In the recent Mafost Mashup episode (5 Ways to Jump Start Next School Year), I offered 5 strategies and 5 friends offered strategies to really level up over the summer break.
One of these strategies was managing up, which is a crucial aspect of context switching (see link at the end).
Not only does this action step display confidence and humility, but it also deepens a crucial relationship.
Manage Up: A Summertime Action Step
Initiate a meeting with your area superintendent or supervisor. This is the time to manage up.
Keep the communication flowing upstream, but make it two-way. Here’s how…
Ask. Start the meeting by leading with questions. Ask about the district vision and the goals that the district holds for your campus. Also, share the big ideas from the next 3 months of your school’s improvement efforts.
Then ask for constructive feedback.
Invite. Make it easy for your supervisor to give you feedback by asking for it. Not only does this display confidence and humility, but it also deepens a crucial relationship.
Here’s an article I wrote in 2017 covering the basics of Context Switching and How It Impacts School Culture. In this article, I contrasted three principals:
- the Promoted Manager,
- the School Expert, and
- the Context-Switcher.
Check it out. And let me know what you think about managing up by leaving me a written comment here or a voice message for the podcast here.