Full Transcript for Practical Productivity for School Leaders with Rich Czyz

00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:14.289 here with your book called Autopilot, Practical 00:02:14.289 --> 00:02:18.169 Productivity for School Leaders. We have a number 00:02:18.169 --> 00:02:21.090 of school leaders in the room. and a large audience 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:23.509 that listens to this podcast. And I want to start 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:26.849 with this question about why you wrote this book, 00:02:26.930 --> 00:02:30.270 Autopilot. What compelled you to write it? And 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:34.509 what do you want educators to take from it? Yeah, 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:37.889 so it started as a book kind of out of the pandemic. 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:40.710 So when I was kind of stuck home and trying to 00:02:40.710 --> 00:02:44.610 figure out different ways to do things. And what 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:47.210 I really find is that a lot of our school leaders 00:02:47.210 --> 00:02:51.780 are on the verge of burnout. There's more added 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:54.860 to our plates on a daily basis. There's more 00:02:54.860 --> 00:02:58.460 that we have to do. And I think it's for those 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:00.379 leaders trying to figure out a different way 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:04.139 to do things, trying to be more efficient, more 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:07.300 productive in what they do. But not only that, 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.819 it's not about just eliminating things to add 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:14.500 more things to our plate. It's about eliminating 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:17.580 things to do more meaningful things within the 00:03:17.580 --> 00:03:20.819 school. So it's really for school leaders to 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:25.080 find their way and hopefully not burn out and, 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.819 you know, again, be a little bit more productive 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:33.080 on a daily basis. Which I think everybody in 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:36.199 the audience agrees as practitioners ourselves. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:41.539 The plate is always full to the point now where 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:44.259 it's just spilling all over the table. From your 00:03:44.259 --> 00:03:48.639 experience, I just because you are. still running 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:51.599 a building, your leadership is evident each day. 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.759 What are you seeing as those things really occupying 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.379 leaders' times that is also that is out of their 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:02.580 control that could contribute to this burnout? 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.680 Yeah, I think the biggest piece is it's the daily 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:09.879 fires, right? It's those things that we're putting 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:12.580 out on a regular basis, the things that you don't 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.349 plan for when you walk in in the morning. And 00:04:15.349 --> 00:04:18.009 I think that's the toughest part for school leaders. 00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:24.069 You really have to prioritize strategy over reaction. 00:04:24.509 --> 00:04:28.089 And I think that's the biggest piece. So within 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:29.769 the book, I talk about some different systems 00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:32.930 to implement to be more proactive as a leader 00:04:32.930 --> 00:04:37.110 so that hopefully, you know, it's not like we're 00:04:37.110 --> 00:04:39.910 going to completely eliminate those fires. What 00:04:39.910 --> 00:04:43.129 you want to do is have those systems in place 00:04:43.129 --> 00:04:46.189 so that when the fires do come up, it's not completely 00:04:46.189 --> 00:04:50.170 derailing you as a school leader. So I think 00:04:50.170 --> 00:04:52.410 that's the biggest piece. It's those daily fires 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:55.209 that we're doing. It's a lot of kind of the, 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:58.550 what I would call it, administrivia, right? It's 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:02.529 all those tasks that maybe could be automated, 00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:05.449 maybe could be delegated, things that different 00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:09.079 school leaders could do to hopefully... allow 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.720 us to, you know, again, get to the meaningful 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:14.100 stuff. And I think that's the difficult part 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:39.920 as a school leader. the job and the day is running 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:43.100 us before we can fix that. And sometimes people 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:45.720 like, this is just what it is. This is how I 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:48.220 watched my administrator this way when I was 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.779 a teacher. And now I'm just putting out the fires. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.180 Like you said, what are some of the signs and 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:57.220 signals that it's off the tracks and we need 00:05:57.220 --> 00:05:59.860 to get it back on so that we can do the meaningful 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:04.459 work is something to look for. That's a, that's 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:09.420 a, a true sign that. We need to fix things. Yeah. 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:11.879 So I use the tagline, are you running the school 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:13.660 or is the school running you, right? And I think 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:15.079 that's exactly what you're talking about is a 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:18.120 lot of times leaders are stuck with the school 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:20.779 running them. And I think the biggest, probably 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:24.459 the number one sign is that your to -do list 00:06:24.459 --> 00:06:28.160 is just built up of everybody else's to -do list, 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:31.480 right? So when you're constantly checking off 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.680 items that are other people's items, that's when 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:38.220 You know, you know, as a leader, you're kind 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:41.939 of stuck in that rut. So I think if you can take 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:44.759 a look at that, I think that's a signal. You 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:46.939 know, we have to get

