CONNECTIONS: Being Great: Choosing the Down Escalator
“If you are not successful, then I fail.”
Johnetta Wiley
The pastor began her sermon with the following question: “Why do you work so hard?” What an apt question to ask of so many educators we know around the world, who are among the hardest working people on the planet. The pastor went on to spend much of her remaining time exploring the question, suggesting that the answer for many is that they wish to become great. She then devoted the bulk of her remaining time exploring what greatness really looks like. Frankly, much of what follows is taken from her sermon along with our own thoughts on how this applies to educators and leaders.
So what is greatness, or success? Too often we hear the term, “Climbing the ladder of success.” Rather than think of greatness as ascending the ladder of success, we should, in fact, think of it as descending the ladder of service. The truly great and successful people we have encountered across the nation in hundreds of schools and thousands of classrooms epitomize this concept, consistently focusing on the latter and not worrying much about the former. Somewhat ironically, but not surprisingly, these same great people who are keenly focused on others, rather than their own success, are the ones we most often look up to as truly great. They embody the spirit suggested in Wiley’s quote above, worrying less about their own success and more about the success of those they teach and lead. Moreover, they understand that no matter how “successful” they become, they ultimately fail if they have not helped others to become great.
An overriding trait of truly great and successful people is a focus on service and serving others, not themselves. Such service is displayed through many actions and by many character traits. Servant educators share with others, they care about others, and they love what they do and with whom they serve. They create environments marked by joy and belonging and they model vulnerability. They treat others with dignity and respect and practice authentic empathy. They are present in the moment and assume the best of others. They give--without expecting anything in return. By serving in these and other ways, they often, in time, become recognized by those who know them as truly great educators yet that is never their “why” behind what they do. Their “why” is to ensure that those they are serving become great. They ascend by descending the ladder of servanthood.
“Great” is a word employed so frequently in our society that we risk rendering it meaningless. But our friend Dwight Carter took the time to define it, partly, in fact, because he, too, feared that telling others to “Be Great” held no real meaning over time. Dwight has written and spoken extensively about his model for greatness, using the following acronym to describe what it means to “Be Great”:
Be Grateful
Be Relational
Be Enthusiastic
Be Authentic
Be Teachable
Obviously, Dwight expands on each of these at some length when discussing the topic, but simply put, being grateful, relational, enthusiastic, authentic, and teachable are indeed characteristics of great educators. They are also characteristics of servant educators. Great teachers and great school leaders know that it is not about them. Instead, great teachers know it is about helping their students become great and great school administrators know it is about doing everything in their power to help their teachers become great. Rather than focus on themselves and climbing up, their laser focus is always on how they can best serve others, right here, down on the ground all around them.
So why do you work so hard? We suspect that for many of you reading this, the answer is you want to be great and you want to achieve such greatness through service to others. It seems that we throw the terms “great” and “successful” around pretty loosely in all areas of society, including in our schools. The truth is, in all likelihood, that Jim Collins is correct in suggesting we have a whole lot of really “good,” but not that many truly “great,” organizations. Those that are truly great achieve their success because they are staffed by individuals who choose the down escalator of service rather than always looking up to the next rung on the “ladder of success.” These people know that success is not about having, but about being, including being a servant educator, eschewing the climb up the ladder in favor of the journey down to servanthood. Choosing the down escalator to serve our students and each other in our schools is another way we create a positive and productive culture in our schools.
Thanks to all educators reading this for the amazing work you are doing during these challenging times. As always, Teach and Lead with Passion...
Jeff and Jimmy
DAILY INSPIRATION EDUCATOR
(Please let us know about an inspiring educator you think we should highlight in a future newsletter by completing this brief form!)
