Mental Fitness

 I have mentioned my oldest brother often times to you- he is a tremendous learning resource for me. Currently, he is in charge of Command Strike Group 3- he oversees about 10K sailors and Marines. 

 

He said one of the greatest challenges they are facing – from a personnel front- is suicide ideation. As we have talked about ways they are combatting it, he has spoken quite about on the ‘mental fitness’ route they are exploring. 

 

Recently, he met with a ‘Mental Fitness’ coach. The coach explained that one of the biggest ways to sharpen you mental fitness is to gauge your ‘Present-ness”. As you go through your day- with various meetings-interactions, etc. how ‘present’ are you? 

 

He said he has gotten into a routine of assessing how present he was after each meeting he has- and when he is talking with someone, how engaged he was in the conversation. 

 

I live my life in a perpetual state of distraction. BUT I know I could exponentially grow by being more present- and I am anxious to find out what it would do for my own personal ‘Mental Fitness’. 

 

How about you; how present are you? Are you fully where your feet are? What steps could you take this week to be more present? Not just at work- but home life as well? 

 

Get after it today. I am in your corner- take care- pja

 

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” 

~Amit Ray

 

 

*57.02 Seconds.

The Gladiator

 I came across this quote this week…spoken over 2000 years ago by Marcus Aurelius: “Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought.”

 

When I was in Elementary School, Jeff Kellner, the Principal, in a desperate attempt to keep us from watching ‘R’ rated movies would often repeat, “Smut -in- smut – out. Garbage in. Garbage out.” 

 

So it is with you- as you go about the week, there are enough competing voices to bring you down. What are you filling your mind with to combat the energy vampires? We all know energy suckers are aplenty…how can you flip the script to fill your mind with only those things that are going to give you energy? 

 

Emotional intelligence. Recognize those things that give you life. And those that drain you. 

 

Get after it- I’m in your corner- take care- pja

 

“If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

~General James Mattis 

 

*40.43 seconds.

A Minute of Monday Morning Motivation

 Greetings! 

First and foremost, my apologies for being gone for so long. I would love to come up with a great excuse. It would serve no purpose. I need to be better. And I will be...

I started something about a 6 weeks ago with our Leadership Team. Every Monday morning, I send a short piece of wisdom, motivation, and encouragement. In the midst of craziness and the whirlwind of life, I vowed to keep the 'read' under a minute. 

I will share the past entries...and, moving forward, will post each Monday what I write. 

As always, thank you for visiting the site. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! 

Keep leading. Keep learning. Win the Day- pja

The Hungry Leader

It is hard to believe we have two days left in July. The quietness of summer will soon be replaced by the frantic prep of getting ready for another school year...with the sounds of the band beginning to play and fall sports teams ready to take the field. 

One thing I have always challenged myself with- and encourage others to do so as well is to take the summer to take a deep dive introspectively into your own leadership journey. Summer is a great time to be quiet, and to reflect on where you were, where you are, and where you are going for this upcoming school year. 

As I have shared on this blog before, I spend some time every morning reading the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Interestingly enough, I am always able to glean some sort of wisdom on just about a daily basis. The below quote has really resonated with me...and its impact on how hungry we are as leaders to get better. (Villanueva plays offensive line for the Steelers; not knowing his future with professional football, he began working on his Masters Degree at Carnegie Mellon while still playing for the Steelers). 

“I liked being around people who are very hungry in life,” Villanueva said. “Sometimes when you are hanging around millionaires all the time, they don’t have the ambitions and the drive. When you are talking about (someone with an) H-1B visa coming from India and wanting to stay in the United States and wanting the best grades possible because he wants to stay in Silicon Valley and work for a tech company, that mindset was very contagious.”

While I love this statement in its entirety, here is what has resonated with me: I like being around people who are very hungry in life.

Are you hungry? What are you doing to feed your hunger? Would Villanueva want to spend time with you, as a 'hungry' person? And, equally important, are you surrounding yourself with 'hungry' people? If you are a leader of leaders, would your team describe you as 'hungry'?

In my humble opinion, true growth only comes when we can be brutally honest with ourselves. I encourage you to take some time over the next few weeks before the madness begins. Challenge yourself with the above quote. Are you hungry? Or, has your appetite been satiated. If so, how do you get back 'the eye of the tiger'...and get hungry all over again?

Be mindful of your hunger pangs. Never stop learning. Never stop growing. Never stop leading.
Better everyday. Growth comes from being hungry.

Godspeed on your journey. pja

Radical Self-Inquiry

The end of the school year brings many year end events. Perhaps one of the most critical things that will occur over the next couple of weeks is the critical year end evaluation.

Perhaps you are a bit jaded when it comes to the year end evaluation. Up until last year, I had become cynical with the process and the feedback received. It wasn't until I humbled myself and took on a different mindset that I was able to truly glean any meaningful insight or feedback from the final evaluation.

When I was a teacher in Western Pennsylvania, I vividly remember waiting in line to sign my year end evaluation. There was one teacher in particular who refused to sign his evaluation, stating the Principal had not been in his classroom all year, how could she possibly rate him 'satisfactory'?