beyond that. Right. You 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:48.680 have to get beyond the to do list that is just 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:53.000 made up of everybody else. You know, I like to 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:56.279 kind of talk about the problem solving vending 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.379 machine, you know, because as a school leader, 00:06:58.459 --> 00:07:00.199 you sometimes feel like that vending machine. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.220 Right. Somebody comes into your office. If you 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:06.120 have that open door policy and. they dump a problem 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:08.220 on you and now suddenly it's your problem to 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:11.040 kind of fix. And I think that's what we want 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.019 to avoid as school leaders. So you want to, yes, 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.220 have that open door policy, but I think sometimes 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:20.060 it's okay to close the door, right? If you are 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:22.740 working on something that's very important and 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:25.819 you have to close the door in order to get that 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:29.180 done. I think, you know, another signal is once 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.279 that door is closed, if you have people interrupting, 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.870 right, they're coming in to steal. dump their 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:37.810 problems on you. I think it's important to be 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:39.810 able to close that door and get your important 00:07:39.810 --> 00:07:43.449 work done. Rich, I want to underscore why it's 00:07:43.449 --> 00:07:46.949 so important to move beyond someone else filling 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:51.069 your to -do list. And I share that because mainly 00:07:51.069 --> 00:07:55.129 that may not be moving the instructional needle 00:07:55.129 --> 00:07:58.750 for students, for staff. It might be, like you 00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:01.600 said, just fires. And yes, it's management. but 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.079 it's not necessarily educating our students. 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.540 But how do you do that? How do you go beyond? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.800 You share about closing your door. I believe 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.420 also open door policies never were meant to be 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:16.100 completely open. So anybody could just walk through 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.579 and interrupt the day. But what are some other 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:21.600 strategies you could give to our administrators 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.399 that are listening? Really, how do I not have 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.459 a to -do list that is always someone else's to 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:33.440 -do list? Yeah, so I think the number one, you 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.100 know, the number one piece of advice I would 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:38.580 give any school leader is elimination being your 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:42.120 best friend. Right. So I think if anybody were 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.659 to do a time inventory, right, take a week, see 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:48.679 how you actually spend that week, write down 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:50.980 everything that you do, time block it, put it 00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:52.580 on your calendar, however you want to do it, 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.519 whether it's a, you know, I'm an old school guy 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.500 using notebook to document everything. Some people 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:01.190 might want to do it as a digital calendar. But, 00:09:01.190 --> 00:09:03.990 you know, document everything that happens during 00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:07.110 the week and find out what it is that you can 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:11.929 get rid of. If it is, you know, just the stuff 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:13.750 that we've always been doing, right? We've been 00:09:13.750 --> 00:09:15.710 doing this since the last leader was here and 00:09:15.710 --> 00:09:17.710 I kind of inherited it from the last leader. 00:09:17.990 --> 00:09:21.350 Is it truly valuable, right? Is it providing 00:09:21.350 --> 00:09:24.610 value to your teachers? Is it providing value 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.570 to your students? And if it's not, that's something 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:30.740 we should get rid of. The other the other big 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:34.019 piece I would suggest for school leaders is building 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.860 that downtime into your schedule. So when you 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:39.659 are time blocking your schedule, I use something 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:44.639 called daily disaster downtime. Right. So, you 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.679 know, on a on a manic Monday or, you know, tornado 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:52.460 Thursday, when those when those fires are coming 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.100 up, I have an empty block within my schedule 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:58.610 so that if those fires do come up. I can handle 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:01.110 them. And if they don't come up, then that's 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:02.889 extra time when I can get to some of the more 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:07.730 meaningful stuff. You know, being able to delegate 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:10.970 and pass those things off to other people will 00:10:10.970 --> 00:10:14.049 allow you more time to be in classrooms, right? 