Introduction
Since the first edition of this book,
my life has changed immensely and so has yours. The job I did eight years ago
no longer exists. Ubiquitous social media has all but eliminated some areas of
communication by creating alternate methods in an information overload. My
children at home are no longer children. Our children at our school are in
college or careers. We climbed over some walls and kicked other barriers to the
ground. During this exciting and tumultuous period, educators still have not
achieved the reverence or professional status we deserve.
We still need to preach that climate
and culture have a profound impact on student and teacher success. Life
involves myriad personal choices. Everyone needs to make a conscious decision that
you are going to be a positive leader by continually fine-tuning the quality of
your life through hard work. Or, sit back and wait for things to happen by
letting other people take the lead and control your destiny. Each of us was put
on earth with the ability to make a significant difference in the world around
us by accepting our roles as leaders. Unfortunately, most people choose not to,
or they do so in a negative way.
In first grade, Sister Helen Ursula
told our class that someday by the grace of God we would find our vocation. I had no idea what she was
talking about, but that conversation is something that stayed with me all of
these years. Eventually, my calling emerged as an educator. When I first walked
into a classroom, some twenty years later, I knew what she meant. My road was a
twisting path that evolved into a classroom teacher and later a middle school
principal. Education may be my vocation, but leadership is my choice. Leadership is everyone’s choice.
The opportunity to affirm the
importance of other people’s lives touches my heart, especially because of my
background. As a seven-year-old growing
up in a housing project, I watched my dad walk across the development then
hitchhike ten miles to work. My modest upbringing never factored into excuses. As
I got older, my parents’ work ethic was engraved in my memory and woven into my
character.
I worked vigorously in a variety of
jobs that enabled me to make my way to a community college. As my awareness of
the future increased, I took a risk to complete my undergraduate degree at the
University of San Francisco and become the first college graduate in my family.
Neither one of my parents graduated from high school. Education was not a
priority in my house.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I
was living some of the stories of “50
Great Things Leaders Do” that includes “Raise the Bar”, “Set Goals”, “Think
Outside the Box”, “Don’t Make Excuses”, and “Have Fun”. These concepts have been spread around the
country as our network and research continue to grow. More stories of our
success and failure have prompted this edition of the book.
Your ability and aptitude as a leader
not only depend on your mentors, colleagues, and role models, but correlate to
your preparation, commitment, and passion. Just like anything else, the level
of your success depends enormously on the amount of hard work you are willing
to put forth. If you shoot for mediocrity, you’ll get it every time. I never
woke up one day and said, “This day is going to be soooo average.” You’ll be surprised what you and the people
around you can accomplish. Make the choice to be where you want. You have choices; don’t let other people make
them for you. Every opportunity has opportunity cost.
Leadership is a choice not a position.
Neither popularity nor authority correlates into successful leadership. Resultant
leadership is about making a positive difference. The successful transfer of
leadership starts with you. Then the
people close to you feel empowered, followed by the people around them, and the
world around you. You can soar like an eagle or cluck like a chicken. The
choice is yours.
Everyone may not start out on an equal
playing field, but at some point you are in control of your destiny. You can
emerge as a leader and be your best, or you can blame other people, situations,
and your environment. One of the easiest ways to lead is by example. Leaders
choose to make the best of their situation while continually fine-tuning the
quality of life.
The compilation of “50 Great Things Leaders Do” was
compelled by people who are passionate about leadership and realize the impact
of positive climate and culture. We are “Fired Up” about the tremendous
possibilities that our children hold for the future of our world. The
experiences in this book have been a wonderful journey filled with defining
moments and life-changing events. Although we work in a school, these principles
can and should be used in all types of organizations.
“The 50 Great Things Leaders Do” offers strategies that have proven
successful. These strategies will not
only allow you to see situations through our eyes, but these tactics will enable
you to reflect on the climate and culture of your organization and help the
development of the leadership capability around YOU. At the very least, you should “Get Fired Up”
about our world’s most valuable resource: our children. They are 100% of our
future. Lead with purpose, and allow others to lead. The crux of our leadership
approach lies in creating as many leaders as possible. Opportunities for success
increase exponentially by the number of leaders you create.
Everyone has barriers, but do not
confuse barriers with excuses. Once you become complacent, you are getting in
the way of those making progress. Promise yourself you will always work on the
relationships of the people around you. Sometimes the going will be tough, but
blame yourself if you’re not successful, then act to make your situation
better.
Most of us had no idea what we wanted
to do for the rest of our lives when we were twelve let alone eighteen, but
because we were empowered, we took risks and worked hard to improve our
situations. As we became more experienced and educated, our threats became more
calculated and creative. Allow your coworkers, children, students, and friends
to do the same.
When you have dreams, you must turn
dreams to goals, and turn goals to reality.
Work hard, be successful, have fun. If you
don’t like where you are, blame yourself, or leave.
Leadership
is the same for you. You have to decide what type of leader you are. It does not matter what your job or interests
are. You must have desire to make a positive difference. You can lead your
family, organization, team, or school. People will take their cues from you if
they see and feel your passion. What do
you want those signals to be?
Balance is another important key to
leadership success. You must be balanced in all areas of your life and all
areas of your body. You need to exercise your mental, physical, social and
emotional capacities. Immerse yourself in where you are and where you want to
be.
Your hardest role as a leader will be
as a husband and parent. You want to be an advocate for your child. You want
your child to have more opportunities than you had. You want to protect your
child. I cannot give you a magic formula, but I can tell you that if you are
stressed, your child will feel it. If you send an inappropriate message to your
child about their teachers, they will feel it. If you send an inappropriate
message to your students about their parents, they will feel it.
“I promise not to believe everything your
child tells me happens at home if you promise not to believe everything your
child tells you happens at school.” -Larry Biddle
When you walk into a building: school
or any organization, how do you feel? When you walk into your building, do you
get that WOW! Factor? -that distinctive appeal? You can feel climate immediately. How do the
people feel? What’s the morale? Culture is what you can get people to do. Understand,
though, that there are cultures and subcultures in any organization, and they
are driven with different motives.
Meet the
people around our school, and you will notice certain things all of us do.
There must be a correlation to our habits and our leadership. That’s how we
came up with our list of “50 Great Things
Leaders Do” the first time then we fine-tuned it. We look at leadership
through an educational paradigm. You should too. Make every week count. Make
every day count. Make every minute count. Enjoy the book! Make the world around you a better place.
“Don’t forget to be that person you want around you.”
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