“The way you view change-in education, technology, and life-shapes the way you lead.”
George Couros, The Innovator’s Mindset
Can there not be a more appropriate time for this quote than what we are going through right now? I read that quote around 12:30 this morning and could not stop thinking about it. I shut the lights off and laid there, trying to sleep, but my mind kept drifting towards the relevance of this quote. The way one views change truly does influence the way one leads. I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote.
It has been amazing to sit back and observe the leaders stepping forward over the past four weeks as the quarantine has drastically changed our lives. Rather than step out of the game of life so many people have stepped forward and have led. Literally minutes before I started reading Coursos’ book this evening I was skimming through Twitter and came across a tweet from one of our seniors who had encouraged her family to put together “Corona Survival” bags. Just bags full of simple treats and positive notes to help random people push through these days. Think about waking up tomorrow morning and sitting there on your front porch is a bag full of positivity. That would change anyone’s mood. That is leadership during times of change.
Even earlier in the day I came across another Tweet from our Athletic Director profiling senior athletes. Taking time throughout the day to put together these bio’s is one of those gestures that is remembered for a lifetime. This was one simple step taken to help our seniors through this difficult time. This is leadership during times of change.
At another point throughout the day I happened to find a new account on Instagram that was featuring all of our seniors individually, and celebrating their decisions for next year. Every few hours there was another picture of a senior on one side of the pic and their plans for next year on the other side. Beautiful tributes to incredible young people. Then I would hop on over to Facebook and see those same pic’s from Instagram being proudly reposted by the parents of those seniors. It was so much fun reading all of the comments as parents and grandparents bragged about their kids, and friends commented back. I’m not sure who is responsible for that Instagram site, but that’s “behind the scenes” leadership during this time of change.
I had a conversation earlier this week with two teachers who are trying to put together care packages for the homeless in a neighboring city. Their reason? Because they are “blessed and want to be Lights during this time.” We have teachers who are making TikToks daily to connect with their students and their students’ families, despite how uncomfortable that might be for them. We have teachers who are a few years away from retirement embracing a whole new methodology of teaching and technology, not because they have to but because they view this change as a means of loving and leading. There are teachers recruiting outside speakers and recording their stories during Google Meet sessions to simply keep their students interested and involved. We have alumni proudly supporting their alma mater and sharing, encouraging, and making themselves available. We have coaches holding team meetings on a regular basis simply to stay connected. We have art teachers challenging our young artists to create and display their masterpieces on social media. We had an entire Middle School staff that came together and paraded all around our town, cars decorated, and their music blaring, all in an effort to connect with our kids. And those kids LOVED it. That’s leadership. That’s embracing change, and that is leading in the midst of this storm.
This is simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to examples of students, teachers, administrators, and community members leading during this time of extreme change. Everywhere I look I see people putting others before themselves. People are stepping up to help others in ways unimaginable-donating food, giving money, handing out meals, paying rent for others, and on and on and on.
These times are tough. Quarantined life is difficult. But throughout these past weeks resilient leaders, young and old, have embraced this change and they have led. Lives have been transformed, and some lives have been saved. Why? Because of their leadership during these times of change.
I am thankful to be a witness to these changes, and I am thankful to observe these leaders. Yeah, quarantined life stinks, and it will end soon, but out of all of this I have seen how we can rise up and influence each other. We can change, and that change can be good, it can be powerful, and it can be transformative.
Keep changing, and keep leading. Maybe now that I got my thoughts down on “paper” I can sleep, a little. I can go to bed thinking about all the good that is going on, and all the good that will continue when we all awaken from this chapter in our lives.
Good night.
Everyday The First Day 