11 Big Lessons in Educational Leadership … and Beyond

A tribute to my mentor, Thomas Sch?dler

January 2024

Last November, I lost my most important mentor to a very long battle with cancer. Thomas Schaedler was my first “real” boss. We both entered into a new school the same year - he as the director and me as the new school psychologist. We worked closely together for 5 years. I had been one of his close confidants from the very first days of his diagnosis. Over the past 15 years, he and his doctors had put up a valiant and miraculous fight to extend his life for over a decade. But in November, he wrote to me that they had finally run out of treatments. He seemed to understand the end was near.??

Feeling helpless, I decided to write him a letter with all the life and career lessons I had learned from him over our nearly 20 years as friends and colleagues. Based on his miraculous precedent, I expected him to make it another few months as he always had. But this time he did not make it, and I never got to write him that letter. So instead, I am writing it for you, whoever you are. Maybe you knew him, or maybe you know me. Maybe some of what he taught me can help pave your way a tiny bit, inspire you, or make you a better person and leader as he has made me - and continues to make me.

Here are some of the most important lessons I learned from my dear mentor, Thomas Schaedler.?

I miss you, my friend.

1. Be generous with your connections

The doors Thomas opened for me and the introductions he made had profound impacts on my career.?

If you are in a position to have met wonderful, interesting people throughout your life, share them!? You never know what synergies may arise. Think about those around you who maybe have not been around as long as you have, those who may not have had the same privileges as you, and whom they might benefit from meeting. Keep the needs, wishes, and aspirations of those who are building their careers in mind as you enjoy your rich networks. When you foresee potential mutually beneficial connections arising, never hesitate to make an introduction or offer to set up an opportunity to meet.?

Opening doors for others costs nothing and can make enormous differences in others’ lives. Thomas did this for me until the very end. Even his last posts on LinkedIn generously shared the messages from my organizations with his broad and influential international network.

2. Diversify your teams

Look around your team. Does everyone look like you? Talk like you? Have your same thoughts? If so, something is wrong. Thomas made an effort to bring in new voices and perspectives in his teams, which was not always easy or smooth (in fact, often quite the opposite), but it made his teams and institutions stronger. It seems obvious to say, but it is not as easy to find people who share your values but offer different perspectives. Nonetheless, it is always worth it.?

3. Look for diamonds in the rough?

Thomas brought me into his leadership team as a complete outsider, not because I applied or because I asked to, but because he saw potential in me. This approach has changed the way I think of leadership structures - not seeing people in terms of hierarchies to grow into, but instead seeing every member of a team as a potential leader - not necessarily because of seniority or what’s on their CV, but because of their talents and passion for their work. This approach has led me to put together an incredible team today.

4. Don't let them see you run

I am not the best at time management. I have a hard time getting out of one meeting in time for the next, as I try to be as attentive and respectful as possible when others are speaking. This often leads me to literally sprint from one meeting to another. Thomas often told me “not to run.”? At the time, I found this advice somewhat annoying.? I had so very much to do, and running was the most efficient way to get everything done. In my more advanced age, I now realize that no one wants to see the leader running or appearing frantic. As one of my team members put it,? “you never want to see the flight attendant, or worse, the pilot running!” This is advice I still do not follow well, but I now understand that Thomas was right: people want to follow a leader’s peaceful stride, not panicked sprints. If you’re lucky, over time, creating an illusion of calm amid chaos might teach you to actually feel calm, even in the busiest of times. I continue to work on this one.

5. Offer easy solutions - even to complex problems

When we first started our agency, we wanted to do so much to support schools and families, but we were not good at explaining simply what we did. We had so many ideas, but we struggled to explicitly convey how what we offered would make school leaders’ lives easier. Thomas often advised us to offer “turnkey” solutions. With experience, we’ve learned how to “package” our complex solutions in ways that make school leaders feel safe, seen, and understood. We know that we have the expertise to take pressure and work off of them. Even if what we are doing is complicated, people really want to know most of all that we have the skills and tools to take some of the tough stuff off of their plates. This advice is something I have thought about weekly since I first pitched the idea of Linden Global Learning to Thomas in an Italian restaurant 10 years ago. If you are trying to reach out and help people, make it easy for them to take your hand.

6. Delegation = growth

In our first meeting with him as the new school director, Thomas shared that his previous school had sung him a song at his farewell party with “See you later, delegator” as the refrain. Whereas some might have taken this as a criticism, Thomas regarded this proudly (with a wink) as a pillar of his leadership style. The further I go in my own leadership journey, the clearer I am that delegation has nothing to do with laziness, as I might have thought in my younger years, but quite the contrary. Since then, I have watched leaders who clutched every task to their chests as they withered under the burden and appeared not to trust their teams.

