CHAPTER 5 - PROTOCOL 1

Systems vs. Skills Reflection

TIME45-60 minutes

OWNERPrincipal or leader

ARTIFACTSystems-versus-skills map + one practice commitment

SUCCESS CRITERIA

You distinguish necessary procedures from leadership skills that require judgment.
You use recent evidence rather than a general self-rating.
You identify one habit where procedural completion has replaced intended impact.
You choose one skilled practice, evidence source, and return date.

IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Inventory the work

Review recent meetings, decisions, communications, observations, and responses to identify recurring leadership actions.

Separate system from skill

Mark which actions were governed mainly by rules or routines and which required interpretation, influence, adaptation, or relational judgment.

Find the impact gap

Identify one routine that was completed correctly but did not produce the intended experience or result.

Practice the shift

Select one leadership skill to use deliberately in the next occurrence and define evidence of changed impact.

WORKING ORGANIZER

Run the protocol.

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01Inventory the workReview recent meetings, decisions, communications, observations, and responses to identify recurring leadership actions.What did your leadership week actually require you to do?02Separate system from skillMark which actions were governed mainly by rules or routines and which required interpretation, influence, adaptation, or relational judgment.Where did the procedure guide the work—and where did skilled judgment determine its quality?03Find the impact gapIdentify one routine that was completed correctly but did not produce the intended experience or result.Where did compliance with the process fail to create meaningful impact?04Practice the shiftSelect one leadership skill to use deliberately in the next occurrence and define evidence of changed impact.What will you do differently, what will you notice, and when will you return?

Evidence to bring backReturn date

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REFLECTION PROMPTS

Which procedure gives me a false sense of completion?
Where does my role require judgment that no checklist can supply?
What skill would most improve the impact of a routine I already perform?

EQUITY GUARDRAILS

Do not dismiss procedures that protect safety, rights, consistency, or due process.
Do not label others unskilled when the system has withheld practice, feedback, or authority.
Study whose needs are served or obscured when a process is followed exactly.