Skip to main content

Change the Narrative

Most mornings, I try to participate in #BFC530. It helps to positively set my mind. One of the tweets I caught in the stream this morning was:

The last phrase -- "Change your narrative!" stuck with me all day. It reminded me of a message I had sent my staff this week (as part of my weekly Monday Matters). In part, I wrote: 
When we make time for the face to face conversations, I think we learn more about each other and our building. I've realized, through some honest feedback, that there are still many areas of my own leadership that need improvement. When I consider what those are, they all seem to connect to more communication and more transparency. I suspect my perception of my role in this building is quite similar to your perception of your role in this building. You help kids. I help teachers help kids. There is no secret agenda. For whatever reason, administrators (all over) are still seen by some as being from the dark side....Sometimes trust can feel like this. While that is no one’s intention, it happens. It’s how we pick ourselves back up and come back together that matters most. All this talk about trust reminds me about the power of mindset.



Shortly after finishing the #BFC530 chat, I stumbled across this quote on Facebook:

"The questions you ask consistently will create either enervation or enjoyment, indignation or inspiration, misery or magic. Ask the questions that will uplift your spirit and push you along the path of human excellence" -- Tony Robbins

Throughout the day, I kept coming back to both ideas. There really is power in changing our mindset. The narrative in our head should be one full of hope and promise. We deserve nothing less of ourselves and each other. 

We teach our students to believe in themselves. We could learn a lesson or two from that same message. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about March

Our work in school leadership can often come in waves. Some days you are happily swimming to shore while other days you might feel as though it is taking all of your energy to stay above the water.  The latter is often what March feels like.  There is something about March that has always felt like a difficult month for me, at least personally, as an educator. Maybe it's the impact of a long winter, access to less sunshine, or the absence of any scheduled downtime in the month. It's also the point where we are able to look back on a school year and see how much we have accomplished but at the same turn how much there is still to do.  But, the difference is the proverbial finish line that June brings. We all know, whether we like it or not, what we planned or were even assigned to accomplish this year is now connected to an imaginary stopwatch that is counting down that time. We can see the end to the year and that can be stressful.  What about all the things still le...
Post a Comment
Read more

Growth Mindset

This will be a quick post likely full of errors and incomplete sentences. But, I feel a pressing need to get these thoughts to paper while: a) I have time  and b) I can still remember the pieces I want to connect I was given a great opportunity to work with Dr. Shawn Hunziker today. We've conducted some online book studies around Mindset by Carol Dweck. This past winter, we were invited to give a keynote to CSE Chairpersons ( BIG TIME for us) and that led to today's session with CNYSEA's Summer Institute .  On my way to the session, I was rehearsing notes (as I always do, see previous post ). At a stop sign near the venue where the conference was held, I pulled up in back of a car and noticed the neatest license plate: NEVRQT* I think that's how it was spelled. I tried to grab a picture but realized how creepy that would look and did not reshoot the blurry image I captured. When I arrived at the conference, I immediately told my partner, Sh...
18 comments
Read more

My one word: Courage

I am part of an amazing voxer group of MS Principals and Jay Posick became a recent member of that group. Talk about a man with the right mindset. Recently, he posted a link about a one word challenge and it got me thinking. I've been struggling with the idea of a "new year" and the (self-imposed) push to set some resolutions. I don't like the idea of setting resolutions. They feel too artificial for me. Maybe that's because I've failed at them before. But, what I can commit and buy into is this idea of one word . I think my word is COURAGE.  It's funny when I typed out that sentence, I couldn't get around the phrase "I think". The way I crafted that sentence speaks to why I have chosen the word courage to help guide me in this new year. I need courage to continue to take risks and nurture creative ideas. I need courage to finally do some things I have been postponing (some for just 30 years or so) and set to accomplishing them or...
3 comments
Read more