As I look back, perhaps the greatest lessons I've learned is the huge capacity we all have for GROWTH and the meaning of LEADERSHIP. In just one week, everyone had managed to come out of their shell, and we had achieved a culture where I felt everyone was passionate about what we were doing and genuinely excited to work. To be completely honest, I remember feeling uneasy about having to work with people from different grade levels, but after this week, all I can say is that it was extremely rewarding. It showed us how with time, people can change their habits and grow their mindset, and most importantly it showed us what it means to be a leader. Being a leader means admitting what everyone else finds too hard to admit at times. It means understanding that growth doesn't happen from one day to the next, and it means not telling someone how to do something, but rather guiding them and allowing them to discover it on their own.
After reading Mindset I've been able to look at so many aspects of my daily life very differently. In soccer, I decided to give a new position that I had always wanted to play a try. In my relationship with my dad, I've tried to let go of my grudges and actually go a day without fighting with him. And at school, I've begun to recognize my weaknesses--organization and time management--and see them as challenges that I can work towards improving. Nonetheless, it wasn't until the end of our iweek challenge in the IA that, like they mentioned in Mindset, I was able to believe that we all have a huge capacity for growth. At the beginning of our first Day in the IA, I was a little frustrated because I felt like all DD, Andrea, and I were doing was giving order, after order to the new students. We were so used to the process of starting a new project that we didn't stop to think that on the first day, we had established a culture very similar to the one in our IB classes, one where the students are instructed exactly what to do and how to do it. Only this time, Andrea, DD, and I were the teachers. I didn't want to be up there giving orders, I wanted to collaborate. I wanted to hear people say "I don't agree" and have them suggest a solution. I wanted us to be AUTONOMOUS and INNOVATIVE. My "aha" moment--when I went from being frustrated to looking at this as an amazing opportunity to steer the new students in the right direction--came halfway through the first day of iweek. I realized that I was doing myself or others no favor by simply giving out instructions and expecting that they'd fulfill them. If I wanted to create a culture of collaboration, honest feedback, autonomy, and innovation, I would do what we've learned to do in the IA, admit when somethings not going right. Together with DD and Drew, we talked to our group and explained how we felt the energy was dying. We told them that we wanted to work hard but in an environment where everyone was PASSIONATE . We wanted to play music as we worked. We told them that we didn't want to have to tell them what to do, we wanted to hear their opinion and see them take initiative. We told them that we wanted them to take risks. We knew it wasn't going to happen from one day to the next because change takes time and can be a bumpy journey. Nonetheless, that's exactly why this project is so empowering. It gives us the opportunity to make the new students' journey through the IA equally as CHALLENGING but just a little bit smoother than ours. Just like the new students didn't know us very well, we didn't know them very well either, therefore, giving such honest feedback on the first day was hard but definitely worth it. As soon as we had finished talking it was like someone had switched the light on. The energy was vibrant, we were working efficiently, we had the music playing and ideas were jumping all around the room. We had created the culture we were looking for, and this continued throughout the week.
As I look back, perhaps the greatest lessons I've learned is the huge capacity we all have for GROWTH and the meaning of LEADERSHIP. In just one week, everyone had managed to come out of their shell, and we had achieved a culture where I felt everyone was passionate about what we were doing and genuinely excited to work. To be completely honest, I remember feeling uneasy about having to work with people from different grade levels, but after this week, all I can say is that it was extremely rewarding. It showed us how with time, people can change their habits and grow their mindset, and most importantly it showed us what it means to be a leader. Being a leader means admitting what everyone else finds too hard to admit at times. It means understanding that growth doesn't happen from one day to the next, and it means not telling someone how to do something, but rather guiding them and allowing them to discover it on their own.
Corey Topf
8/9/2014 07:56:19 am
The three of you learned and demonstrated one of the hardest skills in leadership: knowing when to step in and when to step away. There's a fine balance, but the fact that you could feel it, act on it, and improve the working environment so quickly is impressive! Loved reading this!
Delia
8/11/2014 10:05:43 am
Gisela Comments are closed.
|
Archives
June 2015
Categories |