Name: Colby Cagle

Title: Superintendent

Organisation: Coyle Public Schools

Grew up farming, ranching, and playing baseball. My leadership journey started in 4H and FFA, which earned me a scholarship as the State President for PAS. From there, I taught for 10 years as an Agricultural Education Teacher and served my community as a Volunteer Firefighter, holding multiple offices over my 23-year volunteer career. I worked my way into school administration as and principal and now as a Superintendent of schools. I spent seven years as a curriculum developer and managing editor of IFSTA/FPP, where I began presenting leadership sessions at conferences and webinars. I'm currently a presenter for IPSLE and annually teach an Executive Fire Officer course for Oklahoma. I have 8 kids ranging from 36 years old and 6 grandkids.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Educational Leadership!

I hope Colby's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as an Educational Leader?

Meeting the demands of each individual at the level of communication they expect.

2. How did you become an Educational Leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I have progressed slowly throughout my life, pushing myself to continually get better and learn how to be a leader of people and not a manager. I do a tremendous amount of research and self-development annually and work to better understand what people need and want and not what I think they need or want.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

When I wake up, I spend the first hour enjoying my family and then an audiobook on the way to work to wake up my mind. I greet each and every student, teacher, and parent that walks into the building so I can physically put eyes on them and positively greet them, and start their day off right. This is my favorite part of the day. From there, I turn into a manager for a bit, working in my office and completing tasks, taking breaks throughout the day to be seen and interact with our students and staff.

At 4:30p p.m., I unscramble my brain and journal out the good, bad, and ugly in preparation for the next day. I have trained my brain to do this through habit, and if I skip this step, I'm discombobulated the rest of the day. From there, it is family time, self-care care taking care of my cows, or working in the shop on the project until I get everyone in bed, in which I can spend some time communicating with my wife.

4. What's a recent lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of as an Educational Leader?

I have watched a state leader force ideas and beliefs onto others in a way that has divided all the stakeholders. While not all beliefs are bad points of view, it is the delivery and force to change that has others revolting and in opposition.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your journey as an Educational Leader so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted you?

One Word by John Gordon and company is a short book but a good one. The process in which reflection and personal beliefs come into play is inspiring if done correctly. This isn't a forced or easy process, and it takes time. Annually, I redo the process to find my word of the year and focus for growth. The word that will find you can have a positive impact on you, but it can also be a negative one. It all depends on the attitude with which you view it, and when looking back on a year or two, I can pinpoint the areas where my attitude was poor.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young educator who aspires to be an Educational Leader, what would you say to them?

It's an oldie but a goodie: Never stop learning or developing. When do you begin to stall in your educational/leadership journey, which leads to complacency, which leads to fatigue, which leads to burnout, which leads to unhappy, ineffective, and poor leadership?

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as an Educational Leader, so far?

I had a grandparent catch me the other day and praise my team for the direction of the school and the impact we are having on our kids. She mentioned directly that her grandchildren talk each morning on the way to school about seeing Mr Cagle when they get to school and giving their morning hugs. I know these kids don't have a stable male figure in their lives, but just by showing up every morning with a coffee and braving the elements, I'm told that I'm providing a positive influence that is appreciated.