By Molly McGee Hewitt, PhD, CAE
As we kick off the 2025-26 school year, everyone is in full swing! We are focused on numerous details, including meetings, emails, onboarding new employees, and ensuring the retention of our drivers and teams. Oh, and let’s not forget about routings, schedules, regulatory compliance, and effective communication! The world of student transportation is intricate and demands careful attention to detail for success!
When we are busy implementing, the idea of strategy can often be sidelined. The daily needs get in the way of our future focus, causing our time to slip away. Strategy should never be an afterthought….it should always be a part of our weekly and regular planning.
Key Benefits of Strategy:
• It enables us to consider more than just immediate tasks.
• It helps us concentrate on our future direction.
• Strategy encourages us to look beyond current circumstances, guiding us toward future growth.
Student transportation officials are savvy planners and project managers. For years, you’ve been navigating tight budgets, equipment challenges, and a dwindling workforce. You’ve adapted to your system and accomplished necessary tasks, showcasing your exceptional executive abilities. The next leap in your career involves embracing the next level of leadership—strategy.
Strategy is built upon several essential components for achieving success:
1. An Open Mind. Being receptive to new ideas, revisiting old ones, and seeking out great examples is crucial. Regardless of how well you perform your current tasks, an open mind allows for the possibility of improvement.
2. Dedicated Thinking Time. It’s important to carve out time to realistically assess your current circumstances, anticipate future challenges, and envision what lies ahead. This reflective time can be spent while driving, exercising at the gym, relaxing on your porch with a cup of coffee, or in your office. I truly value these strategy sessions, as they help me concentrate solely on the future and think beyond the present.
3. Courage. Having the courage to question established practices and identify areas for improvement is vital. It takes bravery to acknowledge what isn’t working, recognize what needs enhancement, and be willing to try new approaches.
4. Commitment to the Future. Your work with the educational system aims to establish a vibrant legacy for student transportation. This includes developing a system that prioritizes safety while ensuring student comfort, creating job opportunities with support and training, and fostering a leadership culture in your district where student transportation is valued, appreciated, and respected.
You are working with your educational system to create a dynamic legacy for student transportation. This involves creating a system that prioritizes safety while ensuring student comfort. To create job opportunities that include support and training. To create a leadership dynamic in your district where student transportation is valued, appreciated and respected.
The Importance of Intent in Strategic Planning for Public Education
Strategic planning has consistently played a crucial role in public education. In fact, certain districts have invested thousands of dollars and countless hours into developing these plans. Throughout my experience in three previous districts, we engaged in comprehensive strategic planning processes. Although these initiatives began with positive intentions, they often ended up as just another binder collecting dust when leadership changed. Conversely, in my last association, we utilized strategic planning for over twenty years to drive our progress! So, what made one approach successful while the others faltered? It all begins with clear intent and a well-thought-out strategy!
While it can be helpful to understand the goals and future focus of your school district, it is not a replacement for your strategic thinking. You may wish to bring other key transportation personnel along with you in your process can be advantageous, it is not a necessity. What is essential is your dedication to and compliance with the four recommended items. These processes can work for any organizations including transportation departments, business units or divisions, and even associations. As a matter of fact, it can even be helpful in planning in your future and that of your family!
How about you? Are you prepared to harness your intellect, innovative ideas, and professionalism to plan for the future? If so, you’re already on the path to creating a meaningful impact.
Remember, every great leader was once a beginner. It’s your willingness to learn, adapt, and push boundaries that will set you apart. So, take that bold step forward with confidence, knowing that the future is in your capable hands. Together, let’s build something extraordinary, one strategic decision at a time.