The Puzzle: Blog

Jenn Elkin is Head of School at Epiphany School in Seattle, WA.

 

1. What is the core of your current job, on a day-to-day basis?

I would say right now it is empowering my leadership team to assist others in ensuring that our mission, vision, and values are executed against daily. I manage the strategic initiatives and work that we have established in any given year and in the strategic plan, and make sure we are making progress. I communicate internally and externally where the school is on its journey relative to where it’s been and its future to activate the mission, vision, and values. Every day through the million conversations that happen, I pull the threads together and help people see how what they are trying to do fits into the whole. This keeps the culture thriving.

I try to help the leadership team learn, grow, and try new things, and take next steps that they feel are right in their wheelhouse or stretches – just like we do with kids.

When I say it, it sounds so methodical and thought out. Each of these things don’t happen every day, but I do all of these things. I have more conscious intentionality about it than I did earlier in my tenure here.

2. What was your first job in education? What are the major steps you’ve taken since then?

It was probably as a tennis coach at the age of ten and as a babysitter at 15. From an adult standpoint, my first role in education was when I became the Director of Training for what was called the Reach Out To School Program that then became the Open School Program at Wellesley College. Before Open School while I was a management consultant, I volunteered for seven years at a local high school thinking education might be my path.

At the age of 40, I got my Master's in Education and worked as an intern at The Pike School (MA). That was my first time teaching at a school. I then taught fifth grade for seven years there, third grade for three years, and was the Lower School Division Head for seven years. Like so many teachers, I was determined to not become an administrator, but several teachers and administrators encouraged me to apply. My head of school encouraged me to become a head. I did the NAIS Aspiring Heads Program and was in a number of searches. This was very valuable as it helped me better understand the job and I learned a ton about myself and the world of independent schools.

3. What is something you learned about yourself through your current role and/or the leadership positions you have held?

Many, many things. First, I would say that I most definitely prefer a shared leadership model and that I am strong collaborator. You don’t necessarily know what kind of leader you are at the beginning. I learned that I could be a person who collaborates with others and have a shared distributive leadership model that could work. It was not something that I had seen before. This approach allows me to empower other people and learn how to bring my own strengths. I was able to step away from the notion that I was supposed to know how to do everything. Especially as women, we tend to believe we need to be at 110%, and know and do everything. We are also often expected to solve problems, to jump in and do, quietly.

I am learning to be more curious, to be a better listener, to be less judgmental, to be compassionate and empathetic. It is not about judging something quickly, it is about being present and recognizing that you don’t need to be the problem-solver. I can learn more by being curious rather than judging something fast – this is hard to do in a fast-paced environment like a school. As I settle in, I am able to do it more, perpetuating the idea that we can be thoughtful, caring, and responsive rather than reactive and immediate, even if the other person wants us to react. The difference between a third year in a job and a fifth year in a job is significant – you’ve had that many more experiences, trials by fire, and people that you have worked with.

I have learned that there are so many smart, caring, and willing people out there. It is a relief to know that there are people you can reach out to with questions. Especially in this region, people have been so great about making time for me. This is now a part of my “skeleton,” my internal structure. I feel so privileged that I have people I can reach out to. I know that not every head or school leader has this.

4. Where do you look for inspiration, support, and advice? Perhaps a specific person, group of people, author, thought leader, or community?

Different people for different things. If it is an immediate independent school issue, I will reach out to peer heads of school in the region or across the country. Internally, I reach out to people at the school – we have subject matter experts in the school who know a lot of people.

I reach out to personal friends who are doing this work pretty often. These are people who I know that despite whatever they are facing, have done great things. They will give me an honest reflection. It might be head of school, or people who I have worked with in past schools. The head position is not a place where you make friends with the people you work with in the same way as in other positions. My friends in other positions at other schools provide me with a good reflection of what my employees might be going through.