00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:16.730 To be that true instructional leader within the 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:21.309 building. What did you call that time? Disaster. 00:10:21.309 --> 00:10:25.309 Daily disaster downtime. Daily disaster downtime. 00:10:25.529 --> 00:10:29.730 That's really good. We teach people to do reverse 00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:34.230 time blocking. So yes, we time block. And then 00:10:34.230 --> 00:10:36.370 we also reverse time block so that we know what 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:39.809 actually happened, including whatever disaster 00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:42.769 came up that you filled that time with. So that's 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:45.769 really good and dovetails on a lot of the

programming 00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:49.490 that we have in the coaching that we do. I wonder 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:52.149 too, in that same vein, Rich, if you could tell 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:56.590 us some tasks that... some tasks that school 00:10:56.590 --> 00:10:59.370 leaders should almost never be doing themselves, 00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:02.769 like talk about elimination and also delegation. 00:11:03.049 --> 00:11:05.149 Are there things that you see school leaders 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:08.129 do regularly that you're like, that's just something 00:11:08.129 --> 00:11:10.190 you should never be doing? That's somebody else's 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:14.210 job. Yeah, I think the number one thing that 00:11:14.210 --> 00:11:17.289 most leaders kind of get caught up with is the 00:11:17.289 --> 00:11:21.190 inbox, right? That can be one of the big disasters 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:25.220 for school leaders on a daily basis. And I think 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:28.860 it's when leaders are living in the inbox, right, 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:32.200 when they're in it all day long. And you're kind 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.620 of just, you know, responsible to everybody else 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.879 who's choosing to email you at that time. And 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:42.519 so the strategy that I use, I'm a huge fan of 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:45.860 the movie Jaws. So I stole the line from Jaws, 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:49.659 but getting a bigger boat. In this case, a boat 00:11:49.659 --> 00:11:53.129 is a blocked off answering time. And that is 00:11:53.129 --> 00:11:55.669 a strategy where you are only going into that 00:11:55.669 --> 00:11:59.830 email inbox a few times a day. So for me, I have 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:02.370 three specific times. I'll go in first thing 00:12:02.370 --> 00:12:04.789 in the morning for about a half hour. I'll go 00:12:04.789 --> 00:12:08.889 in midday for another 20, 25 minutes. And then 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:11.230 at the end of the day for another 20, 25 minutes. 00:12:12.990 --> 00:12:16.889 That allows me to get stuff done in between those 00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:19.929 times. I'm not sitting in the inbox all day long. 00:12:20.070 --> 00:12:22.610 I'm not answering emails the moment they come 00:12:22.610 --> 00:12:25.669 in. I think that's another piece is you kind 00:12:25.669 --> 00:12:30.330 of have to train people to, you're going to get 00:12:30.330 --> 00:12:32.309 back to them. You're going to answer it within 00:12:32.309 --> 00:12:36.769 24 hours, whatever your rule may be. But not 00:12:36.769 --> 00:12:39.889 being instantly available to everybody who suddenly 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:43.940 wants to email you. anytime they want to. So 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:47.860 I think that's a big piece of elimination, right? 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.259 Is trying to figure out a way to manage that 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.139 inbox and manage that email. You know, I think 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:57.360 the

other piece that is important in trying to 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:02.080 eliminate, trying to keep things as far as grouped 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:06.919 together, right? So I use theme days to... to 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.120 really manage what I'm doing. So like all of 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.279 my classroom walkthroughs, I might do on a specific 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:15.240 day, visiting all of my new teachers on another 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:17.899 specific day, right? Working with them, meeting 00:13:17.899 --> 00:13:21.379 with them. So I think theming your days can also 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:24.139 help to kind of manage what you're trying to 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:27.960 do as a school leader. Rich, I'm going to underscore 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:29.960 a couple of things because I do not want them 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.019 to be lost because they're incredible strategies. 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:38.679 One is I agree 100 % with the theme days. Thursdays 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:40.840 for me as a superintendent, I'm in buildings. 