Our students don’t just notice how we treat them or how we treat other students. They learn from how we treat each other too. Whether we realize it or not, we are modeling what it means to be an adult.
Green Bean Moments
An Inside Job
I’m writing this to share that maybe that thing we are afraid to do or think we can’t do or that thing that feels inconvenient might be exactly what we need. When we remove the friction points and stay the course on a commitment we made, especially one that is about our wellbeing, we remind ourselves that there is more to us and this life than our work. We remind ourselves are we are human beings not human doings.
School AS Community
It’s not a guide or a how-to. Our work as leaders is too complex and our communities too nuanced to be distilled down in that way. Instead, it’s rooted in principles and perspectives that illuminate possibilities in a heavy world.
Insecurities are Loud
But if we don’t start to figure out how to lead ourselves first from every seat in the organization, and if we don’t start to recognize the role we play in our own misery or the way we contribute to the very culture we hope to improve, we have little hope for the future in schools.
All We Have
Whatever each moment brings, let’s allow ourselves to live fully in it. It’s all we have in the end.
The Power of Noticing
So, I’m simply asking us to take the first brave step to simply notice. Allow ourselves to be curious not only about what people say but what they don’t say. Curious about specific words people use or body language and to make space to ask (when the time feels right) genuine questions that invite sharing and the possibility of some disagreement even.
Micro-disharmonies
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have those conversations. It means we need to practice having them more. The more experience we have with something the more competent we become and the more competent we become, the more confident we become. We need to be confident in our ability to hold two opposing views at the same time. We need to be confident in our ability to keep an important relationship in tact even when we aren’t seeing eye to eye on an important issue.
Look Again
“When everything around you seems dark, look again, you may be the light.” - Rumi
We Are Not Pizza
We are not pizza. But maybe we need to take a deep breath, enjoy a slice, and recognize that we are not responsible for what happens to us or the actions of others. We are responsible for our integrity, our communication, our work, our presence, and our response.
Trust through Community
So much of this is communication, folks. We are never done growing our communication skills.
MEGHAN LAWSON 