November Staff Dev. Newsletter
A newsletter for the Seward Staff by Dr. Dominy
A note from Matt
Thanksgiving day will be here soon, please know that I am thankful for each of you. I am proud of you and we are blessed as a community to have you working with our students. I hope you take time over this month to think about all that you are thankful for.
Thank you
Matt
Jon Gordon- Grit
MY FORMULA FOR GRIT
Angela Duckworth, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, identifies grit as the number-one predictor and factor of success. It's not talent, title, wealth, or appearance. It's grit, the ability to work hard for a long period of time towards a goal; to persevere, overcome, and keep moving forward in the face of adversity, failure, rejection, and obstacles. Success doesn't happen overnight. Along the way a leader and team will face countless challenges and will need Grit to find a way forward! And this begs the question. If Grit is so important and individuals and teams really need Grit, then what is it? And if Grit drives us, what drives Grit? I believe Grit is: DRIVEN BY LOVE... If you don't love it, you'll never be great at it. If you don't love it, you won't work to overcome all the challenges to keep doing it. If you love what you do, you won't quit when the world says you should. You will continue to show up every day, do the work, and discover that success created by the love you have inside you. INSPIRED BY VISION AND PURPOSE... If you have a vision for what you want and you know why you want it, you will work hard and persevere in order to achieve it. Your vision and purpose are greater than your circumstances and challenges. When you know your why and you know the way you won’t let obstacles get in the way. FUELED BY OPTIMISM AND BELIEF... Research shows that when you believe in a brighter and better future you will continue to take the actions necessary to create it. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. What you believe determines what you create. If you believe it’s possible, you will continue to work to make it happen. POWERED BY FAITH AND HOPE... There will be times when your failures and challenges bring you down. There will be moments you want to give up. It's during these discouraging times that you need more than positive thinking. You need faith and hope to keep you going. Faith keeps you focused on possibilities instead of problems. Hope keeps you moving towards the future instead of living in the past. REVIVED BY RESILIENCE... When you get knocked down your resilience will move you to get back up. You will keep fighting for what you love, what you believe in, what you hope for and what you want. Even when your dream is killed a thousand times, you will keep reviving it and try one more time. KEPT ALIVE BY STUBBORNNESS... You just won't give up. When your dream is revived, your stubbornness keeps it alive. You won't let your circumstances define you. You are determined to define your circumstances. AND IF WE'RE HONEST INCLUDES SOME FEAR OF FAILURE AND DESIRE TO PROVE YOURSELF... The fear of failure I'm talking about is not a paralyzing kind of fear but a healthy dose of fear that causes you to work harder and practice and prepare more. Combine this with a desire to prove yourself that you have what it takes; that you can do it and you'll keep working to improve in order to reach your goal. All the great ones, no matter how much success they have, still have a healthy dose of fear of failure and desire to prove oneself. It's what keeps you humble and keeps you working to be great. Jon
Difficult Conversations
What to Do When You’re Challenged
In this Harvard Business Review article, leadership coach David Lancefield asks how
we should respond in situations where we’re caught off guard and put on the defensive. “Your
imposter syndrome kicks in,” he says, “making you feel vulnerable, sensitive, and less
confident in your abilities. This is magnified if you’re already feeling on edge from exhaustion,
anxiety, and stress” – which is the way a lot of people are feeling in the wake of the pandemic
and other unsettling events.
Getting angry or crying won’t help, says Lancefield. He suggests four ways to maintain
our composure, think clearly, communicate with conviction, and come out strong:
• Focus your mind after the initial shock. Strong emotions can trigger a fight/freeze/
flight response, or make us blush or look stunned. It’s important to recognize that these
reactions are normal and:
- Unobtrusively take a few deep breaths.
- Sit up straight with both feet on the floor.
- Silently name the feelings – for example, “I’m feeling annoyed (or anxious, or angry).”
- Recall how you’ve handled similar situations in the past (“I’ve got this”).
- Call to mind a “wise advocate” – your own voice or that of someone you respect – to
help steer you to a calm and thoughtful course of action.
Then focus on what the other person is thinking and why. A possible exploratory comment:
“Thank you for sharing your perspective. It’s different from how I was thinking. Can you tell
me more?”
• Don’t make assumptions. When we feel attacked, there’s a tendency to assume our
authority is being challenged, we’re being undermined, or there’s a deliberate attempt to
embarrass us in front of others. “You overgeneralize, catastrophize, and personalize it into
something bigger than it actually is,” says Lancefield. “You soon become overwhelmed.” The
key is to avoid jumping to conclusions and adopt a posture of curiosity about the matter at hand
– and the other person’s tone and body language. Maybe they’re having a bad day, or this is
their style, or they’re probing to test the quality of my thinking. What are they really saying?
What’s the basis of their position? What assumptions are they making? What is the balance
between facts and their version of the facts? How convincing is the point they’re making?
• Start a dialogue. Immediately jumping to defend your position or challenge the other
person’s logic or credibility, especially in an aggressive way, is not the best place to start. In
fact, says Lancefield, that diminishes your stature. “Consider this difficult situation a test,” he
says. “You want to show your ability to respond and engage confidently as if it was a
negotiation.” Key steps:
- Identify some common ground: “Am I right that we agree on…?”
- Call out the points of disagreement and focus on what’s getting in the way: “From our
discussion, I think we have different opinions on…”
- Explore different options, reframing the problem from other perspectives: “Imagine if
we tried this…”
“It’s important to let go of an idea that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny,” says Lancefield. “Avoid
being sentimental about your past work; it’s a sunk cost. Instead, while it may feel
uncomfortable, consider the discussion as an opportunity to develop yourself (and the matter at
hand) by applying your growth mindset.”'
• Close with confidence. “It may have been a demanding discussion,” he says, “but
you’re still in control of your thinking and emotions. Foster resilience by telling yourself that
you’re going to bounce forward to something better.” Say something like, “The questions
you’ve raised and the points you’ve made have strengthened the quality of our proposal and
shown that we have more work to do.” Express appreciation for the interchange, smile, keep
your head up, and say thank you.
“How to Stay Cool When You’re Put on the Spot” by David Lancefield in Harvard Business
Review, July 25, 2022
Reading - Article
Holidays
Nebraska Revised Statute 79-724 requires the following:
Appropriate patriotic exercises suitable to the occasion shall be held under the direction of the superintendent in every public, private, denominational, and parochial school on George Washington's birthday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Native American Heritage Day, Constitution Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, or on the day or week preceding or following such holiday, if the school is in session.
Veteran's Day is November 11th!
Thanksgiving Day is November 24th!
Native American Heritage Day is November 25th!