Leadership

Leadership is a Choice
Every day you encounter crossroads inside and outside of
school. At each of these crossroads, choices are made. Some
of the choices are difficult and some are exciting. Becoming a
leader is about learning to make choices you believe in, choices
you are proud of, and choices you will continue to be proud of
in a year or in five years. What choices are you going to make
today as a leader?

Being a Leader is a Lot like the parts of a tree

The 7 Habits are principals that help people to be leaders of
themselves and others. You can think of these 7 Habits like a
tree.
The Private Victory is about the first three habits. The first
three habits form the roots of the tree, and only you can change
them. If you try to change other people before changing
yourself, it won’t work. All change starts with you!

The Public Victory

Habits 5, 6, and 7 are called the Public Victory and they form
the trunk and branches of the Leadership Tree. These habits
deal with getting along with other people. If you haven’t won
the Private Victory, you will not have much success with the
Public Victory. How good are you at getting along with others?

Paradigms
A paradigm is the way you see something; your point of view
or belief about something. Your paradigm affects what you do,
and what you do affects what you get, or the outcome. Think
about paradigms this way; what you see you do, what you do
gets results. At Carmel we call this the See, Do, Get Model. Can
you see yourself becoming a leader?!?!
See Do Get Model
Yesterday we learned about the See Do Get Model. This model
is about how you see yourself, or your paradigms. As a leader,
your paradigms affect what you do. Paradigms that aren’t
helpful hold you back from reaching your potential. Ask
yourself what is holding you back from being the best leader
you can be?
 Habit #1 Be Proactive

Leaders Take Responsibility

As leaders, we have the freedom to choose our actions and
responses. Habit #1 Be Proactive tells us that when we take
responsibility for our education, we choose to be a leader.
Being a leader means we earn our accomplishments, and that
feels really good! Teachers and parents care how well we do,
but no one should care more than WE do about our
accomplishments.

Change Your Paradigm

Jada’s Story: I used to look in the mirror and only see my flaws.
I worried about what other people were thinking about me all
the time. This year I’m trying hard to see myself in a better
light and focus on my good qualities. I’m not so worried about
what other people think now, and that makes me feel stronger.
I feel better about myself. Habit #1 Be Proactive reminds us if
we don’t like the way things are, it’s up to use to take the
initiative to change them. Jada changed her paradigm and it
made all the difference.

Circle of Control
As Leaders, the Circle of Control reminds us that we have
control over only some things. We have no control over what
others think, say, or do, but we have control over how much we
let them affect us. So, it’s not what other people think about
you, it’s what you think and feel about yourself that matters.
Now THAT’S being proactive!!!
Choosing Your Own Weather
When people are mean, we can choose our response. We can
strike back, or we can “choose our own weather.” Habit #1 Be
Proactive teaches us that we can choose our actions, attitudes,
and our moods. At Carmel, “I choose sunny weather! How
about you???”

Coca Cola and Water

You’ve all seen how as leaders we are like Coca Cola or we are
like water. When shaken, Coca Cola blows its top. But when
water is shaken, it never blows its top. As leaders, we need to
be more like water. We need to stop and think about our
reactions to things so that we DON’T blow our top. When we
start acting like water, we are becoming leaders!

Habit #1 Summary
Habit #1 reminds me that I am a responsible person. I take
initiative. That means I choose my actions, attitudes, and
moods. I do not blame others for my wrong actions. I do the
right thing without being asked, even when no one is watching
me. Have a good day, and remember, as a leader, YOU are
proactive!
 Habit #2 Begin with the End in Mind

Habit #2 Creating a Picture of the future

Habit #2 Being with the End in Mind, tells us to picture the
future – today, tomorrow, and 10 years for now. When we
think about Habit #2, we ask, “Who are we?”, and, What do we
want?” These answers should come from trying and learning
new things, not from other people. When we create a picture
of where we want to go first, we are able to make better
choices that lead us to our destination.

Habit #2 Our Choices Have Consequences

When we practice Habit #2, Begin with the end in mind, we
realize that every choice we make has a consequence; one
naturally leads to the other. Thinking through possible
consequences of our choices helps when we’re not sure what
to do.

Listen to Manuel’s Story as he explains what he learned about

Habit #2:

I wanted to get a part in the school play, so I practiced and

practiced and really knew my lines. The big day came and I
thought I did pretty well. When the results were posted, I
didn’t get the part. The worst part is, the person who did get
the part is the guy who thinks he’s “Mr. Great at Everything.” I
was so mad!

That night I texted my friend to share my anger, but I

accidentally responded to a group text, so lots of people
received my text. Of course, they forwarded it to their friends.

