My 2019 #oneword- FOCUS: Yes, It is a Revisit!

Last year was a whirlwind of a year. Every ounce of me relied on my #oneword of 2018 Brave. I had to be brave in our process of moving states, finding a new job, relocating my kiddos to a new school… and that was just the big stuff. Who knew finding a hair stylist and nail technician would also require bravery… but a bad haircut and horrible pedicure taught me to bravely face my reflection both on the surface and deep within.

So, here we are and I have never known so clearly what my #oneword should be… FOCUS. Funny thing, it’s been my word before. At first, I thought about changing it. I mean, who has a #oneword twice, unless they really sucked at it the first time, right? And then I really started reflecting. There has been A LOT of change for me and my job isn’t anything like it was for the past two years. I am in charge of guiding, designing and directing the path of our organizations learning and curriculum. I am also a BIG IDEA person. If you are familiar with the Compass Points Protocol, I am an EAST all the way through. This is great for dreaming, for vision casting, for pushing the limits, for designing with the end in mind, but not for details in implementation and making sure there is mastery before introducing something else. It wasn’t that I hadn’t mastered FOCUS, it was that I needed to revisit it. I needed to reel myself in. I need to constantly remind myself to FOCUS.

Let me back up a little and let you know how I came to this clarity of thought. First, our Admin team began reading “Leading With Focus” by Mike Schmoker in mid-November. It has been a true challenge to my “speedboat” approach to learning and thus my leading. I also reinforced what I  remind myself of often, “If you are leading where you are so far ahead of everyone else, you aren’t leading you are alone.”

Second, I am one that has a hard time “narrowing down” ideas into details, however, I had been tasked with facilitating professional development for a group of educators that serve a group of students that are some of our hardest to reach. My plan? Fostering Effective Student Goal Setting. How am I going to do this? Have the teachers select their #oneword, create a vision board and then identify achievable step by step goals for themselves, then take the hands-on learning and they had and devise an approach to do the same with their students.

Will this be effective? Well, we will see after January 7th.

Am I optimistic? Yes. Why? Well, you never try something you aren’t willing to do yourself. I have written down ideas, plans, goals around my #oneword before, but never fully done a vision board. I did one this time, and I discovered when you do this you work from your innermost passions.

Where do students derive their motivation? From their passions. Not only that, but the vision boards share visually what words can’t capture and at a deep relational level that a simple written word or goal does not capture. And that is why I am optimistic. I am hoping that this exercise in identifying their #oneword, then creating their vision board and then finally creating simple, actionable, attainable goals that will be shared with their teachers will create the path for a trajectory of positive change.

For me, I know that taking my #oneword FOCUS and creating this vision board is giving me the guide for leading learning with my organization, for my family and for myself. Additionally, it is helping me with another aspect that I have recently discovered through Brene’ Brown’s book “Dare to Lead.” I want to lead in such a way that whatever our focus we do brave work, have the tough conversations to move forward and I show up with my whole heart. That requires vulnerability and in the spirit of that, I am sharing a picture of my vision board for my readers.

I hope that you find inspiration and encouragement with your #oneword as I have and will with mine. I want to also share that in addition to my personal #oneword my family also has a #oneword they select each year. This year it is BALANCE. To me, it is the perfect intersection of words. If you want to read more about my family’s #oneword you can find it on my family blog: “2019 and Our Family’s #oneword.”