Leading Off the Edge of the Map

by Pete Hall

History shines a light on event-makers. For some, it’s a spotlight, illuminating the great and wondrous innovations produced by a person of action. For others, it’s the single dangling 100-watt bulb of a damp interrogation room, demanding explanation for unwarranted deeds. Either way, event-makers make history -- and, in the end, we’re all just history, aren’t we? By the way, who invented the electric light bulb? That’s correct: Thomas Edison.* And who didn’t invent the light bulb? Correct again: Every other unnamed person on the face of the earth. Who do you remember? Who does history favour, then? Thrice correct: The event-maker.

UNCHARTED WATERS

At the risk of inundating you with Cliff Clavinesque facts, wasn’t it Ferdinand Magellan** who first circumnavigated the globe in 1519-1521? This Portuguese explorer had devised a plan, refused to accept “no" as an answer, and leapt forward to carry it out -- he was an event-maker.

To relate this to the principalship, sometimes the best course of action is one that no one has ever taken before. Our students’ new and varied needs scream out for a divergent approach. Sometimes it’s okay to shun the status quo -- verily, there are times that it’s preferable to ignore what everyone else is doing, in the name of growth and progress. As school principals, often where we lead is off the edge of the map. Captain Barbossa*** (from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean) may warn us, “Here there be monsters," but our quest for excellence must know no bounds. We must be willing to excuse ourselves from the masses and serve as pioneers, breaking ground and cutting waves -- this is where breakthroughs lie, this is where obstacles are overcome, this is where questions are answered, and this is where excellence awaits.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

In recent years, we’ve learned so much about the way children learn, about the way brains process information, and about instructional pedagogy that we’d be remiss to ignore it. Unfortunately, the status quo is often a decade or two (or ten) behind. Are we truly providing what our students deserve if we turn a blind eye to the best, most recent, and most promising information? How long can we stifle our inner excellence? New results require new action. New action demands new learning. New learning insists upon new thought. So go ahead -- think off the map, weigh your options, and create a plan. (A plan, mind you, is not the same as shooting from the hip; a plan indicates a certain level of forethought and understanding.) Make it happen. History rewards the event-makers among us.

As for the Heifetz connection: Jascha, a violin virtuoso who wowed audiences for over 60 years, sought perfection at every turn. Ronald A. could have studied Jascha for lessons in leadership: Part of what compelled Jascha’s incessant desire for perfection was his self-admitted “horror of mediocrity."