It has been a busy week of serving clients. For that, I am most grateful. Why? Because our clients matter and count to me and to the entire Focused Schools team. Why? Because they are heroes that serve well in spite of the challenges and obstacles that seem to be never-ending this year.
Yesterday, I was reminded that educators drive into the parking lot (or hop on to a zoom meeting – 2020 style) each and every day not because they have to, BUT because they want to. They want to because the standard why is pretty simple:
The students are counting on us.
In our training yesterday, I tried to do what all good facilitators do: lead teams through a process to ensure that what gets planned gets done. And then we did the real work. We started exploring their collective “why”.
During a typical training, we do some “whole group” work. Then, I send teams off to work in their leadership teams. They have a goal, a process to follow, and tools to help them with the task at hand. I join these teams offering customized support by adding a few thoughts, sharing an artifact, teaching a tool, giving feedback, etc. But, yesterday I just listened while jotting down two pages of brilliance as these teams grappled with the all-important question:
What’s Our Collective Why?
Here’s some of the brilliance I captured:
Because the voiceless need a voice. We are that voice.
We each have superpowers and by working together we will be better.
All students deserve to get to the finish line.
Students need to see that they matter and count and so do we.
Every kid deserves a chance.
It’s about equipping and it’s our job to do that.
Every student has potential. They are just starting off in different spots.
We have to close the gap.
Mindset is a skill. We need to help our students with that skill.
Every student needs someone that cares about them.
Students need to be celebrated.
While they didn’t end up with a “product” at the end of the “process” as I had hoped, they did end up with so much more. Did they get to their collective “why”? No, not just yet. But what they did get was clarity, vision, and a commitment to one another to rise up and come together with one collective “why” – despite challenges and obstacles.
I love what I get to do!