At school the next day, I found out that Mr. Great at

Everything’s parents were getting a divorce, and getting the
part in the play made him feel better. I was a real jerk. I sure
paid the consequences for that text.

Manuel’s end in mind was only to vent his anger, but if he had
thought about it, texting was probably not the best way to do it.

Personal Mission Statements (part 1)

If you haven’t already, you are going to write a personal
mission statement. This is different from your class mission
statement. A personal mission statement is like a motto of
your life. When we talked about leadership being like a tree,
your personal mission statement is part of the roots. It
reminds us of what we stand for. When life throws you a
storm, you stay strong because your roots run deep.

If your classroom has a leadership tree, take a look at your tree

right now. Look at the roots, and remind yourself that you are
strong, just like the roots of that tree.

Personal Mission Statements (part 2)

Let’s talk about Personal Mission Statements again. If you best
friend decides not to be a friend anymore, if you mess up on
your math assignment, or you don’t make the Carmel pickleball
team, you are still “STRONG” because your roots run deep. You
can handle each situation because you know what you stand
for.

Your Personal Mission Statement can be short or long. It can

be a poem or a song. It can be a picture or a drawing. It can
say how you will be a leader. As long as it represents you, it’s a
great mission statement!

If you need a start to writing your Personal Mission

Statement…ask yourself this question…”If you had all of the
money you needed and all of the time you needed, what would
you do? This is a great way to begin to write your Mission
Statement.

Creating a Legacy
Last year each of us were asked to think about our Legacy.
What was it that we wanted to be remembered for when we
were older.

A part of Habit #2 is thinking about your legacy. Ask yourself,

“How do you want your class to be remembered? What do you
want your own legacy to be? The first big step in creating your
own legacy is to begin by setting personal goals. Here at
Carmel, we call our goals WIGs…or, Wildly Important Goals.
Stay tuned as we talk more about your legacy and goals
tomorrow!

Setting Goals or WIGs

At Carmel, we call goals “WIGs.” WIGs stands for Wildly
Important Goals. When you learn how to set important goals
in your life, you begin to learn that you CAN change your
future. And, when you do something positive to change your
future, this gives you HOPE!

To set a WIG you need to think about something that you want
to improve in your life or get better at. For instance, let’s say
that you want to be on the basketball team after Christmas. So,
your WIG starts today (X), and you set the goal that you will
practice basketball each day (shooting, dribbling, and passing)
until tryouts in January. This is your X to Y by When…make the
basketball team starting today (X), practice every day (Y), by
January. Got it…X to Y by when.
Remember, setting goals in your life gives you a way to change
your future…and, this gives you hope! Tomorrow, we’ll talk
about Lead Measures.

Lead Measures
Yesterday, we talked about setting WIGs using the “X to Y by
When process.” Today, we going to talk about Lead Measures.

Lead Measures are the things you need to do to achieve your

goals. So, for instance, if you want to make the basketball team
by January, there are things you need to practice to get better
at basketball. Your lead measures would be things like,
dribbling, shooting, and passing. So, when you set WIGs, be
sure to choose the Lead Measures that will help you
accomplish your goals.

A Compelling Scoreboard
Yesterday we talked about the importance of choosing Lead
Measures to help you accomplish your goals. Today, we are
going to talk about keeping a scoreboard. A scoreboard is how
you track your progress towards achieving your WIGs. Let’s go
back to basketball. As you are practicing your Lead Measures
in basketball, you should track how often you practice
basketball by putting a mark on a calendar every day you
practiced dribbling. If you practice shooting, put a different
color mark on your calendar. This way, when you look back
over time, you will feel good about what you have
accomplished. This is worth celebrating. A scoreboard is how
your celebrate your progress and growth. This progress
encourages you to keep working to achieve your goal. You can
do it!!!

Accountability Partner
The last step to achieving your WIGs is to have an
accountability partner. Let’s go back to basketball. Sometimes
you are not going to feel like practicing basketball. An
accountability partner is someone who will encourage you
when you don’t feel like practicing. They’ll be there to remind
you why you are practicing…to make the basketball team.

So, carefully think about who should be your partner. Maybe

it’s your parents or a teacher. Maybe it’s your best friend.
Whoever it is, it needs to be someone who will encourage you,
and keep you accountable. So ask yourself, who is my
accountability partner this year???

Habit #2 Summary
As leaders, we plan ahead and set goals, known as WIGs. We
do things that have meaning and make a difference. Remind
yourself that, “You are an important part of your classroom
and you contribute to your school’s mission, your classes
mission, and your own personal mission. Ask yourself this
when Beginning with the End in Mind, “How can I make Carmel
a better school? And, “How can I be a better leader?”