The Deep Thinking Window: Why Summer Matters More Than You Think

By: Ian Knox, the Principal at Bethlehem Central School District

The third in a twelve-part series of articles published for Evaluation, Training, and Implementation Services (ETIS) a division within Measurement Inc.

Every school leader knows the feeling. September arrives in a rush of buses, schedules, parent emails, staffing issues, student needs, and a hundred decisions demanding immediate attention. From that moment forward, leadership often becomes an exercise in responding to what is urgent.

Summer is different.

For a brief window, everything slows down. The interruptions lessen, and your calendar suddenly opens just enough to offer something that is incredibly rare in educational leadership: uninterrupted time to think.

Ironically, this is also the season many leaders waste.

Not because we aren't working hard on staffing, master schedules, supply ordering, and other operational needs—those things matter—but because they can easily consume the very space that could produce the clearest thinking of the entire year.

The most successful school years are not built in September. They are built in Summer.

Before teachers return, before students fill the hallways, and before the first challenge inevitably arrives, leaders have an opportunity to step back and ask bigger questions. Not, "What still needs to get done?" but, "What deserves my deepest thinking?"

While a well-organized Summer may help a school open smoothly, one intentional leadership decision made during this rare season of reflection can shape hundreds of decisions throughout the year. That may be the most valuable work a leader does all summer.

In this piece, I want to share the leadership commitments I am grounding myself in this Summer and, hopefully, encourage you to identify your own before another school year begins.

Reflect on Your Wobble

Every leader has one.

Think back over the past school year. Where did you feel yourself wobble? Where did you leave a conversation wishing you had handled it differently? What leadership habit kept showing up despite your best intentions?

For me, my wobble is this: I solve problems too quickly.

When someone walks into my office with a challenge, my instinct is to help. I want to remove barriers, offer solutions, and make things better. While that often comes from a good place, I've realized that my job isn't always to solve the problem. More often, it's to help someone discover they already have the capacity to solve it themselves.

My commitment this year is to become more of a guide than a fixer.

That means asking better questions before offering answers. It means creating space for teachers and staff to think through challenges while knowing I'm there to support them when they need it. Empowerment isn't abandoning people to figure things out alone. It's walking beside them as they build the confidence to solve increasingly complex problems themselves.

Your wobble may be different. Perhaps you avoid difficult conversations. Maybe you become too reactive under stress or struggle to delegate. Whatever it is, Summer is the perfect time to acknowledge it, because our greatest opportunities for growth are often hidden inside the moments we'd rather forget. 

Make Your Commitment Visible

Making a leadership commitment is one thing. Keeping it when the school year becomes difficult is something else entirely.

There will be days when you'll wonder if you're asking enough questions. Days when you'll feel pressure to have an immediate answer simply because you're the principal. Days when a complex issue lands on your desk and your instinct is to take control.

Those are the moments that require intentional self-talk.

Remind yourself why you made this commitment in Summer.

Tell yourself, I don't need to have every answer today. My role is to understand before I respond.

Remind yourself that curiosity is not uncertainty. Asking thoughtful questions is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it often leads to better decisions because it honors the expertise of the people around you.

Most importantly, trust the team you've built. You hired talented teachers, specialists, counselors, and support staff because they bring knowledge and perspectives that complement your own. Leadership is not about carrying every challenge alone. It is about creating the conditions where others can contribute their expertise to solving complex problems together.

When you find yourself drifting back toward old habits, pause for a moment. Return to the commitment you made before the school year began. Leadership isn't about being perfect. It's about consistently becoming the leader you set out to be.

Commit to Curiosity Instead of Expertise

One of the greatest misconceptions about leadership is that the leader is supposed to have all the answers.

The truth is, that expectation is impossible.

No principal is an expert in curriculum, special education, finance, operations, technology, facilities, mental health, human resources, and instructional coaching all at once. Trying to project certainty in every situation doesn't build credibility. More often, it limits learning.

This year, one of my commitments is to become even more curious.

That means asking more questions before making assumptions.

Questions like:

• "Tell me more about what you're seeing."

• "What have you already tried?"

• "What do you think is contributing to this?"

• "If you were in my position, what would you do?"

• "What support would be most helpful right now?"

Curiosity slows us down just enough to understand before we respond. It reminds people that their perspective matters, and it often leads to better decisions because more voices have shaped the outcome.

People rarely expect us to know everything. They do expect us to listen, learn, and respond thoughtfully.

The school year will always move faster than we expect, and once it begins, there will be little time to pause and reflect. Don't let Summer become just another month of checking boxes. Use this rare window to decide who you want to be as a leader, because the commitments you make now may shape every decision you make long after summer ends.