3. Never Ask Anyone To Do Something
You Would Not Do
“Positive culture is synonymous with positive
leadership.”
S
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ome people have positional power, and they are great at
designation. Those people hoard the power. A high-ranking position does not
make you a leader; it makes you a person in a high-ranking position. Hey,
there’s enough leadership for everyone. Great leaders share the power through
empowerment (that’s a later point). Negative leaders always have to be the
center of attention. You choose: Servant leadership versus self-servant
leadership.
Great leaders are not afraid to get
their hands dirty. Don’t be scared to chip in. As principal of our school, I’ve
done just about every job. I have salted icy sidewalks, cleaned up dog poop,
washed cafeteria tables, and painted walls. Granted, some people insist my time
is mostly effective in other areas, but when you need something done, people
are more willing to get it done if they see you getting it done for them. The
same rings true in any organization.
My first
year as principal, I had a maintenance person tell me, “Thanks for treating us
like equals”. Are you kidding me? Thank
you for doing your job. You cannot run a school or any organization successfully
without everyone feeling connected. And
some days you need to see things the way other people see it. You need to be a
crossing guard, custodian, parent, student, teacher, aide, technologist,
principal, but most of all a leader.
I guarantee
you that if you don’t mind chipping in to get things done, the next time you
need to get something done, you will have volunteers. It should make a
difference to you, and it will make a difference to someone else. The people
that work with you will notice. In turn, they will help you out when the need
arises.
At the end
of my second year as principal, one of our staffulty (faculty and staff) gave
me a post card with a famous quote.
“Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed it’s the only thing
that ever has.” -Margaret Meade
The note on the postcard from the teacher read, “When I saw
this card it reminded me of you and the goals for our school.”
That’s the
way we approach every day. We have to. The minute we don’t think we are making
a difference, we aren’t. We must connect that one kid or that one person that
no one else can connect. So jump in!
Have you
ever worked with someone who never helped out? I know I have, and I saw the
people around them become disaffected or just give up. I have seen it work in
the opposite direction as well. I’ve seen people in positional authority
exercise their ability as a leader by doing what they needed to do to allow their organization to succeed. It promotes
teamwork and synergy.
The following is an excerpt from a former student
for a class assignment:
Everyone has that someone that made a
positive impact on their lives. Some say their parents or a family member.
However, as much as they have inspired me, I would like to go out of the box
and choose my middle school principal. Dr. Frank Rudnesky, the principal of
Belhaven Middle School inspired all the students going through the school each
and every day throughout their stay, including me. He’d always say, “Let’s get
fired up!”
It was my first day of fifth grade, the
first day of middle school. It was more than just that though. It was my
faraday with all new people. I had just moved to this new town and didn’t know
anyone. Dr. Rudnesky started a program with the fifth graders where he would
not only have our teachers, but upperclassmen as well greet us outside to get
us all excited about starting a new school. Through him doing this, I was
introduced to my new English teacher and made a few new friends. Dr. r. found a
way to introduce everyone to each other and even make some worries vanish. I’ve
become a little more open to new things since that day and although change is
not my preference, I learned it can easily be accepted. I also hope that I can
one day open other’s minds as well to new things.
One of Dr. R.’s biggest motivators was
telling us all to raise the bar. “Expect a lot from yourself or no one else
will.” Being the best we could be was in a way, expected throughout middle
school, although still a choice. If we choose to do the bare minimum then that
was your decision, but if we decided to exceed each and every
self-accomplishment then we showed ourselves that hard work really does pay
off. I saw it with my own eyes after I accomplished personal goals, from
something as simple as studying for an English test, to things at greater
levels such as winning second place at eh science fair, or graduating middle
school. Keeping that in the back of my mind has brought me far and will
continue to take me to better places.
As elementary as it sounds, one of the
lessons I’ve taken away from Dr. Rudnesky is, “If you see something on the
floor, pick it up.” when you take the time to stop and look around at the floor
in a public place, including the school, at how much stuff is on the floor, you’d
be surprised……
Most people
can’t say their principal inspired them to do much more than stay out of their
office. I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to Dr. R. There are
countless lessons that I’ve learned from him and that I know my peers have also
taken away as well. I’ve learned to be a better person through his
encouragement and strive to be all that I can be. Like he always said, “Work
hard, be successful, have fun!”, and because of him, I always will.
Things to think about:
Keep talking; someone is listening.
Everything you do matters.
Get things done. It does not matter
who gets the credit.
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