TL;DR:
- Finding passions and interests can make experiences come alive.
- When you become interested in something, you are much more likely to get creative and show passion for it.
- In my home, it was cooking with my boys. What can leaders do to translate this same idea to their schools?
Make the Drive Part of the Experience
In July, I added a blog post called Make the Drive Part of the Experience. In that post, I discussed how I had been cooking with my boys every Saturday night throughout the pandemic. I shared that cooking had become a passion project of sorts for my boys and myself. We took things we all have to do (eat and cook) and made it a learning experience. We researched different countries, discovered their traditional foods, and cooked them. This evolved into playing games from Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games like Budget Battle and Watch Your Weight. In that post, I discussed how enjoying the process or the trip is more important than the destination itself.
We can create an environment that encourages and taps into our staff's passions and interests. If we do that, our staff will be happier and be able to work up to their highest protentional. Click To TweetLast weekend we changed it up again. We tried something new and we “remixed” a meal like on the TV show Fast Foodies. Leo had to make a meal inspired by Chinese Pot-Stickers. The meal had to remind us of Pot-Stickers but could not be Pot-Stickers. So he made a meatball and dumpling soup with a miso soy broth. The meatballs had ginger, soy, and green onions in them. He did a great job, and we had so much fun creating the meal together. The experience made me reflect upon our time together and my previous blog.
Flexibility: Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot
As a leader, there is so much I can learn from the experiences of cooking with my boys. First, pivot when needed. We can’t be afraid to mix it up and change things. Since we have been cooking together, we have changed how we decided what to cook multiple times. Originally, my boys just picked what they wanted to cook. Then, we chose countries to learn about and cook items from.
When we needed a change from that because it was getting tired, we brought in games from GGG. Then we took a couple of weeks where the boys each made their “signature dishes” with no help from me. Most recently, we changed it up again and remixed a dinner from Fast Foodies. We pivoted when we felt we needed to change it up. While we have made multiple changes, we have still kept the purpose we started with. We have spent quality time together, learned cooking skills, and had fun staying at home together making memories.
Building on Passions
Next as leaders, we need to find ways to build or tap into our staff’s passions. My boys enjoy cooking together, and one of them has said he “wants to grow up to be the world’s greatest chef.” I have been able to use this to help teach them other lessons like creative thinking, budgeting, geography, and so much more. They have been learning all these lessons because they are motivated to cook and it has been made fun.
When working with our staff, we need to use their passions or interests. We can create an environment that encourages and taps into our staff’s passions and interests. If we do that, our staff will be happier and be able to work up to their highest protentional.
[scroll down to keep reading]
Connecting
Finally, as leaders, we have to learn about our people and find ways to connect with them. Education is a people business and connections are vital. I have been able to share and connect so much with my boys. My boys and I are close and have always been close. But we are stronger and closer because we took the time to have experiences together. As leaders, we need to constantly find ways to connect with our people.
Passions and Interests of Our People
As leaders, our people have so many passions and interests. It is our job to find ways to have our staff use their passions and interests. It is our job to find any way we can use their passions to help us move our organization forward. We need to be flexible and willing to pivot while keeping our purpose. Using their passions will allow you to grow them and your organization more.
About Raymond Porten
Raymond Porten is a husband to an AMAZING wife, 2 wonderful boys, a principal of an elementary school in northern Illinois, and a Golden Apple Scholar. He spends his free time traveling with his family, cooking with his boys, and he finds the time to co-host 2 podcasts. He’s been in education for 20 years and has worked as a 5th grade teacher, middle school dean, 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher, middle school assistant principal and now as a principal. He believes in the importance of building relationships and of taking every opportunity to lead and make a difference in the world.