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:45.820 I did not see my office today at all. So that 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:49.679 has helped really me and forced me to get out 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.299 and about. So I agree with you. If you're in 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:53.279 a building, you're a building principal, it can 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.879 really help you visit those new teachers, visit 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.340 those veteran teachers. Or like you said, even 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:00.240 if it's just certain classrooms and certain kids, 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:03.379 you know, long -term subs. You got to get out 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:05.960 there or things will happen like those little 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:10.679 fires. Regarding email, this is something TJ 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:12.860 and I talk about all the time. Don't leave it 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:15.200 open. I think that's a mistake people make. They 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.259 just leave it open. And that ding will give you 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:25.039 PTSD. I'm truly now a believer in this. There's 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:28.620 two strategies also. I think it's fair to put 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:31.679 in your out of office reply when you check your 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.990 email. Now as a superintendent, I'll also say 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:37.070 check off with your superintendent, but it's 00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:40.129 okay to communicate. This is how I work email, 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:42.889 because if the parents don't know that you check 00:14:42.889 --> 00:14:45.490 it three times a day during these times, they 00:14:45.490 --> 00:14:48.429 may not think you're being responsive enough, 00:14:48.529 --> 00:14:51.149 or it may direct them look if it's an emergency, 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:54.809 don't use email. So that can help a feature I 00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:58.370 just found out that I has helped myself and I 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:02.080 think my team is the snooze button. on emails. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:06.580 So I'm a big believer in not checking email twice, 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.559 although that's hard. There is a feature now 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:12.620 in Outlook. You can snooze emails. It disappears 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:16.960 out of your inbox and will reappear when you're 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.399 ready to look at it. That has helped considerably 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.519 on things that just I need to schedule. And then 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:24.679 it pops up when during that scheduled time and 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.299 I know I got to look at it. So I think those 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:29.919 are just some tried and true behaviors, some 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.840 tricks that can really help do what you said, 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.720 eliminate and really allow you to control your 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:39.799 time. Yeah, 100%. Those are awesome strategies. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.919 You know, I kind of follow a touch it once rule 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:45.899 as well is, you know, I'm going to look at that 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:48.299 email. I'm going to look at it quickly, usually, 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.419 and I'm going to determine what to do with it. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.860 Is it something I need to act on? Is it something 00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:56.019 I'm going to pass along to somebody else? delegate 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:58.480 that to somebody else to deal with? Or is it 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:02.080 something I don't need to respond to? I think 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.620 the worst thing that we ever did with email is 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:08.399 somebody created the copy function, right? And 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.700 you get copied on emails that really have nothing 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:12.399 to do with you. Somebody's letting you know, 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.700 they're giving you the FYI. But I think that's 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:17.879 a big one too, is if it has nothing to do with 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:20.139 you, I'm filing it, getting rid of it, and I'm 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:25.210 moving on to the next one. I was wondering about 00:16:25.210 --> 00:16:30.830 mindset shifts for leaders. And I love this conversation 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:33.309 about email because I think that what you're 00:16:33.309 --> 00:16:36.629 describing is a mindset shift. Email has become 00:16:36.629 --> 00:16:39.629 too much like text messaging. It was just never 00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:42.970 meant to be what we're using it for. Like people 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:46.129 email you and then they think you're going to 00:16:46.129 --> 00:16:48.149 email them right back. Like you're just staring 00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:50.879 at email. These are really good. It's really 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.100 good advice, but it's a mindset shift a little 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:57.159 bit to be checking your email

three times a day, 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.779 even what Joe said, putting that on your email, 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:03.379 because I think there's the notion that it's 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:05.779 just easier if I do it myself. It's just easier 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:08.119 if I do it now. It's just easier if I get rid 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:13.220 of this and delete it. How can you help school 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:16.559 leaders change their mind about that? that sentiment 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:18.740 that it's just easier if I do this myself, it's 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:23.339 just easier. Yeah, that's a difficult shift for 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.900 a lot of school leaders. In the book, I do talk 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:31.039 about something called, instead of multitasking, 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:32.920 right? As a leader, you can take on everything 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:35.920 yourself and you can do everything yourself because 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.259 you know you're doing it the right way. I like 00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:43.400 to shift from multitasking to the idea of multi 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:48.789 -asking. And that idea is having everyone else 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:50.890 help you, right? Again, you could do everything 00:17:50.890 --> 00:17:53.769 yourself, but I think it's a lot easier when 00:17:53.769 --> 00:17:56.890 you are trusting others. I like to use the phrase 00:17:56.890 --> 00:18:00.549 delegating and elevating, right? So I think those 00:18:00.549 --> 00:18:03.230 people who are around you, there are plenty of, 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:06.769 and I use the term school leader specifically, 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:10.480 right? Because Yes, you may be an administrator. 