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From Classroom to Corporate: A Teacher's Journey in Leadership with Amanda Witmond
Anyone who works with kids, anyone who has the opportunity to be influential in youth development - you know there's leadership there.
Amanda Witmond never expected her teaching career to unfold the way it did. Fresh out of college and stepping into her first classroom as a second grade teacher, she had no idea that within a few short years she would be thrust into a leadership role during one of the most challenging periods in modern education. But as Amanda reflects on her five-year journey as an educator, it’s clear that the unexpected twists and turns helped shape her into a dynamic leader with valuable insights to share.
Trial by Fire
Amanda’s first year of teaching coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting a challenge for educators everywhere. “Obviously, teaching is leadership,” Amanda notes. “Anyone that works with kids, anyone that has an opportunity to be influential in youth development – you know that there’s leadership there.” But the pandemic created an entirely new dimension of leadership that would persist for years to come.
With schools suddenly closed in March 2020, teachers found themselves scrambling to transition to online learning practically overnight. “Teachers didn’t work from home. It’s not a thing,” Amanda explains. “There wasn’t an expert to guide us through the situation. We hadn’t seen this before. We were all kind of stuck in this chaotic state together.”
It was in this time that Amanda’s leadership skills were first tested and honed. She found herself stepping up to help guide her colleagues through the transition to digital learning. Her recent experience with online courses in college gave her a slight edge, allowing her to contribute ideas and support her team as they navigated uncharted waters together.
This trial by fire taught Amanda that leadership often emerges organically in times of crisis and change, rather than being bestowed from above. “I definitely found leadership in those situations and those abilities,” she reflects.
Rising Through the Ranks
Amanda moved into her second year of teaching, now with 5th graders. The challenges of remote and hybrid learning persisted. She continued to play a key role in helping her team adapt and find creative ways to engage students through screens.
It was in her third year that Amanda’s leadership journey took an unexpected turn. Much of her teaching experience had been during the pandemic period. She suddenly found herself promoted to department head when her predecessor left for another position.
“I just all of a sudden was the department head,” Amanda recalls. “Most of what I learned as a leader I learned by observing leaders and then becoming a leader myself. Those first three years are what paved the path for me.”
Amanda admits she felt unprepared for the role at first. “I probably tripped on my way down,”. But she also recognizes that her administration saw leadership potential in her that she hadn’t yet recognized in herself.
“It was very humbling in many ways. And it was very scary in many ways,” Amanda reflects. “There were things that I learned about it in that year that completely changed the way that I think of leadership.”
Lessons in Teamwork and Collaboration
One of the most profound leadership lessons Amanda gleaned from her experiences was the critical importance of teamwork and collaboration. As she notes, success in education is inherently a team effort – no single teacher or classroom can excel in isolation while others struggle.
“My classroom was my classroom but a true teamwork environment in education is seeing all of the classrooms as opportunities to support, opportunities to help, opportunities to grow,” Amanda explains. She found herself regularly teaching and supporting students across her entire grade level, not just those officially assigned to her class.
This collaborative mindset extended to sharing best practices and strategies among teachers as well. Amanda gives as an example of the types of exchanges that became commonplace.”Can you try a different way? I see your students’ data was remarkably high for something in this area. Can you support this group with this?”
She believes this team-oriented approach is something that could benefit organizations in other industries as well. While she acknowledges that not every workplace can or should function exactly like a school, Amanda sees tremendous value in fostering genuine collaboration rather than internal competition.
“It’s not about what individual can succeed,” she emphasizes. “As a group, we all need to get to that finish line. We all need to get there.”
The Human Side of Leadership
As Amanda grew into her role as department head, she came to appreciate the deeply human elements of effective leadership. She learned the importance of really listening to her team members, picking up on cues, and recognizing that different individuals have different needs when it comes to support and guidance.
“Not everyone needed the type of leader that was a problem solver. Not everyone needed the type of leader that was a coach. Some people needed a mentor,” Amanda explains. She had to develop her skills in assessing each situation and team member to determine the most appropriate leadership approach.
Amanda also discovered the power of helping people understand the “why” behind initiatives and changes, rather than simply issuing top-down directives. She found that when people grasp the reasoning and relevance, they’re far more likely to buy in and feel motivated.
“I think everyone really likes to understand why. Why are we doing this? Why are you having us do this?” she notes. “I have not seen much success with [leadership] that’s just direction with very little explanation.”
This human-centric approach to leadership aligns closely with Amanda’s passion for holistic health and wellbeing. She’s a strong advocate for mental, emotional, and social health – not just for students, but for adults in the workplace as well. Amanda believes leaders have a responsibility to create supportive environments and check in on their team members’ overall wellbeing, not just their task completion.
Transferable Skills and New Horizons
After five fulfilling but intense years in education, Amanda recently made the difficult decision to transition out of teaching and explore opportunities in the corporate world. As she reflects on her experiences, she’s come to recognize the wealth of transferable skills she developed as a teacher and educational leader.
“Unless you’ve been a teacher, you don’t really know all the hats teachers can wear,” Amanda notes. “autonomy, creative problem solving, communication, organization, time management, adaptability, flexibility, collaboration, conflict resolution” – and that’s just the start.
Amanda has also come to see how many of her responsibilities as a teacher and department head translate to sought-after corporate roles:
“Project management – every single year is a new project. We have a timeline. We have certain things to get in. I need to schedule out this timeline. I need to find a way to assess periodically, frequently, whether we’re meeting our current trajectory. If we’re not, how are we going to adjust?”
She goes on to highlight her experience with change management, process improvement, data analysis, needs assessment, curriculum design, onboarding, technical training, and more. Amanda even draws a parallel to sales, joking that “convincing 33 fifth graders that math is awesome” isn’t so different from selling a product.
As she explores new career paths, Amanda is particularly drawn to roles in training, learning and development, and project management. “It’s not that much of a jump from teaching to training or teaching to learning and development in the sense that I’m teaching to adults,” she notes.
While the transition comes with its share of uncertainty, Amanda approaches it with the same adaptability, enthusiasm for learning, and appetite for challenge that served her well as an educator. “I love change. I love challenge,” she declares.
A Bright Future Ahead
As Amanda embarks on the next phase of her career journey, she carries with her a wealth of hard-earned leadership wisdom. From navigating a global crisis as a brand new teacher to taking on a department head role with minimal experience, she’s demonstrated an impressive ability to rise to challenges and grow through adversity.
Her emphasis on genuine collaboration, human-centered leadership, and holistic wellbeing feels especially relevant in today’s rapidly evolving workplace. Combined with her diverse skill set and eagerness to learn, these qualities are sure to serve Amanda well as she transitions into the corporate world.
While she may be leaving the classroom behind, Amanda’s passion for education and leadership development remains strong. As she puts it, “I’ll talk about it every day of the week if necessary. We are so much more and probably the best multitaskers out there in the world.”
There’s little doubt that whatever role Amanda takes on next, she’ll approach it with the same dedication, adaptability, and collaborative spirit that made her such an effective educator and leader. Her journey serves as an inspiring reminder of the wealth of talent and transferable skills that teachers possess – and the tremendous value they can bring to any organization lucky enough to have them.
Editor’s Note: Prior to publishing this article, Amanda was offered and accepted a curriculum designer role at an Atlanta-based company. Join me in congratulating Amanda on this new, exciting venture.
To learn more about Amanda, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.
To watch some of Amanda’s interview:
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