Introducing waypoint Leadership Lab
At the beginning of this year, I challenged myself to do something that had been on my mind for quite some time: Start my own business. I knew that I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, to find new ways to collaborate with like minded people and organizations, and to be of service to others. With that in mind, I set out to start my own independent consulting practice in the early childhood and P-3 education spaces, where I have spent the bulk of my career.
There was a lot that I did not know at the outset of this venture (and still don’t). Of the many things that I didn’t know was what to call my new business. I have to admit, naming the business was something that I perseverated on for several weeks, to the point that it actually delayed the launch of the business. It seems a bit silly in hindsight.
I can also admit that ‘Waypoint Leadership Lab’ is kind of a funny name.
So how did I land there?
A waypoint is, in essence, a landmark or set of coordinates that help us know if we are moving in the right direction, or if we need to change course. That strikes me as a good metaphor for both where I find myself in my life and career, and where many early childhood and K-12 leaders find themselves as they navigate a rapidly changing policy landscape and increasingly uncertain funding future. My work focuses on helping early learning programs and school districts identify and execute the right strategies, manage change, and prioritize resources to meet the needs of their youngest learners, their families, and the communities they serve.
Why focus on leadership?
I take an expansive view of the concept of leadership, and who we ought to consider a leader. I believe that leadership is holistic, adaptive, and facilitates the success and growth of others. By focusing on strengthening the leadership capacity of people within early childhood programs and school districts, I believe that we can accelerate the outcomes that we are seeking to achieve for students and families. I also believe that anyone who is in a position to make a positive impact in the life of a young child, student, family or community is a leader. Whether I am coaching, training, engaging stakeholders, or facilitating a group process, part of my role and responsibility is to help the people involved learn and grow as leaders. This is essential to my mission.
Why call this new business a “lab?”
The short answer is that I didn’t want to call it something that sounded too ‘business-y’ and I am not artistic enough to call it a studio. The longer answer is that I want my consulting practice to be a space where my clients and I can work together to hypothesize, design solutions, iterate, gather data, and build on what works. If that sounds an awful lot like a continuous improvement cycle…well, sure, I’ll give you that. I want a space to engage with challenging ideas and come up with novel solutions that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each early learning program, school district, and community that I work with.
The other reason I found the term ‘lab’ to be appealing is that, to some extent, this is all a big experiment for me. I don’t have a master plan for where this goes. I’m sure I will take missteps along the way, but, as a leader, I will learn and grow as I move forward. I will keep putting one foot in front of the other, and locate the waypoints that will guide my path.
