When people see a man who combines high standards with compassion, they know he has grown beyond his personal biases, and they will follow him.When people see a man who is humble, they know they have nothing to fear from him; he is not out for himself, and they will follow him.When people see a man soaked in [learning] and fervent in prayer, they know he is bringing them something from beyond their world, and will follow him.~ Ray Ortlund, “The Cost of Leadership” (15.jan.11)
Why exactly is it that our students follow us? Last night, I watched a wide range of personalities that I have come to know and love walk across the stage at the Teach for America Nashville alumni induction, and I reflected on what makes our movement successful. I don’t think it is because we’re such great teachers the day we come back from Institute, and I’m not even sure it is because we’ve improved so much over the past two years.
In fact, I think it’s critical that I didn’t do either of these things; I failed at teaching according to most metrics. And I think that’s a good thing. It’s not simply good in some trite “I’ve learned so much” way or because “it challenged me to make myself better.” Those may be true, but moreover, it’s good that I failed because it showed me that I can’t do it all. I’m not sure I had truly fallen flat before – or at least I hadn’t worked so hard to do so. Once I had accepted this failure, it changed the way I taught, and I think my students began to realize it wasn’t about me - it was about them. From this place of humility, my classroom actually did begin to turn around. As I approach the end of my teaching career, I am thinking that any future leadership must continue to cultivate this loss of self-importance.
I think this is what I appreciate most about the Teaching as Leadership model, and will carry on with me; like the quote above, it directs us away from ourselves – and even our development – and towards students, and student development. “High standards with compassion” … I may never be the smartest teacher, the most interesting teacher, or even be good at teaching, but I can expect greatness and I can offer support; in short, I can’t fix myself, but I can love others. My students don’t follow a perfect teacher, and they know it. They follow because, like the third line of Dr. Ortlund’s quote, they see someone modeling growth and passion. Again, I may not be smart, or rich, or popular, or powerful, but I can grow and be passionate.
We bring our students a lot “from beyond their world,” but the style of leadership we’ve been taught is beyond any world. Humility, compassion, hope, exhortation, maturation, passion ... I hope I get the opportunity to continue to fail better in pursuit of it.
“You don’t have to know a lot of things to make a lasting difference in this world … The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing.”~ John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (p. 44)
Failure puts the ego in its place and undermines the made-up scenarios we run in our heads to distract ourselves from seeing clearly. That's why failure is often painful. But that's also why it's called the beginning of wisdom. I don't know who called it that, but I'm pretty sure they were right.
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