Lead with your Values

If you live in an underground bunker, you probably have not yet heard about the religious liberty law passed by the Indiana legislature and signed by Gov. Mike Pence.  Essentially, a business could refuse service to any person that practices a lifestyle that is contrary to the business owner’s religious beliefs.  Gov. Pence stood by the enacting of this law despite its controversy and did all the press appearances affirming that this is what the people of Indiana wanted.  A short time later he asked law makers to revise the bill for “clarification” purposes.  The fact is that Indiana did not want this.  The law began to urge business leaders to take action but more importantly it did not match the values of the people in the state or across the nation.

This is a problem with elected leaders.  In their pursuit to secure voting blocks, they drive an agenda to that group of people while they ignore the common good and the values of the whole.  This story line is more common in politics than anywhere else.  It’s a shame that a person that is fortunate enough to get elected by the public does not use that gift to represent the whole.  People in my profession don’t always have much choice in the matter.  School administrators work with what they have and rarely have the ability, or gift, to directly reshape the community that they serve.  Many times radical changes to a school building are met with sharp opposition.

I learned very early on from very wise people that you have to lead with your values.  I work in a school district that is nearly 70% free and reduced lunch population.  This has been a positive for my leadership style.  I work well with the disadvantaged youth because I was a disadvantaged youth.  Leading with my values is easy because I’m just like many of them.  A vast majority of educators come from middle class backgrounds and they find it difficult to have a clear vision of how these kids are raised and how they can best reach them.  Some dismiss the effort all together.

As a former poor kid working with poor kids I have gathered my leadership values into a short list of my everyday practices.  Maybe it will help some lead the kids they serve.

1       Relationships matter!  The teachers I responded for as a kid were those that treated me like I was just like them.  No better, no worse.  We were there for the same purpose, not a power struggle.

2       Give second chances.  You will get burned on this one occasionally but it reinforces your relationships with kids.  You have to show that you are willing to invest in them.

3       Punish with logic and kindness.  When assigning a consequence for a negative action they have to know how much responsibility is theirs given the situation and how they could have prevented the predicament they were in.  Always be sure to tell them what they did right and praise them for it.  Poor kids often only live for moments and never see down the road.  This is a teachable moment.

4       Smile.  Everyone likes to see this.

5       If you know something about a kid, share it with your teachers.  This will help them make better connections with at-risk kids.

I know this is not some big fancy research driven set of guidelines but it has worked for me.  These are values I have either grown up with or learned working with kids.  As it turns out, it’s relevant for all of my students not just the at-risk ones.  Imagine that, something that works for everyone and not just a few.  Maybe our elected leaders should look at their own values and discover how they can serve all of their constituents.