A Challenge to Leaders: A Day of Empathy
Damon Grant, principal at Unity Middle School in Oakland, CA, observes students during the School Retool fellowship. Image courtesy of SchoolRetool.com

A Challenge to Leaders: A Day of Empathy

This week, school principals across the globe are lacing up their sneakers and toting their brown bags to school as part of Shadow a Student Challenge, a program to help school principals better understand their students’ experiences.

As of Monday, more than 1,200 school leaders have taken the challenge in all 50 states in the U.S. and in 24 countries. Looking at the tweets coming from these experienced school leaders, it’s fascinating to see their revelations from standing in the shoes of their students for a day. Turns out being a student is hard work!

“2 classes, two 40+ question tests so far...the kids are such troopers! I’m exhausted already!” tweeted Jonathan Adel (@jonathanadel).

“Health to ELA to Math...Communicable diseases to Text Features to an Algebra 1 test on Multi-Step equations = worn out :)” wrote Ed Gettenmeier (@egettenmeier).

“Spanish, Eng, math, now government...my head is spinning. I was so lost in math,” wrote Bradford Hubbard (@hubbardbradford). He followed up, “Feels very vulnerable to say, ‘I don’t know.’”

This is what empathy is all about. Not just sympathy for someone else’s circumstances, but the deep intuition for what it feels like to live their lives. When they sign up to follow a child for a full day during the week, these school leaders are clearing their calendars to commute to school, attend classes, and eat lunch alongside their students to see the entire school experience through their eyes.

The organizers of the challenge — IDEO, the Stanford d.school, and the Hewlett Foundation — are providing resources to help school leaders, who are asked to hack potential solutions where they find a need during their days as students.

There’s a big idea here for all of us who play a leadership role (and most of us do in some way lead others) — to try shadowing our own “student” for a day. Of course, it doesn’t have to literally be a student, per se, but someone who you may have responsibility for, someone whose daily work life you haven’t experienced.

If you manage a store, for example, try ringing up customers at the checkout. If you run a logistics center, try working on the warehouse floor. If you manage project teams, sign up to be a regular project team member for a day. Whatever it might be, go experience the day of someone you lead.

Just as with the principals, you may find it harder work than you imagined, and it may give you insights into how to create better experiences for your colleagues.

Alok Bidasaria

Entrepreneur, Founder & Business Head, at VSN International

3 年

Leaders are not though who are In-charge but they are those who take care of people in there change. This can only come with Empathy.

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Jeff Ellington

CEO and Executive Chairman at ConcentricDNA Health Innovations, LLC

7 年

There’s perhaps nothing more magnetic than empathy - so many uses and applications for bringing empathy inspiring technologies to healthcare and other industries.

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Kim Olson

Founder and Artistic Director SWEET EDGE and Facilitator of Group Creative Experiences

8 年

I love this. I teach many teacher through creative immersion trainings. The shift from perpetual student to seasoned teacher so often removes those ties that bind. This is a beautiful exercise and one that should happen more often. I'll look for it where it live!

Vassilis Barkas

Business Development & Strategy Officer

8 年

A very good article, I really liked the last paragraph and the comment below from Annette Rinner, which remind it me the ancient saying "ΓΗΡΑΣΚΩ ΑΕΙ ΔΙΔΑΣΚΟΜΕΝΟΣ" = "I Live and Learn all of my Life"

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