“Good thing I found you before the guards sent out the dogs,” the soldier said as he held out his hand and carefully helped me down the truck steps onto the ground. My parents shouted in unison, “Our mishap is over,” gesturing for me to walk towards them so we could finally go back to the hotel.
We made a wrong turn somewhere in Arlington National Cemetery earlier in the day, and a soldier found us wandering in the dark. As my Hello Kitty purse hung off my shoulder, I looked around and saw our 1982 Plymouth station wagon positioned in the middle of the cemetery parking lot. It was the only car left, and I quickly realized the scope of our mistake.
This moment shaped me.
When I got lost in a cemetery, it stuck with me for a long time. As an eight-year-old, I started to thrive on order rather than chaos. No longer did I want to ride roller coasters or do cannonballs off diving boards. Risk-taking made me uneasy. You might think, “What’s wrong with that?” “Who likes risk that much anyway?”
Our histories shape the relationship we have with risk.
As a new school year approaches, you will face many challenges. You will have to take risks to tackle them alone or in the company of colleagues. In my experience as a staff developer, three tools can help leaders be better risk-takers.
Tool #1: Don’t be Perfect.
We are all educators. We know what children learn matters, and we want to make sure they get the support they need from us to help them be responsible community members. Take it from me; seeking perfection is exhausting. To be the natural leader you want to be, take a moment to pause, think about what you want to accomplish, and make a step-by-step plan for carrying out a task. The research professor and author, Brené Brown, reminds us, “When perfectionism is driving, shame is always riding shotgun.” Consider her words the next time shame casts a shadow over your shoulder.
Tool #2: Embrace Stress.
Change is uncomfortable, and most people resist it. We resist change because we are uneasy about what could happen, or we fear we will not be able to deal with it. We worry we will lose something-a part of ourselves. Resistance causes enormous stress, and it gets in the way of teaching, learning, and leading.
There is a solution. When we embrace stress and learn to cope with it, it leads to change. So there we have it. We need a little pressure to change and grow.
Tool #3: Grab a nibble.
If you’ve read my other posts, you know a nibble, which is a cookie or a brownie, plays a significant role in my life, and I often give them as gifts to colleagues as a way to acknowledge that I appreciate their dedication to children. According to helpguide.org, it is helpful to control your environment to get stressful situations in check. Embarking on something risky, such as designing a new curriculum or overhauling your entire school schedule, can undoubtedly lead to stress-induced conditions. Create manageable steps and celebrate each milestone with a nibble.
Take one step to be brave. Take another step to reshape your future. Be in charge of your history.
What will you do today to be in charge of your history, leaders?
These tools are super helpful and practical and great timing as we turn the corner into a new year! Thanks Brooke! Cheers to well calculated cannon balls and roller coasters! 😉