Dear Trinity Families,
At the last Board of Trustees meeting, someone remarked to me, “you must be counting down the days!” and I replied to her, “I am running two races, the closing of the school year and the planning for next school year.” Upon reflection, I realize that this was a “Negative Nelly” response, and in that retort, I was not practicing what I preach in leadership. In every day and in every endeavor, we all need little wins to keep the fire stoked. Even as I write this message before I leave for the evening, I will clear my desk, check my 'to-do' list to cross off items and add those not crossed off to the next day’s calendar, and I will journal about the major events of the day. This helps me understand and organize the wins of the day and the follow-ups for the future. This has helped me gain momentum for an honest day in the books. In leadership, I have discovered momentum comes from series of small wins; no wins mean no momentum. Dan Rockwell, a leading leadership authority, shares, “Winning requires an ending. A race that has no end has no winner. Even the longest car races in the world all had an ending. A race without an end is pointless. A world without endings is filled with losing.”
As I get older, I recognize the consequences of rushing from one thing to the next without an end in sight - no end in sight leads to burnout. I have always tried to design wins around my activities. Some good guidelines I suggest:
- Set up short projects to enable quick wins.
- Set goals that are attainable.
- When I am tired, I always dialogue with children; they set me straight.
- Before you rush to the next thing, take pride in your present accomplishment.
Set yourself up with wins by having an ending to tasks. To that Trustee reading this …there are 14 days left of school!
Sincerely,
Mark Ravelli
Head of School