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December 9, 2025
Lindsay didn’t set out to write a book about structural change.
“I thought the book was about the skills and capabilities leaders need to succeed in schools,” she said. “But I realized I was at risk of sending the message that if a teacher or principal just works harder and is better, all will be well. And that’s not true.”
The jobs we’ve designed for educators, she argues, are at a breaking point. Teachers are leaving the profession at alarming rates. Principals are overwhelmed, often responsible for coaching 35–40 teachers, many of them new and underprepared.
“That is an impossible task,” Lindsay said. “And it’s not producing better outcomes.”
Her solution? A new leadership architecture that distributes responsibility across four roles: team members, team leaders, bridge leaders, and school leaders. Each role has a clear mission, allowing educators to focus on what they do best while building capacity for others.
When asked what a “perfect school day” looks like in this new architecture, Lindsay flipped the question:
“I’m going to start with the perfect day for a teacher and then come back to students. One of the biggest mistakes we make is drawing a line that says you can either do what’s good for kids or what’s good for teachers. There is no path to providing the kind of educational experiences we want for students that doesn’t involve a job and a career for teachers that is fulfilling, meaningful, sustainable and joyful.”
Her vision includes time for teachers to prepare deeply, collaborate with peers, and access coaching and support.
“If we were doing all of those things within a school day, then when they’re with students, they’re more likely to be ready to be responsive and adaptive and meet the needs of the kids in front of them.”
For students, Lindsay imagines schools where kids feel glad to be there, go home feeling supported, and discover passions and interests that shape their future.
“While they’re there, they’re learning what’s beautiful—morally, aesthetically. They’re becoming confident about themselves, the things they’re great at, and how they want to plug into the world.”
Lindsay shared the story of Lockhart ISD, where Superintendent Mark Estrada and Plum Creek Elementary Principal Jamee Griebel embraced this model.
“Mark knew he needed to make the teaching profession in Lockhart attractive and sustainable,” Lindsay explained. “He wanted to pay teachers more, elevate their leadership, and make sure new teachers got coaching.”
They introduced “Lever Leaders”—excellent teachers who teach half the day and spend the other half coaching peers. Over time, Jamee restructured her assistant principal’s role to support these leaders, freeing her to focus on vision and strategy.
“Before this, Jamee was at school 65, 70, 80 hours a week,” Lindsay said. “She was exhausted and felt like she wasn’t doing enough. Now she still works hard, but she has capacity to move the school in the direction they want.”
The results? Plum Creek Elementary is thriving, earning an A in state accountability ratings—not through quick fixes, but by investing in sustainable practices that elevate teaching and learning.
“If you go to that school, you see teachers having conversations about their instruction and how to improve it,” Lindsay said. “That is an investment that will keep paying off.”
Changing structure is only half the battle. Leaders must also change how they operate and define success. Lindsay calls this the “A+ Day Trap”—the tendency to cling to tasks that make us feel competent, even when our role has evolved.
“You move into a new role and get sucked into doing the things you used to do because you’re good at them,” she said. “If you’re not careful, you’ll just do your old job.”
Shared leadership doesn’t mean stepping back and hoping for the best. It means empowering others while staying accountable for outcomes.
“Principals are still responsible for the success of the school,” Lindsay said. “They just don’t have to personally execute every task.”
She also emphasized the need for structured development:
“We need to be explicit about how we coach and develop teachers and use data. And if you had individuals who had the opportunity to lead in a team leader role before they entered a principal certification program, they would have a lot more concrete leadership experience.”
Despite the challenges, Lindsay is optimistic.
“We cannot be the kind of country we want to be without figuring out how to educate all of our students well,” she said. “There are schools that are succeeding. We need to study them and learn from them.”
Pick up “A New School Leadership Architecture” and join the conversation about building schools where teachers thrive, students flourish, and leadership is shared.