Portrait of a (fill in the role)

The organization where I help lead is embarking on a new strategic planning cycle as our current plan has reached its shelf-life, and there are several people in new leadership roles within the district. Part of the plan for our organization as an educational institution is to develop a "Portrait of a Graduate." This immediately got me dreaming of what this image would look like, and a Picasso type painting was forming in my head. I was picturing a multi-skin toned individual, with half of a graduation cap and half of a hard hat, wearing a suit and a military uniform. This person has a laptop and a paintbrush, and is possibly in a wheel chair while crossing our stage to receive their diploma. I truly hope that what we come up with is as diverse as the image in my head, as we need to continue to serve all students in our mission to help them "Leave with Purpose."

 This then got me to think of portraits of other roles. As I am a leader of teachers, I began to envision a "Portrait of a Teacher." 16 years in to my leadership of teachers I probably should have already created something like this, but learning and growing often leads to moment of wondering why something has not occurred to us already. I also know that my portrait would have looked very differently in 2006 than it does in 2023. 

Similarly to the Portrait of a Student, my teacher would have multiple skin tones, and would represent both genders so that all students might see themselves in this person. My teacher would not be standing at the front of the classroom, pointing to the chalkboard imparting wisdom to rows of eager looking youths. My teacher would be standing more in the middle of the room, and an outside observer might think the room looks chaotic. Students are in multiple locations of the room, some standing near a vertical writing surface, others looking up information on a laptop or padlet, others talking to the teacher about what they are learning and what they think next steps might be. Students are working in groups together, and the teacher is facilitating this in such a way that students are mobilizing their knowledge to each other in the classroom. The teacher is not the sage of wisdom, imparting knowledge directly into the brains of their students. They are a facilitator of thinking, leading students to the path of discovery.

Think of those you may lead, from administrative assistants to sales people, accountants, soldiers, maintenance people, vice presidents, and any other roles. In order to properly lead people towards our desired outcomes, it has become clear to me that it is necessary to have an image in mind of what the portrait of these roles must entail. The painting can be more of an Impressionist style to leave room for interpretation and adaptation, but getting this image in mind is an important step in hiring, retaining, training, and evaluating the performance of those you lead.