Looking Outward

Daman Harris is an educator in his 31st school year. After serving public schools for 30 years, he recently joined the faculty of Notre Dame of Maryland University. Daman lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with his wife, with whom he shares two adult children.

We had the privilege of interviewing Daman for this month's OutGrowth blog feature. Enjoy our Q+A below! Also be sure to check out Daman's full article in our October issue of En Root!

This month's theme is all about looking outward before deciding inward. Tell us how this theme has played a role in your personal or professional life.

As an aspiring leader, I took pride in making decisions by combining my values with my gut instincts. I believed that if my intentions were good and my values were clear, I would usually arrive at the right decision. I learned some hard lessons along the way.

Good intentions and strong values matter, but context matters too. I had to learn to understand the background experiences, values, perspectives, and expectations of the stakeholders around me, particularly the communities I claimed to serve. Looking outward taught me that leadership is about more than what I believe is right (In education, we often say, “I keep kids first,” when others question our leadership moves, as if that absolves us of wrongdoing.). It requires understanding how others experience the organization, the problem, and even my leadership. That realization has made me much more intentional about listening and learning before deciding.

At OutGrowth, we believe in designing the space and time to reimagine the path forward. How do you think that building in opportunities for environmental scans can help to shape our decision-making in our careers and lives?

Environmental scanning creates intentional space between observation and action. Without that space, it is easy to make decisions based on what worked before, what feels urgent, or what we assume to be true. A scan encourages us to ask what has changed, what we might be missing, and what new opportunities have emerged.

I think that discipline applies to our personal lives and careers as much as it does to organizations. Periodically examining the people, opportunities, challenges, assumptions, and changing conditions around us can help us recognize when the path that once made sense no longer does. Sometimes growth begins with giving ourselves permission to gather new information before determining our next move.

What is one hard lesson you learned in this past year that contributed to your growth?

One hard lesson has been accepting that not every colleague is equally committed to my best interests, even when we share responsibility for the same work. That realization can be disappointing, but it does not have to prevent meaningful collaboration.

I've learned to distinguish between requiring personal alignment and building professional alignment. We do not have to share the same motivations, relationships, or interests to accomplish great things together. When we can find common ground around the needs of our primary stakeholders, there is still tremendous potential for productive partnership.

What is one competency or skill you hope to develop in 2026 and beyond?

I want to deepen my expertise in research methodology, particularly qualitative research. As a fledgling researcher, I want to become increasingly skilled at designing and implementing high-quality studies that help us better understand organizational leadership, particularly within educational organizations.

I'm especially interested in research that values the perspectives of practitioners and the people our organizations serve. Their experiences can reveal dimensions of leadership and organizational effectiveness that traditional performance measures cannot always capture. I want my research to help connect those lived experiences with decisions about how organizations develop their people, practices, and systems.

What inspires you?

I'm inspired by the exuberance of people of all ages who are new to service professions. I've seen it frequently with career changers entering teaching. They bring years of experience from other fields, a clear sense of what has and hasn't worked in their own lives, and tremendous excitement about leveraging that expertise in service to young people and their communities.

There is something powerful about being around people who still see possibilities that those of us who have been doing the work for years may have stopped noticing. Their energy and idealism are contagious. They remind me that experience should deepen our wisdom without diminishing our sense of possibility.

At OutGrowth, we believe in preparing the next generation of leaders. What is one resource you'd recommend to those looking to carve out the time for growth in the next year?

Two of the last four books I've read are really sticking with me: Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey and Stop Talking, Start Influencing by Jared Horvath. Immunity to Change explores why, despite our best efforts and intentions, essential behaviors can be so difficult to change. Stop Talking, Start Influencing examines another challenge: why, despite our best efforts and intentions, our messages don't always stick. Together, they have me thinking deeply about two fundamental questions of leadership development: How do we help people change, and how do we help learning last? Both books are influencing how I think about developing my own capacity and the capacity of others.

What's next? What are you excited about in the coming year?

After more than 30 years of service in Maryland public schools, I recently retired and began a new chapter as an assistant professor at Notre Dame of Maryland University. I'm excited about having new opportunities to research, write, learn with students, and contribute to the development of the next generation of educational leaders.

I'm equally excited to continue my consulting work with organizations seeking to grow their people, practices, and systems. In many ways, this next chapter brings together the parts of my career that have energized me most: learning, teaching, leadership development, research, writing, and helping organizations become better at serving the people who depend on them.