I have to confess...I love watching television. It doesn't take much for me to sit down and watch almost anything...with or without a plot or storyline. But over the past few weeks, I have been watching some interesting shows, that, although completely set in different times, actually link and illustrate what happens when leaders are afraid to make important decisions.

A few years ago, I became fascinated with the period leading up to and then through the Revolutionary War. The fact that men and women completely broke free from another government to start a brand new concept is pretty amazing. (I mean, it's not like it was a start-up or something like that.) The Founding Fathers -- Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison -- and their wives, plus a dozen others, created a new way of living by expressing the importance of freedom. HBO  dramatized this with their amazing series "John Adams." It takes an in-depth look at Adams, his wife Abigail, their travels and the integral part he played in establishing the United States. He had many accomplishments (he once served on 20+ committees), but the one area he and the other founders wouldn't touch was slavery. They knew it was wrong and in complete conflict with the Declaration of Independence, for which they had each worked so hard. Still, they felt it was easier to leave it alone and let another generation deal with it. That theory of letting someone else deal with a problem essentially led to the Civil War, 100 years later.

One hundred years after the war between the states, another leader was in the middle of a violent struggle (although he wanted it to be peaceful). This past year marked the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, and taking a look at how these two American leaders intersect may be a fair exercise.

Adams was a strong leader, focused on the details. But he and his patriots did not have the ability to exercise leadership all of the way. Can you imagine what the last 200 years could have been if Adams, Washington and the boys would have gone all of the way? Who knows, maybe there still would have been a Civil War, just earlier. Maybe, the Civil Rights movement would have happened 50 years earlier. That's the problem with not making decisions, you never get to know.

What about for leaders in education? How does making decisions, or the lack thereof effect our daily work? Unfortunately, we don’t have great models in the world of politics to assist us. From Washington to Adams and on down the line, the buck (and many times the literal buck) get passed along. But we can’t do this in education. Educational leaders need the freedom and ability to make decisions…whether it is a budgetary issue, proper discipline for students without school board repercussions, or removing a teacher who is not getting the job done. Making decisions isn’t necessarily easy, but that’s what we, as leaders sign up for. It’s time for leaders to start deciding!!