What do you do if your educational leadership efforts are met with failure?

No one likes to fail yet we all have to go through it. The fear of failure is a failure in itself thus one must be courageous enough to accept the failure and start to work on it.

When faced with failure in educational leadership, it's crucial to reflect on what went wrong and why, seeking feedback from team members and stakeholders. Learning from mistakes is key, understanding what worked well and what could have been done differently. Reassessing goals for realism and achievability, adjusting strategies based on reflections and feedback, and communicating transparently with your team are essential steps. Seeking support from colleagues or mentors, maintaining a positive attitude, and using the failure as a learning opportunity are vital. Finally, taking action on revised strategies, celebrating progress, and staying focused on improvement can help turn failure into a stepping stone for future success.

I see failure has an important journey to growth. It shows that someone is making an effort to get something done. I've learned to accept failure when it comes as a learning curve though I don't embrace or just accept it as the only thing.

In the face of failure in educational leadership efforts, it's essential to adopt a resilient mindset and embrace failure as an opportunity for growth. Reflect on the reasons behind the failure, identify lessons learned, and adjust strategies accordingly. Seek feedback from stakeholders to understand their perspectives and rebuild trust. Stay committed to your vision and persevere through challenges, leveraging failure as a stepping stone toward eventual success. Embrace innovation and continuously refine your approach, remaining adaptable to change. Remember, failure is not the end but rather a stepping stone on the path to eventual success.

En educación nada está escrito sobre piedra y es un factor muy importante a considerar. Ideas geniales en contextos equivocados no siempre tendrán los mejores resultados. Existen una infinidad de factores que nadie puede controlar en los entornos escolares y como bien planteaba Enrique Rebsamen, el mejor docente es aquel que, conociendo todos los métodos, crea el suyo propio a partir de lo que analiza en su entorno. Cuando aprendes a discernir si el error es producto de algo mal hecho y se puede corregir o si es parte de un factor que no está en tus manos, más fácilmente aprenderás a reconocer las mejores formas de rehacer o empezar de cero, aunque empezar de cero sólo es una expresión, pues nunca nadie inicia de cero.

Failure is important information; treat it like data, and try to remove emotion. Many of us have been in a position where we have internalized a complex situation and understand it thoroughly. We think others are as ready as us for change. Sometimes, that’s not the case for the group you are leading; they might need more time, or information, to come along with you. Feedback and reflection will help you move forward again.

Failure is a stepping stone to success. Leadership isn't only for those who willingly follow along; you must lead all people in your organization. If your leadership isn't resonating within your school community, closely examine WHAT you're doing and HOW you're doing it. Communication may contribute to the problem. How and what you communicate matters. Does it provide enough info that your school community values and needs? Are you explaining why you're leading in a given direction with confidence, clarity, and understanding? To help you gather feedback, you could ask a trusted colleague, mentor, or supervisor how you're doing in those areas. Then make a plan to implement some changes while monitoring your results and adjust along the way.

Plan, do, study, act (PDSA) is a terrific way to reflect and make changes. First, identify what is the problem. What steps can you PLAN to make a change? Implement what you will DO to make the plan real. STUDY the results of what you did. ACT upon the results you studied -- either implement the PDSA further, make adjustments, or end it (if it was successful or didn't work at all). Then, repeat the cycle as needed. PDSA is an excellent data-based system that creates positive performance results.

You may need to revise your goals, modify your actions, adopt new practices or tools or ask for help to improve on previous performance.

It's crucial to reflect on what went wrong, learn from the experience, and adapt accordingly. This might involve seeking feedback from colleagues, reassessing strategies, and being open to new approaches. Remember, failure is often a stepping stone to success.

Communication and collaboration are one of the strongest 21st century skills to succeed in school, career and school. No one is an island of knowledge. We need to work intentionally with everyone to achieve our stated goals.

Be thankful for the opportunity to fail. One of the most prevalent aspects of educational leadership across the globe is the desire to appear invulnerable. That is ABSOLUTELY wrong-headed thinking. It is your very vulnerability that helps others to understand that you are a quality leader. We are all here on this globe and serving as educational leaders to be messy: to grow, to develop, to learn resiliency and to improve. Our kids need that model. So be thankful for failure. It’s not an example of bad leadership; it’s an opportunity to build, and to make ourselves better.

Reflect on what went wrong with everything then try to restrategise for a better way to do better or actually improve on yourself

Experience is not just a result achieved by correct behavior. Those who collect all the mistakes and incidents, whether caused by him or not, and keep the memory of the past, always go forward.

Seeking input from colleagues, students, and stakeholders can provide diverse perspectives and innovative solutions. By fostering a culture of teamwork and collective problem-solving, you not only navigate past obstacles but also strengthen bonds within your educational community. So, when faced with failure, don't go it alone; lean on the support of others and together, find new pathways to success.

É natural que, como líder educacional, você encontre obstáculos e momentos de fracasso. A chave está em como você lida com essas situações e aprende com elas para se fortalecer e aprimorar sua liderança.

Failure of educational leadership may happen if the team or verticala you lead have people problem in aspects of competencies, clarity of job required to be done and time value. An education leader should lead by example to avoid failures and also be open to make his hands dirty.