26. Be Where You Want To Be
“If you don’t like where you are, do something about it.”
-Rudnesky
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t’s easy to complain. Ask anyone that complains. What isn’t
easy is doing something positive about your complaint. Sometimes the place
where you want to be is the place where you are, but you let negative people
control your destiny. Every time a new idea comes along, they shoot it down.
My story growing up is like most
educators. I worked jobs I did not necessarily like to make the money I needed
to survive and go to college. And like many educators, I have worked in schools
where I felt underappreciated, but I maintained my intrinsic motivation. And
wherever you work and play, you have probably been in a place where you felt
appreciated and a place where you were not appreciated.
Finally, with the help of everyone at
Belhaven Middle School, we did something to keep
our organization fine-tuned in a positive direction. We discovered this amazing
leadership process called Renaissance that we molded to fit the needs of our
school.
The
following is an excerpt from Elizabeth, a sixth grade social studies teacher.
“I am a middle
school teacher of 25 years. I reached a
low point in my career about 10 years ago when the curriculum I was teaching
was eliminated from the district’s plan.
I felt unappreciated, and that my contributions to the students I taught
was not important. Unfortunately, I internalized these feelings and started to
believe that I was unimportant, and I had nothing to offer to the profession I
so dearly loved. I was ready to leave my
career prematurely. I was not proud of being a teacher anymore.
Why
did I stay? What keeps me inspired and connected to the world of teaching,
learning, and leadership? Fortunately
for me and my co-workers an amazing leader brought an amazing program to our
school……..
This history is important to the story because now our
school’s climate is completely different. We brought the nationally known
recognition and reward process called Renaissance to our administration,
staffulty, students, and parents. The
program includes everyone and recognizes individuals on many different levels.
It has created a culture where “everyone wants to be”.
The Renaissance process has changed my
life professionally and personally. I
have a renewed sense of self worth. I feel appreciated for the things I
contribute to the school and students.
Renaissance has created the “team” approach and the abundance mentality
to our school and community. I feel our
staff is more productive, happier and has more fun. We are inspired and more creative because we
feel better about ourselves and what we do.
We feel respected.”
Everyone should feel appreciated, and
everyone should be reminded of their importance frequently. If you don’t feel
appreciated, create an environment that does appreciate everyone connected to
your organization! Make no mistake about it. No matter what you do, some people
will find a complaint. Those people missed the bus. Try to get them on board
the next day but do not let them interrupt your mission. Move forward by
accepting your responsibility as a leader.