FEATURED BOOK #1
Educator Reflection Tips Volume II: Refining Our Practice by Jami Fowler-White (Twitter: @JjJj821)
The Educator Reflection Tips book series is designed to deepen the knowledge and increase the skill set of professional educators. Each book in this series includes a multitude of resources, along with probing reflection questions designed to provoke readers to think deeply about their classroom experiences, past and present, and to take specific actions aimed at refining and improving their craft which will enhance teaching and learning in our schools. After reading this book, you will begin to take charge of your own professional growth. No longer will you depend solely on the traditional method of waiting on feedback from administrators and colleagues. You will be equipped with instruments to routinely consider where you are on the self-reflection continuum and use the tools provided to take action steps for improvement. Volume II in the series takes readers on a deep dive to determine habits of effectiveness in these critical areas:
Classroom Competence
Critical Literacy
Cyber Connection
Classroom Culture
The ten reflection tips highlighted in Volume II invite readers to embark upon a journey of contemplation, heightened awareness, and action-oriented transformation. Each Reflection Tip is uniquely crafted to empower educators to think critically about key factors which influence student outcomes. Learn More Here!
FEATURED BOOK #2
Permission to be Great: Increasing Engagement In Your School by Dan Butler (Twitter: @danpbutler)
Educator burnout is threatening the well-being of our society. In addition to negatively impacting the social, emotional, and academic growth of the students we serve and the quality of our educational system overall, it also comes with financial consequences for our nation as a whole. Many 21st century educators are becoming increasingly stressed trying to meet the countless demands upon them, demands that promote burnout and jeopardize workforce retention. Emotional exhaustion, negativity, and teacher attrition have reached alarming levels, threatening quality instruction and, ultimately, student achievement. Many factors contribute to job burnout. The primary causes are mismatches between people and their work environment. These mismatches include:
Work overload;
Lack of autonomy;
Insufficient encouragement, recognition, or appreciation;
Lack of positive relationships;
Fairness; and
Value conflicts between the individual and the organization.
The greater the mismatch between each area of the school setting and the educator, the greater the risk of educator burnout. Although the negative consequences of burnout are overwhelming and very real, it does not have to be this way. With intentional approaches and relatively simple tactics, educators can extinguish burnout and increase engagement in their school settings. In Permission to be Great, Dan Butler articulates success stories, proven leadership practices, engagement enhancers, and reflective questions to lead your school or district toward positive change. This book provides practical and specific ideas for combating burnout behaviors and, instead, initiating higher levels of energy, involvement, and efficacy among educators in our schools. Now that we know the truth about burnout, it is time to embark on the path toward authentic engagement; our educators--and our students--deserve it! Learn More Here
CONNECTEDD’S TAKEAWAYS:
Thought for the Day: “To achieve great things, you need a plan and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein
Teaching Technique to Try: Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn. In a discussion based on the Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn strategy, students reflect on a topic in their journals, share their reflections in a small group, and then present their ideas to the whole class. This structured format helps students develop their discussion skills with a focus on strengthening their listening skills. This is an especially useful discussion format when your class is discussing controversial topics.. Check out this link from Facing History and Ourselves for a step-by-step process for using this technique.
Eyes On Culture: We believe that culture is a true difference maker in any classroom, school, district, or organization. As a result, we focus much of the work we do on creating and maintaining positive and productive cultures. Culture Focus: Empathy. High performing schools with strong cultures are places in which the adults practice empathy and endeavor to instill empathy within the students they serve. In a profession in which we are always busy and often stressed, it is easy to survey a situation involving others and immediately make assumptions about why something happened or why someone is acting in a certain way. But no matter how busy we may be, we must always try to see situations from the other person’s perspective. In one of our favorite classic novels, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Atticus Finch character advises his daughter, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Too often, we fail to heed this advice and simply are not intentional about seeking to understand things from another’s perspective. Whether it involves a student’s behavior, a colleague’s actions, or a parent’s communication, we may tend to consider the situation from our own perspective, thinking how we would have behaved differently. But in schools with excellent cultures, adults remind themselves to stop and reflect on the situation, seeking to understand not only their own perspective, but also considering the situation from the perspective of others.
What are some ways we can be intentional about practicing empathy? Please share your thoughts about culture via Twitter: @ConnectEDDBooks We would love to hear from you!