When you become really good at what you do, having the answer becomes second nature. Someone brings you a problem, and your brain is already three steps ahead, going, "Yep, I know what we need to do here."
But educational leadership asks something different of us. Whether you're teaching a course, training your team, mentoring someone or educating your community, the goal isn't to prove how much you know. It's to help someone understand, have a go and build the confidence to make decisions for themselves.
Ask Before You Answer
When someone asks a question, and you know the answer, it is very tempting to give it. Mine certainly is. There is a little part of my brain going, "I can fix this in 30 seconds."
Sometimes the better thing to do is ask:
What are you trying to achieve?
What have you already tried?
What do you think the next step could be?
Give someone the answer, and they learn that answer. Help them think it through and they learn how to approach the next decision too.
Make Your Knowledge Easier to Use
After years of experience, so much gets filed in our heads under "well, obviously". The person you're teaching doesn't have all those years behind them yet.
Go back to the beginning. What did you need explained? What did you get wrong? Break it into steps, explain the why and show what it looks like in practice.
Give People Room to Have a Go
This is one I know can be hard because I do it too. You know the moment: "Give it here, I'll just do it." Efficient? Absolutely. Educational? Not so much.
Sometimes people need the answer. Sometimes they need an example. And sometimes they need enough room to try, make a mistake and work it out.
Use Your Experience to Teach
Your experience is one of your best teaching tools. Share what worked, what didn't and the decisions you made along the way.
I share the story in this episode of being asked to "make copy" early in my marketing career. With my teaching background, I headed towards the photocopier. Of course I did. Apparently marketing had other ideas.
The point of the story isn't just what I did. It's helping someone else ask, "What does this look like for me?"
What Success Looks Like
Success isn't having people come back to you for every answer. It's seeing your students, team, or community start trusting what they know and making decisions for themselves.
We're not trying to create little mini robots who do everything exactly the way we did it. Frankly, one of me is probably enough.
Try this this week: notice one moment where you would normally jump straight in with the answer. Ask a question instead and give the other person room to think it through with you.
Resources
Highlights
- 00:00 Moving From Expert to Guide
- 01:00 What Educational Leadership Really Means
- 02:00 Ask Questions That Help People Think
- 02:35 Making Your Experience Easier to Learn From
- 03:20 Give People Room to Try
- 04:20 Using Your Experience as a Teaching Tool
- 05:00 Linda's "Making Copy" Story
- 05:45 What Success Looks Like as a Guide
- 07:30 Your Educational Leadership Challenge
