Today, is the final regular session of classes for the Gahanna Lincoln Class of 2012. And every day for the past 4 years our Principal Mr. Dwight Carter opens the day with a verse of knowledge and closes with these simple words...
"Make it a Great Day or not, the Choice is Yours."
On occasion, I have the great pleasure of filling in for Mr. Carter and sharing - today was one of those days. So to part ways with this Graduating Class of 2012, I pulled a bit of knowledge from a book titled "Linchpin" by Seth Godin. Another tremendous read that will challenge you both personally and professionally.
Ishita Gupta wrote,
Every day is a new chance to choose.
Choose to change your perspective.
Choose to flip the switch in your mind. Turn on the light and stop fretting about with insecurity and doubt.
Choose to do your work and be free of distraction.
Choose to see the best in someone, or choose to bring out the worst in them.
Choose to be a laser beam, with focused intention, or a scattered ray of light that doesn't do any good.
The power of choice is just that. Power. The only thing we have to do is remember that we control the harnessing of that power. We choose. Don't let your circumstances or habits rule your choices today. Become a master of yourself and use your willpower to choose.
Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The End of the Beginning
'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Winston Churchill
As we begin to close out the end of yet another school year, athletic season or fiscal year, it is often fashionable to spend countless hours meeting and evaluating the end of the year, in preparation for the new. We often meet; evaluate; meet again; establish a committee; continue to meet; all in an effort to fine-tune or perhaps draft an elegant vision statement, value statement, mission statement, purpose statement, objectives statement and so on.
Such projects are are all fine and good - indeed, they can be quite useful - but they're not the essence of a visionary school, team or company. Just because a company has a vision statement, in no way does it guarantee they it will become a visionary company!
The essence of a visionary company, school or team, comes in the translation of its core ideology and its own unique drive for progress into the very fabric of the organization - into goals, strategies, tactics, policies, processes, management behaviors, structures, building layout / assignments, job designs / responsibilities - into everything that the company does.
A visionary company creates a total environment that envelopes employees and team members, bombarding them with a set of signals so consistent and mutually reinforcing that it's virtually impossible to misunderstand the company's ideology and ambitions...this, in essence is it's Purpose!
So as you close out your year - save your creative energies and fore go that committee of reinventing your "statements", but focus your attention and creative landscape of your organization by making certain that your core ideologies become evident in every member of your organization or team, in every facet of the organization both seen and unseen. This truly will mark the end of the beginning!
As we begin to close out the end of yet another school year, athletic season or fiscal year, it is often fashionable to spend countless hours meeting and evaluating the end of the year, in preparation for the new. We often meet; evaluate; meet again; establish a committee; continue to meet; all in an effort to fine-tune or perhaps draft an elegant vision statement, value statement, mission statement, purpose statement, objectives statement and so on.
Such projects are are all fine and good - indeed, they can be quite useful - but they're not the essence of a visionary school, team or company. Just because a company has a vision statement, in no way does it guarantee they it will become a visionary company!
The essence of a visionary company, school or team, comes in the translation of its core ideology and its own unique drive for progress into the very fabric of the organization - into goals, strategies, tactics, policies, processes, management behaviors, structures, building layout / assignments, job designs / responsibilities - into everything that the company does.
A visionary company creates a total environment that envelopes employees and team members, bombarding them with a set of signals so consistent and mutually reinforcing that it's virtually impossible to misunderstand the company's ideology and ambitions...this, in essence is it's Purpose!
So as you close out your year - save your creative energies and fore go that committee of reinventing your "statements", but focus your attention and creative landscape of your organization by making certain that your core ideologies become evident in every member of your organization or team, in every facet of the organization both seen and unseen. This truly will mark the end of the beginning!
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