As I explore the “what roles describe a leader” series, it is only fitting that we interrupt the norm during this pandemic as everyone’s world has shifted and (I will predict we are not half way there).

I saw a sign at a service station in White Bear Lake, MN the other day that said “Will change oil for TP”

By now, we all know that teachers have been asked to work remotely and become proficient in e-learning.  My 8 year old grandson and his adoration for the iPad sees little shift as he goes from YouTube for recreation to YouTube for education.  Perhaps we should take a page from his book as he seems ready to adapt.  The need for education, regardless of venue, is obvious.  The need to provide continuity, whether educational, nutritional, or social, is also an imperative and we are, as a nation, figuring that out.

Do we think that need disappears when we reach the age of 18 or 22 or 26 … and graduate?  While we might be ready for something new like on-the-job training or learning in a different manner, the need to learn and the need for teachers is a life-long endeavor.  Enter the leader who understands this and makes it part of their responsibility.

Can you imagine if it was assumed by leadership that a new employee comes fully equipped with everything they need to be successful and no time, energy or resources were committed to their continued development?  The wise leader/teacher recognizes he has the beginnings of what could be a future company asset.

A level five leader recognizes that they have  both the opportunity and the obligation to help said new employee as well as the five, ten, twenty and thirty year veterans…reach their full potential.  In so many arenas; software, hardware, fiscal, social, physical, political…identifying where they are, where you need them to be and where they ultimately want to be.

Teachers are a bit like farmers.  The student is the soil and developing into fertile ground, a willingness to accept the nurturing, maybe breaking through hard pan, maybe irrigating dry patches, maybe fertilizing deficient soil, maybe planting seeds multiple times and weeding out thoughts and ideas that don’t serve the needs of the organization you’re developing them for.  The picture in my head of a farmer is someone who dutifully plugs along each day performing the chores necessary to work with the seasons, having faith in the weather and the one who controls it, to prep and plant and prevent and harvest and store and bring the fruits of their labor to market.  Then start the process all over again, and again, and again.

Every single one of us has memories of teachers in our lives.  Each teacher committed to make our lives better that we can be prepared, we can understand more, we can develop into teachers and leaders ourselves.

Embrace the reality that as leaders, we teach by simply modeling the way and if you aren’t modeling what you expect out of your students, adjust immediately.  They are watching, they are learning and they are looking for you to chart the course or they will be looking for someone who can.

Have a blessed month ahead!  There will be extraordinary challenges and you will need to adapt to simply survive.  Make good, thoughtful choices and invest your time wisely.