As a school leader, how often do you start your day with the best of intentions, only to find yourself consumed by urgent crises and unexpected interruptions? If this feels familiar, you’re not alone. Far too many leaders find themselves trapped in reactive mode, dealing with what author Stephen Covey famously termed the ‘urgent but not important’—tasks that seem pressing but don’t truly move your school forward.
In my work Coaching school leaders, one truth has become clear: If you don’t deliberately prioritize what’s truly important, the trivial and urgent will hijack your time and energy every single day. In fact, I would say it this way:
In the “Take Control of Your Leadership” course, we explore how Clarity of purpose transforms your daily experience as a leader. Here are three critical reasons why you must intentionally prioritize the important work:
In my book, Road to Awesome, I emphasize that clarity is the foundation of consistent leadership. When you’re clear on your values—like fostering a positive school culture, prioritizing student voice, or empowering your teachers—you make consistent decisions aligned with those priorities. Without clarity, decisions become inconsistent, unpredictable, and often ineffective.
Email notifications, unexpected parent calls, student discipline issues—they’re all real and they’re all urgent. But not everything urgent is important. Learning to delegate effectively, establishing clear boundaries, and trusting your team to handle lower-priority tasks frees you to spend your time on high-impact leadership actions. Your school’s Growth depends on your ability to say ‘no’ to distractions so you can say ‘yes’ to purposeful leadership.
If you’re always reacting to crises, you’re unintentionally creating a reactive culture within your school. Leaders must intentionally recognize, reward, and reinforce behaviors and actions aligned with their school’s core values. Celebrating positive student achievements, highlighting teacher Innovation, and reinforcing collaborative behaviors build a proactive, empowered culture that prevents crises before they even begin.
Recently, I’ve shared several strategies on social media about practical ways to prioritize effectively. A simple yet powerful technique involves dedicating daily ‘priority time’—protected blocks on your calendar dedicated exclusively to tasks directly aligned with your vision and values. This proactive approach prevents your day from becoming hijacked by low-impact tasks.
The path to prioritizing what’s important isn’t always easy, but it is transformational. Today, make the decision to prioritize clarity over chaos, purposeful action over reaction, and proactive leadership over firefighting.
Remember, when you intentionally prioritize the important, you create a school culture that not only survives but thrives.
If you’re ready to take your leadership team to the next level, let’s talk. Through coaching, professional development, and leadership retreats, I help school and district leadership teams build trust, improve communication, and align their efforts for real impact. Let’s work together to set your team—and your school—up for success in the coming year.
Send me a message or visit RoadToAwesome.net to start the conversation.
Tune in this Sunday to “Leaning into Leadership” when I sit down with Rae Hughart, founder of the Teachers Deserve It movement.
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