From Zero to One Hundred

This post is dedicated to Jennifer Hogan and the Compelled Tribe of thinkers and doers. Your writing, and your willingness to allow me on your journey of being a blogger, has made me better. For that, I am forever grateful. I am humbled by your support and your friendship. 

Little did I realize that writing would take me to all of the places that I have been. From one end of the globe to the other, the landscape of education is constantly changing. Education is evolving and transforming right before our very eyes. Writing has taken me to so many place and most of those places were no more than a few steps away.

Three years ago I decided to get out of my comfort zone and take my desire to write from being a reflective process for my lens only and expand my audience of readers and publish my posts and then share them via social media. I become a blogger. Little did I know that in three short years I would go from a reader of one to over 100,000 views on my blog page.

What has the past three years produced for me and my professional growth? Most likely many of the same outcomes that blogging has created for you. Writing has become a life lesson, an opportunity and a passion. Sharing of ideas is now the norm. It is a way of how I go about leading and learning. Think about your journey and why you write or why you are considering writing. Hopefully, just possibly, you can connect with some of the points I share below.

Writing has:

Perspective. Writing has given me a new perspective on how others not only do their job, but also how they prepare, deliver and collaborate within their role to improve as educators. It has provided a lens on how they inspire others on their journey. It truly defines the "we, not me" mentality. As a writer it is clear that in order to reach your audience, you have to get to know exactly who it is. I appreciate those that read and share my work. Hopefully we are growing together.

Motivation. In our profession, motivation should come naturally. We have students and teachers alike that we are privileged to assist in all that they can achieve within their classrooms and with their students. However, there are times that motivation does not always come that easy to us. Therefore, writing has kept that hunger alive and has motivated me to be present for my teachers and my community. The continuous pattern of learning, reflecting and sharing has motivated me to become a teachers best advocate and support a school community in all of the work that they do.

Challenge. Of the 22 years in my career I have never been more challenged in my role as a building leader as I am now. The demands of the job are relentless and teachers and students need our direction and our support more than ever. Writing has allowed me to challenge my own learning and has expanded my ability to help others in the work that they do. There is productive discomfort in much of what we do in teaching and learning and sharing that notion of improving ourselves through the process of challenge is rewarding.

Validation. I see it in myself and others can see it in me as well. My writing has grown my knowledge in all aspects of being a leader. I am smarter because I blog. I am more well-rounded in my understanding of education because I write, and read, various posts from others. With all of that investment, the return is simple. My teachers and my community are able to show their gratitude through their words and their actions. This cycle has been validating to the work that I do. I am better because I write.

As you take to the keyboard and generate your next post, consider what has taken you from zero to one hundred. Through the writing and sharing process you have avoided being a complacent and passive leader and you have instead ensured being a visionary and a source of empowerment and encouragement. In addition, growing our network of leaders and learners should be a requirement of our profession. I am forever grateful to those that pushed me to this platform of growing my own knowledge and deepening my passion for being an educator.