One year ago, everything changed. Originally we thought the abrupt stop would last two weeks. Such naivete.
Like all of you, we’ve learned a lot over these past 365 days. The list of lessons learned has been extensive. Here are five of those lessons that we think might help you.
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Leadership Matters: And it matters, not just a little, but a lot. What we do and say matters. How we respond to the good and the bad matters. How we lead with flexibility, yet structure, matters. You – our leaders – matter a lot. Don’t forget to look back and see how far you’ve led your team. Celebrate the small victories!
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Self-care Matters: We get it. The to-do list is long. The demands are daunting. The pressure has never been greater. But, you matter more than all of that. Take care of you. As we like to call it on our team, make time for “lights out”. For us, that means turning off the computer, putting away the to-do list, and focusing on what brings you joy. And not just once in a while. Every single day!
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More Is Not Always Better: In fact, we are convinced it’s rarely ever better. We’ve learned this past year the value, importance, and benefit of keeping the main thing, the main thing. Hold on to your main thing and keep moving the work forward. You may not be able to move as easily or as swiftly as you did in the past. The way we see it, that’s okay. As long as we are moving forward, we are moving in the right direction.
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Kindness Matters: In a world that appears to be divided, kindness matters. In kindergarten, we teach our students to “hold hands and stick together” (thanks for that, Robert Fulgham). I wonder what would happen if we all paused and reminded ourselves of some of those “life lessons” that we learned in kindergarten? A smile, an encouraging word, or an outstretched hand can go a long way.
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Our Students Matter: As a company, we’ve spent a lot of time this past year thinking about our “why”. At the end of the day, pandemic or no pandemic, we believe that our students matter – every single one of them. And on behalf of all the students that you serve, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you for all that you have done this past year to serve your students well.
To us, you have been, and always will be heroes!
