277. Why Your School Feels Fine in September (And Falls Apart Every March)

Before we jump into today's episode, I want to speak to you, the owner, who's listening

right now.

Okay.

You're telling yourself that this is the week.

This is the week that you're going to stay strategic, that you're not going to get

into the weeds, that you're going to focus on the big picture.

But here's the thing, you're midweek and you're rewriting director and Roman emails because

it just needs to match the current climate.

And by Thursday, three teachers called out, so you're rearranging coverage.

And then Thursday comes and you're sitting on the floor in the toddler room during circle

time and nap time.

You went from strategy and understanding the strategic level of work to classrooms in

less than 72 hours again.

And here's the thing.

You think it's because you're not delegating well enough or that you need better systems

or processes or better staff or better boundaries.

You don't.

You've delegated the tasks.

You have not transferred ownership and your team knows it.

They know that if they just look confused enough or if they just don't understand enough

or they just say, I wasn't sure what you meant.

They get another day and another chance while you continue carrying the invisible weight

and you are drowning in plain sight.

I'm Daniel Chansky.

I've been coaching early childhood leaders for close to 20 years and I'm doing a live

workshop this month for owners only delegation isn't the finish line ownership is there is

no replay.

And I'm going to show you the three hidden reflexes that keep you stuck in the cycle and

how to break it.

So your team actually owns their work and what they need to do.

You can register at schools of excellence.com slash delegation because here's the thing.

Relief isn't coming after back to school after enrollment after summer after after after

after.

Relief is now.

All right.

Let's get into today's episode.

Hey there.

Welcome back to the podcast.

So in September, whenever I talk to leaders, there's always this incredible energy in their

ear and the voice in their face in their posture and how they kind of walk into rooms.

How they sit on Zoom calls, all of that kind of stuff.

There's just this kind of capable feeling of like this year, it's going to be different.

This year is the year I get ahead.

This year it's going to feel different.

Your staffing chart is already printed.

You've hired differently and you're like, this is it, it's going to be different.

And then it's March where we are right now.

And you have five teachers out six.

You had four teachers quit.

You had a sub-cancel.

You have four parents waiting for meetings and enrollment is nowhere near where you projected

it.

Your financials are unbelievably thin.

Your margins are non-existent and somehow you are covering the bus.

You are cooking, you covered in a classroom, you covered in a classroom for several weeks.

You had to prepare snack a few times this year and you're like, why does this keep happening?

Because what worked in September does not work in March because it worked in September

with heroics, not infrastructure.

And that is why my book is called this can't be normal because it's not normal that every

single year.

That's what it feels like in March.

You need to stand.

So let's talk about the difference between heroics and infrastructure.

It's one of my favorite conversations.

So if you're driving, lean in is going to be great.

And if you are anywhere else, also lean in, it's going to be great.

So here's what heroics sound like.

Heroics are, I'll just do it, I'll power through, I'll cover for you, I'll remember,

it's fine, I'll fix it, I got it.

That's heroics.

Okay, infrastructure, when you're communicating with a team member or whatever it is from

an infrastructure standpoint, infrastructure is what is a standard?

Who owns it?

What rhythm protects this standard?

What happens when drift shows up?

In September, heroics are efficient.

You can do it because you have energy, you have stamina, you have willpower, you've got

all the things.

And so in September, you're like, I do what I got it, it's like very efficient, it's

productive, you move, you move, you move, you groove, you move.

In March, heroics are exhausted, it costs too much, it costs too much.

That's how you know that you're in heroics.

And you don't have infrastructure yet.

Yes.

Infrastructure could be built at any stage.

I work with leaders who built infrastructure.

30 years into their company, I work with leaders who built infrastructure inside of their

organization when they have 10 locations, 20 locations, 100 locations.

It doesn't matter how big, how small, how many years

you've been in the business, infrastructure could be built at any time.

And I laid out in my book, this can't be normal.

And we also have options where you can book a consult and work with myself or someone

from our team on how to install the first layer of infrastructure inside of your organization.

So there is a massive burnout spike in March, always, because adrenaline is completely worn

out.

Like you're done.

You had in August of September, October of November, December, January,

we're like, what?

Well, it is done.

You have like emptied that tank.

There's nothing left.

There is nothing left.

Absences are in all time high in March.

You have all of your systems got reality tested under pressure and string and the emotional

invisible and relational labor of doing all of that because you didn't have infrastructure

is accumulating inside of you.

You're like, time out, time out, mostly because I want to sell at this point, but even if

you're not there, you're like, time out, time out, time out, too much, too much, too much,

too much, too much, too much, too much, over my head.

So when I talk about systems that get tested under pressure and strain, I'm doing a conversation,

I'm doing a private consult with an owner, starting to build, starting to kind of strain

her pipeline to bring one of her directors into a regional director position.

