Lollipop Leadership

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to share my vision of "Lollipop Leadership" with the faculty and staff of St. John Vianney High School.  The idea of lollipop leadership is NOT my own, but was conceived after watching a TedTalk by Drew Dudley.

What motivated me to share lollipop leadership with the faculty and staff is still uncertain. Perhaps I've finally matured as an adult (unlikely), maybe having been a high school administrator for five years has shaped and changed my perspective on schools (more likely), or maybe this video spoke to me on a personal level, because I have often been the recipient of lollipop leadership.

As I watched Drew's TEdTalk it spoke to me. How many times in my life had someone saw something special in me?  How many times did a teacher, a parent, a friend, challenge me to do better, push me to achieve more, or demonstrate an unwarranted confidence in me?  A confidence I didn't even have in myself?

Reflecting on my high school and college years, and taking an honest look at my initial teaching and administrative career a harsh reality presented itself.  At my BEST I was (and remain) an average person.  I do not posses a high degree of intelligence.  Skills in athletics and the arts are lacking in comparison to my peers or completely nonexistent.  I have no silver bullets for school reform, curriculum design or parental involvement.

And despite my shortcomings, here I am.  The principal of one of the finest Catholic high schools in the country. The leader of a school that has been recognized as a Top 50 Catholic High School by the Cardinal Newman Society for Academic Excellence.  A school that became only the 10th school in the country to be named a Model School by the Gurian Institute.  Each year I've been blessed to work with some of the greatest educators in the country and motivate them to be part of Vianney's mission of developing young men for spiritual, academic, and personal excellence in the Catholic, Marianist tradition.  At 29 years old when most people wouldn't dream of applying for a princiaplship at an established, high-performing school, I applied, and was selected to lead a remarkable school community. Two years later the faculty and staff of SCHS earned recognition as a  Top 50 Catholic High School! Along the way we held magnificent school carnivals, "Danced with the Stars," and collaboratively moved a school, from "Good to Great."

How is this possible? What was the "tipping point"?  In my examination of conscience it wasn't "one moment" but a lifetime of moments.  And it wasn't ONE person, but a lifetime of people who have shaped and developed the person I am.  Most of these people were NOT leaders by title, but lead by actions and their unfailing belief in me.

As educators across the state of Missouri struggle with budgetary constraints, political legislation, obstacles with school transfers, and the traditional day-to-day responsibilities of educating America's future, I wonder how many of them realize how critical they are in the lives of their students.  Can the third grade teacher in Ava, Missouri and the AP Chemistry teacher at Zumwalt even begin to comprehend the opportunity they have each and every day to transform lives?  Do they fully grasp that the influential transformation they are a part of has little to do with Common Core Standards,  ACT Benchmarks, and Curriculum Maps?

Will we all pause this year and seize the opportunities to develop students holistically?  To know them on a human-level? Will we max out each opportunity to expand a student's confidence level and self-esteem?  Will EVERY student in our schools know that they have not ONE, but MANY adults who believe in their growth, believe in their potential, and are willing to blindly trust and tirelessly work to help develop them in to the person they are meant to become in life? How magical would our schools be and what great leaps in student achievement would occur if educators across the state made a conscience effort to have a lollipop moment EVERY day?

How will you demonstrate lollipop leadership this year?
Will YOU make a difference in the life of a student today?