The Cardinal Way
Sharing the Stories of Southport High School
Leading and Learning: NO GUARANTEES
Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different actions or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.
--Norman Vincent Peale
As I continue to wrap up this year-long journey of writing about leading with L.E.S.S., there one thing I would be remiss if I did not include when we consider Loving people first, Equipping people for success, standing alongside people in Service, and taking care of Self.
While I wholeheartedly believe in the structure and ideas I have laid out of the past year, you must understand this -- there are no guarantees. There are no guarantees that what I have described will fix any problems you are facing in your classroom, school, or life. This is a mindset shift about leadership, not a program to be implemented. But, I can assure you of one thing -- if you are not willing to put in the work described in these writings you will have a hard time truly leading and will be hard-pressed to find a solution to the problems you are facing in leadership. Action is the only pathway to creating the classroom, school, or life you want to live and lead.
Performance is rooted in preparation. If your preparation is rooted in fantasy, your performance may also need to be imagined. If preparation is rooted in observed facts and understandings of past performance, preparation will lead to an enhanced performance reality. You have to find topics or people to study that will help you improve the emotional intelligence needed to lead in our complicated world. Preparation is vital. Before you can act, you must understand, but you still have to go out and perform. Lack of preparation can never be your excuse for inaction or poor performance. You must take calculated risks and push to the edge of your understandings. This will often create mistakes, but mistakes create feedback that you can then study again, take action, gather feedback, and begin again. This is how you get better; this is how you build skill, by taking chances and pushing toward greatness.
The best leaders seem to make their work seem effortless. Yet, it is anything but that. It is dirty, hard work in preparation and in performance. The best leaders have spent countless hours building the skills to get what they want from their life, school, and/or classroom. It takes intentional, skillful effort. You have to build skills to accomplish what you desire. You have to go do the work to build the skill; knowing mistakes are learning opportunities. Inaction keeps you stuck, you may stay comfortable, but you cannot improve or support others improvement if you do nothing. You have to go out and actively love people, equip them for success, stand alongside them in service, and take care of yourself.
What is your plan for success? Do you have a specific, intentional plan to build the skills you need to achieve what you want? If you don't have a plan, all you have is hopes and wants.
There are only four ways to change: do more of something, do less of something, start something, or stop something. Whatever that something is, start now. Pick up a new habit, drop a bad one, make a tweak in your work, or refine a process to be more efficient. It is my hope that you have discovered something through this past year of posts that can help you make a change for the better. You can use lessons from the Leading with L.E.S.S. framework to create a plan for developing the skills you need to be successful as a leader. While I cannot guarantee your success, I can guarantee that the work will not be easy; but you have to take action to create change. Decide what you want and create a plan to go get it.
Keep learning, keep growing, keep sharing!
What it takes to #BeACardinal:
- our music department for another great week of music concerts.
- our custodial staff for the extra help in running all of the end of the semester programs for our students and the elementary schools that we host during the holiday season.
- Kim Roberts and Jackie Richardson for supporting our elementary music programs as they have performed in the auditorium a few evenings this week.
Grateful Friday Challenge
Week 18 Grateful Friday Challenge
This is it!! We did it!! CONGRATULATIONS!! Tis’ Friday... the last Friday of the semester...the last Friday with students this DECADE!!! We are about to tuck 2019 in and end a great semester with our students and each other. Doesn’t it make you want to sing? Yep, me too...at the top of my lungs. But, what song should I sing? I mean there are just so many great songs during this time of year.
We all have a holiday jam that is our go-to shower song, or one that we can rock out to in the car. Today for the #SHSGFC let’s build a Winter Wonderland Playlist. Let’s share our favorite song(s) and our memories associated with it. Do you have a good story about why I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is your favorite? Is there a song that always brings you to tears when it comes on? Well let’s hear it, and then let’s hear it!
Use It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Part Deux to share your favorite holiday song and its best Youtube video link. Let’s mute the Pandora for a minute and let’s roll some youtube videos MTV style while we “rock the day away”!
Waiting patiently to tune in…
With banners flying as we go! #FlyAsONE
Be a Cardinal; Change lives; Put a mission into motion!
180 Days of Learning -- #CardsLearn
Kelly Nickson
Nathan Fishel
Mr. Cissell and Mr. Duncan
Mr. Duncan and Mr. Cissell led a group of AP Chemistry 2 and AP Biology 2 students to Corteva Agrisciences. The students learned about the inner workings of an active research and development site. Thank you to Dr. Brian Loy, Ph.D. and his team for spending the day with our students.
Christine Posadas
Kim Roberts
Educational Humor
Southport High School
Email: bknight@perryschools.org
Website: http://perryschools.org/sh/
Location: 971 E Banta Rd, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: 317-789-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SHSCardinals/
Twitter: @SHS_Cardinals