In case you missed it, a new podcast episode dropped on Saturday! It is all about coaching. This one is perfect for assistant principals as well as principals, instructional coaches, and anyone involved with helping teachers improve their craft. Some of the content applies to coaching people outside of the education field, but all the examples are from the P-12 world. You can find the podcast on your favorite listening app by clicking here. Colleagues,
For the past two years I have been writing a Thought for the week that I added to a weekly check-in email that I sent to my clients. Recently, I’ve just added it to the signature at the bottom of every email. So, if five messages a week isn’t enough for you, you can get one more by responding to one of the daily emails so that I will write you back (hint, hint). This week’s thought of the week inspired today’s post. I’ve started doing CrossFit again after an 18-month absence. My most important CrossFit goal is to stay injury free. CrossFit helps with a lot of the pain I have from 50+ years of living an active life, but CrossFit itself can also be a problem, especially when my form is bad. As I start back, my technique is way more important than my effort. If I am intentional about my technique, the strength and endurance will come. In contrast, if I focus on strength and maximum effort, my technique is likely to suffer and I am more likely to get injured. I have slowly come to the realization, that in most things, effort is not nearly as important as intention. This week:
And do it all intentionally. Cheers! Frederick
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Colleagues,
I have a white board in my office that I use to track objects, scribble ideas on, and write messages to myself. Last week, I scrawled in multiple colors “have fun!” I love my work, and I get to spend a lot of time with great people. Sometimes however, I get into a rut of grinding stuff out. I just forget to have fun and to love what I’m doing. Admittedly, this is not a fun time (pandemic, inequality, climate, politics…), and having fun does not change the workload or influence the external forces. Nevertheless, reminding myself to find joy in the things that I love doing can improve my day. It isn’t life changing, but it is an incremental improvement. Think about one thing you will be doing today that you enjoy doing, and intentionally have fun with it. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
Yesterday I shared with you this quote from an inspiring leader: “I think you have to be a human being… especially in this time… you have to be able to offer a healing space…” There is nothing I can write that will top that, so I will ask you a few questions to try and wring even more value out of this golden statement:
I am asking these questions as much for my benefit as for yours I have faced traumas this past year. I am exhausted. I am a bit afraid of what comes next. I’m not afraid to confess these things because so many people I care about are saying the same things. Right now, we need leaders who can create a healing space. I’m going to try and be better about doing that. What about you? Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
I’ve been conducting interviews for a rural leadership project here in Western North Carolina (WNC) and had a conversation last week with a remarkable leader. My first question to him was “What do you think are the most critical skills you have as a leader?” His answer… “I think you have to be a human being… especially in this time… you have to be able to offer a healing space…” Tomorrow, I’ll ask you some follow-up questions, but for now, just sit with what he said. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
Last week I was conducting a training with a group of amazing assistant principals and one of them shared an example of how she applied leverage to improve life. She was developing a collection of instructional resources and began the project with her traditional approach of making it 100% complete, nicely formatted, and perfect in every way. However, life happened and the project was taking too long to finish. She found the courage to share the collection as a minimally viable product (MVP). Although it wasn’t up to her normal standard, people applauded that it was available. And then something really awesome happened… her colleagues began to add to the collection and helped curate and organize it. It can take courage to put things out there in an unpolished state, but look at what happened:
I had not really considered how an MVP invited collaboration and could create something that was owned by the team instead of just one individual. Now I know. Now we all know! Cheers! Frederick |
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