Colleagues,
MVP: When people put on a good face, it can be hard to know how much they are struggling Harold was wrapping up his third year and had struggled the entire time. He found the curriculum to be overwhelming, and he perpetually felt like he was barely one step ahead of the kids. Harold did have a vibrant personality and consistently wore his best face. He kept his struggles to himself. He felt like he was a fake, an imposter. By the end of that third year, he decided that teaching wasn’t for him. Although he loved the kids, he felt too often like a failure and a fraud. When he turned in his resignation, his principal was surprised. Before you go… have you ever suffered from imposter syndrome? If so… you MUST listen to yesterday’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast, in which I spoke with Tequilla Lamar on imposter syndrome. In my opinion, this episode is THE BEST WE HAVE EVER RECORDED (so far). Tequilla is a remarkable and precious human being. If you have ever felt unworthy, please listen to this show for some concrete actionable strategies to kick imposter syndrome out of your head! The stories this week are about schools, but the lessons apply to all leaders. Two weeks ago, I spoke with three teachers who are leaving the profession. While each daily message will stand on its own, there is an underlying theme which I will pull together on Friday. Today’s intention: Pay close attention to the people you work with. Listen closely. Are there any people who doubt themselves? Cheers! Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
MVP: What does it mean when we are surprised by a resignation? Athena had been teaching for seven years. Early in her career she picked up an administrative responsibility, but it never grew into anything else. Athena was interested in moving into administration but received no encouragement and little interest from her principal. In fact, in the busy environment, she rarely saw her principal. Athena felt stuck and realized that if she wanted to grow, she would have to go somewhere else. When Athena turned in her resignation, her principal was shocked. Have you ever been in either of these situations – feeling neglected and stymied, or shocked that someone you thought was happy was leaving? Today’s intention: Do you know who in your organization wants to have more of a leadership role? The stories this week are about schools, but the lessons apply to all leaders. Two weeks ago, I spoke with three teachers who are leaving the profession. While each daily message will stand on its own, there is an underlying theme which I will pull together on Friday. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Leaders are critical in retaining employees. The stories this week are about schools, but the lessons apply to all leaders. Two weeks ago, I spoke with three teachers who are leaving the profession. While each daily message will stand on its own, there is an underlying theme which I will pull together on Friday. I like to distill school leadership down to two things:
I will argue that point two holds for any organization – if leaders can help people in the organization grow, then the organization will become better. Of course, it is hard to grow people if they don’t stick around. The research on teacher retention is pretty clear that the one single greatest influence in teachers’ decisions to stay or leave is school leadership. It seems to me that this is likely to be true in any organization – the key to keeping people is leadership. This begs the question – what are you doing to keep people around? Today’s intention: Think about specific actions you take that encourage people to stay in your organization. Cheers! Frederick
But it isn’t the top priority, so I will leave it for now
Today’s intention: It can be hard to ignore things we want to do in favor of doing things we need to do. Check to see how you did on that this week. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Don’t be too stubborn and proud to ask for help. At the end of my fence project, I was struggling to attach the final section of chicken wire to keep the puppy in the yard. I was tired, grumpy, and the wire was very hard to work with. I am bad at asking for help. I think people should just offer when they see me struggling. The challenge is people don’t know when I am struggling because I never ask for help. I am too stubborn and too proud. I finally asked Collin to assist me and we completed the project quickly and easily. Today’s intention: Don’t be like me – ask for help when you need it. Cheers! Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|