How Great Leaders Pave the Way for Other Great Leaders

When former Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, better known as “Coach K,” retired in April 2022, there was no denying his incredible legacy—a 46-season career with a record 1,170 wins and five national championships.

There’s a part of Coach K’s ethos that deserves just as much recognition as his coaching milestones: his ability to develop leaders both on and off the court. His “coaching tree” has deep roots, with 11 former Duke players or assistants currently head coaches at the NCAA or NBA level. One of these coaches, Nate James, says being around Coach K was like having “an endless amount of knowledge that’s poured into you each and every day, each and every season.”

It doesn’t matter if leadership development happens on a court or in a school—the fact is that truly great leaders are those who believe in building up the leadership of those around them. They share knowledge freely, chart a path forward, and lead by example. Think about it: if Coach K had kept all he learned to himself, his influence would be much smaller than it is today. 

It doesn’t matter if leadership development happens on a court or in a school—the fact is that truly great leaders are those who believe in building up the leadership of those around them.

This is one of the key characteristics of educational leaders: their commitment to developing potential leaders in their schools. Here’s are four ways to make that happen:

Cultivate leaders from all parts of the school community

When we talk about leadership in the context of education, we’re often referring to superintendents, principals and teacher leaders. One of the qualities of a great leader is that they know how important it is to cultivate leadership throughout the school ecosystem,  including with students and parents.

One of the qualities of a great leader is that they know how important it is to cultivate leadership throughout the school ecosystem, including with students and parents.

For example, “Parent Power” is the core pillar of this Milwaukee charter school network, where organized committees of 10-15 parent volunteers each lead advocacy work at each of the network’s schools. The committees have the support of full-time staff that are dedicated to building parent leaders—and with their support, have pushed for policy changes, increased traffic safety measures, and hosted community forums.

In this Kansas school, a student group is asked to weigh in on school-wide issues. The school also offers opportunities for high school students to be aides in elementary school classes, giving them a chance to be both leaders and mentors. 

Both of these examples have engagement as the common denominator, and it’s a good reminder that leadership doesn’t have to be an “official” post. When students feel like they have a voice, and families can be co-creators in their child’s educational journey, they want to get more involved—and that’s the first step to sparking an interest in leadership. 

Hold “shoulder tap” conversations with future leaders

For a moment, consider how you were introduced to the possibility of being a school leader. Did you always want to make an impact beyond the classroom, and saw the principalship as a way to do that? Did you feel like you had the ability to lead, but weren’t sure where to begin? Or, was it something you hadn’t considered—until your principal or another school leader encouraged you to take a closer look?

If your journey was similar to that last example, think about how it felt to know that someone saw something in you that you hadn’t recognized yourself. At New Leaders, we call this kind of informal recruitment “the shoulder tap,” and one of the most fulfilling parts of being a leader yourself is that now, you get to do the same for the aspiring principals and teacher leaders in your school or district. It’s never too early to start having those conversations with those exhibiting leadership qualities.

At New Leaders, we call this kind of informal recruitment “the shoulder tap,” and one of the most fulfilling parts of being a leader yourself is that now, you get to do the same for the aspiring principals and teacher leaders in your school or district.

For your teachers who say they don’t know anything about becoming a school principal, it can help to point out all the leadership actions they perform daily without realizing it—managing their classrooms, communicating with parents, planning instruction and utilizing data to inform those efforts, collaborating with other teachers, and encouraging their professional learning. If they’re already thinking about this as a next step, it can be beneficial to simply share what you learned as you navigated your own journey and strengthened your leadership capacity.

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Intentionally work to strengthen teams

On many levels, school teams function as miniature communities. They bring together people to share new ideas, successes, and challenges, as well as co-create opportunities and achieve goals that might not be possible as individuals. 

Just like in a community, trust and care need to exist on a team—and that’s why great leaders work hard to create psychologically safe spaces where trust can thrive. When we trust the people we work with, we’re more comfortable being our authentic selves, taking risks, and getting a little vulnerable—a feeling that can actually lead to increased innovation, creative thinking, and professional growth.

A team environment is also a fantastic way for its members to test out new leadership practices in a lower-pressure way. This could be by taking the lead on a specific program or initiative, leading a data team, or working on what we mentioned above—creating ways to pull voices from other teachers, students, and parents into the fold. 

Celebrate the wins and recognize growth

Effective school leaders know that recognition is one of the most important tools in leadership development. The key is to use it consistently. This can be hard for us as school leaders to remember. After all, there’s so much work to do. Why not just go on to the next thing?

Creating a culture of recognition in your school is important for aspiring leaders to see. By taking the time to celebrate successes, you’re setting the example that recognizing achievements is necessary for establishing a culture of high performance. Research tells us that when we celebrate accomplishments, we create the energy and motivation to reach those larger collective goals. 

Instilling this leadership practice not only supports a positive school culture, it creates the conditions that encourage more hesitant leaders-to-be to be less afraid. 

This is especially important to understand when someone is moving into more leadership. Teaching aspiring leaders to look for unexpected positives can help sustain them when the stretch into leadership feels too much. It’s human nature to get fixated on what success looks like, but cultivating a growth mindset makes all the difference. When we learn to widen our aperture and train ourselves to look for the positives that weren’t part of the plan, it can give your new leaders the momentum they need to keep going. 

Another way to increase recognition in your school is to celebrate small accomplishments often. Instead of celebrating at the end of a big project or long process, keep track of all the points along the way and acknowledge those milestones. Recognizing small wins activates dopamine release in the brain—a feel-good chemical that not only reinforces the experiences we’re having, but also strengthens the connections to those we’re doing the work with. Instilling this leadership practice not only supports a positive school culture, it creates the conditions that encourage more hesitant leaders-to-be to be less afraid. 

Great leadership is a legacy

In the day-to-day buzz of the school year, we may not always stop to consider this, but the legacy we leave as leaders is about our values and how we instill those in the people who will follow in our footsteps. 

Through everyday actions of recognition, knowledge sharing, a focus on teamwork, and noticing when someone’s ready for the next step, great leaders like you can nurture leadership skills in others and create legacies without even realizing it. 

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