The other week, I was listening to a church message, where the pastor referred to spinning plates. You know, holding a stick and spinning a plate on the top. He talked about the fact that once we get one spinning, we add another, and another and another and at some point...they all fall down. This idea reminded me of one of my favorite activities that I have done for site and district admin (the hopes were for them to go back and try it with staff). I mentioned the activity in the #leadlap chat a few weeks ago and it sparked me sitting down and writing this process out. Hopefully someone will take the idea and give it a try (or some version of it). I believe that I adapted the idea from activities I participated in with Brad Gustafson and Joe Sanfelippo when they worked with my former district admin. I have done this activity as part of a session called "Culture Matters" I start by telling the participants that I forgot to grab paper for the activity and all that the PD coordinator could find were paper plates. I pass out the paper plates and ask the participants to put their name on one side and write the word JOB on the top. I then ask them to parter up with someone that they don't know very well (we all love that one, right :)). After they decide who is partner A and partner B, I give them the directions. Here goes: 1) Exchange plates 2) Partner A has 2 minutes to run down a "task list" of a typical work day. Partner B is the scribe. Only partner A does the talking. Partner A will give a rough estimate on how much of the day each task takes. Partner B will record that by the size of print relative to the time of task. The tasks that take up more time, will be written larger and the tasks that take up less time will be written smaller. 3) They switch roles for two minutes. 4) The plates are then returned to their owners. 5) Each person will look through their task list and circle the one that takes up the most time. 6) I then lead them by saying: "Repeat after me: I (state your name) entered into education to (fill in the blank with the circled item). And here is where the fun begins. I love to listen to and see the reactions of the participants. I then just sit quiet because what happens, organically, is they start talking to each other - I just listen in. These conversations have offered great reflection. Some people have an "Oh my gosh" moment- "I didn't get into this business to write kids up!". Others justify their answer-those have been my favorite reflections because they are trying to line up the dots of the task and their "why". "Well, I sure didn't get into eduction to make family phone calls. BUT, I did get into education to change kids lives. A big part of that IS school family communication. So I guess, yeah- It is true." Or a revelation "Wow. I got into this because I wanted to spend time with kids. I can't remember the last time I left my office." ALL of these are fantastic. And the best part is that none of it is predictable. And I have rarely heard the same thing twice. I then open the discussion up to the whole group and it is just amazing to witness. In the next step, we talk about the concept of Job vs. Work. I first heard of this in Seth Godin's book Linchpin. The quote is my take on it... I have the participants turn over their plates and write "Work" on the top. I then give them 2 minutes to write down the reasons that they entered into education. Again, this organically leads into collaborative discussions on how either they ARE doing the "work" that they set out to do OR how the "job" that they are doing- somewhat aligns to their "work" OR they realize that they may have veered off of their "work" and might need to recalculate their route. I then share my quote about "WHY" and show Daniel Pink's video "What's Your Sentence". I also give them a link to my blog post "Walking Your Why" if they are interested in diving more into this concept. I then move into the next activity- "Finding Your Why". This is one of my favorite activities and I have changed if over the years and have done it with many different groups, including students. I have them do use the things that they wrote on the "Work" side of the plate to create their "Six Word Memoir" of their "Why". This is a sentence or statement that is six words- no more no less. The reason I put contraints on it is that it really forces you to reflect and be concise with your words. Once they have come up with their "Six Word Memoir" I ask them to circle the ONE word that will be their "WHY". They then, again- talk and reflect. The activity can stop here, but I like to take it one step further. I want them to create an artifact that they can refer back to. Side note: I created this activity in my first class in my admin credential program. I was supposed to be "reporting" on Daniel Pink's book Drive. Well, at the time, I didn't have the time to read the whole book, so I did what all great students to- I googled it and found a video. What I stumbled on was the "What's Your Sentence" video. I turned my "book report" presentation into this "Why" activity for my classmates. At the time, mine was "One who inspires and encourages others". At that time- I just had them write it on a sentences strip. That sentence strip hung on my desk for 4 years and believe me- it was my anchor when going when tough. When I would ask myself "Why am I doing this? Why am I in this position? Why should I keep going when I hear all of the chatter? Why should I keep fighting?". Throughout my time in that position, it was really cool to walk through teachers classrooms and see their "Six Word Memoir/#oneword" artifacts hanging up. To see how they adapted it for their students. One principal had her WHOLE school do this activity- teacher and students (Thank you to Shanna Sarris and the Apollo High School Staff!) And it was cool to walk by my director's office and see hers hanging up as well. Ok- back to the activity. It doesn't matter what is created- as long as there is some reminder of the "why". I have had groups simply write it on paper with a marker to making a google slide or Adobe Spark with their "six word memoir", their "#oneword" and an image to go with it. And then I have them share it. Because as we know with students, when we share it to a larger audience, it means more. So there you have it. The "plate" activity in a nutshell. Oh yeah- why the plates? At some point during the conversations of "Job vs. Work"- I have them hold up their plates and we take a look at ALL they have on their plates and discuss how to balance or connect (get it- OOH I should have them spin them!) the "job" and the "work".
