As this new year gets well underway it is a great opportunity to pause and simply reflect on your leadership role in providing a clear focus for the work. Here are a few questions to support your thinking:

• What is the focused mission of the year?
• What outcomes are the most critical to celebrate success in May?
• What behaviors and actions are you modeling to drive and maintain the focus through the year?
• In our seminars we speak of the standards and expectations that drive the engine of focus. How clear and precise are the expectations you have articulated for the year?

Each time I have the privilege to be in a district, people are working enormously hard and, commonly, focused in many different directions. One question, “What is the most important focus for your year?” …yields answers like, – “do it all” “high student success” “work in PLC’s” “use data to drive instruction” “make sure no kids fall through the cracks” and the list goes on. The next question asked is to clarify, “And what does that mean to each member of the team?”

As a leader, what will all members of your team say is the most important focus/goal of their work? How are they reflecting on how they are doing, with what data or visible results? Let’s use the example of “working in a PLC,” and consider the questions below.

• What specifically does that mean you will see and hear when it is occurring?
• What is the purpose of working in a PLC?
• What does each member believe is the benefit to themselves working this way?
• What are the benchmark self-assessments along the way to support the focus?

There may be many things that demand focus.

• Which 3-5 things will influence the advancement of many goals and targets?
• What metaphor or visual provides the image of how a few targeted things influence many results?
• What data impacts many targets- just in the nature of changes made from it?

Without a clear direction, any destination is okay. With a clear direction, people know for certain what to give their motivation and energy to, why it will make a difference, and what makes this destination important to the greater vision and results. You probably are already thinking it may be a good time to lead some team members in a conversation to see where we are in our journey to the destination this year. One thing we know for sure, it will bring greater clarity and results and an accelerated journey.