The things you understand when busy sets in
(Published in my Tumblr acct summer 2013)
Between big meetings last week, grant applications, meetings today and a few other things I’ve been away a bit. Sorry about that. I’ve got like 12 drafts in my dashboard and I’ll keep adding to them until I get ready to publish. I’d like to say it’s all my “editors” fault, but I seriously doubt that!
Today I was made aware of one obvious leadership flaw in myself. I expect people to listen, especially in the adult learning environment. More yet in the small business world, where one small mistake can make or break the bottom line. When I see that and am at my wits end with so many things happening I need to get away and take a break. My flaw is that I expect too much and need to have the emotional discipline to step away and know when to use that emotional collateral.
Lesson learned…now on the next one. That’s the joy of being a life-long learner.
If this is the future - we've already seen it.
(Published in my Tumblr acct in 2013)
In this interview, Mr. Gates talks about being present, the flexibility of learning and the learning environment for college students.
Here’s my little two cents worth. If we are going to create that model we must engage the learner at an early age and continue to design and structure curriculum for the individual learner. Students that are at risk at any level, or those that are just average, may struggle in the “self-motivated” learning model. Students that are driven to compete and succeed may thrive in the proposed environment, but I believe education is about influence. I believe education is about modeling and being there.
We do that by training dynamic teachers. Then we model structure and independent learning. A thirst for knowledge is vital. If not, we create the same programs that failed in the 1970s. I remember them well because I was part of that grand experiment “Personalized Learning” or PLAN, independent, self-paced learning modules. The teacher was simply a resource and the students created the pacing and were motivated by…themselves.
For me it was perfect. Thanks to the technology of the 1970’s I completed Jr. High in 7th grade! Most of High School by 8th grade and then coasted until my Sr. year because I could. Others graduated early, and others…many others just took their time and barely graduated. It certainly wasn’t for everyone and there was no “plan” after Jr. High. It just stopped and all of a sudden you were back in a traditional classroom.
We must think bigger, but we also must think more about our culture and how we support the infrastructures we’ve taken for granted. My family created a solid foundation for learning. If they didn’t my church might have, or the Boys and Girls Club might have. The environment I learned in created a safety net for me to “fail” into. It also created accountability for my successes and knew when my ego needed checking. The challenge to grow in and beyond your environment is vital to success.
Build that first.
To Band Geeks everywhere
Published in my Tumblr acct in 2013
This week has my mind on the role models in my life for some obvious reasons. They are all getting older! Some in their late 70’s and other nearing their middle 90’s…older.
My father passed away nearly 30 years ago and truthfully there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. He had a silent, unusual way of being my dad, at least as I recall. Maybe it was because of his generational understanding of the world, his service in WWII or maybe just because he was a “get it done” kind of guy. Not harsh, not mean, never abusive…I sometimes think I can hear him say, “just stop being so flashy and just get it done.”
I was saddened to hear from a few Facebook friends that my High School band director had passed away on Sunday. He, although he likely never knew, is the reason my trumpet has never seen the dark recesses of the attic. He is the driving force behind me performing for more than 30 years in little small ensembles, bands, and community orchestras. He is the reason I’ve seen most of the world lugging an instrument around and getting to know some of the most amazing people.
He was hard, demanding, and expected great things from people he knew had a talent deep inside them. If you gave your best he rewarded it. As a kid, I was blessed to be good, but I was too lazy to be great and my grade in band reflected it. He knew that and in his own way drove me, not “just” as his student, but in my life.
Looking back now, at the mentors I’ve known, the male role models that make me who I am I see something strange and something incredibly comforting. Each of them, that I can name without skipping a beat, were teachers. Classroom teachers, Music Teachers, Sunday School teachers, Scout leaders…
Today early in the morning, I found myself thinking about those men. My dad, my teachers, those leaders that shared small pieces of themselves with me and my memories of them are priceless.