She has six locations.

She wants to open up three more in the next like 15 to 16 months, and so she wants to start

really shifting one of her kind of key directors into a regional role.

And I said, okay, that's great.

Can you give me some data on how her systems operate under pressure and strain currently?

Like when she hits the fan, what are her default responses?

And she's like, oh, whatever happened, she gets it done.

She powers through, she gets it down, she'll stay late, she's still loyal, she'll take

care of things, she'll come early, she needs to like, she gets it done.

And I'm like, okay, that is great when she's running one location.

The skills that get you to a certain level of success are never the skills that get you

to the next level.

Not only are they not the skills that get you to the next level, they become a liability

in the next level.

I said, if she becomes a regional and she just tells herself every single time, I'll just

get it done, I'll just get it done, I'll just get it done.

Your school is going to go up in flames because the job of a regional is not put your

head down and get it done.

The job of the regional is to understand how to oversee, manage capacity, understand

competing deadlines, be able to present trade-offs, understand how to say these are three competing

priorities.

But if we do all three, this collapses, this will hit this financial line on the spreadsheet.

If we don't say yes to this opportunity, but if we do these two opportunities, those

two directors are going to quit.

Someone who sits in a regional position has to understand who assess the entire portfolio

and the infrastructure of all of the locations and understand how to make trade-offs, how

to make cost analysis, how to understand capacity of the entire moving organization at any

given moment.

A regional director whose biggest asset is they just get it done, will tank your school,

will tank your school.

And so when she heard that, she was like, oh my gosh, okay, so the way her systems operate

under pressure and strain are not strong.

I'm like, no, because there's no infrastructure in that building.

We need to get infrastructure building in there.

She needs to run the reps of how to run a center with infrastructure, and then she'll

be able to ascend into the regional position because she'll actually be using a new skill

set and a new response to pressure and strain.

And if you want more help with that, you could click the link in the show notes to book

a console with me.

Now the thing to understand is flu season is not the problem, okay?

Coverage stress or, you know, oh my god, it's really difficult to find staff over here.

And everyone calls in late over here, I'm like, yeah, also in every other county city

and zip code in the world is the same thing happening, okay?

So this console is like, it's really difficult for me.

It's not, it's a condition of the environment that you operate in.

And so you can continue to say, it's just me and live with that.

That's fine.

That's a choice.

You have the agency over that.

Or it's like, these are one of the disruptive forces of leadership.

There will always be this issue.

How do I manage it better?

Okay?

If anyone here, if you're listening if you're familiar with the Gauntmans, they have a marriage

institute and they have just a phenomenal content on relationships in general, not just

intimate relationships.

And one of the things that they talk about, and there are statistics and running their

love lab over 40 years and billions of data points, is 69% of marriage problems never

get solved.

They just get managed better.

Okay?

How do you think that statistic lines up in teams in leadership?

You think that every single problem inside of your organization is going to get solved?

If you just find the right fit and the right values and the right person and the magical

unicorn is coming to save you, how's that been working out for you over the last three,

four, five, six, seven decades?

It hasn't.

So stop.

There's no such a thing as a perfect tire.

There's no such a thing as the perfect team.

It doesn't exist.

It's called magical thinking and a little bit tautary.

So what we actually need is to understand that a lot of the problems you're experiencing

inside of your organization are not problems they go away.

There are problems that you learn how to manage better with infrastructure built, standards,

rhythm, ownership, consequence.

So when you hear yourself in some of the things, I'm going to share some of the things that

typically come up with leaders that I hear often.

I do coaching calls every single week.

I talk to owners, one-on-one directors, teachers, I'm talking to people all the time.

And so because of that, I have a vast pool of patterns and data.

And I go back and I watch the game film.

I go back and listen.

What are the common things that are going on?

So here are some things, right?

My team is just isn't committed.

This generation just doesn't want to work.

Oh my god, that's like one of my favorite ones.

This generation just doesn't want to work.

No, that's not what it is.

Why does everyone need reassurance all the time?

Why can't people just handle it?

Why can't they just be like me?

Why can't they just take care of this?

But here is why you're asking yourself that.

Because when the system depends on one person remembering everything and that person is you,

you're tired.

And so if you're the only person that has to remember everything and do everything,

then when the system goes under natural strain of moving in and out of seasons,

you're in a heroic model.

You're in a model where everything in the business has to work perfectly

in order for the system to function, in order for the school to function.

That's not the reality of life.

The reality of life will be is that there will be pressures and disruptive forces outside

of your control that will actually put pressure and strain on the system.

What happens then?

What infrastructure is in place for when pressure hits your system?

That's what infrastructure is.

And again, what is infrastructure?

Standards, ownership, rhythm, guardrails, consequence.

That is infrastructure.

That's what we do inside of leadership HQ with our clients.

