One of the most meaningful parts of building #WomenLeadingEd is hearing the stories behind why leaders choose this work. In our newest #ILead video, Yolanda Brown, Susie Hedalen, Dr. Zoie Saunders, and Dr. Susana Córdova each answer the same question: “I lead because…” Their answers are personal, powerful, and deeply connected to students, communities, and the future of public education. I’m proud to know and learn from leaders like these. Leaders who bring clarity, courage, and purpose to some of the hardest work in education. This is what #WomenLeadingEd is about. Watch the newest #ILead video.

Nobody calls a consultant at 11pm. They call someone they trust, who has sat where they are sitting, and who won't need the whole backstory first. Building that into the work is the point of how we coach. A leader working with ILO has a team behind them, not a monthly call on a calendar. Dr. Jill Baker, Dr. Lisa Coons, Dr. Diane Gullett, and Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt are joining ILO Group as Superintendents-in-Residence. All four have carried the full weight of leading a district or a state system. They have made irreversible calls on incomplete information, with a board and a community waiting on the answer. A leader in that position can tell inside one conversation whether the person on the other end has been there. They join Dr. Katy Anthes, Dr. Pete Gorman, Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell, Dr. Scott Muri, Dr. Arsenio Romero, Michael Sulmeyer, and others who bring critical expertise and will be the  team working with our Executive Vice President Margaret Crespo.  Most of this work is expected. Reading a board dynamic before the meeting. Sequencing a rollout so it survives year two. Sometimes it is just saying the half-formed version out loud to someone who won't repeat it. We would far rather help a leader steer around a crisis than be excellent in the middle of one, and we are there for both. The research here is stronger than people expect. Leaders who simply believed a team was working alongside them stayed with a hard problem 48 percent longer, and they were working alone the whole time (Carr and Walton, 2014). A team changes what a leader is willing to take on. We are the partner leaders call when the stakes are highest, and Jill, Lisa, Diane, and Melanie deepen what that means. Their vision, their system, their credit. The leader in the chair should never be the only one thinking about the problem.

One thing I’ve learned about leadership: so much of it happens where no one can see it. I’ve had days where I’ve walked out of a meeting still carrying the conversation hours later. Moments when the decisions are complex, the stakes are high, and I’m reminded just how much the way we show up as leaders matters to the people around us. That’s why this month’s #ILead question feels especially personal: “What people don’t see about this job is…” As @ShannonTrejo, @AleesiaJohnson, @DeborahKnoll and @JillBaker share their own honest answers, they’re a reminder that even when our roles and experiences look different, there’s so much about leadership that we quietly carry in common. Sometimes the most important parts of becoming a leader happen in the moments no one applauds, posts about, or even knows happened. I’m grateful #WomenLeadingEd provides the space for powerful leaders to share about those parts, too.  #WomenLeadingEd