In psychology, the idea of Time Horizon refers to the distance into the future for which a person can plan. Since first learning about this idea, I keep seeing how it affects my role as a school leader and how it affects the people around me. If you are a person with a short time horizon, you’re likely to be experiencing trauma or stress. You could also be an adolescent. Or, you could be a school administrator in February.
Ryan Dowd, Executive Director of Hesed House, a homeless shelter in Aurora, IL, presented a professional development called “Run Your Classroom Like a Homeless Shelter” to teachers in my school district. The themes were what educators would recognize as SEL-aware: they touched on poverty & trauma, being empathetic vs. punitive, building relationships, and having the right “people skills” to minimize or reduce conflict. For me, the thing I think about most from that training continues to be the concept of Time Horizon.
The PD was in September, still close enough to summer and to what I know now was a time with a longer Time Horizon. Planning for and beginning the school year were full of big ideas of mission, vision, and goals for the year. Time was available for talks of embracing change and bold plans.
As the year has gone on, my Time Horizon has shrunk. A lot. I have found myself only being able to deal with the issue right in front of me. I manage from one thing to the next hoping that my instinct, rooted in my guiding principles, is in line with the ideas and goals we set out with in August. Great effort is needed to come up for air to see the longer Time Horizon and recall the bigger ideas and goals. Even greater effort is needed in the doldrums of February in a school. And it seemed impossible this past week–one of the most stressful I have endured.
This weekend, I have spent time reflecting, trolling Twitter for new ideas, starting a blog, and reading. The Time Horizon idea came up again as I was reading The Principled Principal: 10 Principles for Leading Exceptioal Schools by Jeffery Zoul & Anthony McConnell. In Chapter 8, “The Management Principle,” they talk about “dreamers” and “doers,” saying, “schools need principals who possess qualities of both.” Schools need the leader to both have the big ideas and the ability to get them done. Zoul & McConnell talk about “leaders/dreamers” vs. “managers/doers.” A bad connotation about management is somewhat debunked in the chapter, and it’s argued that an effective school leader needs to be both an effective manager and a visionary leader. As it applies to my dilemma with Time Horizon, I have to work on both the long/dreamer/leader horizon and the close/doer/manager horizon in order to be effective.
In order to be (and feel) more effective and to find a way to manage two ways of functioning on the horizon like Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, here’s my plan:
- Shore up structures that can help create more room for effective operation
- Communicate clear expectations to anyone who can help
- Know when & when not to delegate & collaborate
- Create Creators who can help with innovative ideas who can share the leadership load
Now, if I could just find time for all of that….
Time Horizons in Education Leadership 