Getting Behind
I don’t think there’s a worse feeling in the world than getting behind. In education, it’s an experience that I have often. Marking, planning, reports, oh my. The deadlines are furious and all consuming. Plus, you need to keep track of your own, teach the students how to keep track of theirs, and make sure […]
Ready to Shift
No matter how tight your planning, how deep your desire, sometimes in creative work you just have to be ready to shift. It’s not that you didn’t try, or that you didn’t have a great ideal; it’s just time and the universe pulling you in a different direction. Most of the time, this kind of […]
Exhaustion
Exhaustion is more than just feeling tired, it is an overwhelming emotional and moral fatigue that permeates every facet of your life. You don’t fight exhaustion, you either succumb to it or you work on healing it. Anyone trying to give you the advice just to shrug it off doesn’t know what they are talking […]
Details Matter
As a leader the big picture is important. You cannot get distracted by the minutiae of day-to-day operations. That’s where your leadership and guidance come into play, reminding your employees of the goal, and keeping them focused on it. And while you have to become adept at letting go, you cannot forget that details matter. […]
Politics and Leadership
Politics and leadership go together like pasta and sauce. You cannot have one without the other. It’s fantastic when our leaders are chosen purely on merit, but that is rarely the case. Those who lead usually have political acumen above that of us mere mortals. And honestly, I do not begrudge them that. Leadership and […]
Lead From the Side
There are so many analogies about leadership and space already. ‘Lead from the front’ tends to mean you are out doing the same work as the employees. ‘Lead from the back’ tends to mean that you operate like general, making plans. There are benefits and drawbacks to both; a better option for most is to […]
Why Take Charge
You are filled with great ideas, fantastic work ethic, people are constantly asking you opinion and questions. You are a leader in everything but name, so why take charge? Why would you step out in front and take on those extra responsibilities, knowing about all the challenging work that is to come? The answer to […]
Defining Your Process
Quick, buy my course on creating your very own, sales-driven process that’s guaranteed to make you millions! Or -actually- don’t. I would never begrudge anyone their hustle, but if someone ever tries to sell you certified success, you are just funding theirs. Defining your process, making it your own, is how you move forward. If […]
Disappointment
It’s difficult not to take things personally, especially in our professional lives. And while I would love to live under some measure of hakuna matata, that isn’t the case. Whether it’s ideas that are rejected, or lessons that are ignored, disappointment can be a difficult emotion to wrangle. The upside, if you didn’t feel it, […]
A Bad Day
Yesterday I hit a wall. Bad. Just a full-on emotional stop. Everything was going wrong. I felt like a failure on every level of my personal and professional life. My health issues, only getting worse. Pedagogy in the classroom, diminishing rapidly. My writing goals completely unfulfilled. This was a bad day. I won’t shy away […]