Show Description:

How did your to-do list go today?How about yesterday?How will it go tomorrow?If you missed last week’s webinar on escaping the black hole of urgency, you may still be focused on the to-do list. I won’t recap the entire webinar here, but I will pull a couple of highlights.

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This is another content-focused episode. I know it has been a few weeks since our last interview, but if you can hold on for one more week, you’ll be able to tune in to my discussion with the incomparable Dr. Mary Hemphill.

Celebrations:

That we all have opportunities to reflect and refocus. Just because we are struggling doesn’t mean we have to stay there, and so often our struggles as leaders are more about our own self-doubt or the flawed perspectives, we have adopted than about the actual work itself. 

So, I am celebrating that I have been able to reflect and refocus and I breathing a bit easier. I hope you also find the opportunity to this if it is something you need right now.

Body

We can’t escape the black hole of urgency by using time management because time is not the problem. I’m not going to lay out everything that spells out what the real problem is, that’s why I did the webinar. However, I will share the three epiphanies that have helped me reshape the way I work and what I focus on.

Two responsibilities of administrators:

·      Keep everyone safe

·      Grow your teachers

Story with the principal

The three epiphanies

Emphasize priorities and values

Examples:

·      PPT over coaching

·      Adding clipart to a newsletter 

·      Car line v. new teacher

Think about what you are doing v not doing and ask:

·      Are the things I value most getting done?

·      Are the most important things getting done?

·      How do what’s important and my own values as a leader intersect?

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Repeat the three epiphanies

These aren’t about time management, but by keeping them close. Maybe you can focus more of your time doing what’s most important.

I mentioned the webinar. It was a fun time I participants walked away with a better understanding of the real problem, a change in perspective, five tips for being strategically reactive, and three strategies for being proactive that could be enacted in five minutes or less.

The replay is available as a courtesy to APEx Community members. APEx stand for …

My goals in developing APEx Community were two-fold:

·      Improve mental and emotional health of APs and other school leaders by building a community that decreases isolation, develops a network of support, and provides a place for colleagues to collaborate and share in solving real-world problems.

·      Create a place to provide community-driven professional development to help leaders excel at the jobs they have now while also preparing for the jobs they may want or have later.

·      If you are interested in joining our APEx Community, you can learn more at frederickbuskey.com/APExlaunchlive

·      For podcast listeners I am running a five-day special. If you use the code “3epiphanies” on check out you will receive two months for the price of one. You can sign up here.This special expires Saturday at midnight, so if you’ve been interested in joining APEx Community but not quite sure, this is the perfect time. You’ll be able to connect with colleagues from different states and different types of schools, and if you join by Thursday you’ll be able to sign up for our group coaching session on Thursday, Sept 29 at 3:30 EDT. I would love for you to join our community, but this offer expires Saturday night.https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apexlaunchlive.html,  hit the join now link, use 3 epiphanies when you check out. It’s $49/month but you will get a two months for that proce, immediate access to the community, group coaching, and the webinar replay.

Show Outro

That wraps up today’s content focused episode. We’ll be back next week with [guest] in an episode titled [title]. 

If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast.

You can ask questions, make requests, and give us feedback at [email protected]. If you’d like more content tailored towards the needs of assistant principals, you can head over to my website at frederickbuskey.com/theassistantprincipal.

That wraps up today’s show! I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!