00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:13.519 Yes, you may be a principal, a supervisor, a 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.220 superintendent, right, where you have a formal 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:19.400 title. But you also may be a school leader in 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:21.900 the sense that you are leading the school, right? 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.980 You may be a teacher. You may be an aide. You 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:26.200 may be someone who is taking on a role within 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:29.559 that school. I like to say that everybody runs 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:33.059 our school, Yardville Elementary, because it's 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:35.920 not just me, right? It's everyone who's chipping 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.559 in to run it. So I think when you can Ask others 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:41.940 and you can instead of multitasking, you can 00:18:41.940 --> 00:18:43.859 multi ask and find those others who are willing 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:46.819 to do things. One of the examples I talk about 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:50.200 in the book is our announcements. Our morning 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:52.480 announcements are done by our fifth graders and 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:54.380 I bring them down. I kind of run them through 00:18:54.380 --> 00:18:56.160 a

little boot camp at the beginning of the year. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.000 Our new announcers for two weeks, give them all 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.980 the roles, all the tasks. I give them templates 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:05.059 to use to do the announcements each morning. 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:07.920 And after that two week boot camp, I can trust 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.680 any of them to do the job all year long. So, 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:12.539 you know, I've been in other schools where it's 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:14.559 maybe the school counselor or it's a teacher 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.460 or or an administrator or somebody who's doing 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.700 those announcements every morning. So I think 00:19:20.700 --> 00:19:23.619 even, you know, trying to delegate to students 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:26.279 is important. Right. It gives them that leadership 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:29.500 role. But I think trying to elevate everybody 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:33.759 within the school can help to improve the overall 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:37.970 function of the school. for everyone and rich 00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:40.109 you said two weeks correct you train them for 00:19:40.109 --> 00:19:43.049 two weeks yeah just about two weeks at the beginning 00:19:43.049 --> 00:19:45.569 of the year we kind of work on it together and 00:19:45.569 --> 00:19:48.829 i kind of walk them through it i followed up 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:53.269 with that because so often teach our administrators 00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:56.369 will think you know it's just easier if i do 00:19:56.369 --> 00:19:59.750 it or they have control issues they may not admit 00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:04.119 they have control right troll issues so Would 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.640 you follow the same logic when you are delegating, 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.319 when you are saying, look, there's yard bills 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:13.500 run by a lot more individuals than just me. How 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:16.140 do you go about delegating, but ensuring that 00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:19.980 work gets done by that same logic, that same 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:22.299 philosophy of, look, I'm going to model it, show 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.299 it, train, and then release. Yeah, I think there 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:29.019 are certainly trade -offs when you are delegating, 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.240 right? Because again, you have to trust that 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:33.839 people are going to get the job done. Now, I 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.880 think one of the biggest tradeoffs is you have 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:38.059 to accept that people might not necessarily do 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.380 the job the same way that you would. Right. So, 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.859 yes, you could train them. You know, you could 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:46.319 show them every way to do it. And especially, 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:48.720 you know, the example that I give with our student 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.920 announcers, there are certainly days where they 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.420 make mistakes. Right. But it's about learning 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:56.059 from those mistakes. Right. Here's what happened 00:20:56.059 --> 00:20:58.279 yesterday. Let's try to do it this way today. