We are losing leaders in education. There. Let’s just name it.

And not just Superintendents or Principals, but anyone in the school system who is trying to make changes that have a positive and observable impact where it matters the most–in classrooms with students. Department heads, team leaders, instructional coaches and even our “unofficial leaders” - those good folks who choose to put their hands up to volunteer to be a part of something sounds like a pretty good idea for kids. Despite an unending will from educators to meet the needs of the children in our classrooms, the already sky-high demands placed on the school system (pushed even higher in the post-pandemic era) have transformed leadership into survival at all levels. As a result, as leaders we often find ourselves ‘drifting’, moving from crisis to crisis, struggling to know whether we are making a difference, and wondering “Is all of this worth it?”.

Here’s the good news. It is worth it. Leaders DO make a difference. A big one. At all levels. We just need to make it easier for ourselves to SEE that we make a difference. To make the impact of our leadership observable while concurrently building the collective efficacy of those who lead, teach and learn in our schools.

This episode, which was a Keynote address at uLead 2024, features Cale Birk, former teacher, high school principal, author and imagineer of “Navigating Leadership Drift”, “PLC 2.0 - Collaborating for Observable Impact”, “The PLC 2.0 Toolkit”, and “Changing Change Using Learner Centered Design” for this fun, inspiring and practical keynote address. Participants will learn about ‘the leadership drift’, how to spot when they are ‘drifting’ and how to lead from the middle by creating the conditions to make the impact of their leadership observable. Participants will also walk away having experienced a tool and protocol they can immediately use in their context!

Visit the uLead website for more information on upcoming conferences.

Visit the Council for School Leadership website.