As we go through our classes at Georgia State and complete leadership activities to fulfill course requirements, I’m sure we are getting views of school issues that are bigger than we knew. Some of us are being faced situations where success in our schools seems improbable or impossible. These cases contain what I have heard referred to as "Goliaths." Goliaths are adverse conditions or adversaries that appear to be undefeatable. I am sure as new educational leaders; we might at times find ourselves in these "Goliath" situations where our first assessment is that we can't possibly succeed because we are out-resourced, out-manned, and out-powered. However, what I find is that at the heart of our problem are our misconceptions about who has the power in the situation. The following are a few steps that I have used to help me navigate my way through my Goliath moments in life:
1)
Rethink
Rethink the notion of what an "advantage" is and turn your disadvantages into advantages.
2)
Change the rules
Changing the rules is ascending out of the rut/hole systems put us in and reinventing the game.
3)
Use what you have
Sometimes, in the face of adversarial conditions, adverse, and sure loss. We have to turn to what we have, and often what we have and what we control is more than we think.
I have found I prevail in more situations than I think by being willing to rethink my advantages, changing the rules, and just using what I’ve got.
Keisha,
ReplyDeleteI like the suggestions you provided on how to tackle Goliath moments in life. Your positive outlook on difficult situations as an aspiring leader will help teachers find solutions to problems versus complaining about them. As we are going through this program, it has opened my eyes to the lenses of not only an effective teacher, but a leader. In many situations I have found myself on both fences. However, now I understand some of the administration decisions that impact student achievement. Some of which, my fellow colleagues do not agree with. I have had to "rethink" as you mention, the position on something rather than continuing to find its flaws.