We all know I am a football fan and have written about the parallels between leadership and both the quarterback and coach before. This week I had the parallels opportunity to attend an RTI conference by Solution Tree. One session, by Brian Butler spoke to the need for collaboration of philosophy and resources to support your struggling learners, as a member of a strong TEAM.
Our role as administrator SO closely resembles that of a coach or a team leader. Did you see Tony Romo‘s message this week? Primarily delivered for those who wanted to create controversy around the starting quarterback position, he eliminated any and all talk of his not being a servant leader, and his role as the starting quarterback.
Tony Romo is 15-5 in his last 20 starts. That is pretty darn good. (Just ask Cody Kessler.) Yet he is able to evaluate his own place on this team that is 8-1, and say that he can see he should step back. With uncertainty comes unrest. Romo easily could have tacitly endorsed the quarterback controversy that’s been discussed so much this season.
Instead, he put an end to it.
What this speech helps reiterate for me is that the team as a whole is bigger than any one person, including the leader. It is a campus’ collective responsibility to ensure ALL students are learning. Not mine vs yours…not my way because I’m the principal…not because I read a book that said…but because our students are all of ours. That doesn’t mean teacher autonomy is sacrificed, just that we are all on the same page for “WHAT” is being taught, the “how” can vary.
Also known as…
Still a Romo fan (but also wearing a DAK ATTACK tee shirt),
Amber
Great article Amber!
Love this! Very well said!