Category Archives: Humility

The Call of Teaching: A Crisis in Need

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Attitude, Character, Crisis, Desire, Humility

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First and foremost, we need good teachers.  Yes, believe it or not, there is a crisis in education.  One, there are not enough teachers in our schools, and there are not enough people wanting to be in education.  Two, and yes this will sound harsh, there are not enough teachers in schools who view education as a crisis in need.

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To view something like a crisis, one must feel it in their heart and deep down in their soul. At some point, we all stand at a crossroad and have to decide how we feel about an issue.  When this happens, we must step out and understand that teachers who have their heart in the right place towards education can only help the crisis.

Teaching should be like anything else you love; it should capture your heart. When someone captures your heart, you carry yourself a little differently.  I would dare say; you certainly would not want to let the person down you love and would do anything to stay in good standing with them.  The same should go with why and how we teach.

This crisis we see should tear our hearts, and the gravitational pull should be like the sun; everything revolves around the students, wanting them to see and understand that education is their ticket to the future. The “want” to teach becomes a heavy burden that can only be answered from inside the heart. Many teachers teach, but how many really “want” to teach?

I am proud to be an educator, are you?  How many teachers do you know that when asking what they do, downplay teaching? Too many people walk away from teaching instead of walking towards teaching.

The call to teach is confronted with the overwhelming sense of a desire, a gift, the right character, and a “want” to see the crisis that is at hand… and a little humility goes a long way that grips your soul to the point that it encounters the need to teach.  Each of these we have discussed over the past three weeks and today.

Be the teacher you want to be.  Be the teacher you want your children to have.  Be the teacher you are called to be.  Education will be better for it.  The call to teach is powerful; embrace it.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

The Call of Teaching: A Gift

17 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Gift, Giving, Heart, Humility, Leader, Leadership, Teachers

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“The gift to teach is special and requires giving of yourself to help others help themselves.” – Teresa Duke

Simple point… The person who wants to do the work and teach recognizes teaching as a gift. It is not an “or” statement. The gift is the ability to want to do both.

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Everything we do as teachers connect to the world positively or negatively in education. Great teachers have a gift equipped with some supernatural ability to open up a student’s mind by imparting knowledge to help better society.

The gift to teach can be carried out in many different areas. It may be carried out in the classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, ball fields, etc. It can even be carried out outside the educational setting. In whatever capacity, the gift you have as a teacher involves imparting that gift of knowledge to others.

Recognizing you have a gift to teach, sets you apart. I believe that great teachers sense a call to teach and those who do, have that gift. Having the gift to teach sends a powerful message to students and other educators as well. It causes something to stir in the hearts and minds of others; it intensifies the gift even that much more. Realizing that you have this extraordinary gift to teach, solidifies your value as an educator. This is why it is important to exercise your gift of teaching. It makes you have an inner drive to dig deep within yourself and exhaust all efforts to change a person’s life.

Giving and receiving a gift is a novel concept. If you have a gift, usually it is for someone else, and you want to give it to someone you know who will appreciate it. If this is the case and as an educator, why not give your gift of teaching to others. Odds are, there will be someone divinely appointed in your path, which it is intended for, and will more than likely appreciate it very much.

This is the gift of teaching. Do you have it?

Next week we will talk about Character…

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

Is Your Leadership Useful?

20 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Attitude, Choice, Communication, Decisions, Expectations, Humility, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Opportunity, Purpose, Servant, Useful

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Walking through a store the other day, I saw something and thought, “I need that.” Then I thought, “Need that for what?, Would I use it?” And then, the inner struggle started and wore me out mentally. I was trying to justify something that I thought I needed, and it would be useful, but how often would I use it. It made me start thinking about “stuff” that I have, and the notion of its usefulness. Then I thought, “There has to be a hidden meaning behind this and probably a good leadership blog to go along.” And… Here we are…

If you are in a leadership role, you lead; sounds about right. But, do you lead in a useful manner? Are you making the most of every opportunity available to you and for others? The better question might be, “Do others see your leadership as being useful?”

The very first item we must talk about is “What does it mean for something to be useful?” A few thoughts come to mind; something with a purpose, something that can be used over and over for good. It should be something that you are not ashamed of using.

Now the opposite question is also true, “What does it mean for something to be useless?” Take the opposite of every statement above, and you have your answer.

Be-useful

Photo Credit: sportstvratings.com

What does it mean for your leadership to be useful?

  • It means that you set your leadership apart from the world’s definition of leadership.
  • It means that you are intentional about your leadership being for good purposes.
  • It means that your leadership is prepared to lead for the right reasons.

With leadership today, there are many “hypes” being promoted. What we must do is have a discerning mind to help us weed out the bad leadership that comes in many different forms and fashions; more exact, the useless leadership.

We must have a useful leadership mentality. The usefulness that goes against the norm and allows others to have a stake in the leadership game while finding usefulness in the leadership that we provide.

Be useful in your leadership.  Everyone around you will be better for it.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

The Heart Of The Matter… Your Words

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Choice, Communication, Heart, Humility, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Servant, Trust

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“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.” Dan Rockwell of Leadership Freak

This I believe… You can never separate who you are with what you say you believe in. This is a powerful statement of leadership. We are walking “billboards” of our belief system; not only in leadership but all areas of life. What are people “seeing” and “hearing” from us?

The central question today for this post is, “Do the words of your heart matter?” If you answer “no,” then please check your leadership at the door and quit “trying” to be a leader. If you answer “I’m not sure,” please keep reading. If you answer “yes,” then you are where you need to be and know your words do matter (but please do not be satisfied).

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Photo Credit: dreamstime.com

There is no mistaking, what a person is inwardly, their mouth will sooner or later reveal outwardly. That is why our words matter and they are at the heart of our leadership.

Please understand, we are not speaking of areas where rightful anger exists. We are talking about areas where one’s speech is crude, rude, evil, hateful, manipulative, etc. You get the picture… When people speak like this, it reveals their heart. Our hearts carry so much. It is a large holding compartment of your character.

Our heart is the ultimate revealer of who we actually are. More often than not, it can also represent the people we surround ourselves with the most. If you can be “labeled” by who you “hang out” with, what would your label represent?

That is why one of my goals is to find and be with like-minded, kindred-spirited people. Our lives are too short, and our leadership is too important to be seen as uncharacteristic of quality.

Our mouths express our hearts. Like it or not, it is what it is. We will try to justify and explain our thoughts to the point of no end, only to make ourselves look good or feel superior. There are not any excuses that can undo this.

Do the words of our heart matter? You bet they do and everyone listening to you can tell. Be the leader others need. Be the leader others need to hear. Have good qualities in your heart. When you do, your mouth will reveal each one. You and everyone around you will be better for it.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page