9/15/25 by William D. Parker
This morning when I woke up, I checked my phone to see what was going on in the world. This was probably a mistake, as the first thoughts that I encountered involved wars, murder, and geopolitics.
If you’re like me, you have a long list of priorities, actions, or projects that you want to tackle each day. Whether those goals are professional or personal, they are usually based on what you really want to do.
If you’re like me, however, when you start your day, you check your inbox or phone for news or email updates so that you’re not missing out on something immediately important or urgent.
I think this is a natural way to live, even if it is laden with pitfalls. I may have a lot of important aspirations, but I still want to know today’s weather and whether or not I’ll be facing a tough situation at work or even in the wider cultural conversations happening.
The reality is, though, that these urgent and immediate situations, although often important, can also distract us from the wider, larger-persepective or essential actions that we know will help us or others over time.
For example, a news cycle can suck your time into endless feeds of stories or videos. Or an email from a concerned parent can distract the busy educator from a long list of other important tasks he or she has set for themselves in being in classrooms or working with students throughout a school day.
What does the busy leader do who also wants to stay informed and respond quickly to concerns or put out small fires before they turn into a blaze?
I found a helpful answer when I was talking to a group of leaders in one of the Masterminds I facilitate in the state of Ohio. The question came up about how do you leaders manage the complexities of tough decisions.
Responding versus Reacting
One leader, Gisle James, Superintendent at Par Excellence Academy, Newark, Ohio, said she likes to remind herself and her staff of the difference between responding versus reacting.
She explained that responding should be centered on what you believe is the best outcome for the situation or population at hand — and how the response should always be centered on what is best for students in your learning community. She explained that we make the mistake of reacting instead of responding. For instance, when students are disrupting a learning environment, a reaction is to become emotional or escalate the situation by taking it personally. Responding, however, is choosing an appropriate comment or action that redirects students, does not make the situation a tug-of-war, and results in getting back on task.
I loved this turn of phrase because it so succinctly says what a lot of others have tried to say about managing the complexities in leadership. Stephen Covey, in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, made famous the philosophy of Dwight Eisenhower, who is quoted as saying, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent”. The Eisenhower Matrix breaks decision-making or actions into four quadrants:
- Urgent and important: Do it immediately.
- Important, but not urgent: Schedule for later.
- Urgent, but not important: Delegate to someone else.
- Not important and not urgent: Delete or do last (Cover, 1989).
Whenever I find myself reacting versus responding, I like to ask myself what priorities I had already scheduled for the day and how they fit within the matrix above. Some of them can be postponed, but some of them may be the exact action necessary to create the environments and outcomes that will help prevent future “fires” from breaking out into a reactionary situation.
Yearly, Monthly, Weekly, Daily Goals
For example, I keep a running list of yearly goals in the notebook I carry to all meetings. These include goals for my body, spirit, money, love, family, hobbies, and work. I review these regularly to ensure I’m still moving in the direction of my largest goals. My weekly and monthly calendar also has embedded times for tasks I want to make a priority. For instance, I have time built in for writing, which is why I’m sharing these thoughts at this precise moment in time. My daily tasks are helped when I run them by my assistant, Emily, for accountability. Each day we meet and she asks me four questions:
- What are you supposed to be doing today? (My daily goals set in advance)
- Why are you not doing them? (The assumption that I’m probably distracted by the urgent and need to refocus)
- What other commitments have you made that need follow-up? (You always have unexpected requests or inquiries that need attention, too)
- How can I help with those? (This is permission to share the load or assign tasks to others on the team)
If you find yourself overwhelmed with more to-dos than you can accomplish in a day, then you are normal. At the same time, you can often accomplish more when you practice the discipline of placing your most important priorities on your calendar in advance, revisiting them after dealing with urgent/important matters, and learning to ask for help instead of pretending you can accomplish all your goals independently.
What suggestions or practices would you add that have helped you respond versus react throughout your day?
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Full disclosure and disclaimer: I wrote all of the above in my own words. Then, with the help of ChatGPT, I created a 7-day Respond vs. React Leadership Guide. Download it here.
Works Cited:
Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Free Press.
Eisenhower, D. D. (n.d.). Quoted in Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Free Press
