my version of transparent, collaborative leadership...with a Teamann twist

Have you been appreciative today? A reminder and help…

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It’s the little things…

  • a teacher completing lesson plans for her partner who was in an accident.
  • a thank you note for a “stress free” testing season.
  • a gift card to your favorite daily drink stop from a team that loves you.
  • an acknowledgement of your strengths from someone who notices.
  • a parent who says “good job”.
  • a vox from friends who miss you, who make you laugh.
  • a friend you can trust.
  • a student who says they love you.
  • a facebook comment that reminds you that someone is invested in YOU.
  • a student who ducks and smiles when he sees you.
  • an administrator who respects you.
  • a bright and cheery good morning.

Sometimes its the little things that we forget to appreciate from others. What if it was YOUR little thing that made someone smile? What if that was the only smile they had that day? What if the only acknowledgment of their efforts, or just being, came from you?

From staff to students, there are people fighting struggles…home struggles, parent struggles, wellness struggles. Maybe their marriage is failing, maybe their child is sick…you just never know.

Never miss an opportunity to be someone’s little thing.

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And yet it can be the little things that make a day tolerable enough to think you can do it all over again tomorrow.

Are there people who you could do a “little thing” for? Let me help you with these happy notes, 🙂

 

 

little thing grateful,

Amber

Expecting vs extending grace…

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cop

Have you ever been pulled over? This may surprise you, cough cough, but my driving style is a lot like the way I talk…and write. Fast and furious, always trying to get somewhere. Last weekend, with an unexpected afternoon of sunshine, I was out running errands, and inadvertently didn’t pay enough attention to a new posted neighborhood speed. My first immediate thought was, “Ohhhhhhh, MT is going to kill me!’ The second was, “Ohhhhhhh, please don’t give me a ticket! Just a warning, just a warning!”

Luckily, I did just get a warning that day. As I was driving away, I thought how ironic it was that as administrator, working with both adults and students, I am a big rules/policies girl. I like to know the parameters of an environment/situation and think that they are in place for a reason. I’m quick to want accountability and feel that individuals should be held responsible.

But when I get pulled over, my first instinct is to want grace. I want to explain, to rationalize, to make sure you understand the circumstances.

I was so much more cognizant of my speed this week. I was appreciative of the chance to do better. I was respectful of the officer’s power of a punitive action, but that he chose to give me the benefit of a learning experience. Had I gotten a ticket, would I have reflected on it so objectively? Or would I have been bitter and resentful? Been annoyed as I watched others fly by, getting away with their hurried pace, while I sat as the “one who got caught”… been focused on more of the consequence, than the actions that I had done to get myself there?

I don’t know for sure.

 

It was a very poignant reminder that as a leader, 

I have the opportunity to give grace, and that more can actually be accomplished by doing so.

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Reminded,

Amber

Show some #teacherappreciation with these happy notes!

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happynotesI have posted before about how much I enjoy a happy note….so I made up a few more that may fit into your world!

As an educator, I can tell you that I LOVE receiving little notes of appreciation from my administrators and students every once in a while. Who doesn’t like to be told that s/he is doing something right and that work is not going unnoticed? Being an adult, let alone a child, can be really tough, so a little message to tell a person that s/he is an important part of your day can go a long way!

Need another reason? Writing thank-you notes can carry a more selfish incentive, studies find. When people list the things they’re grateful for, their overall mood improves and their depressive symptoms subside. You feel more at ease, less stressed, and more mindful of the things that make you happy — which, after writing the thank-you notes, can itself be added to the list.

To get my free 8 note set, simply subscribe to this blog via email!  (There’s a  link on the top right!) You won’t miss a post and I will email you the free .pdf that makes writing your notes that much easier! If you already subscribe, look for it in your (e)mailbox this week!

 

Make someone else day…and see if it doesn’t just make yours instead!

Amber

Lead…like a dog?

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First, please note that this post is 100% based on zero facts. I have no scientific research that would support these claims, except that I taught used to teach science. It should also be noted…I don’t like cats. 🙂

There are many leadership styles. While watching my black lab run this weekend, I was reminded of a brief roommate I had in college who could never understand why I couldn’t stand her cat. We just never meshed, he and I. (the cat.) I feel like he KNEW that too, and took advantage of my annoyance with him, to show up on my room, or ergh, in my closet. Maybe that is where my true dislike began. Which leadership style can you most relate too?

dog leader

Don’t be aloof, be a people person.

Cats will turn their tail to you, and walk away. Dogs will lick your face. Enough said. 

Don’t be too independent, be a team player!

Cats are fiercely independent. They are picky about who they will snuggle and social with. They are often invisible during the day, seeming only to appear in the evening, especially if that is when they are fed. Dogs will sniff up up to anyone. They want to play, they just need a willing participant. 

Be the boss who plays too. Remind people why they should work so hard for you.

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Dogs are companionable, they hang out, they like to be with you, they like your company, whereas cats like it for as long as they want it, and then they’re off.

It’s not about you, it’s about what’s happening around you. 

Cats are notoriously nosy (um, hello curiosity!). They want to be the center of attention, make everything about them, and  know everything that is going on around them. Dogs? They just want to be out & about. Or chasing a squirrel. Or a ball. Or swimming in a pond. Or digging up a garden. Or rolling around in the grass.

Leaders need to be above making themselves the hub of everything that happens.

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 Dogs travel in packs! Surround yourself with an inspirational, supportive, creative team. Student success should be your goal, not winning a popularity cat test, I mean, contest.

 

Be more dog, people. Be more dog.

 

I like my new goal…to lead like a dog. Can you think of any other leadership parallels?

 

woof-ly,

Amber

Success shouldn’t be the goal.

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Sarah Lewis, the first keynote at ASCD this year, was simply incredible. She shared many, many stories that resonated with me on failure and why our perspectives needed to shift on this thought. The main one is the thought that there is a difference between success and mastery. She talked of archers…archers aren’t shooting for success. They don’t hit the target once and quit. They work until they are to a point of mastery…where they hit that target over and over again. We should strive for MASTERY with our students. Success one day on one test does nothing. But mastery…which would look like a love of learning, or a true understanding of a concept, THAT is what we should want to see from our students.

Mastery transcends grade levels and test scores. It is a LIFE trait.

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 I LOVED her point that the mountain climber that reaches the top of the mountain can look over and see another mountain to climb. His journey is never complete…you can’t climb ALL the mountains. She related it back to that the smartest people in the world KNOW how little they know. How mind blowing is that?

Fringe benefits of failure….you have a rock bottom to build on.

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This also connects to Angela Watson’s “Truth for Teachers” that I listed to too this week. She talks about the need to let go of searching for the elusive search for perfection. Be ok staying in beta. Put out the most viable product that can get the job done, instead of stressing yourself (or your family!) trying to be perfect in every way. Enjoy that you can always tweak or define as you go along, with support from yours students. Be ok staying in beta.

I ordered Sarah’s book, “The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery”after talking to her backstage. She was as down to earth and eloquent there as she was up in front of us all. She paused before she spoke, each word carefully constructed to articulate the exactness of what she was trying to convey. I know that I wanted MORE of what she was sharing. Her book is excellent.

My favorite passage is a story from Sara Blakely, the entrepreneur who developed Spanx, valued at one billion dollars in 2011. Each night at dinner when growing up her father would ask, “What did you fail at today?” Those conversations helped recondition what she thought and how she felt about failure. Failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt.

Let’s encourage our peers, our teaches, our students to be deliberate amateurs. You never know what you will find out or be able to answer.

Failure pushN,

Amber