Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a School Leader

My View

It’s not easy being me. I carry the burden of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD.

Certainly my effectiveness as an educator increases when there is a focus on routines, schedules and orderliness — but not to the extreme. I have an intense urge to be 10 minutes early to every meeting. I abhor breaks of five, 10, 15 or 30 minutes and alternatively appreciate the specificity of the nine-minute break and the 18-second down time. I check, double check and triple check the accuracy of all reports under my name.

My physical work space has everything in its place and a place for everything, and I have been able to squeeze immense productivity out of the time allotted to me each day. I want to get everything accomplished yesterday.

Visual Discomfort

The upside of living this kind of life and modeling this type of behavior in an educational leadership role would seem to be high productivity with little wasted effort. Personal organization and attention to detail do have a valuable place in leadership behavior.

There is, however, an important downside to imposing my “way of life” on others.

Educators, especially teachers, thrive on living in the moment. Forcing them to adhere to the exactness of a lesson plan, a curriculum map or a scope-and-sequence chart would rob them of the creativity and spontaneity that defines good instructors. The last thing I want to do is create a sterile atmosphere in the classroom that’s reduced to repetitive reading in English classes and mindless application of algorithms in math.

I carry with me a note that reads “Know thyself.” As I pass through a classroom in which a teacher’s desk is a bit askew, I close my eyes and consider how I appreciate the richness of a well-delivered lesson.

In another setting, I may observe, uncomfortably, students happily chattering as they complete an academic task as the classroom teacher casually strolls about the room checking on student progress. I must remember to be thankful for the welcoming and nurturing culture that this educator has created with these youngsters as they learn how to work and learn together. Or, as a teacher organizes the details for a field trip differently than I might, I think how lucky I am to employ someone who is willing to commit the time to create these kinds of opportunities for our students.

Triple Checking Details

Preparing for the annual administration of the state test, a complex and increasingly important matter, is both a gift and a challenge for me. It entails developing schedules, ensuring adequate coverage is in place, training all staff involved, taking pains to guarantee document security and covering for teacher absences or weather delays during testing. The planning, checking, re-checking and triple checking the minutia for this experience burns the soul of the OCD carrier.

One of my daily responsibilities as a site administrator is to provide for substitutes for any absent staff. The dread of having a class uncovered sometimes causes me to wake at 3 a.m. to check the day’s coverage plan. I show up at school two hours before students to verify all classes are covered.

I also oversee teacher participation in individual education plan meetings. When an IEP meeting begins late or runs over its time allotment, the remainder of the day requires adjustment. When a teacher is tardy showing up, I resist the temptation to overreact.

Assistant principals often are assigned tasks that require action on the part of teachers or principals. An individual with OCD, who feels the need to complete everything not on time but before time, is required to restrain the internal urge to remind others time and again about what is needed and when. I’ve learned the need to delegate, grant ample time and wait.

My point is this: Effective leaders understand themselves; they appreciate the creativity of those who work with them; and they learn to keep a safe distance between how they may behave at home and how they act in the school, especially if they carry the OCD gene.