Colleagues,
MVP: Leaders cannot cultivate their own presence in a noisy environment. **Happy birthday Dr. Pam Buskey – you are amazing!** Do you remember Monday’s email? Here’s the link and the essence was that I made someone’s day by acknowledging how much I appreciated their conscientiousness and commitment to a good job. What I did not say to you was that I was only able to do that because I was present. Not even present with the person as all our exchanges were via email, but just present to her consistency and the kind words she used in her emails to me. This brings me to point 2 from the pod I referenced yesterday. We cannot improve our ability to be present without having quiet time. No music, no podcasts, no news, no TV. Not even Wordl 🥺. In the quiet, we begin to be aware of our own thoughts, which allows us to shape those thoughts. Awareness of what is going on in our own heads is a prerequisite to being present. Today’s intention: Find opportunities to be quiet this weekend. Cheers! Frederick
0 Comments
Colleagues,
MVP: Surprise – research says leaders who are present have big positive impacts! Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat is one of my favorite podcasts and last week they had an episode on presence. I strongly suggest you give it a listen (link). There were two big takeaways. First, leaders who are fully present with people have a massive impact on job satisfaction and productivity. There is research backing this up. If you are a leader and you want people to be happier and more productive, the simplest most immediately impactful thing you can do is to show up! Be 100% present. Listen, ask questions and listen some more. Listen and learn. Don’t make it more complicated. Today’s intention: Are you being fully present? Keep checking after each human interaction. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: To get the best answer you need to ask the best questions Two weeks ago, I asked for feedback about taking on a sponsor for the podcast. You all were very supportive of doing it and I thank you. However, one person responded differently than anyone else. My good friend Joe Waldrum asked these questions:
Today’s intention: Just play with these questions… “If I wasn’t doing x right now, what could I be doing instead?” Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Stop searching for the Holy Grail. Honestly, I don’t know what this morning’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast is about. As I write this email, I haven’t figured it out. Over the past two weeks it feels like there are many things I haven’t figured out. Too many. Each time I go to focus on my priorities I run into a snag and wind up spending time getting things lined up rather than investing time doing something meaningful. I’m sure you can relate. The bright side is that I have many opportunities to get it right. Today is a new day full of opportunities. Tomorrow will be another new day full of opportunities. Seeking perfection is like questing for the Holy Grail - you wind up spending all your time searching for something that doesn’t exist. No offense to Monty Python fans 🤣 Be your imperfect self, give yourself grace. If you didn’t get it done today, it will likely be there tomorrow. Oh, and today’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast is awesome! Not perfect, but awesome. You can find it here. Today’s intention: Be the best you that you can be – today. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues,
MVP: Compliment somebody on something… it makes a difference. An admin at one of my clients did a stellar job seeing that I got paid - quickly. 😃 I wrote her: I appreciate how on it you have been with this. In a world where everyone is overwhelmed and always behind, your ability to be timely and pleasant is refreshing. Have a GREAT week - you deserve it. This took me sixty seconds. She replied: Thank you for the kind words! I really needed that! Emphasis added. My dear colleague, we never know when someone is papering over a rough day and putting on a good face. We don’t know if they need something – a small lift, to be seen, to feel valued. But we can get in the habit of giving these small joys to people regardless of what we don’t know. Today’s intention: Three! Find three small reasons to say something special to three different people. Cheers! Frederick |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|