead notice and name what’s happening and how they are likely feeling about it. For example, if student behaviors are gobbling up their time and energy, I might say, “It can be demoralizing to come in every day and see the same students struggling to learn.” The leader feels validated and seen. They haven’t paused long enough to even recognize the emotional weather in their professional lives. We can help them do that through noticing and naming the emotions they are experiencing.
Investigate the Systems vs. the People
It’s easy as a school leader to take all the responsibility for the challenges a school is experiencing. “Maintaining a safe and predictable learning environment” is literally in their job descriptions.
Yet this work is not a one-person show. It is important to eventually shift the leader’s attention away from individuals and toward the system influences that are leading to negative outcomes. Following the previous example of the data dive into student behavior, the leader might learn that one grade level is the primary source of referrals. This finding can support targeted interventions for that group and possible individual needs. It’s not about fixing anyone; we see the learning conditions and undeveloped skills as areas for attention.
When building leaders are stuck in the urgency cycle, schoolwide professional growth stalls. Patience and persistence are part of breaking out of it, but are not enough alone. Being strategic with frequent positive interactions, listening deeply to understand their challenges, acknowledging their emotional experiences, and shifting focus from individuals to systems help leaders reclaim their focus on what’s important.
Are you interested in coaching? I provide virtual sessions for instructional leaders in all positions (and the people who support them) around a vareity of topics. Fill out this form to set up a time to chat.