Over the past year, the Leadership Team Institute 2025-26 brought together over 30 leaders from seven teams from state and regional organizations and districts in Maryland, New York, and Delaware to learn about high-functioning team leadership, build their leadership team capacity, implement solutions to problems of practice, and create actionable professional learning plans that support growth at all levels. In June, the cohort met virtually with team coaches to reflect on their achievements and share plans for continued implementation.
We have a cadence or journey to Leadership Team Institute that we ask participating teams to take. Early on, they are tasked with assessing their readiness to lead as a team benchmarked against characteristics of highly effective teams, setting a collective vision, and establishing an early win to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving the vision. They focus on building team capacity, honing their strategic focus, and designing a relevant action plan for sustainable implementation.
We have been able to establish through Leadership Team Institute’s first pilot year and its ensuing two cohorts that the program has consistently helped teams move from fragmented efforts to shared ownership of improvement, equipping leaders with the structures, tools, and collaborative practices needed to drive meaningful and sustainable change. Leadership Team Institute not only strengthens individual leaders, but also builds the collective capacity of leadership teams to implement and sustain meaningful improvement efforts that positively impact educators and students.
The teams’ final presentations reflected thoughtful collaboration, innovation, and a strong commitment to professional learning that builds leadership at all levels within their organizations to foster distributive leadership.
Evidence from our most recent cohort includes:
Strong overall impact: The majority of participants rated the Institute 4 or 5 out of 5, indicating that it successfully met its intended outcomes and strengthened leadership practice.
Stronger leadership teams: Participants reported greater alignment, collaboration, and the breaking down of silos through dedicated time to work together.
“Giving our team an opportunity to truly align, collaborate, and tear down silos.”
Clearer strategic focus: The Problem of Practice, Root Cause Analysis, and SMARTIE Goal processes helped teams identify priorities and translate them into actionable plans.
“This has become our district’s academic focus.”
Increased leadership capacity: Teams gained tools for systems thinking, problem-solving, and leading change with greater confidence and shared understanding.
High-impact coaching: Many participants described coaching as instrumental in refining their thinking and helping them make decisions that led to measurable outcomes.
“The coaching we received was imperative to our final decision.”
Protected time that accelerated progress: In-person convenings created the space for focused planning and collaboration away from day-to-day distractions.
“This allowed us to focus on the tasks without distraction or disruption.”
Evidence of sustainability: Teams reported implementing district priorities, celebrating early wins, and building plans designed to sustain improvement over time.
“Working with LTI has been an exceptional experience… The support, expertise, and responsiveness of their staff have helped strengthen our leadership practices and positively impact student and district outcomes.”
School and system leadership requires a team effort to drive and maintain improvements that last. Leadership teams are uniquely beneficial because they bring multiple voices to the table, provide an opportunity to create and implement a collective vision and mission, and divide up the many responsibilities of running a school.
Leadership Team Institute 2026-27 will kick off in September 2026. We are continuing to enroll teams through the end of June. You can learn more at the Leadership Team Institute website, www.lf.wphlab.com/leadership-team-institute/ and contact me directly at [email protected], to enroll.