My call to action: You don't have to go through this whole process to tether back to your "WHY". But take some time to reflect on your why and how you are going to walk it.- This is a great time- before the new school year. And just keep walking that "Why"!
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This morning, my friend Tony Sinanis (Co-author of Hacking Leadership) asked via facebook and Twitter (paraphrased) "What three words resonate with you when you think of leadership." And I felt compelled to write. I used to be a "leadership nerd" in that I LOVED to read, talk, present, learn about all things "leadership". But it wasn't until I watched Tony's video that I realized the I had lost that in the last year. I really hadn't thought about leadership or myself in terms of being a leader, in a long time. And that is the first piece I would like to speak to. I have written many times "we are all leaders in our own right". But when push came to shove and I hit a bump, I didn't believe it for myself. I let my circumstances dictate how I felt about myself and who I believed myself to be. No more. Now that I have come out the other end, I believe my above statement now more than ever. In the last year, I witnessed my students, my own children, colleagues and friends - rise as leaders. These leadership roles were not given to them, there were no titles that opened up the doors for them. These roles were created, earned and maintained by these individuals. End of sentence. Maybe they filled a gap, a need. Maybe they followed their passions. All of them took risks and it has been amazing to watch. So whether you are a leader in your classroom, your site, your family, your church, your club, your friend group- YOU ARE A LEADER. How do I know? Regardless of whether you are aware or not, someone (maybe many someones) are watching and learning from you. YOU have a spark, YOU have something to share, YOU have the capacity to give. YOU are a leader. Ok, now back to Tony's "Three Word Challenge". This honestly was not a challenge to me as my three words came out instantly. Why? Because these words are who I try to be- 100 % of the time. These words are what I look for in those who lead me. These are the words I try to instill in those in which I lead. These are the words that I can see in others, very quickly. And here they are. Leadership in three words: Empathy, Integrity and Passion. Empathy: I have heard this word A LOT over the past few years. It is one of those words that may be coined a "buzz word" in education these days. But to me, it is everything. Empathy and sympathy can easily get confused. To me, empathy is the ability to see things from other perspectives and try to understand what others may be feeling. I read something interesting lately to the effect of this: It is impossible to be able to actually feel what someone else is feeling because we are not that person, going through that exact thing at that exact time. But what we CAN do is honor what someone else is feeling and understand the emotion by attaching it to a time when we felt that same emotion. For example, someone may be feeling devastated over losing their home. Although I have never lost my home, the way that they did, I have felt devastated over something. Empathy is understanding the emotion. Well how does this look in terms of leadership? You can not be a leader, if you look around and there is no one to lead. It is the people that surround you that matter. As a leader, one of our jobs is to know our people and grow our people. This can only happen if we honor our people. When we listen to a circle of viewpoints and everyone has a voice at the table. When we try to understand the felling behind it them. This is not always easy, but this is important. Integrity: To me, this one is a make it or break it word. Integrity is doing what you say and saying what you do. The quickest way to lose someone's trust- is to break it. People can quickly and easily see through the "Emperor's New Clothes" and that is not something that is easy to bounce back from. Basically, it is "walking the talk". Now I realize that in my first paragraph, I just spilled that I did NOT walk the talk in my definition of a leader, last year. I also believe that humility is part of integrity. Perfection is fiction, so let's not pretend it isn't. But when we stumble, we don't ignore it. We acknowledge it, we learn from it and I have seen the best leaders- publicly share both.
My call to action is this: Take some time to think about who you lead. Who is looking toward you for learning and guidance? What do they see? What do you want them to see? Come up with your three words and then go out and live them.
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Mother, Teacher, Administrator, Presenter, GCE Level 1 & 2, Encourager of others.
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February 2023
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