Moving into a new leadership role often comes with a long list of priorities and a sense of urgency. One school leader who stepped into such a position quickly learned that the real challenge isn’t deciding what to do — it’s deciding what not to do. Protecting your time and attention as a new leader may be the most overlooked skill, and four mental models can help make that shift.
The leader had started with a clear plan: audit curriculum, develop policies, and be a daily positive presence. But soon the to-do list ballooned. Decisions spawned more decisions, and every blank slot on the timetable vanished. Instead of being proactive, they were mostly reacting.
Over time, they became more selective. The leader realized that the most important skill isn’t knowing what to do, but knowing what to set aside.
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Circle of Competence: Knowing What’s Yours
One of the biggest pressures for a new leader is the expectation to know everything — the latest reading philosophy, the best way to teach math, the newest special education research. But in education, that’s impossible.
The circle of competence, borrowed from the investment world, suggests acting on what you know and outsourcing the rest. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about building a team that does and drawing on their expertise. This leader found themselves deferring most often to school psychologists. In any concerning case, they realized they shouldn’t be personally involved. The most useful thing they could do was facilitate the work their staff was best equipped to handle.
Via Negativa: Take Things Away
Schools are additive cultures. New research, new initiatives, new protocols — and new meetings to roll them out. None of that is bad. But little gets removed.
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Via negativa is Latin for “negative way.” It means improving by subtracting rather than adding. Think lengthy paperwork that collects dust, or processes that continue out of habit.
One simple example: the leader redesigned the meeting agenda. Items that wouldn’t be discussed were shaded red; items that needed group thinking were shaded green. They sent it a day in advance. The difference was palpable — meetings became lively, engaging, and consistently ended on time.
By taking something away, they created space for what mattered.
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Parkinson’s Law: Know When to Stop
Parkinson’s Law says work expands to fill the time available. Give yourself all day to mark a set of books, and it takes all day. But if students need them back before lunch, they’re done before lunch. This leader had to prepare at least half of the school’s professional development sessions. In previous years, they’d spend weeks on each one. Now, with a few days at best, the quality didn’t drop. If anything, it improved — less rework, less second-guessing. For them, Parkinson’s Law is about efficiency, sure. But also about trust. Believing you have the knowledge to lead well protects your time.
Bias for Action: Deciding What to Act On
Bias for action is the instinct to do something rather than nothing. Evolutionarily, it served us well — better to run from a lion than to ponder which direction. For a leader, decisive action matters. But it does not mean acting on everything. This leader started resisting the urge to jump in when colleagues came for help. They’d pass the issue back, coaching them to find their own answers. Usually, they did. Not only did it stop the to-do list from spilling over, it built capacity and confidence in the team. “There are few true emergencies in a school” became a mantra. Resisting the bias for action is hard. But it creates time for the things that truly need you — and space for other leaders to grow. Doing less is uncomfortable, especially when building credibility. This leader admits they’re still working on these models. They still have a long to-do list, though it’s steadily shrinking. But ultimately, doing less is making them better at their job. And their school is better for it, too.
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