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August 24, 2007
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Reporter/Columnist
The old saying goes, “If you want a string to go in a straight direction, you must pull it. It can’t be pushed.” That concept is especially true when it comes to leadership values and how people perceive what they need to get done. The theme of a retreat attended by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District’s leadership team recently was “Turn up the Heat,” using the boiling point of water to demonstrate how one degree can turn water into boiling water which produces steam; then, when properly harnessed, the steam can power a locomotive.
Leadership must always model what it expects because no one can ever say, “He (or she) is a lot of talk but no action.” We tend to live our lives in ways that are transparent to most observers, whether we think they are accurate observations or not. Using the heat model, we all know the saying about being full of it – hot air, that is. We all know exactly what it means to get all steamed up over things as well.
The first week of August, the entire leadership team of the LEUSD, including four of its trustees, took part in an intense two-day training retreat that dealt with how those involved in leadership want to serve their clients, customers and communities. Whether we like it or not, children are clients or customers. Most of us recognize that education is more than just a paste-on smile and that it boils down to a lot of one-on-one hands-on interaction – but what applies to the real world and the business of business can easily be modified to work well in the classroom setting.
Children and parents are a valued commodity, obviously. Without them, there would be no need for public education. As well, teachers are a very valued commodity because without them there is no guided practice, no careful instruction and often no one who can keep order with 20 to 30 youngsters in a group for a six-hour period five days a week.
Schooling is about learning valuable lessons that keep us alive and thinking. It is about doing, it is about achieving – and it is about relationships.
Most people remember that great little book, “Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” For many, that still holds true. However, kindergarten did not teach algebraic equations or what chemical properties can explode if mixed or formed to create something new. Kindergarten does not analyze Shakespeare or Wordsworth, nor does it look at what political leaders and ideas shape the directions of modern nations.
Kindergarten is a terrific starting place for children but after 12 years of learning how to read and write, how to take tests and pass (or not), how to look at what life has to offer then, in Einstein’s words “Education is what you’re left with when you’ve forgotten everything you learned in school.”
At this retreat everyone from the top down learned a lot of valuable lessons that apply to the classroom as well as to life. We learned that humor can be shared and can lighten everyone’s day. We learned that balls thrown randomly by others may be caught, but balls thrown deliberately and carefully can always be palmed. We learned that we all have a variety of strengths and weaknesses that are bolstered by others who surround us. We learned that no matter where you go, there you are.
Perhaps that is one of the best things to keep in mind. Too many adults think “If only . . .” and fill in that blank with some notion or fantasy that is simple and shallow. Too often people use those two words to excuse actions, to plead a case or to just feel sorry for themselves when they don’t get what they think they deserve or are entitled to have.
We all learned that we are where we are because we want to serve children and help them grow up able to cope with this fast-paced multi-layered world that is filled with problems.
We want to make a substantial difference in their lives for good. We want to make a difference in their minds and how they look at life.
We invite the rest of you, wherever you are, to join in and pull our string and help us all go in that straight line. We invite you to turn up the heat.
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