I have always been drawn to personal experiences and reflections from school leaders regarding the ever-changing world of international education. In fact, we all grow through the sharing of new ideas, valuable reflections, resources, and current research with the goal of helping our schools become more effective learning environments for all. The decision to start this leadership blog can be narrowed down to one key factor: the constant search for continued growth. The purpose of this site is to add my log to the fire that supports the continued development of all educators, especially school leaders.
Having recently picked up the well-known book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell, I instantly realized that I have succumbed to the Law of Diminishing Intent. “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.” With the desire to start a leadership blog for some time now, I finally willed myself to set it up after reading his first chapter. With this renewed energy and focus, combined with the upcoming start of a new school year, the phrase “constant search for continued growth” once again resurfaces.
In the preparation for this coming school year, I have been thinking about how to again set the tone for another year of continued growth and development in line with our school’s mission and values. I am choosing to present this year’s Secondary School goals to our team not as “goals” but instead as Secondary School Areas of Growth. As Chapter 1 suggests, growth should be focused on the direction and mindset, not the goal or result. This can be a game-changer for any school leader looking to develop a culture of reflection and analysis. Ideally, goals can be reached, but what happens next? If our teams focus on growth instead of an end target, what results is a developed culture of consistent growth, allowing us to make it a regular habit of reaching current and future goals. This provides consistency and confidence to any school community, and a healthy environment for a school year to begin properly.
All the best to every educator out there for this coming year ahead!
Mark Dominguez 