Category: Thought Leaders

In most organizations, the end of summer marks a “new” beginning. Rather than January 1, the return of employees (or students) at the end of summer seems the de facto initiation of a work year.

The best leaders I know understand the power of HABIT, on themselves and on the organizations in which they work. In simplest term, HABITS are those things we repeat, again and again, until they occur mindlessly.

Wise leaders also know that talking about it doesn’t affect adoption of new habits, nor eliminate bad ones. Doing good habits is the only thing that gets it done.

Some habits worth considering:

• Focus daily on the vision and driving goals.
• Frame all meetings around the vision and driving goals.
• Allocate resources only to things that contribute to the vision and driving goals.
• Isolate and eliminate “stuff” not directly contributing to the vision and driving goals.
• Notice employee acts/decisions made in the interest of the vision and driving goals.
• Converse often and individually with team members about the vision and driving goals.

If we really want to achieve our Vision and Driving Goals……….they pretty much have to become HABITual foci.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

You’ve heard the old saw: “Curiosity killed the cat.” While that idiom may hold fair warning for cats, it’s not a great tenet for humans to live by.

People with truly curious minds tinker, poke, stretch, re-do, undo, experiment, innovate, and improvise. They LEARN! (And, usually, they’re fun.)

The best leaders I know take that curiosity to another level. They use their curious minds to foster improvement in themselves, in their teams, and in their organizations on two important fronts:

1) Observation and Attention-Paying — these leaders closely watch, attend, listen, notice, discern …. ALL the time.

2) Inquire — these leaders ask really good questions of themselves, of their teams, of their competitors, and of high performers in other professions. Moreover, they learn from the responses they get because they LISTEN to those answers.

Wonder what I can learn today, and from whom? 

Think I’ll ask.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Some of the folks I admire most get a LOT of stuff done. They have eclectic interests, curious minds, and superb skills in task completion.

I’ve noticed some commonalities in these Gitter-Doner types:

• They know the time of day when their brain works best, and they do the most cognitively challenging work at those times.
• They tackle the “worst first” during a normal day.
• They organize their files/documents/emails/stuff so that they can lay their hands/brains on it immediately (without having to go on a time-sucking scavenger hunt).
• They have a network of trusted “experts” whom they tap for advice and counsel on tricky decisions.
• They remove distractions when doing work that requires intense focus.
• They put tasks/meetings/deadlines on a calendar (usually just ONE calendar) and monitor that calendar daily.
• They communicate with their team frequently.
• They create “first drafts” of important work weeks or months in advance, to allow percolation time for improvement modifications and ongoing cognigitation.
• They have fun with their work and at their work.

Gotta run. Stuff to get done today.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Good listeners are rare. Outstanding listeners are rarer still.

What keeps folks — maybe me and you — from listening well and deeply?

• We might not care.
• We’re too &$%#ed busy.
• We think the speaker is uniformed, or worse.
• We’re distracted by ___?___ (something, or everything).
• We don’t value the speaker, or her/his opinion.
• We’d rather be talking.
• We’re TIRED!

Oh, but how much could we learn, and how much more open to us would others be, if…………

we’d just LISTEN?

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Trees come in lots of flavors and styles. Some trees…

• Grow best in dense forests; others survive best in complete isolation.
• Have deep and strong tap roots; some exist with shallow roots near the surface.
• Have massive trunks and impervious bark; others have wispy and tender trunks.
• Have leaves that are broad and expansive; some wear leaves that look like needles.
• Live for hundreds of years; others but a flash in the pan.
• Invite engagement and cohabitation; others have defense shields permanently deployed.
• Shoot hundreds of feet into the air, straight skyward; others have branches that resemble a tangled skein.

And everything in between.

All trees have unique personalities. All trees are inextricably intertwined and interdependent with many other species of critters in the environment in which they live.

Trees are people, too.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blathering, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Sarcasm generates giggles. Tackiness scores laughs. Insults get chuckles. Condescension delights. Disrespectful snipes entertain. Mockery amuses. Ridicule gets likes.

Almost always are those effects short lived, among the watchers.

Almost never are those efforts forgotten, by the targets.

Civility and respectfulness come with their own rewards.

And, generally, those rewards compound over time.

Most of us want to accomplish a couple of things in life:

• Have meaningful impact
• Be effective in our undertakings

To be sure, there are a lot of sub-objectives to both of those endeavors, with nuances and webs extending from each.

Constant reflection is required to optimize our impact and effectiveness. And, impact necessarily implies connections and relationships.

Some important questions to consider in the Reflectification process:

Am I focused on the right thing(s)? 

How well am I fostering new and nurturing current relationships?

Which of my habits contribute to my impact and effectiveness? and Which don’t? 

Our answers determine next steps. There is no finish line, so we’re in for constant improvement along both dimensions. There’s plenty of room for growth.