I read the regular sources as well as Harvard Business Review, Bréné Brown, TED talks, and NAIS (Debra Orem’s monthly posts) blogs on education, leadership, DEIB, etc. I am an avid reader who owns more books than I am able to read. I look for things to inspire my board of trustees in my monthly communications. Some of my reading is content-driven – as I think about our strategic vision, I reach out to find out more about DEI or other topics in our strategic plan. The speakers who come to our Equity and Inclusion group of schools have been amazing and inspiring. There’s too much to read.

5. What is the best career advice you have received? From whom?

I often frame things in my head as career advice. It was probably my parents or my grandmother. My first job was shining my father’s shoes. He gave me a nickel per shoe. He told me that if I did a great job, I would get more business, I would feel good about myself, and others would want me to shine their shoes. Working hard produces great results. It was more of a dictate than advice, but it has proven to be true. You will produce a great product if you work hard. I will never be the smartest person in the room, or the fastest person in the room, but I will be methodical and thoughtful, and work hard.

6. On your best days at work, what are you doing? What aspects of your job bring your particular joy?

On my best days of work, I am not in my office from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. I am out in the school on recess duty, spending time with kids helping them solve a problem or seeing their work, or meeting with parents. I really enjoy reigniting excitement in parents who have already chosen the school.

I appreciate meeting with faculty. The quick conversations are fundamental to me because it doesn’t take much to know where someone is at – knowing where people are at is critical to running a school. It’s like feeling the heart beating every day– you are feeling the heartbeat and doing things to keep it going.

7. We’ve all heard plenty about the need for self-care over the past few years. How do you relax and recharge?

[Laughter] There is an assumption built into that question. I am a balance between an introvert and extrovert, and my job requires a lot of extroversion. I recharge by coming home and being with my family, currently my husband and sister. I try to take time to read, walk the dog, exercise, and do small family-related things.

For the past two years, I ignored my health. So now, I am taking time to think about my health and what I want it to be. Now that things are a bit calmer, I can look back and see the importance of taking the time to focus on me. I just did not see how and when to do that when we were in the thick of the pandemic. I am grateful we are on the other side.

8. Is there a motto, quote, or saying that you try to live/lead by?

I have about 50 of them up on my wall at work. Desiderata is something I look at frequently – a one-page poem. It starts out “Go placidly into the world…” It is a frame of mind and a way to be thoughtful and caring.

What is urgent will always take the place of what is important. As a new leader, this is super hard to remember. As you gain confidence and experience, you can ask yourself if something is important or urgent. I am a strategic person, someone who needs to know how something connects to the whole and asking myself if something is urgent or important helps me put situations in context. It’s a prioritizing method when there are a million things coming at you and there are always a million things coming at us.

9. What’s the last great book you read?

“Being Immortal” by Atul Gawande. I read it seven years ago and it was the last great book I read. It talks about everything – what happens when we age, death, our failing healthcare system. I think about it a lot.

10. Is there anything else you want to share?

I fundamentally believe that women are wired to be great leaders, especially of schools. The vast majority of people I turn to for advice are women. I feel so lucky and count on them to bring an authenticity and knowledge about caring for children and adults that comes from a deep, deep place that stems from their upbringing. I don’t think about it every day, but when I step back and look at who has fundamentally helped me grow and be confident, listens to me, helps me make decisions, and helps me do all the things I want to do for others, it’s almost always women. I do not mean to discount men in any manner, but this is my experience. I grew up with strong women who didn’t think they were.

I look back on all the women who have helped me do this job that is near impossible. It is so important to look around and see other women doing this job. There are many women doing this job well; they have been models for me. We’ve got to keep this going. Organizations and events that are designed for women are so very important. I have had the advantage of a supportive family. School leadership should not be just for women who have chosen not to have familial responsibilities. It is critical for us to continue to talk as women about what it means to be in leadership at schools. We need to think about how to make this a tenable role, especially for women. It hurts when someone tells me that they would never want to do my job – it worries me that the perception is that it is so hard and undesirable.

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