In the game of educational leadership it really isn't about WINNING the game per se, but earning enough points on your personal scorecard to STAY in the game. You see, staying in the game provides you with an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy; one that will endure for years, even decades to come. Too many lost points and you will be taken out of the game and much like the Stormers, you will not be around for another season.
Coming from a long line of educators, I learned this first hand. My grandpa, at the age of 34, became the principal of a small K-12 Agricultural school in the small town of Tapiola, Michigan after serving as Superintendent of Brimley Schools for several years. John A. Doelle School was the first consolidated rural agricultural school in the state. The two story red brick, colonial revival schoolhouse still stands proudly, albeit run down and no longer in its glory, across from the hub of the town, a one pump gas station and small market named Karvakko's owned by the same family for 80+ years (it is also still there after all these years).
The school opened in 1913 and served local kids until 1973, the same year my grandpa, James K. Allen, nicknamed “Jake” by his students, retired after an astonishing 25 years as Principal of the SAME school. This length of tenure is almost unheard of in today’s educational world. During his 25 years of service, my grandpa experienced his share of gaining and losing points. To his testament, he gained far more than he ever lost and stayed in the game year after year. At the core of his leadership was a love for learning, a passion for kids, strong relationships and community partnerships.
He earned points in a number of ways, sometimes with just the “small stuff” including giving students the keys to use the gym after school on many nights, selling his award winning pasties to fundraise for class trips, starting school carnivals, providing job recommendation letters or securing scholarships for students so they could attend college. One former student shared with me, “(Mr. Allen) had a real knack for recognizing the particular strengths of his students. For instance, he steered a lot of his students toward careers on the Great Lakes, working on the ore boats, where the pay was good and the work was steady. In my case, he recognized that I had what he called “a flair for writing." He was correct, as I've been in the newspaper business for over 40 years.” His former students still laugh when telling others about the "Board of Education" (a paddle) he carried in his back pocket to be funny. In today’s society this would have surely landed him on the front page of newspaper and a corresponding huge point loss, if not the loss of his job, but in the 50’s and 60’s, this earned you points and A LOT of them! He also earned points by initiating a hot lunch program, starting a Parent Teachers Association, and worked with community members to have the school named a historical site through the Michigan Historical Society. He also helped organize and finance the Tapiola Senior Citizens Club and even became a candidate for state representative to, in his own words, “do more (for schools) by being an area representative”. It was a rare occasion he would lose points and often of no fault of his own. During one of the yearly carnivals he helped spearhead, my aunt, his daughter was named Carnival Queen. It did not take long before a small group of folks started crying “favoritism”. Of course, my grandpa had nothing to do with it; the Queen was selected by student voting, but nevertheless, he lost a point or two that day.
Being a leader was not always easy for my grandpa. One of his former students recalls, “The sad part was that he spent so many years being severely handicapped by his deteriorating spinal column. In his closing years, especially in the late 1960's, he had difficulty in even walking from the school to his house that was directly south of the school building. Pain was his constant companion. Despite this, he refused to give up--and he continued his teaching until the very end of the school's existence.”
Even after the school closed, he never stopped teaching. After he retired, his leadership legacy continued every winter when he and my grandma would take the four day cross country train trip to beautiful Southern California to stay with me and my parents. My grandpa, although plagued with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, made his way to the local elementary school every week to engage kids in Mental Math BINGO. I can still hear him saying, "What is 2 + 2, add 5, divide by 3, multiply by 4, add 3, divide by 5, divide by 3, add 4, what is the answer?" Back then this game was a novel concept and students would do about anything to win the neatly wrapped pieces of candy he had tucked inconspicuously in his front pockets. He became so popular, he even made the local paper. Once I started school, I could not wait to bring his show on the road. I still remember the pride I felt "sharing" him with the rest of the students. My grandpa had planted the early seeds in me without even knowing it....a love of and aptitude for mental math, a joy for lifelong learning and a drive to lead. Two of his three daughters became educators and 5 of his 13 grandkids followed in his footsteps as well. In his final act as a lifelong leader and teacher, my grandpa donated his body to the University of Michigan Medical School for use in medical research. After all his many years serving, he was still teaching others after his death. Now THAT’s a legacy!
Only recently did I start to realize how far reaching his leadership legacy actually WAS and still IS. With the advent of Facebook, a John A. Doelle group sprouted up. Quickly, photos from the school were posted by former students across the country. My grandpa, as Principal, was featured in many of them. This past January marked what would have been his 100th birthday and a picture of him was posted on Facebook in his honor. I was pleasantly surprised to see a slew of comments from former students quickly follow that further confirmed the far reaching leadership legacy he left behind.