That's what we do as a phase one in our leadership council.

You could click the link in the show on the Facebook console.

All right, let's take a quick pause here because I have a question for you as an owner.

All right, what time did you wake up this morning?

Now, when you were alarm went off, when did your brain wake you up?

Was it two o'clock?

Was it three o'clock?

Was it four o'clock?

And here's the thing.

You weren't thinking about your life, were you?

You were thinking, did the person send the enrollment email that they were supposed to do?

Is ratio covered for tomorrow?

Did anyone order more of a gloves?

Meanwhile, your entire team is fast asleep because you're the only one that's carrying the mental

and emotional load of an entire ecosystem that you technically quote and quote delegated to.

And here's the thing that's the most frustrating for you.

Because it is the invisible weight of leadership, nobody sees it.

So everyone thinks you're so strong.

Nobody sees you drowning in plain sight.

They just see that you're still swimming.

So you keep waiting just to get through this week, just to get through this enrollment,

just to get through back to school, just to get through.

Ha, but that week never comes, that day never comes.

You keep waiting and the pattern keeps setting deeper and deeper and deeper.

Here's the thing.

I've coached leaders for almost two decades and I'm doing a live workshop this month for owners only.

Delegation isn't the finish line ownership is and there is no replay.

I'm going to show you why your brain does not let go and how to shift the weight.

So you're not the only one carrying things at three o'clock in the morning.

Well, actually no one should be carrying it.

I'm going to show you how to build infrastructure.

So nobody's waking up at three o'clock in the morning.

You can register today.

It's free to register schools of excellence dot com slash delegation.

You deserve to sleep through the night, okay?

Schools of excellence dot com slash delegation.

The link is also in the show notes.

All right.

Let's get back to the show.

Here are some minor tweaks that you can look at doing before the end of the year, okay?

You don't need to rebuild your school in March and April, okay?

You don't need to restart.

You don't need to refresh.

You don't need to read nothing.

Okay, you don't need to remodel.

You're good, okay?

You need to tighten a few pressure points, okay?

I'm going to say it again.

You do not need to rebuild anything.

You do not need to restart everything.

You don't need to have a refresh.

You don't need to redo anything.

You need to tighten a few pressure points.

When you tighten a few of those pressure points,

they will have massive impact on the steadiness,

the relief, and the peace and predictability inside of your center.

So let's look through a couple of examples, okay?

I'm going to give you a few areas that are typically very ambiguous when it comes to ownership,

and again, ownership is one of the parts of infrastructure standards,

ownership, rhythm, guardrail, consequence.

So a couple of examples that are ambiguous, usually.

Bathroom cleaning is usually very ambiguous.

There's a million checklists and processes,

but it's very ambiguous who owns what part of it?

Break coverage.

Oh my god, the amount of conversations and discourse that happens around break coverage

in every single school, okay?

Lead follow-up, right?

How quickly do you respond to leads?

When should we respond to leads?

How do we respond to leads?

Interview scheduling.

These are just some common ones.

Again, you have your own inside of your center.

If it creates resentment, anything that creates resentment inside of your building,

it's probably because there isn't a clear owner of it.

So what is an area of how we could create some infrastructure there?

You install one predictable rhythm for that thing.

So it could be by weekly enrollment snapshots.

By weekly, look at the enrollment snapshot so we can see where the leads hold it.

So it's not about, oh my gosh, but we already do this.

I know that you desire to do it.

I know you have every fancy spreadsheet and tool and software in the world

of how to do enrollment snapshots.

The question is, are you actually doing an enrollment snapshot

every single Friday at 10 o'clock, no matter what?

Even when you're tired, even when you're not in the mood,

even when two of your directors are out.

Are you returning to this predictable rhythm every single week?

And the answer is probably not.

There's always a reason why you didn't do it.

That is what I mean by a predictable rhythm of return.

Because when you understand that dress is inevitable,

then you will start building predictable return rhythms.

So you don't have to remember everything.

You don't have to remember where every lead is holding.

If there's a predictable return point,

where we all discuss the rhythm, we all discuss the leads.

So a predictable rhythm of return.

15-minute weekly lead review.

You can have a monthly observation check.

Like there's a bunch of these.

We teach all of these inside of leadership HQ.

I have a bunch of them inside of my boat.

This can't be normal.

It's not about, well, what's the rhythm?

What should I actually do?

That is like the third part of the process.

The first is you need to understand the pattern.

Then you need to install the standard.

Then you need to clarify ownership.

So it's not ambiguous.

Even just doing that.

Oh my gosh, you're going to be feel a thousand times later.

So that's one area.

Install one predictable rhythm of return.

Another thing that you can try is stop

rescuing one reoccurring pattern.

So you can pick one scenario where you usually jump into fix.

And then tell yourself, I am not going to rescue this anymore.

