When we gathered as a full staff in September, I emphasized the
importance of being intentional about sharing stories of the great work we see
going on all around us every day--work being done by our colleagues both at
Heartland AEA and in the schools we serve. It's been over six weeks since the
All-Staff meeting and with the days getting shorter, it seems an appropriate
time to not only remind us all to tell our stories, but to remember why these
stories are so important as well.
The first reason sharing good things about colleagues is so
important is because our colleagues deserve our recognition. Simply put, we take
each other for granted far too often. After calling on almost all of our school
districts (I will call on the last four this week) and sitting in on the
majority of planning council and work team meetings throughout our agency, I
can tell you without reservation that our Heartland AEA team is engaging in
powerful work every day. Our work isn't always exciting, but it is vitally important to
children and families, and it isn't being done by anyone else. Over time, we all
become desensitized to these facts because we are distracted by our own
whirlwinds of the day-to-day, but we need to step back on occasion and reflect
on what it is we appreciate about our co-workers and their special
contributions, not only to our own work, but to our society as a whole. Our
colleagues are making a difference, and they are doing powerful and great
things all around us every day. Let's give them the appreciation and
celebration they deserve.
Another reason we need to share our stories is that it is the right
thing to do for children and public education in general. In 35 years in public
education, I have never seen such vitriolic criticism leveled at public
education, much of it waged by people who stand to benefit from a public lack
of confidence in our education system. You may not see it in your daily work,
but I can assure you there are people across our state and nation who are vey
intentional in sharing negative stories about our education system, most of
them frankly untrue. Such intentional negativity is not going away. There
is too much at stake. This campaign of negativity is intentional and organized,
and the only way to effectively challenge it is through the consistent sharing
of good things that are happening in our schools every day. It would be nice if
we could leave this part to our lobbyists and public relations specialists, but
we simply can't. All of us have to share in the responsibility of creating a
positive perception about public education.
George Couros, the well-known educational writer and speaker, says
it best when he says, "We need to make the positive so loud that the
negative becomes almost impossible to hear." The negative isn't going
away, and all of us have an opportunity to raise the volume on the positive because
we witness it every day. We just have to remember to take notice and have the
courage to share our good news. No amount of formal legislative advocacy can
compensate for positive, unsolicited stories from people who really understand
the work of education. We can impact the public's confidence in our schools and
AEAs one conversation, one testimonial, one story at a time.
Finally, and most importantly, sharing our appreciation and
positive stories with others is the right thing to do because it is good for
us. When
we are intentional about recognizing and celebrating goodness in others, it
keeps our focus outward and people who live with an external focus more than an
internal one are simply happier. I know it's not easy when we are each engaged
in our own set of difficult daily challenges, but the secret to empowerment and
happiness in the workplace isn't found by focusing on those challenges. It's
found by focusing outward and looking for opportunities to build up others.
Multiple studies show that gratitude really is the secret to happiness. If each of us would make
the commitment to share just one positive piece of recognition a week with a
colleague and then tell someone outside the Agency about it, we could begin a
groundswell of positivity. It will be good for a colleague who deserves your
appreciation, it will be good for education as a whole and it will be good for
us.
Thanks for all you do,
Jon Sheldahl
Chief Administrator