As the granddaughter raised in the presence of such a rich “leadership legacy”, it seemed only natural I was drawn to teaching and leadership. After teaching for five years, I followed in my grandpa’s footsteps by becoming an administrator in my early 30’s. First, I served as a Student Advisor and quickly moved up the ranks, becoming a High School Assistant Principal and started a doctoral program a short 9 months later and served as a Middle School Principal two years after that.
As I approach the 10 year anniversary of starting my doctoral program, I recall, an exercise when we were asked to write a letter that described what we wanted our life to be like 10 years in the future. It is always so interesting to look back and see how far you have come. Interestingly, most of the professional goals I set back then I achieved. I struggled with "balance" for many years (and still do to some extent). This is not an uncommon struggle by any means, but it changed my views on leadership and life. I did my share of scoring and losing points as an educational leader (as you clearly saw in the stories we presented) and felt like I was starting to leave elements of legacy but found my life was out of balance and that my greatest joy and impact professionally came when I was helping to groom and prepare future school leaders. When I was offered a full-time faculty position teaching Educational Administration I jumped at the opportunity. Because, not only is it important to lead in your professional lives, it is equally as important to lead in your personal life as well. Making this move provided me more balance and time to accomplish both. Soon after, I was honored to be asked to develop a new doctoral program in Organizational Leadership. The program launched as a huge success and hundreds of leaders go through the program each year.
In my opinion, leadership comes in many forms, a quick text message to a friend who is struggling, a call to a family member you have not talked to in a while, a conversation with a former student who needs advice, a hug for a loved one, listening to a colleague, etc. Relationships are at the core of leadership, my grandpa taught me that. Another term often used to define leadership is the word "guidance". Guiding others to achieve their dreams, through authentic relationships, is at the core of what I try to do every day. I hope the leaders I help mentor, coach and train will be my legacy as they transform their organizations. The stories in this book are also a piece I hope to leave behind as well. Leaving a legacy does not happen by accident. As Kouzes and Posner state, “the legacy you leave is the life you lead”. What will be your legacy? What are your stories? I encourage all of you to do some small act that supports your Legacy TODAY and if you feel like it, share with us what you did and your stories. We would love to hear all about it!
Coming from a long line of educators, I learned this first hand. My grandpa, at the age of 34, became the principal of a small K-12 Agricultural school in the small town of Tapiola, Michigan after serving as Superintendent of Brimley Schools for several years. John A. Doelle School was the first consolidated rural agricultural school in the state. The two story red brick, colonial revival schoolhouse still stands proudly, albeit run down and no longer in its glory, across from the hub of the town, a one pump gas station and small market named Karvakko's owned by the same family for 80+ years (it is also still there after all these years).
The school opened in 1913 and served local kids until 1973, the same year my grandpa, James K. Allen, nicknamed “Jake” by his students, retired after an astonishing 25 years as Principal of the SAME school. This length of tenure is almost unheard of in today’s educational world. During his 25 years of service, my grandpa experienced his share of gaining and losing points. To his testament, he gained far more than he ever lost and stayed in the game year after year. At the core of his leadership was a love for learning, a passion for kids, strong relationships and community partnerships.
He earned points in a number of ways, sometimes with just the “small stuff” including giving students the keys to use the gym after school on many nights, selling his award winning pasties to fundraise for class trips, starting school carnivals, providing job recommendation letters or securing scholarships for students so they could attend college. One former student shared with me, “(Mr. Allen) had a real knack for recognizing the particular strengths of his students. For instance, he steered a lot of his students toward careers on the Great Lakes, working on the ore boats, where the pay was good and the work was steady. In my case, he recognized that I had what he called “a flair for writing." He was correct, as I've been in the newspaper business for over 40 years.” His former students still laugh when telling others about the "Board of Education" (a paddle) he carried in his back pocket to be funny. In today’s society this would have surely landed him on the front page of newspaper and a corresponding huge point loss, if not the loss of his job, but in the 50’s and 60’s, this earned you points and A LOT of them! He also earned points by initiating a hot lunch program, starting a Parent Teachers Association, and worked with community members to have the school named a historical site through the Michigan Historical Society. He also helped organize and finance the Tapiola Senior Citizens Club and even became a candidate for state representative to, in his own words, “do more (for schools) by being an area representative”. It was a rare occasion he would lose points and often of no fault of his own. During one of the yearly carnivals he helped spearhead, my aunt, his daughter was named Carnival Queen. It did not take long before a small group of folks started crying “favoritism”. Of course, my grandpa had nothing to do with it; the Queen was selected by student voting, but nevertheless, he lost a point or two that day.