Someone somewhere is looking at you today. Whether you’re standing in a classroom or in the boardroom you are making a difference in the lives of the people you work with, serve with, lead with, and teach with! You can leave a lasting impression, or you can just be present. I am grateful that my band director chose to be more than present! I can still hear him on the practice field to this day, “Eight to five people, not seven, not nine…eight to five.” Thank you, Mr. Nelson,
Something about me you need to know
Published in my Tumbler acct in 2013
editors note: This fills my very being to this very day, even though sometimes the darkness does cast a shadow.
I grew up believing I could do anything! I suppose if you know me you’d likely say I’m still growing up because I still believe that very same thing. It’s not been the easiest credo in a world where people constantly tell you that “your” anything is impossible.
My first year out of college I had a supervisor, a pastor, that said, “if you would just choose something and do that one thing…you’d be great at it!” My response to him was that “doing one thing” was not my purpose, nor my dream. I’ve learned over the years that I was not put together that way. I believe the very nature of my being is discovery and the thirst for knowledge. I just never had the focus or the attention span to do just one thing as the only thing.
As I said that “I can do anything attitude” is an incredibly difficult thing to protect and nurture throughout a lifetime. It only happens when that spark inside of you continues to ignite a flame. Sometimes that spark fizzles with pessimism and all that other “stuff”.
The reason I spent all those years in education was simply that I wanted to share that belief! Sometimes I succeeded and other times…not so much! Life happens and people change, but I’ll always believe my purpose is to live a life full of the possibility of…anything!
Some days are Diamonds -- Facebook posts that make you smile
Published in Tumblr in 2013
editors note: Lori died in the Fall of 2018, but she will never be forgotten.
Today I was grinning from ear to ear as I read a Facebook post. Before I get too far into this let me just say that the greatest benefit Facebook provides is to connect me with some friends I’ve known since kindergarten. I love them dearly and I truly enjoy reading their posts. Each and every day one or two of them, if not all of them, make my day!
Today was just special because of the context of the Facebook post. The friends you’ve cherished for years…I dearly love them. I value them more each day the older I become. This individual post was special because not only have I known this person for nearly 46 years, but her Dad was a fixture in my life.
The lesson in leadership in this situation is simple. People have value! The relationships we have no matter how small are important. Those tiny connections draw us to compassion and concern and so many other things. As I grow older I realize how much I depend on the uplifting words of a friend. Or how much I think about those people that have impacted my life and made me a better person, for better or worse. In the end, each of them touched my heart and challenged me and allowed me to grow.
If you’ve read through all of this I suppose you want to know what the Facebook post had to say. After losing her dad recently she was also diagnosed with cancer. I’ve watched her grow and learn how strong she was through the entire process. Today she simply said, “I bought shampoo.” And it made my day!
Teachings BEST Practice = Influence
Published on my Tumblr in 2013
The greatest thing I learned in my 25+ years in education was that people long to be taught something new, but the teacher and the method matters. There must be a level of rapport and confidence in the teacher. Just a ask a school parent that doesn’t trust their child’s teacher completely how much learning they believe is taking place in that classroom. GO ahead ask! You’ll find that parent struggling to support the leader in the classroom and in turn, the student will mirror that struggle.
Method matters too! A talented teacher will survey the audience regularly and instead of allowing anyone to drift or fall away from the instruction, they’ll change it up. Not generally on the fly either. They plan for that moment because they’re passionate about the subject and they know the emotional and psychological maturity of their audience.
In business, leadership occasionally assumes the rapport necessary to impact people and successfully teach. It’s very rare simply because the adult learner/employee is “just there to work.” So business leaders must remember to use the same tool teachers use daily. Influence! It is everywhere in the daily operations of every business and if you don’t have influence you’re not using what you should have seen in elementary school.
Bottom line is simply that being in a position of authority doesn’t magically make you a leader in your workplace. You might even manage a great project and put all the pieces in place, but that does make you a leader. A leader knows their people, nurtures them, guides them and cares about their success. Everyone on your team knows it, believes in it, and chooses to follow you because they trust you and believe you will change their lives!
When to say "When"
Published in my Tumblr 2013
I’m forever amazed by humans. There’s good news and bad news in that statement and I promise I will try to stay on the good news side. Our very human tendency to protect ourselves at all costs, no matter if we lose our integrity, is absolutely baffling.
