Sep 23, 2026 · 38 min · 10 segments
For school directors, saying yes to everything can quickly mean losing time for the work that matters most. In this episode of *The Early Years Exchange*, Dr. Jason Lody discusses why saying no is an…
Jason LodyHost
We h- have to agree wholeheartedly right here, right now that time is a leadership resource.
If you're a teacher, um, and you spend 20 minutes helping another teacher solve a problem, that's 20 minutes you spent helping a colleague.
But when you're a director, the opportunity cost can be much larger because if you're pulled into a problem for 30 minutes, think of it.
What else didn't happen during those 30 minutes? Maybe you didn't coach a struggling teacher.
Maybe you didn't follow up with a, a prospective family or Check in on the CRM to see if any leads have come in.
Maybe you didn't do a walkthrough around your building to check for safety standards.
Maybe you didn't spend time with your assistant director, if you have one, developing them to eventually take something off your plate.
Like we, we get caught in this cycle, and we think, "If I can solve this problem quickly, I'm being productive." But solving a problem isn't automatically productive leadership.
Sometimes solving the problem yourself is actually preventing the organization and your team from becoming stronger.
All right, let's, let's, let's say-- how, how do we do this? Let's say a teacher comes into your office and says, "Hey, Director Jones, I can't find the art supplies." And you immediately get up, you walk to the supply closet, you find the supplies, you bring them back, problem solved.
But what if that teacher could have found the supplies herself? What if the problem wasn't actually that the supply closet wasn't organized? What if the solution should have been teaching the teacher where supplies are stored? So what if the bigger issue is that nobody has ownership of inventory? Then what happens if this happens ten times a week? You have ten teachers walking in, "I need popsicle sticks.
We h- have to agree wholeheartedly right here, right now that time is a leadership resource.
If you're a teacher, um, and you spend 20 minutes helping another teacher solve a problem, that's 20 minutes you spent helping a colleague.
But when you're a director, the opportunity cost can be much larger because if you're pulled into a problem for 30 minutes, think of it.
What else didn't happen during those 30 minutes? Maybe you didn't coach a struggling teacher.
Maybe you didn't follow up with a, a prospective family or Check in on the CRM to see if any leads have come in.
Maybe you didn't do a walkthrough around your building to check for safety standards.
Maybe you didn't spend time with your assistant director, if you have one, developing them to eventually take something off your plate.
Like we, we get caught in this cycle, and we think, "If I can solve this problem quickly, I'm being productive." But solving a problem isn't automatically productive leadership.
Sometimes solving the problem yourself is actually preventing the organization and your team from becoming stronger.
All right, let's, let's, let's say-- how, how do we do this? Let's say a teacher comes into your office and says, "Hey, Director Jones, I can't find the art supplies." And you immediately get up, you walk to the supply closet, you find the supplies, you bring them back, problem solved.
But what if that teacher could have found the supplies herself? What if the problem wasn't actually that the supply closet wasn't organized? What if the solution should have been teaching the teacher where supplies are stored? So what if the bigger issue is that nobody has ownership of inventory? Then what happens if this happens ten times a week? You have ten teachers walking in, "I need popsicle sticks.
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