The Leadership Lessons of an Octopus

I saw a news story awhile back that stopped me in my tracks. A six-year-old boy had to be rescued after an octopus in an aquarium reached out of its tank and grabbed his arm. I would have lost it had I been his mom.

He’s okay, but I’m sure he was terrified. Thankfully he is fine. Still, I haven’t stopped thinking about that octopus. That thing reached right out and did what octopuses do. No hesitation. No need for approval. Just instinct and action.

Turns out, octopuses are built for that. They have eight arms that can work independently from their brain. Each arm has its own kind of intelligence. They can taste, touch, and respond to the environment without needing to check in with headquarters. But even with all that independence, the octopus still moves with coordination and purpose.

So late-Lee, that octopus has had me thinking a lot about schools.

A strong school doesn’t operate because one person is controlling everything. It works because everyone knows the direction it’s heading, and each person feels trusted and equipped to do their part. Teachers, office staff, custodians, paras, cafeteria workers are the arms of the school. Each one is capable of taking action in the moment.

A teacher sees a student in distress? She acts.

A custodian notices a safety issue? He fixes it.

The front office gets word that a family’s going through something? They respond with heart.

They don’t need to wait for the principal to give them permission. They don’t need to write a proposal or schedule a meeting. They know what to do, and they do it, because strong leaders have built a culture where people are trusted and the mission is clear.

If you’re a school leader and your team can’t move without your say-so, that’s not leadership…that’s a bottleneck.

A truly strong leader sets the direction, models the values, and creates the conditions for people to lead from wherever they stand. You don’t have to be in every hallway if your team knows what matters.

That octopus might have been in a tank, but it wasn’t sitting idle. It was watching, sensing, reaching. Doing what it was created to do. That’s the kind of school leaders should want to see. Every arm should be alert and active. Everyone should work together to serve kids well.

So no, I haven’t lost it. I’m just saying… maybe the octopus is onto something.