Today, of all days, I decided that I just needed to close my office door for the morning and get some projects started that required the “Do Not Disturb” sign. It was a productive morning. That very same productive morning turned into a rather odd afternoon in a flash. (The lesson obviously was to keep your door closed!)
Avoiding issues is not generally the best case scenario when you work with people. Sometimes you just have to recognize that people protect their own best interests. It hurts my very soul to watch people destroy themselves, along with the team that tries endlessly to support them. Over time those relationships become more and more broken and soon it is difficult to even endure the day-to-day work with that team member.
Coaching employees and leaders to know when to say when is the hardest part of leadership and it’s even harder when you confuse management and leadership. I’ve struggled to know the “when” because I believe in people and the concept of forgiveness and renewal. I’ve learned to balance the team and the individual and serve their best collective interest. Today was a day, a really good day, I knew the answer and needed to simply say…“ when".
Snow Day Miracle -- A Facebook Post
Originally Published in my Tumblr 2013
I read something on Facebook today that got me thinking. "Snow Day! Miracle"
Having spent the majority of my adult life in education and the majority of that in administration, those words caught my eye. It is the most dreary time of the year for teachers in the midwest, and other locations as well. But in the midwest, in the snow belt, it’s the middle [[MORE]]of the long run from Christmas Break to Spring Break. It’s almost like the teachers and the students feel trapped inside the building, being held prisoners of the tilt of the earth’s axis.
You’d think that it truly was a miracle when the phone rings at 4:45 AM and the phone chain starts, or the automated message drones on, or the text message chimes in… But the miracle is the renewal that occurs in the heart and mind of the teacher!
If you’re the leader of anyone, anywhere make certain you pay attention to the moment when they need a “Snow Day.” It’s researched and documented that our sense of hope is easily lost when life and work just plods on and on and on. Hope plays a huge role in our lives. Whether it’s about the weather or a small salary “bump” or an opportunity to show your dedication. Hope lives in the deepest, most amazing part of us, but it also is the most fragile and easily crushed by worry and doubt.
Not everyone gets to take a snow day off! But everyone in leadership needs to know when their team needs a break so everyone can have that very special skill that Snow White and the short guys have! "Whistle while you work"
Ups and Downs
Originally Published in my Tumblr 2011
I will never forget the day I took my very young son on Space Mountain. We sat in the very first car, in the very first seat. My son in front and me directly behind him. It was basically his first roller coaster ride…better yet for me was that it was “sort of” in the dark. If you’ve been on the ride you know, once your eyes are adjusted, you can see the dips and turns. That’s a good thing because riding on a roller coaster its always a good idea to look ahead and be prepared. He had a blast!
While amusement park rides are lots of fun emotional roller coasters are not healthy for anyone. They cause stress, increased heart rate, anger and all sorts of other things. Some companies build those emotional roller coasters right in the middle of their management structure. Others build it in relationships and others build it directly into their culture.
A sample event might be in an environment where an employee works diligently on a project as directed by a dynamic company leader, then, someone in middle management indirectly communicates to squash that dream project. Only to say, “my bad” moments later when they realize they communicated in error. If it’s done every day…or even once in a great while…people lose trust cause they can’t see the dips and turns with any sense of predictability.
A big conflict in my Outlook
Originally Published in my Tumblr 2011
I have this love/hate relationship with my Outlook. While there are counselors, self-help groups, online chat groups…wait…no no no…I’m not talking about my outlook, I’m talking about my Outlook as in I have an email problem.
It’s gotten to the point I have to say something about it out loud so I can move on and help others too! So here goes.
- Stop using your email as a tool to avoid confrontation and conflict.
- Stop using email to avoid picking up the telephone.
- Stop using email to say something to the person in the next cubicle.
Please use email to create a thread of accountability, but always follow it up with or voice or a voice and a person! Make sure you’ve solidified the relationship you intended to create before you destroy whatever even level of trust you had with the end user or your dearest friend by creating an offensive Outlook!
That’s it!
Yes…that’s it and I feel better.