Colleagues,
MVP: If you value supporting and growing people, then choose actions that are in alignment with that value. Last week the assistant principals I am taking through our journey from urgent to strategic were working through the three epiphanies:
This is the opposite of what I did last week when I chose fence building over planting seeds. She checked her values, aligned her priorities, and chose to invest in people instead of spending on email. Today’s intention: Today, make a good choice. When faced with people or tasks, choose people. It will be a great way to end the week. Cheers! Frederick
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Colleagues,
MVP: Our decisions reflect our values I chose to jump into a big project building fence instead of first investing time to plant out our spring seeds. As a result, we will not have many fresh greens in May. Why did I make that choice? Honestly, I’m not sure. I felt pressure with the long list of projects and thought it was something I could check off my list. The thing is, planting seeds takes a couple hours, not days (or weeks). Also, I value fresh greens from our garden, but I chose instead to put time into something else. There are two reasons we make poor choices about what gets done and what doesn’t:
If I say I value fresh greens, how does it make any sense to choose building a fence before planting seeds? This for me is the hardest epiphany, because when I make poor choices, I must reflect deeply on understanding them. Today’s intention: If you’ve left something critical undone this week, think about what you did instead, and what values were behind the decision. Or were you just in urgent mode? Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Trust takes time, but it feels like we don’t have enough time. There is so much to do and so little time! For us to get things done, it feels like we need to be multitasking all the time. We need to hurry! “We have to know that trust takes time. Trust does not happen overnight.” These are the words of Craig Randall, whose interview we concluded on yesterday’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast. So how do you build trust when you don’t have time? Today’s intention: Think about the actions you can take that help build trust. Listen to the podcast if you need some ideas. Think about how to prioritize these actions amidst everything else there is to do, but first ask yourself: if we don’t have trust, what do we have? Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: We choose what does and does not get done Most of my time in the garden has gone into building a fence to keep Collin’s puppy contained in the yard. It is slow work because I have never built a fence before and I am a perfectionist. The time I have invested into the fence has come at the expense of planting seeds, which I should have done three weeks ago. In retrospect it was a poor choice of priorities, especially given that we have re-seeded the backyard and aren’t letting the pup back there. So, I am building a fence to keep in a puppy that won’t be in there for another month or so. This is what happens when we have an overwhelming list of things to do. I felt the urgent need for a fence, so I jumped into it, without really thinking about what I was giving up. And yet, the beauty in have too much to do is that we get to choose what gets done and what doesn’t get done! That’s the second epiphany. Knowing that we choose can be scary because, as in my case, I must own the bad decision. We won’t have enough lettuce in May because I didn’t plant it early enough, because I poured my time into the fence. That’s on me. It isn’t about time; it is about priorities. Today’s intention: Are you aware of the choices you make regarding what to do and what not to do? Think about what didn’t get done yesterday – did you decide, or did it happen by default? Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: There is not enough time to do everything! I love spring because I can get back into our yard. And yet… The to-do list is never-ending:
We live on 1.5 acres and there is no way that I can keep up with all of it. This is the first epiphany – there is not enough time to do everything! Today’s intention: Think back on last week to what was left undone. Reflect on what would have needed to happen for you to complete all your tasks? Cheers! Frederick |
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