Right now is always a good time for reflection.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

As a kid, I grew up in a low-income family home with 3 brothers, my mom and an alcoholic step dad. We lived in south Texas near the coast in a very small town. I never thought of myself as being poor. My mom never really allowed any of us to believe there was something we needed that we could not have or get. She worked hard and she was hard on all of us. She expected a lot from us. The rest of the story is that my step dad was the only dad I knew. My biological dad never laid eyes on me and chose to leave my pregnant mom before I was born. I always thought my step dad was my dad and it was a while before I knew he was my step dad. My oldest brother and I had our names changed legally to his last name at some point in our childhood. He married my mom when I was about 2 years old and my oldest brother was almost 4 years old.

I remember hating to leave school almost daily. I got a knot in my stomach as the end of the school day approached and I knew I had to go home. I never really knew what situation I would walk into when I got to our house. We lived close enough that we were able to walk home from school. My older brother was usually not in the mix as I walked home with my two younger brothers. My mom always worked and provided a steady although modest income for our family. If my dad had a job, he typically would spend a significant sum of his paycheck to purchase alcoholic beverages for his consumption.

I graduated from high school and received a scholarship from my high school teacher’s association. Did they see something in me I could not see in myself? I do not have an answer for that question. I went to college out of high school and did not major in education. I finished 2 semesters (sort of), got married, had a family and then decided to go back to get my degree! With 4 children and a husband and all of the things that go along with those responsibilities, I was able to finish my degree and continue on during my last two semesters in a concurrent degree program to complete my Master’s degree.

So fast forward a few decades and I sit in my hotel room in Cambridge, MA writing a blog post for other educators to read at their leisure. Our team from Hamlin Collegiate ISD will continue working to improve our underperforming elementary campus after attending the School Turnaround Leaders Institute at Harvard University. We are a team of four and we are excited and ready to do this important work! There are four of us who traveled here as a team, ready to continue the work we began together in September 2022.

In a million years, I never thought I would have this amazing opportunity. Some of you have done this work and have said it was the highlight of your career! I am sure you all wanted to make an impact when you decided to become educators. I wonder if I have made an impact as I’ve worked through my educational career? You most likely have at some point wondered if you have succeeded with your desired impact.

I wrote and rewrote this post several times and tried various approaches such as “ways to overcome the challenges we have as school leaders in rural West Texas” or “how to better utilize technology.” I even used “ChatgptOpenAI” to read the generated response for “what do Principals in rural school districts find beneficial and uplifting in a blog post.” None of the things I came up with or the responses from “Chatgpt” seemed real enough to be part of a blog post for school leaders. I ended up with telling my story, of a kid who never really knew they would end up being an elementary principal or anything close to such a career!

My dad is now gone after battling emphysema and COPD for years. He gave up alcohol in his later years and was a really great Pawpaw to all of my children. He was able to see two of his great grandchildren (our two oldest grandchildren) before he passed away. I believe it was something he really wanted to hang in there for! My mom is still working hard around her house in Phoenix. She retired after 30 years of being an adjuster and mediator in the insurance business. She decided being retired was not all that fun and went back to work for a different insurance company and retired there after 15 years. Then she went to work for another company and retired about 10 or so years ago so she could take care of my dad. She is as sassy as ever and still tells us what to do and expects a lot from us. I am so grateful she did and does!

As the school year closes and the summer months begin, I reflect on the journey from beginning to end. Being a principal has blessed me. I have been able to help students and adults in ways that I never could in the past. I have been an advocate, a listening ear, a supportive hand, and a firm believer. My heart and mind have been pulled in opposite directions at the same time with a difficult decision placed right in the middle. I have laughed; I have cried. I have felt anger, frustration, fear, and worry. My heart has hurt, yet felt so full of love in the same moment.

As you reflect on your journey, remember to see the new strength you have gained from the trials and tribulations. This world of administration in which we live is not for the weak. We sign up to lead, not knowing what exactly that will entail. God places us in these roles for a specific reason. We have purpose. You have purpose.

Regardless of your administrative role, it will be summer soon and the work does not stop. For we are tasked with creating and building another school year that will begin in just a few short months. Take care of yourself, rest. You are a superhero, and superhero’s need rest, too!

Sometimes we get stuck. The rut seems to grab hold and won’t let go.

Getting stuck happens to everyone. Getting unstuck is not rocket science.

Try this recipe:

• Get off the accelerator. Spinning the tires even faster won’t get us out of the rut.
• Reflect carefully. Figure out what got us stuck in the first place.
• Seek the perspective of wise observers from outside the organization.
• Discern carefully whether we got busier at doing than we were at being.
• Decouple from habits that got us here.
• Add in a couple of habits that move us toward what we wanna BE.

Constant monitoring, constant reflection, constant correction.

Sounds like work, but well worth it to get UNstuck.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.