For me, I was more than happy to sign the 'satisfactory' evaluation, check the box, and shove off for the summer. Embarrassingly enough, I readily admit a gross amount of immaturity on my part.

As I have reflected on this, and year end evaluations as a whole, I have come to this conclusion: in order to grow both personally and professionally, humility MUST play a critical role in accepting and driving on with your year end evaluation.

You may disagree with comments made- in fact, some, most, or all comments might be unfair. Let me encourage you with this: like it or loath it, perception is reality. Take the comments, the feedback, the 'dings', sort out fact from fiction, and grow from it.

While sorting out the fact from fiction, do this internally. In my leadership experience, there is nothing worse than a defensive person. And, this is coming from a person who has been annoyingly defensive most of his professional life. I hate it. But I am resolving to grow from it.

Last night, I heard a brief presentation from Jordan Steffy, President of Attollo Prep. He made this comment that has resonated with me...and one I feel is timely for this post:

As he talked about the program he runs, he said one of the core tenets they live by at Attollo is to have the students they work with practice 'radical self-inquiry.'

As leaders, this should be a tenet we all live by: radical self-inquiry. And, as you approach the year-end evaluation season, take a deep, radical dive into self-inquiry. This is where true growth occurs.

Be a leader who embraces growth. Be a leader who embraces constructive comments. Be a leader who resolves to get better. Regardless of the life or death spoken over you.

Get after it today. Beat Yesterday. pja

Begin Again.

It is hard to believe we are a quarter of the way through the year. Think back to January 1. How are you doing with your New Year's Resolution? It is ok to start again...I know I need to. 

Today marks the last day of March. I had set a goal to update my blog post on a monthly basis. If I can accomplish my task today...I can check that box. I don't want to live my life checking boxes...but sometimes, checking boxes creates the discipline we so desperately need. As you look at your resolutions for the year, what boxes need to be checked? Where do you need to start again? Most importantly, how are you doing? In life? In leadership? 

I have a mentor who continually encourages me to take a day at the end of the month to assess how you are doing from a leadership standpoint. After receiving this encouragement for close to three years, I am yet to take him up on this advice. Until now. 

This past Friday was a great day to do it; no teachers, no students, and very few administrators in the District. It was eerily quiet. It was a great day to be alone with my thoughts. So, I began the arduous task of reflecting on my own leadership. Where was I winning? Losing? Where do I need to grow? Where do I need to spend more time? How can I be more intentional with my leadership? My own growth? My relationship building? These were all thoughts that swirled through my mind as I sat to unravel many of them. 

The lead up to me being alone with my thoughts might be the most important aspect of this blog post. I felt like I was suffocating. Life seemed overwhelming. I did not feel like I was being nearly as intentional with my leadership as I know I should be. Worse yet, I felt like I was seeping into a world of gray. I knew I needed to take some time with my thoughts- with my plan- and to develop a plan moving forward. It felt good, and reassuring to begin to formulate thoughts, ideas, and action plans on how to get back on track. 

So, I ask you- where are you with your yearly plan? With your yearly goals? How are you doing as a leader? Both at home and in your professional life? Where is your pause button to slow things down so you can truly ascertain where you are - both winning and losing. 

I recently finished reading Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. Perhaps my greatest take away from this book is all of life is one big mind game. The more I reflected on it...the more it rang true. Master your mind. Spend time mastering it. And you too will defy the odds set before you. Yet, it starts with you being quiet. And most importantly, being honest with yourself. 

Never forget perhaps the greatest Shakespeare line of all time: To Thine Own Self Be True. 

Until next time, Godspeed. 

The Sting of Feedback~The Pathway to Growth

Every year, I choose a word for the year I want to focus on. For the year 2019, I chose 'growth'. Simply put, when I reach the end of 2019, I want to be better than I was when I ended 2018.

So, I was reading an article the other day on growth. This line caught my attention:

"When ski instructors are teaching new skiers, they will tell them if they are not falling down, they are not trying hard enough." 

When is the last time you fell down while trying to grow or stretch yourself?

My word this year is growth. I am finding it is painful.

I presented earlier this month at the New Superintendent Academy in Harrisburg, PA. While I concede there were things I could improve upon, in all, I thought it went well.

I received the evaluation back the other day. Again, for the most part, the results were positive. Until I read the open ended comments.

One person wrote that I came across as ill prepared...it was a waste of time, and in all six of the sessions this individual sat through, I was the only one who did not respect their time.

Ouch.

As I was reading it, I saw red. A swirl of emotions washed over me. Mostly, after the dust settled, I realized I only like when I get positive feedback. I like when people tell me how great I am. If you are not going to do that, I don't want to hear anything. I know, it's a real mature way of looking at things.

Once I allowed myself to be angry, to wallow in self-pity, I took some time to reflect on where I truly could grow.

I could have done better. I could have been more prepared. True growth comes from the next time I enter the arena...to take the lessons learned from this presentation- and get better.

2019. A year of growth. Painstaking...but I am determined to grow.

How about you? When is the last time you entered the arena? When is the last time you 'fell down'? What are you doing to get back up and get better?  Every one wins when the leader gets better.
Grow. Fall down. Learn from it. Get up. Get back after it.

THE MAN IN THE ARENA

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.