Leading From the Middle: My NoTosh Story

There I was, blankly staring into the pixelated squares and faces of twelve or thirteen other teachers, department leaders, grade level coordinators, principals, assistant principals, and school heads. Some, hovering over skyscrapers of papers and books, had the glory of the midday sunlight shining through their windows — their bright classrooms and faces still buzzing with midday work energy. Some, their faces illuminated only by the light cast from their laptop screens, were taking their first sips of coffee, the break of day barely peeking through their window curtains. About three of us, eight thousand miles away from the coffee sippers and happy to be back home after a long day at school, were at our makeshift home office spaces, ready to tune in. 

We were all here for one reason. Well, sort of. The workshop, curated by NoTosh Design Thinking, is called “Leading from the Middle,” and it runs over three five-day long “sprints.” Each session would be one hour long, live on Zoom, each day. Ewan McIntosh, our host, introduced himself and the course, telling us all that he and his expert team would “help us develop the mindset, skill sets, and toolsets to be the best leaders we could be, no matter the organization, no matter the context.”

As stakeholders in educational systems, we have all heard of the term “Zoom fatigue” (so I will not get into it for the purpose of this blog post), but there was something vibrant, challenging, and different about this workshop. There was, in the matrix, a very strong sense of solidarity. We were all here to find something we could lead — whether that be a problem, an opportunity, or a cause. At times, we were all struggling, celebrating, chatting away in breakout rooms, expressing our problems, analyzing our opportunities, and sharing our causes — but before the beginning and after the end of each and every session, we were all leaders. 

“Leaders are like teabags. You don’t know how good they are until they get in hot water.” Ewan said. We chuckled. Immediately, he dove into some of the hurdles we all face as middle leaders. I will not sugarcoat this part: Some of us are underused. Some of us get too comfortable. Some of us are not kept in the loop. Some of us are growing, but are ignored. Some of us do not get delegated to. Some of us are not involved in decision-making and change. And some of us have passion, fervor, and creativity that has not been tapped into. This last hurdle, amongst all the others, was the one I could relate to the most. 

Sprint One, called “Be It,” and subsequently our first task, was to find our passion, or our “cause." Ewan shared his Zoom desktop: Big letters filled our screens with a quote by Harold Whitman:

“DON'T ASK YOURSELF WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS; ASK YOURSELF WHAT MAKES YOU COME ALIVE. AND THEN GO DO THAT. BECAUSE WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS IS PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME ALIVE.”

“Be It.” I kept thinking, “To be or not to be… Being is the first step to becoming…or is becoming the first step to being?” What was my cause? What cause do I want to be? And markedly, why did I relate so much to the concept of untapped creativity?

The first lesson I learned from Sprint One was to “be” my cause. That is, I needed to find what gets my heart beating. What is it that I dream to see in a school? What are my “teacher’s high” moments? What is it that I really enjoy doing in my classroom that most people do not know about? If I made my own curriculum, what would it involve?

These were the questions I needed to ask in order to further my cause of fostering and encouraging a culture of creativity and innovation. Sprint One was already off to a promising start. 

“Why?” Just like that, Ewan puts me on the spot! Day one of the Sprint Two and I am already under the spotlight. “Because it’s important,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because creativity boosts wellbeing, student outcomes, and provides opportunities for trying out new ideas and ways of thinking and problem-solving.”

“How will you communicate your vision and recruit others?”

“I will rally members at school by explaining how important it is to foster creativity that will involve cross-curricular collaboration amongst departments and help view and solve problems?”

“If it’s important, why isn’t it already being done?”

“I... don’t know.”

In retrospect, I wish I could have shared some of my mini-success stories. But I didn’t do that. There are many “out of the box” methods and lesson plans that I have tested and tried in my classroom that were successful, but not a single one came to mind when he asked me “Why?” I was so focused on finding the right words, the right vocabulary, and the right Bloom’s taxonomy to answer Ewan’s questions that my mind just drew blanks.

This was my second lesson as a result of the workshop. That day, I learned that in order to express or communicate my cause to recruit people, I would have to be comfortable communicating my ideas in the simplest way possible. “You will want to explain your idea as if you are explaining it to a 5th grader.”

Innovation is hardly a new concept in schools worldwide, meaning my vision is not completely “new.” Surely, there are several innovative lessons already under the belt of many teachers. The key, I learned, is to start a discussion. To carefully listen for these already existing stories of small successes that I can then harness and take 1% further. That, I learned, is how recruitment is possible.

Sprint Two taught me that how I communicate my cause is critical. Rather than bombard already overworked staff and teachers with another new cause and committee idea, I learned the value of observation and building on people’s desires. 

During Sprint Three, I also was reminded of a very important truth: 

A way to verbalize hopeful momentum is through ‘eagle’ stories; individual early success stories created by “high-flyers”, once they’re on the other side of the hard-yards phase, to show the impact of the new culture (Zoul, 2011).

One of the greatest “eagle” stories I have had over the past couple of years was the story of how we initiated and developed an academic esports club at our school. This project taught me the importance of communication, negotiation, planning, and agility. Thanks to our collective efforts and determination, we won an international award for Innovation in Education! 

This workshop was an illuminating reminder of the importance of checking in on our personal and professional goals throughout the year. I am excited to be sketching out what this might look like next year. Thanks to NoTosh, I feel more confident and prepared to execute my plan.