Dr. Andy Szeto: When the Manual Runs Out
A principal in Nepal received a warning that floodwaters were coming and immediately moved about 900 students to higher ground. He also alerted drivers carrying more than 700 students who were still on their way to school and told them not to continue. Soon afterward, the floodwaters devastated the school, but the students were safe.
More than 1,600 students were protected because Principal Rajendra Dawadi acted before he had complete information or certainty about what was coming. In the midst of a catastrophic flood that has taken an unimaginable number of lives, the story could end right there. Dawadi is a hero, but his actions also raise a larger question for me about school leadership:
How do we prepare leaders for the moment when the manual runs out?
Without deliberately setting out to do so, I have found myself writing lately about this side of school leadership, the moments that sit far outside curriculum, instruction, budgets, observations, and the other responsibilities we normally associate with the principalship. I recently wrote about Principal Kirk Moore in Oklahoma, who confronted an armed former student at his school and was shot while helping protect others.
I am also reminded of Lily Woo, the longtime principal of P.S. 130 in Lower Manhattan, whose responsibilities changed instantly after the attacks of September 11. Woo slept at her school for three days until every family was able to pick up their children. Staying meant remaining in Lower Manhattan amid the smoke, dust, and debris from the World Trade Center collapse, potentially exposing herself to toxic contaminants. She stayed because children were still in her care and not every family had been able to reach them.
Dawadi, Moore, and Woo faced very different circumstances, but their stories make me think about what we expect from school leaders when something unimaginable happens. We spend a great deal of time preparing principals to lead instruction, supervise staff, analyze data, communicate with families, manage budgets, build culture, and handle the daily operations of a school. We also prepare them for emergencies through drills, safety plans, communication systems, and established protocols, and all of that is necessary.
Still, I doubt there is any curriculum, handbook, or leadership program that can truly prepare someone for every situation that may come through the schoolhouse door. Natural disasters, acts of violence, medical emergencies, and other crises can place a leader in a situation where information is incomplete, consequences are enormous, and there may be only minutes or seconds to decide what happens next.
Dawadi could have waited for more information or questioned whether the warning was reliable. Instead, he made a decision centered on the safety of his students. Woo could have left after an exhausting and terrifying day, but children were still waiting for their families. Moore could not have known exactly what would happen when he confronted an armed person in his school, but he acted to protect the people in his care.
That kind of judgment is difficult to teach through a traditional leadership curriculum. We can create scenarios, conduct drills, study cases, and establish protocols, but eventually a leader has to interpret what is happening in front of them and decide what matters most.
Perhaps this is where our preparation of school leaders needs to go deeper. Aspiring leaders certainly need the technical knowledge required to run schools, but they also need opportunities to wrestle with ambiguity, incomplete information, fear, competing priorities, failure, and consequences. They need to hear not only about leadership victories, but also about mistakes, close calls, difficult decisions, and the scar tissue experienced leaders carry with them.
I have written before about preparing leaders for victories as well as failures and about the parts of leadership that rarely fit neatly into a curriculum. Stories like those of Dawadi, Moore, and Woo remind me that leadership preparation is not only about becoming better at the predictable work of the job. It is also about developing the judgment to respond when the situation is anything but predictable.
We cannot prepare leaders for every possible scenario, but we can work harder to prepare the person who may one day face one. We can help future leaders develop judgment, understand their values, recognize what they are responsible for protecting, and make difficult decisions even when certainty is impossible.
For school leaders, keeping students at the center may be the most important compass we can give them.
Dawadi led his students to higher ground, Moore moved toward danger, and Woo stayed until the children in her care could go home. Their circumstances were different, but each reminds us what leadership can require when the manual runs out. For them, we are thankful.
Lead Forward is an exclusive feature by Dr. Andy Szeto on The Worthy Educator. Check back regularly for new insights for aspiring leaders!
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