Delegation as a leader serves so many purposes: efficiency, empowerment, and growth.? By delegating tasks, a leader can be sure that work is being done by the “best brain,” that is, the person who is uniquely qualified to do that task the very best. Rarely is the leader truly going to do that task better than others in the team. Secondly, by delegating jobs, a leader can empower younger members of the team to take on new challenges that they may not have otherwise dared.? A successful leader is analogous to a captain at the helm of a boat. From this station, the captain must determine the course of the vessel, choose new destinations, and identify potential obstacles. This is impossible to do if they do not delegate the majority of their daily tasks to their team. A leader trying to do everything cannot raise their head above the bough to see ahead.

7. Leaders need someone to trust. It's lonely up there

Through Thomas I learned that leadership can be lonely. He was conscientious about having strong allies and building close relationships in his leadership teams, but also being sure he had people to talk to outside of school. I have since learned how essential it is that healthy leaders find allies and a place to clear their filters. The bigger the organization, the more issues a leader has to deal with that they cannot discuss with their colleagues. Whether it be an inter-personal conflict between team members, a personal problem, financial troubles, or legal issues, it quickly becomes inappropriate for the leader to share such confidential information with their teams. In the field of education, this is compounded with serious and emotionally disturbing issues of child protection. So where to go with all those stories, those conflicts, those feelings? Psychologists and counselors are required by their professional codes of conduct to seek supervision to help them process their work, decisions, practices, and feelings. But what about school leaders? If they do not have close, strong, trusting relationships with others in their leadership teams, which they have often inherited from their predecessors, to whom can they turn? I learned to be empathetic with these leaders and to encourage them to build strong, caring leadership teams, and to seek regular coaching to help them work through the burden of carrying so many confidential conflicts and issues on their shoulders and in their hearts.

8. Lies are more interesting than truth?

Gossip happens. Research shows that gossip is an important tool for bonding among humans. That means it is inevitable that, as a leader, people will gossip about you. The larger the organization, the more likely that is. This was incredibly difficult for me to learn and to tolerate. I learned from Thomas however, how to breathe through it and to understand that lies spread more quickly than truth. Truth is often less interesting than lies. What I took away from this lesson was that whereas gossip is the inevitable dark side of the leadership journey, we can work very hard to build caring cultures, actively work against gossip within the organization, and to go in each day being clear about our values. Back then, I hung a poster I made? over my desk with a version quote from John Wesley that said “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” That helped me remind myself each day, that no matter what might be said, I knew that I was living up to my values and that that truth was more meaningful than any lie, no matter how interesting.

9. Get out in front of a problem. Own it. And say what you are doing about it.

Thomas taught me not to hide from problems. When a crisis struck, he taught me to get out in front of it before the stories begin (see number 8). Write a clear statement about what happened, and what you are doing to address it. Open yourself up to questions. You will be surprised how few people actually ask if you have provided a clear statement as soon as possible. You will cut in half your communications about a crisis if you quickly and clearly explain what has happened.

10. Leadership is fighting for what you believe in

Thomas once told me about an educator who was quietly getting on with things even though they were not satisfied with the resources in her department. I made some remark about how good it was of them to just get on with it. Thomas, to my surprise, told me I was wrong. It is her job to fight for her section of the school and advocate for her work and what her students need. I had never thought that a leader would actually want staff to argue with them. I learned that this was not only the mark of a good section leader - to advocate strongly and diplomatically for what they need, but also the mark of a good leader to invite constructive conflict from within the team. Now, when a member of my team pushes back on a decision or a situation, I welcome it as a sign of someone who really cares about their work and wants to make things better. This idea also gives me strength when I need to fight for something I believe in. If I really care and really believe in something, it is my obligation as a leader to push for it.

11. Don’t be afraid of new beginnings / Endings are just new beginnings

Thomas never appeared to be afraid to leave one position to move onto the next adventure. Whereas I often felt that leaving meant giving up, for Thomas, moving on was part of the climb and part of his personal and professional journey. I am only now beginning to learn that endings and new beginnings are a normal and healthy part of life. Staying in one place for too long is not always good for an organization nor for one’s self. Just like a field that has only had one crop planted for too many seasons will become less fruitful, so is life at times as well. When I told my 9 year old daughter today I was feeling sad writing this piece, she gave me a hug and told me “Don’t feel sad because it is over, smile because it happened.” (Dr Seuss quote- not hers!).? I think Thomas would have agreed with that.?

Thomas Sch?dler was born July 20th 1959 in Zurich and died November 26, 2023 in Berlin. He was a beloved teacher, father, leader, author, friend, and mentor working in educational settings around the world.