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:02.000 But I think when you are delegating, you do have 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.599 to accept that people might do things a little 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:07.339 bit differently than you. You have to give them 00:21:07.339 --> 00:21:10.000 kind of the training. I'm a firm believer in 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.960 getting out of the way, right? Usually, if you're 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:16.359 trusting someone to do something, you know, you're 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:18.900 checking in to make sure it's getting done, but 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:21.039 also giving them the flexibility to do it in 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.380 a way that they feel comfortable with, right? 00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:26.579 And I think a lot of times what ends up happening 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:29.519 is you're elevating those people, right? I've 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:31.240 had any number of staff members that I've worked 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:34.619 with in my current building in previous roles 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:37.259 where they've gone on to their own leadership 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:39.599 roles. And I think it is the trust that you put 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.140 in them. The same thing happened for me, right? 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:44.720 I had mentors who, you know, when I was a teacher, 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:47.359 allowed me to take on certain projects or certain 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:49.960 things within the building. And I think through 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:52.640 that, everyone improves. And I think that's the 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:55.319 important piece. So I think, yes, it does come 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:58.079 down to training, but it also comes down to allowing 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:00.720 people to do things the way that's going to work 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:05.180 for them as well. Yeah, I think it's Jocko Willink, 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.339 I could be wrong, who says you have to figure 00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:11.940 the percentage of how well they would do it like 00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:15.259 you compared to them in terms of acceptance. 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:17.420 So like if they're going to do it to 80, the 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:20.099 fifth graders are going to do it. to 80 % of 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:23.279 my 100%, it's still better to get that 80 % without 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.200 having to put together my 100 % every single 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:29.779 time. So you're always accepting the difference 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:32.960 between how well they do it and how well you 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.460 would have done it yourself. And then that all 00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:37.859 gets delegated

so that you could go do other 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.480 things. And I like that you brought up the trust 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.880 and the culture part of that, because when we 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:44.940 delegate that to the fifth graders, then they 00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:47.930 become take pride in it. When you delegate to 00:22:47.930 --> 00:22:49.950 a teacher or somebody else in the school and 00:22:49.950 --> 00:22:52.529 they can take pride in that work, oftentimes 00:22:52.529 --> 00:22:56.250 when we micromanage everything, we're stealing 00:22:56.250 --> 00:23:00.690 work that people would be proud of doing for 00:23:00.690 --> 00:23:03.250 the school. I want to switch gears. We just have 00:23:03.250 --> 00:23:05.289 a few minutes left, but I want to ask a couple 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:07.269 of questions. I just mentioned Jocko Willink. 00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:11.619 Are there other authors? who you follow, authors 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:14.319 in education, outside of education for your own 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:16.519 leadership growth. I mean, you just wrote your 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:21.140 fourth book. You're a principal. You have a company. 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:25.339 Where do you get your inspiration and where are 00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:29.160 you continuing to go to learn and grow? Yeah, 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:32.720 so my favorite author is Seth Godin. So he does 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:35.019 a daily blog. He's been doing it for many, many 00:23:35.019 --> 00:23:38.940 years. And I can see some recognition of Seth 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:41.779 Godin there. But I love his books. One of my 00:23:41.779 --> 00:23:44.819 favorite books that he wrote is Linchpin. And 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:47.740 in Linchpin, he kind of talks about how to be 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:54.930 that person who is necessary for the... organization 00:23:54.930 --> 00:23:57.470 to function, right? Like what can you do to be 00:23:57.470 --> 00:23:59.710 absolutely necessary for that organization to 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:02.109 function? So he's one of my favorites. I love 00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:04.809 reading his daily blogs because sometimes it's 00:24:04.809 --> 00:24:07.430 just, you know, 20 to 40 words, but he's getting 00:24:07.430 --> 00:24:10.250 such an important message in there. So he's one 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:14.210 of my favorites. I also love Austin Kleon, show 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:18.109 your work and steal like an artist. So that's 00:24:18.109 --> 00:24:21.230 about creativity and, you know, being creative 00:24:21.230 --> 00:24:23.539 in what you're trying to do. There's another 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:27.779 great book called Creative Trespassing by Tanya 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:30.920 Kattan, who talks about bringing joy into your 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:37.440 daily work. And so I usually kind of travel outside 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:39.779 of the education world in the books that I'm 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:41.720 reading. I do a lot of nonfiction reading, but 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.539 yeah, those are some of my favorite authors. 