Category Archives: Relationships

The Need for Student-led Leadership…

22 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by in Communication, Importance, Influence, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Opportunity, Presence, Relationships, Students, Teachers, Useful, Value

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This past Wednesday was our school’s monthly FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) Huddle meeting. As I sat in the back of the room with some other coaches, I realized we have a great group of students. Not just in FCA but all around in our school, belonging to other clubs, or just attending school. Yes, we have some great students.

However, what I realized sitting back, watching and listening, is the value of leadership and the opportunity these students have to be leaders in our school. So… that brings me to the thought of the need for student-led leadership in our schools…

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I believe there is somewhat of a direct correlation between the culture the school wants and the one that the student body embraces. One question that might have to be asked is how to get students to “buy-in” the culture school leaders want.

For this to happen, I believe it is essential for students to experience leadership opportunities that put them in positions to actually lead. Whatever, wherever, whenever that is, it must be an opportunity where the platform establishes quality leadership that coincides with the vision and the mission of the school.

When students are given the opportunity to lead, more relationships can be fostered. Our students are the best customers to sell the product of leadership that we want as educational leaders. They will reach far more than a single teacher ever can. If we want positive leadership to be a mainstay, our students are the best communicators, translators of our message. They are the ones who can “carry out” the leadership wants and needs of the school.

Just like quality adult leaders, students who communicate and lead effectively can be found to have many of the same traits; honesty, responsible, serving, open-mindedness, etc. But… they need examples, and we have to make sure we are doing and showing what we expect.

Having students who lead in our schools demonstrate an earned empowerment. In turn, they demonstrate and promote leadership at a level that encourages involvement and creates a positive atmosphere for the whole school setting. As the educational leaders of our school, let’s find ways to help empower our students to be leaders, and I believe it starts in the classrooms. Yes, they will need to be supported and encouraged, but is that not part of “jobs” as educators?

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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Twitter @thebookchamber

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“Bee” The Educator and Leader…

15 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by in Actions, Attention, Connections, Decisions, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Leader, Leadership, Presence, Relationships, Teachers, Value

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One question I am frequently asked is where do I get my ideas for writing my blogs every week. Well, it usually depends on the week. Most of the time, I see, hear, or read something related to education or leadership in general, and as I have said before… it gets me to start thinking. As I begin to think on the matter, my mind starts processing… is “whatever” a good or bad representation of education or leadership? And then, I start writing.

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So… recently, I was reading John MacArthur’s book Why Believe the Bible and in one of the chapters, there was this graphic illustration by H. P. Barker (1896-1952), who was once a missionary who served in the West Indies….

As I looked out into the garden one day, I saw three things. First, I saw a butterfly. The butterfly was beautiful, and it would alight on a flower and then it would flutter to another flower and then to another, and only for a second or two it would sit and it would move on. It would touch as many lovely blossoms as it could, but derived absolutely no benefit from it.

Then I watched a little longer out my window and there came a botanist. And the botanist had a big notebook under his arm and a great big magnifying glass. The botanist would lean over a certain flower and he would look for a long time and then he would write notes in his notebook. He was there for hours writing notes, closed them, stuck them under his arm, tucked his magnifying glass in his pocket and walked away.

The third thing I noticed was a bee, just a little bee. But the bee would light on a flower and it would sink down deep into the flower and it would extract all the nectar and pollen that it could carry. It went in empty every time and came out full.

As I read that, I thought this is exactly what we see education and leadership should not and should be. The approach of each one, the butterfly, the botanist, and the bee exemplifies both educators and leaders. As we think on each one…

The butterfly educator or leader… They just fly around. Always being seen but never bringing or taking anything. Flapping their wings, wanting others to admire their colors.

The botanist educator or leader… They analyze everything. Always writing what they see, but never offering feedback, just keeping notes; using them only when needed (for their own benefit, of course).

The bee educator or leader… They invest. They get down in the flower. They work. Not to say educators and leaders are empty, but the bee draws from the flower, pollination takes place, and everything and everyone is for the better.

As we continue to lead, we know each type of educator or leader stated above. More importantly, though, is the question of… which one are you? If we are not the bee, then we are not helping others. Is that not what we are suppose to do first? When we invest, spend time, and form bonds, education and leadership are for the better. Be a bee.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

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

Leadership from Dogs? Yep…

17 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by in Actions, Affection, Effective, Leader, Leadership, Love, Relationships, Value

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As far as I can remember back… Patch, Buffy, Magnum, Putter, Bogey, Bailey, Roxi, and now Charlee and Hershey. These were and are the dogs of my life. So… why write a leadership blog on our dogs or dogs in general?

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I saw this quote the other day… “Dogs are the only animals that love you more than they love themselves.” I immediately thought about our dogs and analogies of leadership. Loving those you lead more than you love yourself. Why not?

So… Here are a few thoughts on dogs and leadership…

They remember the past but live in the “now” and wag their tail
First, I will say that dogs do remember the past based on how they are trained. I also believe they remember the past on how they are treated. I guess the only time a dog thinks future is when it will be fed or when their ears will be rubbed. Charlee, our Bassett, is my example here. Charlee is a lot like me, stubborn in some areas. We have trained her, all but beat her, loved her, given her treats, etc., and she will still pee by the back door every once in a while. Regardless, all she wants is to be fed, loved, and ears rubbed… now. Apparently, she could care less about the past and has no worries about the future. Charlee just wags her tail. She is one happy dog.

