Colleagues,
MVP: When something goes wrong, making sure the person is okay changes the conversation. Are you okay? Imagine knowing you have messed up, that you are “in trouble” and are about to get called out by your boss. You sit down, and the words out of the boss’ mouth are…. “Are you okay?” Maybe it goes like this…. “I know you care deeply about your work, but this project is way behind. Before we talk about what to do, I want to make sure – are you okay?” Sounds like these two people are on the same team. In today’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast, assistant principal Jamie Brown takes me though a conversation with a student who is in trouble, in a way that disrupts the antagonistic relationship. You can listen here. Cheers! Frederick
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Colleagues,
MVP: If all leaders in your organization (including you) were more present, how would that impact things? Last week, three of the five daily messages related to presence. Does that mean 60% of leadership is about presence? I began to type that question in jest, but now I’m wondering if the joke is on me. Or us. One of my great frustrations is watching organizations drive big change initiatives to “improve” things when the fundamentals aren’t even in place. We have alternatively credentialed teachers who can’t manage a classroom taking hours of training on the science of reading and zero hours learning to positively manage students. Maybe presence is the same thing. Maybe it is the foundation on which other things need to be built. Have you had a leader who never listened to you? Have you been that leader, maybe on a bad day? What if all of our leaders were fully present, asked meaningful questions, and listened to the answers. If that was the only change, how would it impact your organization? Today’s intention: Sometimes I worry that I am becoming untethered – I would love some feedback on today’s message. You can email me here. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Leaders cannot cultivate their own presence in a noisy environment. **Happy birthday Dr. Pam Buskey – you are amazing!** Do you remember Monday’s email? Here’s the link and the essence was that I made someone’s day by acknowledging how much I appreciated their conscientiousness and commitment to a good job. What I did not say to you was that I was only able to do that because I was present. Not even present with the person as all our exchanges were via email, but just present to her consistency and the kind words she used in her emails to me. This brings me to point 2 from the pod I referenced yesterday. We cannot improve our ability to be present without having quiet time. No music, no podcasts, no news, no TV. Not even Wordl 🥺. In the quiet, we begin to be aware of our own thoughts, which allows us to shape those thoughts. Awareness of what is going on in our own heads is a prerequisite to being present. Today’s intention: Find opportunities to be quiet this weekend. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Surprise – research says leaders who are present have big positive impacts! Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat is one of my favorite podcasts and last week they had an episode on presence. I strongly suggest you give it a listen (link). There were two big takeaways. First, leaders who are fully present with people have a massive impact on job satisfaction and productivity. There is research backing this up. If you are a leader and you want people to be happier and more productive, the simplest most immediately impactful thing you can do is to show up! Be 100% present. Listen, ask questions and listen some more. Listen and learn. Don’t make it more complicated. Today’s intention: Are you being fully present? Keep checking after each human interaction. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: To get the best answer you need to ask the best questions Two weeks ago, I asked for feedback about taking on a sponsor for the podcast. You all were very supportive of doing it and I thank you. However, one person responded differently than anyone else. My good friend Joe Waldrum asked these questions:
Today’s intention: Just play with these questions… “If I wasn’t doing x right now, what could I be doing instead?” Cheers! Frederick |
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