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:50.140 Yeah. TJ's man crush is definitely Seth Godin. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.319 I don't think we have a conversation without 00:24:53.319 --> 00:24:57.079 quoting Seth Godin. And we did have Austin Kleon 00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:00.039 on our show, another podcast we used to run a 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.619 few years ago. That's going back. It was called 00:25:02.619 --> 00:25:04.460 The One Thing Series, and it was a phenomenal 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:08.680 interview. So I have not heard about creative 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.019 trespassing, so I'm definitely going to check 00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:17.579 that one out. That's new. Thinking about growing 00:25:17.579 --> 00:25:23.380 and intentionality. Is there a daily habit that 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:26.079 you have, Rich, that you do that makes a big 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.660 difference? You already mentioned like reading 00:25:27.660 --> 00:25:30.819 the daily blog, but is there another habit that 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:34.200 you feel makes a real difference in your leadership 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:38.319 or in your life? Yeah, so I'll say the biggest 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:43.559 one is my shutdown ritual every day. And what 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:47.640 I think that allows me to do is to turn off Rich 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:54.359 as the educator. turn on Rich as the dad, husband, 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.200 whatever other roles I have to fill at night. 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.319 But before I leave every day, I have a notebook. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.880 As I said, I like to use a notebook to record 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.839 all of my things. So anything that I'm thinking 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:11.339 about for the next day, I will record before 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.319 I leave. And then part of my ritual is actually 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:17.140 taking that notebook, closing it, and putting 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:20.519 it in a drawer. And I think by doing that shutdown, 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:24.160 you know, then getting in the car, you know, 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:26.059 listening to a podcast or music, whatever it 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:29.559 may be to kind of take a breath. I have about 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:32.819 a 30 minute drive home that by the time I'm walking 00:26:32.819 --> 00:26:35.759 in the door at home, you know, I'm, I'm there 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.279 and I'm present for everyone at my house. And 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.099 I think that's an important piece for, you know, 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:43.740 we talked a little bit about burnout earlier. 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:45.480 That's an important piece for school leaders, 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:49.130 right? Is, you know, Yes, you're a school leader. 00:26:49.230 --> 00:26:52.210 Yes, you're successful at what you do. Yes, you're

00:26:52.210 --> 00:26:54.549 trying to impact all those teachers and students 00:26:54.549 --> 00:26:58.289 every day. But ultimately, your job does not 00:26:58.289 --> 00:27:01.150 define you, right? And I think being able to 00:27:01.150 --> 00:27:03.730 kind of separate that helps me to be, you know, 00:27:03.730 --> 00:27:07.150 a better person at home, but also allows me to 00:27:07.150 --> 00:27:08.809 be a better person at school as well. It allows 00:27:08.809 --> 00:27:11.089 me to kind of focus when I need to focus. So 00:27:11.089 --> 00:27:13.410 I think that's probably the number one ritual 00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:18.980 that I do on a daily basis. So, yeah. And I think 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:21.839 that's a great place to kind of wrap up a little 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:24.700 bit because this has been a lot about productivity 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:28.200 and well -being. I'll highlight the transition 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.920 period there that that you're closing one chapter 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:35.559 and opening another. But there's some physical 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:38.859 movement involved and there's some daily routines 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:41.720 that are there. I mean, we're talking to lots 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:44.460 of school leaders listening to the show. Assistant 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:47.140 principals, principals, superintendents. You're 00:27:47.140 --> 00:27:49.359 not the assistant principal, principal, or superintendent 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:53.660 when you get home, right? You're a dad, a father, 00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:59.480 a husband, a wife, a mom. And so it's really 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:02.599 important to transition. And I like the physical 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:05.000 movement that's involved in that, using the drawer, 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:07.819 closing the notebook. It's a great strategy. 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:12.059 I hope people take that away from this. Rich, 00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:15.200 as we wrap up and we're talking again to school 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.079 leaders here, Is there a final call to action 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.700 that you have? Something about autopilot? Anything 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:25.119 you would like to request of our listeners? Parting 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.119 words. Yeah, I think the number one thing is 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:30.920 eliminating, right? So I think if everybody can 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:33.079 go back to their roles tomorrow, whatever it 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:36.440 may be, and eliminate one thing, right? Find 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:39.420 something that you're doing that isn't providing 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.319 value to you or your students or your teachers 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.599 or your colleagues and get rid of it. Right. 