Leading By Being Adaptable
This week when spending time with a first year teacher that I am coaching and mentoring, he commented that one of the big things he has learned in the first quarter of the school year is that being able to adapt is key. I was impressed and told him that is a very important part of teaching in many ways. The day I was there he had to adapt a lesson because an outside stakeholder who was helping with a project was not able to be at the school. My mentee shifted seamlessly to another lesson. I’ve seen seasoned teachers struggle with making these kind of adaptations.
I love that this teacher has realized the importance of being adaptable. It is such an important leadership attribute. In my latest book, Mere Leadership, I wrote, “In today’s rapidly changing world, leaders need to be able to adapt to new situations and challenges” (p. 60). This is hugely important in teaching. Teachers are leaders and need to be adaptable in various ways to effectively support their students and navigate the dynamic classroom environment.
The teacher that is the focus of this post used adaptability to modify lesson plans and content to meet the needs of students, whether due to curriculum changes, student feedback, or unforeseen circumstances such as remote learning requirements. During our discussion of being adaptable we also discussed the need to adjust teaching methods to suit different learning styles, abilities, and interests of students. This includes using diverse instructional strategies like project-based learning, technology integration, or differentiated instruction.
All leaders need to be malleable. I used that term in Mere Leadership saying, “Malleable leaders are open to new ideas and perspectives. This openness fosters innovation and encourages our team members and those we serve to share their thoughts, leading to better problem-solving and decision-making” (p.p. 158-158). This also means growing professionally. We must continuously update our skills and knowledge through professional development to stay current with research and other innovations.
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