Category Archives: Intentions

“Mixed Signals” A Leadership Wreck Waiting To Happen…

09 Friday Aug 2024

Posted by in Actions, Authentic, Clear, Consistency, Effective, Emotional Temperature, Essence, Intentional, Intentions, Kindness, Leader, Leadership, Mixed Signals, Relationships, Value, Vision

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Well, here we are… another school year. Another year to help society by leading, guiding, and educating the future. Also, another year of blogs to hopefully help trigger thoughts that will make us better leaders in all of our endeavors.

So, the summer gives us much time to reflect and think, and recently, I thought of how leadership does not work with those who send/give “mixed signals.”

First, let’s define what a mixed signal is… Mixed signals in leadership occur when actions contradict words or when priorities are not consistently communicated. Leaders should align their actions with the stated values of the vision and mission and ensure an understanding of its importance within the organization. This discrepancy can lead team members to question what is truly valued, causing uncertainty and disengagement.

But, there are also mixed signals at a personal level. A growing essence of “mixed signals” is when individuals feel they are not a priority. Here’s the question, “What do you do if someone gives you mixed signals?” Here is where I rationalize an answer… There are NO mixed signals.

For me, the phrase “mixed signals” is irrelevant and has no place in leadership. It’s just a bad phrase… It’s as if someone is “hot” and then “cold,” giving you “attention” and then going “silent.” That’s not “mixed signals,” it IS the signal. Hello!

It’s very clear the signal someone else is giving you, yet you wonder… It’s evident that one who portrays this is advertising that you are not a priority for them now. So, stop calling it mixed signals and start calling it what it is and accepting the truth that you are not a priority, and that is because of their behavior of inconsistency, which ultimately can become irrelevant. Also, stop chasing them down; stop trying harder on your end. It just leads to more stress, anxiety, emotional doubt, whatever… Stop making the relationship a priority on your end because they clearly do not reciprocate.

Leadership often raises its banner as the ability to inspire, guide, and influence others toward achieving a common goal. However, a frequently overlooked aspect of effective leadership is the clarity of communication, particularly in how leaders convey priorities. Mixed signals can erode trust, create confusion, and hinder progress within a team or organization. Effective leadership requires consistent and transparent communication.

When we lead with a servant-based leadership perspective, we never have to worry about the signals we send individually. The principle of valuing others and aligning our actions to help success demonstrates that we make every effort to be clear and consistent with our “signals.” Ensuring others feel valued and prioritized enhances our effectiveness as leaders and fosters a supportive reciprocating environment.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2024 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… X @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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It’s about the one who wields it…

31 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by in Actions, Andy Griffith, Attention, Attitude, Character, Classroom Leadership, Classroom Management, Inspiration, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Servant, Unity, Useful, Value, Vision

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I saw the below tweet on Twitter the other day…
“A stone in evil hands killed Abel. A stone in righteous hands killed Goliath. It’s not about the stone; it’s about the one who wields it.”

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As I read that, I thought, “Man, this is good stuff.” And, of course, it got me thinking…

I’m sure there are numerous analogies one can use instead of stone in the hands of either, but I thought immediately about the tongue, the pen, and, ultimately, leadership.

My mom had a Rudyard Kipling quote cross-stiched in our house growing up, “Keep your words short and sweet, for you do not know the ones one day you will eat.” (many have been attributed to that quote). Yes, there have been many a person who cannot wield the tongue. I think of the Andy Griffith episode where Andy tries to catch his words back after a conversation with Ellie. He fictitiously grabs them out of the air and pretends to eat them, saying how bad they taste. The tongue with the right mindset can create a beautiful oration of eloquence. Alternatively, it will speak with a forked tongue of divisiveness, manipulating meaning to justify one’s own means.

The pen… I am fascinated with people who can write well. The nuance of language can move emotions when sentences begin to flow. No wonder, English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, stated, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” a metonymic adage indicating that the written word is more effective than violence as a means of social or political change. However, we also see the pen as a means to direct harm toward others, especially when words are written by one hiding behind a keyboard. False accusations, slander, you get the idea.

And leadership… Yes, leadership in the hands of an evil person causes more damage than can be imagined. With a me, my, mine mindset, the complete culture of an organization can be wiped away. Leadership in the hands, and I will use the word righteous, person shows servant-based, others first, a we, us, ours mindset. Edifying the body of an organization where others feel welcomed, not threatened. Where the culture reciprocates the empowerment of ownership. We have all seen and/or been part of leadership in the right or wrong hands, and we have felt the result of such.

It’s about the one who wields it… Powerful, indeed.

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Do you help your students “Seize the day?”

