“Becoming a great leader demands
tremendous self-awareness.” – Jeff Jordan, former president of PayPal
At the end of
each school year, I always ask my staff for things I should keeping doing, stop
doing and start doing. This is a great
way to get actionable feedback so I can grow in my own leadership. One theme that came across in the “Start
Doing” section was to “Slow down.” This made me laugh, as I am very aware of my
own mind going 100 mph. When I walk down
the halls, I know my mind is always thinking about my upcoming meeting,
students I need to connect with, and the hundreds of other things that face a
principal. What I was not aware of was
how apparent this was to those around me.
Hearing this from my teachers was a great wake-up call to do things
differently.
Over the summer,
I was looking back through my twitter account to reread some of the tweets I
have retweeted or favorited throughout the past year. In my busy life (as described above), I know
I often see something on twitter that has meaning, but don’t always have the
time to go back to it right away. I came
across a tweet from a colleague about “Happy People Do Differently.” You can find the article at this link: http://goo.gl/0mz3AN. The abbreviated of the 10
things happy people do are:
1. Happy people
find balance in their lives.
2. Happy people
abide by the golden rule.
3. Happy people
don’t sweat the small stuff.
4. Happy
people take responsibility for their actions.
5. Happy people
surround themselves with other happy people.
6. Happy
people are honest with themselves and others.
7. Happy
people show signs of happiness.
8. Happy
people are passionate.
9. Happy
people see challenges as opportunities.
10. Happy
people live in the present.
I read this
article again and instantly made the connection to the feedback my staff had
given me about slowing down. I saw the
connection about finding balance in my life when I am at school and living in
the present. What I believe my staff
(and often my own family) was saying is to slow down and live in the
present! Even though I believed I was
doing a fantastic job of multi-tasking in my professional life, I realize now I
wasn’t always fully present. During the
summer, I knew I needed to focus on this…but how?
In my district,
we are fortunate to have Debbie McFalone provide our administrative group with
ongoing professional development. In our
August leadership session, Debbie told us about the book, The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and
School by Valerie Brown and Kirsten Olson.
I felt it was like Debbie was reading my mind…this is the book I
needed. I knew I wanted to be more
present, but I honestly had no idea how to change. For me, I could not simply flip the switch
and instantly become a more present leader.
I needed something to get me there!
Once the book
came in, I started reading and seeing the connections to the stories of
educational leaders in book. I am
remember the feeling of exhaustion that one principal spoke about…the constant
running around and feeling like there was always so much to do and not enough
time to accomplish it. I started to
think about how this year would be an opportunity to become more self-aware, to
practice a sense of mindfulness that gave every teacher and student a “present”
leader. The first thing I did was to
share out my thinking of my professional goal with my staff. Here is what I wrote to them:
My Goals: I
think it is important to share out my own professional goals for the year.
During the course of my first two years, my focus was on getting to know
the CW culture, learning the dynamics of the principalship, and creating
systems of communication for both staff and families. I will continue my
own growth in these areas; however, I am going to focus on more on this year at
being a more mindful leader. I am excited, as I have ordered the book,
The Mindful School Leader: Practices
to Transform Your Leadership and School. In hearing feedback from
all of you in last year’s survey, I feel a focus on mindfulness will
help be a more “present” leader.
During the start
of this school year, I have taken actionable steps that have supported my goal
of being more present. Here are some
suggestions that have already started to help me be a more present principal:
1. Create a workspace that supports the
goal of being present. In my office, I redesigned my space to
allow for a separate workspace and a separate collaborative space. I removed portions of my desk to create an
open space between both areas to signal a connection to those who come into my
office. I created a collaborative space
away from my desk, which requires me to physically stand and move to this area
to meet with teachers, students, and families.
This physical act of moving helps to reinforce being present as I
“leave” my work back at my desk in order to have my mind present for those in
my office.
2. Practice S.T.O.P. One
of the first things I learned from my book was the importance of recognizing
what is happening in the present moment; I have begun practicing a technique
they describe with the acronym S.T.O.P. (pg. 36).
·
Stop.
·
Take
a breath.
·
Observe,
acknowledge, and allow what’s here.
·
Proceed
and be present.
3. Download an App. The beauty of technology is that even though
it can be a cause for us not to be present, it can also serve as tool to
support mindfulness. There are lots of
apps out there to help practice meditation and guided breathing. I have started to “emotionally” check in when
I get to school every day through my app.
Also, there are lots of guided meditations that have helped foster self-awareness
on being present throughout the day.
I encourage all
of us to take some time each day to think about how we can be more of a present…I
know it is already paying dividends for me!
