Name: Colleen A. Timm, PhD

Title: Agency Administrator

Organisation: Cooperative Educational Services Agency #7

Dr. Colleen Timm is the Agency Administrator at Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 7, which serves 38 school districts in northeast Wisconsin, along with private school partners. With over 50 years of trusted leadership, CESA 7 is committed to preparing students for college, careers, and life through high-quality, innovative services provided by recognized experts. Dr. Timm is a strong believer in the power of purpose, both in finding it and in helping others hone their own. She believes the role of a leader is to develop the leadership potential in those around them, empowering others to grow and succeed.

Throughout her career, she has focused on fostering leadership through initiatives such as Redefining Ready, 5 Voices, Leadership Coaching, and Board Development. With 35 years of experience in education, Dr. Timm has served in various leadership roles, including CESA 7 director, school district superintendent, principal, and teacher.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a master’s in Reading Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and both a master’s and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her expertise and dedication to developing leaders and supporting educational excellence are integral to the continued success of CESA 7 and the schools it serves.

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

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

Cheers,

Jonno White

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

One of the biggest challenges for me is maintaining work-life balance, even though I am pleased to say that I have gotten much better over time. If you follow the work of Arthur Brooks, then you know that happiness decreases from about age 16 to the mid-50s. It climbs back up into the 60s, but then follows either an upward or downward trajectory again after that. And that downward trajectory later in life is called the “Striver’s Curse” and has to do with how we manage our “wants” versus our “have’s” and our purpose.

I am such a big champion of knowing your purpose as a leader, but I am also a big believer in knowing my greater purpose so that when I reach that point in my life, my heart is filled and my passion is aligned with where I am in life. Thus, my efforts will continue to be directed toward maintaining passions beyond my formal role and recognizing that I am that and so much more.

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

While I always found myself in leadership positions, stemming all the way back to my youth, I didn’t have an administrative role on my radar as an educator. In fact, in my second year of teaching, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in reading, and my principal at the time shared his view that he thought I should be going into administration - a suggestion that I quickly dismissed! A few years after I finished that degree, I decided to take some summer classes in administration and fell in love with the passion and the purpose - I was hooked.

Not long after I finished that degree, my superintendent tagged me for a leadership role in helping a divided community come together around a referendum, and that was the launch for me to leave the classroom and move into administration. I am grateful to this day for the nudge that each of them gave me to consider an administrative role.

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

Starting my day with a cup of coffee and a quick perusal of the news is part of my daily routine, along with a quick scan of my calendar and my email before heading to the office. Our agency is an entrepreneurial organization, and every day is different, but there are a few foundational aspects of my work that I make sure to attend to with diligence.

Cultivating strong relationships is fundamental to our success, so I am intentional about scheduling time to connect with internal and external stakeholders, and because a good part of my work involves preparing for meetings and trainings, I schedule time into my days to ensure that I have ample time to craft those documents and finesse them in an effort to deliver cutting-edge leadership coaching and professional development. Once the work day is finished, I like to relax with a good book, some time on the golf course, or cheering on the Badgers, the Brewers, the Packers, or the Bucks!

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

I have twice led organizational turnaround efforts, first in a school district and then in a service agency. In both situations, the importance of purpose has been critical to our success. Purpose becomes your North Star, and it keeps you focused and connected during times of opportunity and times of challenge. When the purpose is clear and team members are united around it, there is a decreased need for the management part of leadership.

People are intrinsically motivated and become the leaders and ambassadors that move an organization to the next level. When purpose is clear, communication is strengthened, innovation is unleashed, and accountability for outcomes lights the way forward. I love talking about purpose with people, asking them at the outset of our work together to introduce themselves. They will often say something like, “I am Colleen Timm, and I am the CESA 7 agency administrator”.

When we conclude our work, we reintroduce ourselves, and that is when I hear things such as, “I am Colleen Timm and I am a catalyst for growth,” or “I cultivate potential,” or “I guide growth journeys”. These are much more powerful ways to view our work and see ourselves. They ignite passion and sustain commitment, which is critical to seeing initiatives through to success.

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?

I have read so many good books that have shaped my leadership, and one that I continue to recommend is Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. I love this book for how it inspires you to think differently about your work. We so often measure ourselves and our organizations against like entities, trying to succeed along the same metrics.

This book pushes us to think about what success could look like in realms where no one is yet engaged or operating. It challenges us to examine needs that are as yet unmet and consider how we can deliver service in that space rather than competing in a crowded arena. It pairs thinking about the “not yet” delivered service with a financial framework with which to evaluate the risk and reward involved to ensure strategic decision-making. It sparks innovation and fuels your passion.

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?

I have had and continue to have the opportunity to talk with aspiring and beginning administrators, and the piece of advice I consistently share is that you have to know what you stand for, which goes back to knowing your purpose. A leader will be tested and challenged in so many ways, and critical to your success that you are consistent in your decision-making.

The best way to ensure that consistency is to truly know who you are, what you believe in, what you are committed to, and what you will courageously support and advocate. This is not to suggest a rigid form of leadership, but rather, as you follow your north star, what you stand for will be the pillars along your path that guide your journey.

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

Perhaps the most rewarding story is from my first superintendence, where we improved district outcomes from the bottom performance levels to the top tier in the state. The district was struggling with student achievement, with declining enrollment, with low confidence from our community, and with financial limitations. We were early in our turnaround efforts when I attended a community meeting with business representatives across our county, which encompassed a handful of districts.

I was the first to introduce myself. Much to my surprise, when the last of the thirty or so representatives who were gathered introduced himself, he called out my district and said, “The best district in the county!” I went back to my office that evening, and there must have been sparks flying off my keyboard as I typed a note to the staff telling them of this occurrence.

There were many accolades to come, but that will forever be etched in my memory as the moment when I knew we had begun to turn the corner, and it was the start of a habit that I still do to this day, nearly 20 years later. Each week, I shared a brief update with our staff and my board, and I am sure to include such testimonials in those notes. It highlights what is important and reinforces that we are on the right track.