Sometimes the People You Lead Isn’t the Team You Need
Education leader learns importance of choosing team members carefully.
Jun 07, 2025
Education leader learns importance of choosing team members carefully.
Team Selection:
Pick your teammates; don't accept assigned team members.
I always thought that if I was vulnerable as a leader, a compassionate listener, and a strategic thinker, I could work with any group of people and make them a team. What I found out that was a bunch of foolishness. Sometimes the people you lead isn't the team you need.
I read books, articles, attended seminars and workshops, and linked up with as many people as I could reach to learn what I didn't know to become a better leader. I thought following all the knowledge I mustered in my 30 years in Education, applied many of the theories I learned on and off the job.
I tested all the combined ideas that were mine and my peers and colleagues, that I would be able to get the results we initially agreed on when we began working together. And you know what I found out? It was all a bunch of foolishness. Sometimes the people you lead isn’t the team you need.
I even had the audacity to develop a plan and invite several other people to join in, draft a plan, activate that plan, follow that plan, and I found the economic resources to make that plan a reality. And you know what I still found? It was just a bunch of foolishness. I found sometimes the people you lead isn’t the team you need.
It took 5 months of researching websites, blogs, articles, attending seminars and workshops of so many leaders in the Education Diaspora for me to make use of as much information that was in my grasp. It took 6 weeks of research and phone conversations, emails, and other social media contacts to finally reach the final 4 weeks of drafting a proposal to a develop a metamorphic and systemic curriculum that would improve academic success, enhance student achievement, create both a climate and culture that would allow students to be the center and driving force of their learning environment, while providing teachers and administrators with resources, materials, and ongoing technical support to improve and further enhance pedagogy for years to come. And the greatest part of it all was that the budget was fully independent of any local agency and governing board.
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I had finally found the financial resources, educational support and add-ons needed to drive academic achievement to promote success, with unlimited and untapped professional pedagogical access without worrying about costs.
And I was going to lead this effort and prove to myself that after more than 100 “Thank you for your application for the Principal/Assistant Principal or Administrative Position (whatever name it was), we have decided—BLAH, BLAH, BLAH…” letter—I will finally be in a position to do the work I longed to do for years. I will lead my own mini educational agency. And this was done during the years at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. What a feat to accomplish, right?
So what happened?
Sometimes the people you lead isn't the team you need. That is what happened. And that is what I learned.
The hardest of lessons learned was:
1. Don't trust what people say; trust what they do.
- People can say what they wish, but until they can show and prove it, it means nothing.
- Finally, I understand the slogan “Just Do it.”
2. I study behaviors.
- Oftentimes while I was trying to work collaboratively and meet people where they were. Be vulnerable and not always lead from the front, but from the side as the cheerleader and allow others to showcase their talents, or lead from the back to allow some of the most talented gifts in others shine through, it seemed to dwindle when the pressure was on.
- I found that trusting my own research was the best thing that I have ever heard and repeated throughout my career. Listen to your intuition. It will NEVER steer you wrong. If it looks and quacks like a duck, it’s a damn duck.
3. Know your Circle & Know who you are working with.
- A circle allows for everyone to be seen and heard—a cipher is necessary, not a pyramid or hierarchy.
- Everyone isn’t meant to be on your team, especially if they are not a team player.
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"Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people."
- Steve Jobs
Team Selection:
Pick your teammates; don't accept assigned team members.
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I thought for many years that if I implemented what I learned in all of my educational training, my own thinking, and allowed others to do the same. It would make for a powerful and dynamic unit of like-minded professionals to get some work done—WRONG!
I learned that the people I was in charge of leading were NOT my teammates. And it was because it was not MY TEAM. This is what changed ME.
It is vitally important for any leader to ensure their success in whatever their ventures are that YOU PICK YOUR TEAMMATES. Your team is just as important as the work you will perform with them.
If you want to take on big-dollar dreams meant to build a kingdom, then do not settle for penny thoughts from peasants. You will be disappointed every time. What you can do is:
1. Select your teammates wisely.
2. Create the cipher needed to continue to generate the energy and karma necessary to keep the project alive.
3. Anything is possible. If I did it once, it can be done again. Now I know better, so the expectation is that I do better. Adidas got it right “Impossible is Nothing.”
I continue to do the work I started with that plan years ago in the form of my non-profit organization. I am a lifelong learner and lover of education at all levels. Connecting to people is how it all gets done. If you would like to connect with, please do so at:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- X (formerly Twitter): @DrLottiem
- Facebook: DrLottie M Watson
- https://drlottiemwatson.wixsite.com/scholarqueenmanner
The people YOU pick is the team you lead.
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