This month's resources include a beautiful poem by Lana Jelenjev (HT @happystartups), an expertly produced open access series of videos from DFI’s Untold History Initiative (my favorites here), and the latest discussion paper from CCR as they continue to advance the global conversation about the necessity to develop and measure competencies in addition to knowledge.
I hope these couple of weeks before the August rush find you with some white space on your calendar and I hope you are able to carve out time to reflect on the extraordinary year you just experienced as a leader. To help your reflection, the EARCOS Journal featured the 'Leading Yourself Through Change' chapter from The Human Side of Changing Education in its Spring edition - I encourage you to map the year with the narrative arc of the Hero's Journey as described in the excerpt and to ask yourself, "What is my call to adventure in this incoming school year?".
I AM NOT PAUSING, I AM WEAVING
People judge me that I am too slow.
Too unaccomplished.
Too flighty.
Moving from one idea to another.
Or taking time to get to action.
People judge me that I am unpredictable.
That I am immersed in my own world.
In my own sense of direction.
Less driven.
Less planning.
Less on track.
People judge me that I am chaotic.
Too comfortable in emergence.
Less likely to succeed.
Too stuck in my senses
Less linear in growth.
People judge me for my decisions.
For the pivots and the changes I made.
For the potential that they saw in me
Not living up to the version they wanted to see.
Yet I traversed through life differently.
What they didn’t know was I was always in motion.
In moments that I seem stuck, unmoving, directionless,
In moments that I am choosing pathways that no one dared to go,
In moments when I chose restoration
In moments when I pause,
I was not stopping, I was weaving.
I was sensing the field of what’s to come.
I was tuning in with my inner compass.
I was finding congruence in my values,
in the expressions of my soul.
In those times I failed to meet up expectations,
I was meeting mine.
Weaving the learnings and the griefs.
Weaving the songs that fill my heart with serenity.
Weaving the people and the places that make me come alive.
In those times where I seemed immobile,
In those times where I seemed I lacked direction,
In those times where I seemed a lesser version of what you envisioned me to be,
Those were the times I am filling in my shoes.
Times where my body meets the longings of my heart and my mind.
Times where I am expanding to fullness of being.
No, I was not stuck, unmotivated, in pause.
I am weaving.