00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:48.779 It might be, you know, we do a lot in education 00:28:48.779 --> 00:28:50.900 that we've been doing for a while. But I think 00:28:50.900 --> 00:28:53.779 when you can eliminate that one thing and maybe 00:28:53.779 --> 00:28:56.960 get it off your plate and it could be not elimination, 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.000 could be delegation. Right. So if you can go 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:00.819 in tomorrow and you can take one thing off of 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:03.599 your plate, add it to somebody else's, you know, 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:05.759 help them develop as a leader or or eliminate 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.119 it. I think that's the the only thing that I 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.019 could ask from educators. Right. Make yourself 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:14.720 a little bit better every day. And that starts 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.799 with finding ways to do more important work. 00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:22.980 Really good. Eliminate, delegate, everybody listening, 00:29:23.259 --> 00:29:26.660 one thing. One more thing tomorrow and one more 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:29.660 thing the next day. One thing at a time. Eliminate, 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:31.660 delegate to be able to do the meaningful work. 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:34.579 This has been fantastic. You heard it here again 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:38.500 on FocusED with Rich Czyz. Everyone, how about 00:29:38.500 --> 00:29:41.099 a virtual and live round of applause from our 00:29:41.099 --> 00:29:47.240 audience for Rich? And as always, don't forget 00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:50.319 to follow the schoolhouse302 .com. That's the 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.279 schoolhouse302 .com for podcasts, blog posts, 00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:56.059 books to read and more. We'll be back with another 00:29:56.059 --> 00:29:58.940 episode of Focus Ed. Until then, stay focused. 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:06.039 Rich, thank you so much. Thank you, guys. All 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:07.380 right, there you have it. We're going to let 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.539 you go. 10 books are going to be given to this 00:30:09.539 --> 00:30:12.059 group, the lucky winners in the group behind 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:15.400 us. And we appreciate your time. Thanks for being 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:16.880 on the show. We'll let you know when it airs. 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:19.700 All right. I appreciate you guys. And, uh, anybody 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:21.859 who's getting a book today, if there's anything 00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:23.720 that I can do to help you as you're reading through 00:30:23.720 --> 00:30:26.799 it and, and, uh, you know, need some ideas or 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:28.859 need to talk through something, please reach 00:30:28.859 --> 00:30:33.279 out and, uh, I'd be happy to help everyone. Thanks 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:40.730 Ridge. All right. Take care. TJ, one thing we've 00:30:40.730 --> 00:30:43.589 seen again and again is that great instructional 00:30:43.589 --> 00:30:46.970 leadership doesn't happen by accident. It's built 00:30:46.970 --> 00:30:51.150 on consistent, aligned coaching practices. That's 00:30:51.150 --> 00:30:53.609 right, Joe. And when I was a deputy superintendent, 00:30:53.769 --> 00:30:55.890 I knew we needed a way to scale high -quality 00:30:55.890 --> 00:30:58.690 coaching without losing that personal, real -time 00:30:58.690 --> 00:31:01.809 element that makes it so effective. So that's 00:31:01.809 --> 00:31:05.319 when you brought in Bullseye? 100%. Bullseye 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.279 gave us the visibility that we were missing. 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:09.660 I could see the actual feedback that principals 00:31:09.660 --> 00:31:12.299 were giving to teachers and use it to support 00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:14.759 their growth as instructional leaders. It made 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.220 coaching the coaches part of our daily leadership 00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:21.579 work, not something extra. And Bullseye wasn't 00:31:21.579 --> 00:31:24.839 some off -the -shelf product that boxed you into 00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:27.619 something else's model? No way, dude. You know 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:31.119 I don't go for that. Bullseye is flexible. They 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:33.779 worked alongside us to customize a platform around 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:36.759 our leadership framework. And as our goals evolved, 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:40.180 Bullseye evolved with us. We never had to fit 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:43.059 into their system. The Bullseye system fit into 00:31:43.059 --> 00:31:47.259 ours. Wow, that's powerful. A platform that actually 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:50.519 grows with you and supports the way you lead. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.640 customization like you can't believe and that's 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:56.140 why we're proud at the schoolhouse 302 to partner 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.279 with Bullseye if you're looking to bring clarity 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.640 to your coaching and turn feedback into real 00:32:01.640 --> 00:32:04.680 growth Bullseye is the right tool for you you 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:08.420 can head to bullseye .education slash 302 that's 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:12.980 bullseye .education slash 302 and sign up for 00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:15.980 bullseye sponsored lunch and learn then they're 00:32:15.980 --> 00:32:19.259 gonna Bring lunch to your instructional leadership 00:32:19.259 --> 00:32:22.700 team on them and show you how the platform works. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.960 Again, that's Bullseye .education slash 302. 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:30.039 Sign up today. I would.