Being a leader was not always easy for my grandpa. One of his former students recalls, “The sad part was that he spent so many years being severely handicapped by his deteriorating spinal column. In his closing years, especially in the late 1960's, he had difficulty in even walking from the school to his house that was directly south of the school building. Pain was his constant companion. Despite this, he refused to give up--and he continued his teaching until the very end of the school's existence.”
Even after the school closed, he never stopped teaching. After he retired, his leadership legacy continued every winter when he and my grandma would take the four day cross country train trip to beautiful Southern California to stay with me and my parents. My grandpa, although plagued with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, made his way to the local elementary school every week to engage kids in Mental Math BINGO. I can still hear him saying, "What is 2 + 2, add 5, divide by 3, multiply by 4, add 3, divide by 5, divide by 3, add 4, what is the answer?" Back then this game was a novel concept and students would do about anything to win the neatly wrapped pieces of candy he had tucked inconspicuously in his front pockets. He became so popular, he even made the local paper. Once I started school, I could not wait to bring his show on the road. I still remember the pride I felt "sharing" him with the rest of the students. My grandpa had planted the early seeds in me without even knowing it....a love of and aptitude for mental math, a joy for lifelong learning and a drive to lead. Two of his three daughters became educators and 5 of his 13 grandkids followed in his footsteps as well. In his final act as a lifelong leader and teacher, my grandpa donated his body to the University of Michigan Medical School for use in medical research. After all his many years serving, he was still teaching others after his death. Now THAT’s a legacy!
Only recently did I start to realize how far reaching his leadership legacy actually WAS and still IS. With the advent of Facebook, a John A. Doelle group sprouted up. Quickly, photos from the school were posted by former students across the country. My grandpa, as Principal, was featured in many of them. This past January marked what would have been his 100th birthday and a picture of him was posted on Facebook in his honor. I was pleasantly surprised to see a slew of comments from former students quickly follow that further confirmed the far reaching leadership legacy he left behind.
As the granddaughter raised in the presence of such a rich “leadership legacy”, it seemed only natural I was drawn to teaching and leadership. After teaching for five years, I followed in my grandpa’s footsteps by becoming an administrator in my early 30’s. First, I served as a Student Advisor and quickly moved up the ranks, becoming a High School Assistant Principal and started a doctoral program a short 9 months later and served as a Middle School Principal two years after that.
As I approach the 10 year anniversary of starting my doctoral program, I recall, an exercise when we were asked to write a letter that described what we wanted our life to be like 10 years in the future. It is always so interesting to look back and see how far you have come. Interestingly, most of the professional goals I set back then I achieved. I struggled with "balance" for many years (and still do to some extent). This is not an uncommon struggle by any means, but it changed my views on leadership and life. I did my share of scoring and losing points as an educational leader (as you clearly saw in the stories we presented) and felt like I was starting to leave elements of legacy but found my life was out of balance and that my greatest joy and impact professionally came when I was helping to groom and prepare future school leaders. When I was offered a full-time faculty position teaching Educational Administration I jumped at the opportunity. Because, not only is it important to lead in your professional lives, it is equally as important to lead in your personal life as well. Making this move provided me more balance and time to accomplish both. Soon after, I was honored to be asked to develop a new doctoral program in Organizational Leadership. The program launched as a huge success and hundreds of leaders go through the program each year.
In my opinion, leadership comes in many forms, a quick text message to a friend who is struggling, a call to a family member you have not talked to in a while, a conversation with a former student who needs advice, a hug for a loved one, listening to a colleague, etc. Relationships are at the core of leadership, my grandpa taught me that. Another term often used to define leadership is the word "guidance". Guiding others to achieve their dreams, through authentic relationships, is at the core of what I try to do every day. I hope the leaders I help mentor, coach and train will be my legacy as they transform their organizations. The stories in this book are also a piece I hope to leave behind as well. Leaving a legacy does not happen by accident. As Kouzes and Posner state, “the legacy you leave is the life you lead”. What will be your legacy? What are your stories? I encourage all of you to do some small act that supports your Legacy TODAY and if you feel like it, share with us what you did and your stories. We would love to hear all about it!