I’d like to end 2020 on a slightly more serious note, as I know there’s probably people here who are looking back on 2020 with regrets big and small. Most of us failed at something during this crazy year–I most certainly did. But over the past few years as an educational leader I learned one of those lessons that’s easy to say, but must truly be lived to be understood.
Failures are how we grow. Failures are NOT value judgments on us as people. I’m well aware that’s hard to believe when you’re looking at the wreckage of failure around you. And yet…I the Kind Leadership Guild would NOT exist without my failures, old and new.
If you’re struggling with keeping a failure in perspective, reach out to someone you trust. Be a little vulnerable. If you can, speak your fears and sadness out loud so they can lose some of their power. You are a kind leader, and the first, most important person you must be kind to is yourself. Stay Kind Now. Feel what you need to feel, forgive yourself and others, and figure out how you can grow in ways that will help you to trust yourself and your team to do better next time. Keep growing, keep learning, and I’ll see you in 2021.
