Teach Boldly

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

PRESENCE

I made a determination early in my career as a school leader and it, as much as almost anything else, has moved me closer to being the type of leader I want to be.

I decided that, whenever someone came to my office door (a door that, no matter my office configuration, I keep in my line of sight – I do not put my desk in a corner that cannot be seen from the hallway), I would stop whatever I was doing and give them my full attention.

It was an easy decision. It is a fairly easy thing to do.

It makes a significant difference in my relationships with people and helps me attend to them and to their needs. it helps me know them.

Being present should not be difficult. Being present in a moment, being present in a classroom, being present in a building. It is truly a matter of scheduling and of mindset. It is not some skill that a leader needs to bring – a priori – to a position. It is a habit that can be formed and it is a tool that goes a very long way to establishing who a leader is going to be.

Presence is relatively easy to establish. It is massively important in the life of a leader. 

We have just passed the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. At various points in my life, I have been fascinated to distraction (and have completed  voluminous reading) on the subject. One of the most unique takes comes from American master Stephen King in his novel 11.22.63.

I will not ruin the plot for anyone. It involves conspiracy and time travel and is truly awesome. What I want to suggest is that King, a former high school teacher himself, has put at the center of the story an English teacher – Jake Epping – because King understands what heroes teachers are.

Epping is tasked with the impossible in this book, but what teacher is not? Epping’s struggle against the forces of fate resonate with me viscerally. Thematically, King elevates the role of teacher to a cosmic level and Epping has to make choices that influence all of humanity.

Sounds like what a teacher does every day.

We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

GRATITUDE

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” – Meister Eckhart

There could hardly be a more appropriate week in the United States to talk about gratitude as a tool in the box than Thanksgiving week. As North Americans gather to give thanks for all we have been given, encouraging ourselves as leaders to sharpen our skills and awareness of gratitude is fitting.

In my time as an administrator, I have found that “thank you” are the more powerful words I ever say. This is not an overstatement nor is it hyperbole. It is very true. People thrive when they are thanked for their work. They respond well when they know that their efforts are noticed.

On my first performance evaluation as principal which included a section for anecdotal commentary, someone wrote “I feel like I can’t turn around without him thanking me for picking up a piece of trash.” I was really gratified by the comment because, first, I am thankful when we all share in taking care of our campus and, second, because it was clear my gratitude resonated with this teacher.

Gratitude is not simply saying “thank you,” it is a mindset that realizes that everyone should be thanked for what they do. They should be praised. 

“Thank you” is a wonderful prayer.

This is the perfect week to remember that.

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

COMPASSION

Some of the tools I used to speak about and am blogging about this year can be taught. Some can be developed. Most can be honed.

Compassion is not one of them.

This is a tool (and it seems crass to call it that) which a person either has or she or he does not. 

Leaders who lack this tool lack a critical perspective. I have found that those who are less than compassionate seem to almost not understand why compassion is important in the first place. They seem to be missing a piece of the puzzle that makes us all human.

This may seem a harsh assessment, but I have been disappointed far too many times by those so-called leaders whose response to someone else’s struggle or pain or circumstance is “I went through this” or “others have dealt with this” or “suck it up, that’s the job.” I have been disappointed. I have been angered.

And I have sworn to stamp out those comments, thoughts or feelings whenever they may show signs of creeping in.

Leaders who are compassionate are so much easier to follow. They are typically liked instead of feared. They lead from a place of humanity. That is a fine place from which to lead.

Today is my daughter’s birthday and it is only appropriate today that I delve, again, into the realm of real life teachers and praise those educators who spent their time with my daughter (and both of my sons) over the course of their school lives. My kids were blessed to have wonderful teachers – primarily – and teachers who challenged them, who engaged them, who encouraged them and who made them into the people they are today.

I can remember many of their names. I can remember many stories about them. I can say that they were part of our lives.

They remain part of our lives.

We who are in this work should not forget that our names are spoken around dinner tables. Our stories are shared on car trips. Our lives are intertwined with the lives of those we teach. 

I am grateful to each-and-every teacher my sons and daughter had in their lives.

You were our partners is turning out wonderful young people.

We never know the influence we have… While culture tends to promulgate the “those who can, do, those who cannot, teach” idiocy, there are hundreds of examples of brilliance and impactful teachers in reality and in pop culture. Every-other-week this year, I will share my brief reflections on Smart People Doing Smart Things be they in literature, in film, in music or in real life. Many will be teachers, but not all. Many will be fictional, but some will be real. All will be inspiring. Welcome to IntelliPop!

Years ago, I was blessed to be in a position to hold seminars with groups of educators designed to discuss and build leadership skills both informally and formally, internally – for the individual and externally for the school. As we discussed leadership skills and qualities, we would talk about new tools being put in our toolboxes as leaders. This year in Teach & Serve, I have decided to talk about many of those tools.

HUMILITY 

As a younger educator and administrator (department chair, dean of students, assistant principal), I spent time considering how I would move into a principal position. I looked at opportunities in front of me, specifically at the school I had spent the majority of my career, and I waited, and worked and hoped and, in all honesty, maneuvered to try to be ready. I wanted the role. I wanted to be in charge. I wanted to be the boss.

Circumstances humbled me as things did not turn out the way I had planned for them to.

My God, I am grateful for that.

The result of not getting the job I believed I always wanted forced me to leave my alma mater where I had taught for 20 years, forced me to consider new possibilities, forced me to change.

It forced me to confront the fact that I needed to develop humility. 

Perhaps there is something about youth that makes us bold and age that brings us back to the mean. That is certainly possible and that is an arc I can see in my leadership journey. When I did not receive the job I so felt I deserved, the soul search was real, the reflection was powerful and I would like to think my development was authentic.

Leaders who are truly going to be servants have to have humility near the center of their hearts and always at the ready to come out of their toolboxes. There is little room for vanity and braggadocio in this work. Those who get tied up in who gets the credit tend to miss the big picture of the work we do. 

Of the many tools in the box, humility is one I reflect on most often.Note: I am well aware of the paradox of writing about trying to be good at humility…