Through Storms To Safe Harbor

IDEAS

Through storms to safe harbor

By Jo Beth Jimerson and Cara Jones

Categories: Change management, Leadership, Social & emotional learning, System leadership

April 2024

For years, I (Jo Beth) had a photo of a ship in a storm tacked above my desk. On it was this quote: “Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” This was a reminder that skilled leaders steer safely even through storms, and that is true today. The sea is decidedly not calm: School leaders must lead change amid layers of increased social and political complexity. In education, the concept of leading change winds through most, if not all, of a leader’s job. But the nature of that change is, well, changing. Before COVID-19, leading through change meant strategically navigating between typical transitions, such as between one program, policy, or practice to another. This might have been technical, as with a curriculum

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