Dr. Andy Szeto: Doing the Work That Matters Most

I’m allergic to cockroaches. I found out the hard way while organizing the bookroom as a brand-new social studies teacher in a large urban high school. The room was dim and musty, a maze of leaning shelves and crumbling boxes stacked with outdated textbooks, yellowed teacher guides, broken projectors coated in dust, and stacks of Viewpoints USA primary source books more than four decades old. When I lifted one of the boxes, several cockroaches scattered across the floor and disappeared behind a filing cabinet. Within an hour, my eyes itched and burned, my nose was running, my throat felt raw, and I began sneezing and coughing uncontrollably. Red patches spread up my arms, and my breathing grew tight enough that a concerned colleague insisted I go home.

I had student-taught in that same school, and my path to a full-time position had been easier than most. While others went through multiple rounds of interviews, I had simply transitioned from student teacher to staff. I felt grateful but also quietly insecure. I believed I had to prove I belonged, that I deserved the opportunity I’d been given. So I returned the next day and every day for the rest of the semester, wearing gloves, long sleeves, and a mask. I never told anyone about the reaction. I just wanted to finish the job and show that I could be counted on.

This task, among many others I took on that year, helped to prove my worth, at least to the administration. It worked, but at what cost?

 

From “Yes” to Coherence

That pattern stayed with me. Early in my leadership journey, I said yes to everything. If someone needed help revising curriculum, I was in. If the department needed new bulletin boards for open house, I stayed late to design and mount them myself. If there was a Saturday workshop, I showed up. I took on extra tasks not only because I cared about the school but because I believed that kind of initiative would get me noticed. I thought it would lead to the job I wanted: assistant principal.

It didn’t. I wasn’t even considered. When I asked for feedback, my principal said something that still echoes in my mind: “You’ve done great work, but mostly within your department. You need to start thinking schoolwide.” That comment hit hard. I had worked nonstop, sacrificing evenings, weekends, and personal time, helping wherever I could. But I was being evaluated on something I hadn’t realized mattered most: not how much I helped, but how I led. More than fifteen years later, I still have that email saved in my inbox, a quiet reminder of the moment I began to understand what leadership truly means. Leadership isn’t about staying late; it’s about seeing beyond your classroom, beyond your subject, and into the full picture of a school.

Yes, cleaning the bookroom served a purpose. But serving on the School Leadership Team would have given me a broader view of family engagement, budgets, and instructional priorities. More importantly, it would have placed me in conversations where schoolwide decisions were made. That experience taught me the difference between being busy and being strategic, between activity and alignment. I had been so focused on doing more that I never stopped to ask: Does this connect? Does this move me closer to the leader I want to become?

In that swirl of competing priorities, saying yes feels like the right thing to do. It shows we care, that we’re team players, that we’re ready for leadership. But saying yes to everything often spreads your energy thin and dilutes your impact.

Educational leadership expert Fred Buskey (2025) reminds us that effective leaders must learn to prioritize. He argues that purpose-driven leadership begins with intentionally choosing what matters most and letting go of what does not. When leaders fail to prioritize, they spread themselves thin and lose coherence. For emerging leaders, this lesson is essential: you don’t have to prove yourself by doing everything; you prove yourself by doing the right things well (Buskey, 2025).

Coherence is the antidote. It’s about making your time, energy, and decisions tell a consistent story, one that aligns with your purpose. It means saying yes to what builds your credibility and no to what simply fills time.

When I looked back, I realized my energy had been scattered across countless well-intentioned tasks. I was busy helping everywhere but moving nowhere. My drive to be dependable had become a barrier to being impactful. I had confused motion with momentum.

Doing the right work isn’t about doing everything. It’s about identifying which actions create the most value for students, colleagues, and the school community, and then protecting time to do them well. That takes courage: the courage to say no to good ideas so you can say yes to essential ones.

Coherence begins when leaders stop reacting and start prioritizing. It’s not about being available for every task; it’s about being accountable for the right ones. Leadership potential isn’t measured by how much you take on; it’s revealed in how clearly your choices reflect your purpose.

Practical Advice for Emerging Leaders Start with purpose, not pressure. Before saying yes, pause. Ask yourself if this task moves you closer to the kind of leader you want to be. Purpose-driven yeses build credibility; pressure-driven yeses drain it. Clarify your role. You don’t have to do everything. Be clear about what’s yours to lead and what belongs to others. Clarity protects your focus and builds capacity in your team. Value depth over visibility. Doing a few things well makes a stronger impression than doing many things halfway. Sustainable leadership is built on quality, not quantity. Schedule reflection as rigorously as meetings. Take time each week to review how you spent your energy. If your actions don’t align with your goals, make small course corrections before burnout does it for you.

Full Circle

Years later, I still think about that dusty bookroom. I had walked in believing that cleaning it would prove my worth. Instead, it revealed something more important: leadership isn’t about fixing every mess you see. It’s easy to think that some jobs are beneath you, but I’ve never believed that. I’ve helped clean up in the cafeteria, moved boxes, organized celebratory events, and taken on plenty of behind-the-scenes tasks when needed. If it helps the team, I’ll do it.

But when choices are available, leaders must use them wisely. We all have limits, and how we spend our time reflects what we value most. These days, I can still help plan events, organize celebrations, or coordinate catering, but my greatest responsibility is to focus on the work that directly impacts students and teachers. That’s the difference between being busy and being intentional. Doing the work that matters most, that’s the real mark of leadership.

And if these ideas resonate, check out my new book Leading Before the Title, available from The Worthy Educator Press, and my writing at drandyszeto.com.

Reference

Buskey, F. (2025, October 1). A path back to purpose. Educational Leadership, 83 (2). 

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