03 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by in Achieve, Actions, Classroom Leadership, Classroom Management, Conversations, Education, Educational Leadership, Encouragement, Expectations, Inspiration, Intentional, Intentions, Kindness, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Teachers

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“Carpe diem… Seize the day.” For the younger readers out there, this was a classic movie, Dead Poet’s Society, 1989. For us older, distinguished veterans, we should remember it well.

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There is this one scene that I like where the teacher, Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams, takes his class out to the commons on the first day of class and has them look at the former students who came before them. While there, Mr. Keating tries to awaken their spirits, per se, into making the most of the time they have. In the clip, these words are spoken by Mr. Keating, “… seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

Watch the clip here: Carpe diem… Seize the day – Dead Poet’s Society

While watching and listening to the clip, I thought about this… The other day I stopped by the bank on the way home, and the teller asked me how my day at school was. I said, “fine,” and she said, “I don’t know how ya’ll do it.” I figured she was talking about teaching… So I said, “Well, I can either focus on who they are or who they can be.” She just looked at me like I had two heads and changed the subject. I wondered if she wanted to continue the direction of the conversation, but I was not going to speak negatively about education. Sure, we have problems, but so does every other occupation. Anyway…

How does this all tie in? Well, how many times as educators do we “seize the day” to make the lives of our students extraordinary? It’s easy to focus on what walks through the classroom door, but do we ever consider what they can be when they walk out the door? Do we focus so much on the negative aspects of students that we forget that they might not become who they can be without our help? This goes for all aspects of education… Teachers and students, administrators and teachers, School leaders, etc.

While I believe Mr. Keating wanted his students to understand that, ultimately, it is up to the individual to “seize the day.” Knowing or unknowingly, at the same time, he was helping them understand that. That’s where we make the most of who our students can be. Giving them belief, giving them hope for their future, and modeling an example that says, be different for the right reason.

Oh, to help a student to feel extraordinary, to help them “seize the day.” Most might not do that on their own. Let’s help them “seize the day” by us doing the same. Our lives might just feel extraordinary if we do.

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Leadership That Can “Pass Muster” – It Is More Than An Idiom…

03 Friday Feb 2023

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Education, Educational Leadership, Expectations, Idioms, Importance, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Purpose

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This past week I heard the idiom “pass muster” three times. Before then, I could not tell you when I heard it last. But three times in one week got me thinking.

The first hearing of it this week was from Heather’s grandmother. She is 101 years old and now lives in an assistive-living center. We went to visit her this past Sunday, and when I asked her how her lunch was, she said it was good and that she finally had a meal that “passed muster.” I just laughed. The second time was listening to the radio of an interview about company CEOs stating that some employees were not “passing muster” since coming back to the office and not working from home anymore due to Covid. The third was from my friend Dr. Thane Ury in discussing apologetics in his Theology class on Creation, Science and The Problem of Pain, that he lets me jump in via Zoom to listen and glean.

So… a quick recap on the etymology of this idiom… a quick internet search will show: from pass (“to undergo successfully”) + muster (“military assemblage or review”); from 1570s, originally as pass musters. Comes from the military and means “to pass inspection.” If you join the military, you muster in and when you leave, you muster out. A muster also refers to lining up for a formal military inspection, the goal of which is to pass muster. From Old French mostrer “appear, show, reveal,” also in a military sense (10c., Modern French montrer).

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Ok… enough history, you say. Where is this going? Well, education and leadership, of course.

First, “to pass muster” … this has to be defined. What are we meaning? To look good? To act the part? To __________? Or, in the real sense, to formally pass an inspection?

Too often in leadership positions, and I include teachers here, we see the effects of those who just “go through the motions” to pass inspection. Since we all are creatures of habit, we do what comes naturally to us. By looking at the real sense of the idiom, the really good ones are so good at what they do; they actually pass inspection every day. Therefore by default, they really do not need a “formal” inspection, per se. So, when the “formal” inspection comes around, they are just who they are; really good to begin with. Good leaders lead, and good teachers teach.

However (here’s the but), do we rely on others to let us know if and when we “pass muster,” or do we live in constant denial of our true self-inspection of knowing if we do or do not? It’s easy to inspect others, but not so much ourselves. And there lies the problem of leadership… There will be many who pass the “eyeball” test and those who do not. With each case, when it happens, leadership negligence takes place. That’s something I do not want any part of. We must inspect what we expect for the right reasons and eliminate the false pretensions many lead with.

I’m glad I heard the phrase this past week. It made me self-inspect a little deeper. Maybe, this will work for you as well.

Side note… It is not “pass the mustard!”

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…