Between now and the next two weeks,

I am not going to rescue it.

I know what the standard is.

Everybody knows what they have to do.

I am not going to rescue.

I'm not going to come in and say,

oh, let me just take care of it.

Oh, let me just remind you.

Oh, just doing the gentle check-in.

Or your subtle body that like flags to them.

Or whatever it is that something has that.

No, no, don't rescue one reoccurring situation.

Okay?

So let's bring you into summer here.

Okay?

Summer is and can be a real infrastructure build season.

Because you can ask yourself, what collapsed in the spring?

What's been collapsing now, right?

How many coverage shifts happened per week?

How often did you have to personally step in?

We're did enrollment lag and when?

How many times did owners have get ambiguous about the bathroom

or the checklist or the process?

Data removes emotion.

So you can track where things strange you.

Where things are strange you,

is your invitation to build infrastructure

in that particular area?

That's what talk about when you're looking at summer, right?

Which is you want to build what typically fails under pressure.

Point back to that regional example, right?

If coverage keeps collapsing,

build a substitute pipeline with clear break coverage protocol.

If your onboarding keeps drifting,

build a documented onboarding rhythm of return with ownership.

Who owns the rhythm of return with ownership

with our onboarding process?

It's one-on-one stopped.

Install a non-negotiable calendar rhythm, right?

When do we do a predictable check-in on our one-on-ones

to see if it's been drifting or not, right?

So instead of saying like, that's it.

We're going strong.

We got this.

We're not going to, you know, we're like,

we've really got it this time.

Like this time, we're not going to drift with our one-on-ones.

Oh, but you are.

You are going to drift because all leaders drift,

because drift is inevitable.

So instead of saying this time we got it for sure,

we're never ever going to drift our one-on-ones,

put a reminder inside of your phone every month

that says check on one-on-one drift.

That's it.

Just have a grinder.

They bear your phone, put it inside, check on one-on-one drift,

and have a recurring reminder for all eternity.

And so every month there'll be a predictable return where you'll be like,

oh, now's my time where I check on the one-on-one drift.

Let me go check the data.

How many people have had one-on-ones?

Oh, looks like 28 out of our 32 teachers

have had one-on-ones this month.

That's pretty good.

Just a couple.

All right, let's look into and see what needs to be shifted

and scheduled to make sure that those four people get one-on-ones.

No emotion, no drama, just going to the person who owns it.

Hey, you're in charge of one-on-ones.

I adjusted the review rhythm on one-on-ones,

and I noticed these four teachers didn't get one-on-ones.

What's the plan to get them in before the end of the month?

They don't have to spend 60 minutes giving you a thousand excuses

why those people.

That doesn't matter.

You're not coming to interrogate them.

It's the rhythm of return.

It's, this is my predictable time that I check and see who dressed it.

Now just take care of it.

Summer and March.

And this time of year, the reason I'm speaking about summer ready

is because I know a lot of you are thinking about that.

This is not a time for reinventing.

Stop reinventing.

Stop redoing.

Stop restarting.

Stop refreshing.

Stop.

Fortify the pressure points.

Build infrastructure.

Install one standard.

Run rhythm.

One consequence.

Again, all in my book, this can't be normal.

Or click the link in the description

on this and book a console.

Be happy to walk you through that, okay?

September rewards a lot of high energy, high dopamine,

high running after things, okay?

March rewards infrastructure.

And if your systems collapse under flu season and fatigue,

they're not real systems.

They're heroic systems.

And you want real infrastructure, okay?

Will you tighten your infrastructure points now?

Or will you tell yourself the same story

that September will be different?

It's not going to be different if you don't do something different.

It's not going to be different if you don't do something different.

And you don't have to do a giant overhaul.

You don't need to go to another conference.

You don't need to go to another event.

You don't need to buy a whole new thing.

Do a predictable return, install a standard,

a shared ownership, rhythm, guardrail, consequence.

And if you want help with that, we can do that.

You could click the link in the show notes.

Love to have a conversation with you about that.

I'll leave you with this one final message.

Hearing these concepts that drift as inevitable.

And even though you've told yourself this time is going to be different,

this time I'm going to finally get it.

When I tell you, but you're not, you're going to drift.

It feels discouraging.

But I want to remind you that it doesn't need to be discouraging.

It actually is the most freeing thing ever.

Because you're actually starting to live in the world of reality,

as opposed to the world of magical thinking and top of our hood.

Adult partnership, adult relationships, and real life.

Understand that seasons come in and out.

Drift is inevitable.

And the only thing that you can rely on

is your predictable return and how you return to the things that matter to you,

to your standards, to your values, to your rhythm.

Thanks so much for joining me.

If you are loving the Schools of Excellence podcast and have gone any value out of it for your

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Thanks so much for listening.

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Thanks so much for joining us.