Leadership can work in the same way. Should it? I think so. Too many leaders live in the past, or even live in the future, per se, but seem to be oblivious to the present. While it is good to remember the past and look toward future planning, leadership that stays in the “now” leads now. Leadership that leads in the past gets old. Leadership that leads in the future tends to forget current events. We must have now to get to the future.

Loyal to the fullest extent
Hershey, our Lab, will follow us anywhere, in or out of the house. And when I say she will sit right beside us, it is right beside us. If there is a word beyond loyal, then it applies to Hershey. Even when we were training her and on occasion correct her now, she remains loyal.

In leadership, the people we work with will have up and downs, mishaps, and such. Training and correction will and needs to happen. By nature, I genuinely believe that most people do not mess up on purpose. Quality leadership is and stays loyal. Too many times, I have seen leaders who want loyalty but do not give loyalty in return. Please do not be this type of leader.

They will fight and protect you
Back in the day growing up, I must have done something wrong in the front yard, and my mom decided she would give me a whopping… Well, when my mom “pulled me up,” Patch, my dog then, got right between us and growled. The story goes that Patch got mom’s arm in her jaws but did not bite down. I don’t remember that episode, but needless to say, my mom never decided to whoop me where Patch was around after that.

That is what leadership should do, fight for you. Leadership should protect you. If you don’t fight and protect those you work with, well, they might not fight and protect you when you need it. While our dogs are not “guard dogs,” they do guard our surroundings. Leaders should do the same. Be a leader who is on guard for the people.

Do dogs really love you more than they love themselves? I have no idea. But it sure sounds good, doesn’t it? There is a lot we can learn from dogs. I have some more ideas, but the above three ideas are the ones that I thought stood out the best with leadership. I’m sure you can offer some analogies as well. I will also add this… leadership aside, dogs can show us how to love. Show a dog some love, and they will steal your heart and wag their tail.

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

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A text from my mom and the thought of influence…

08 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in Character, Compassion, Decisions, Encouragement, Essence, Expectations, Future, Influence, Inspiration, Kindness, Purpose, Relationships, Teachers, Value

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This past Saturday, Heather and I were on the patio drinking coffee, and I get a text from my mom asking me to read something on Facebook. For some reason, I could not open the link (technical difficulties), so I call mom and tell her. Well, one thing led to another, and she ends up reading me the below post. For those who know my mom, she is not one who always shares her feelings. But, she was excited about this. Mom stated it was one of the best things she has read of late and thought about us since we are teachers and the value of influence we have. 

As she was reading it to me, I looked it up online and actually found the post. What was interesting, it was posted on my 7th grade English teacher’s page. The story, as far as I can tell, has an unknown source. By nature, I try to be conscientious about my blogs and wanting them to be “original thoughts,” but I believe this post is worth reading…

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The Teacher and the Stolen Watch

AN OLD MAN MEETS A YOUNG MAN who asks;
“Do you remember me?” 

And the old man says no.  Then the young man tells him he was his student. And the teacher asks:
“What do you do, what do you do in life?”

The young man answers:
“Well, I became a teacher.”
“Ah, how good, like me?” Asks the old man.
“Well, yes.  In fact, I became a teacher because you inspired me to be like you.”

The old man, curious, asks the young man at what time he decided to become a teacher.  And the young man tells him the following story:
“One day, a friend of mine, also a student, came in with a nice new watch, and I decided I wanted it and I stole it, I took it out of his pocket.

Shortly after, my friend noticed his missing watch and immediately complained to our teacher, who was you. Then you went to the class:
“This student's watch was stolen during classes today.  Whoever stole it, please return it.”

I didn't give it back because I didn't want to.  Then you closed the door and told us all to get up and you were going to search our pockets one by one until the watch was found.  But you told us to close our eyes, because you would only look for his watch if we all had our eyes closed.

So we did, and you went from pocket to pocket, and when you went through my pocket, you found the watch and took it.  You kept searching everyone's pockets, and when you were done you said:
“Open your eyes. We have the watch.”

You didn't tell me and you never mentioned the episode. You never said who stole the watch either.  That day you saved my dignity forever.  It was the most shameful day of my life.

But this is also the day my dignity was saved and I decided not to become a thief, a bad person, etc. You never said anything, nor even scold me or took me aside to give me a moral lesson, I received your message clearly.

And thanks to you, I understood what a real educator needs to do.  Do you remember this episode, professor?

And the professor answers:
“I remember the situation, the stolen watch, which I was looking for in everyone’s pocket, but I didn't remember you, because I also closed my eyes while looking.”

This is the essence of teaching:
“If to correct you must humiliate; you don't know how to teach "

Credit - Unknown

As I read this again, I agree; it is pretty good. As educators, we really never know the power of our influence. Just like in the story, there will be plenty of students we cannot remember – if you teach long enough, it will happen. However, little things matter. One little thing here or there. The things we do or say that inspire. How we communicate and make others feel. Showing students that there is a better way. You never know, we might just save their dignity. You might not remember them, but they will remember you. Yes, to teach is to educate. But I will add this to the last line of the story – To influence and inspire… An essence of teaching that can only be measured with time. 

Who will you influence and inspire today? 

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

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

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