|
Colleagues,
MVP: Stop searching for the Holy Grail. Honestly, I don’t know what this morning’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast is about. As I write this email, I haven’t figured it out. Over the past two weeks it feels like there are many things I haven’t figured out. Too many. Each time I go to focus on my priorities I run into a snag and wind up spending time getting things lined up rather than investing time doing something meaningful. I’m sure you can relate. The bright side is that I have many opportunities to get it right. Today is a new day full of opportunities. Tomorrow will be another new day full of opportunities. Seeking perfection is like questing for the Holy Grail - you wind up spending all your time searching for something that doesn’t exist. No offense to Monty Python fans 🤣 Be your imperfect self, give yourself grace. If you didn’t get it done today, it will likely be there tomorrow. Oh, and today’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast is awesome! Not perfect, but awesome. You can find it here. Today’s intention: Be the best you that you can be – today. Cheers! Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
MVP: Compliment somebody on something… it makes a difference. An admin at one of my clients did a stellar job seeing that I got paid - quickly. 😃 I wrote her: I appreciate how on it you have been with this. In a world where everyone is overwhelmed and always behind, your ability to be timely and pleasant is refreshing. Have a GREAT week - you deserve it. This took me sixty seconds. She replied: Thank you for the kind words! I really needed that! Emphasis added. My dear colleague, we never know when someone is papering over a rough day and putting on a good face. We don’t know if they need something – a small lift, to be seen, to feel valued. But we can get in the habit of giving these small joys to people regardless of what we don’t know. Today’s intention: Three! Find three small reasons to say something special to three different people. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: It’s a short message so just read it 😉 The only “why” that matters is your own “why.” This probably isn’t a true statement. But without knowing your “why”, do the other “whys” matter? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I am going to think about it today. It’s Friday, a good day for reflection. What will you reflect on? Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: With trust and a clear goal, three heads really are better than one. Yesterday I shared how my friends Wes and Drew helped me replace some sagging beams on my patio. Wes teaches engineering and Drew teaches English at Western Carolina University. And I am a leadership guy. We each approach things differently, which turned out to be a huge benefit replacing the beams. It was a challenge to get rid of old rotten wood, keep the vine upright, and get 14’ logs into place simultaneously. We did a lot of brainstorming and it was so fun to watch how one person’s idea would get adjusted through a brief discussion. There was no ownership, no defensiveness or pushback. We were three people who trusted each other and just wanted to get a job done – safely. In the best teams I have worked with, this is what it has been like. Does a good team begin with trust or with “the mission” or something else? I’m not sure, but I know when a team works it is something joyful and special. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: When things deteriorate over time, it can be hard to recognize when they are close to failure. Pam and I have a rustic patio in our backyard made of locust trunks and covered with a wisteria vine. It has been up for tenish years and some of the logs supporting the vine over the top of the patio had deteriorated to the point they needed to be replaced. Last weekend, my friends Wes and Drew came over to help me redo the top timbers. It turned out to be a bit more involved than what I thought it would be, but that’s tomorrow’s message. When we were finished, I was amazed at the difference. The patio felt so much more open. The vine sat almost two feet higher than it had been before we replaced the beams. I realized the vine had been sagging badly for several years, but because it happened over time I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten. Things happen that way. They gradually worsen over time. Sometimes we don’t realize it until it is too late. Today’s intention: Take stock – is there a vine ready to cave in? Cheers! Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2025
|
RSS Feed