Where does the organizational leadership live?

Leadership comes from a mindset and not a position. It is easy to point to roles like superintendent and principal as they are part of the right answer, but all organizations have leadership scattered throughout. There will be a tendency to lean on answers like “everyone is a leader,” but the organizational leadership does not live with everyone. It is most likely in the hands of 10–15% of individuals that have large influence through their actions, words, budgets, and behaviors. To identify these leaders, we look to the following questions. Who are the idea farmers? Who are the people that connect and network beyond the school? Who removes friction from the system? These are the types of questions that give us the glimpse into the true leadership of an organization. Every teacher and staff member have an opportunity to serve these types of roles.