Blog Archives

The Christian School Lifecycle

11/13/2014

The Bowmanville District Christian School Society held their Fall Membership Meeting this week. Although there weren’t important business decisions made, there were important stories told. In my Principal’s Report my topic ranged from the lifecycles of organizations to the proper perspective that we ought to have as an organization. I have included in this blog post the Prezi presentation that I used and I will outline some of my main points as well. Please feel free to scroll through the presentation and to notice where the intersections are between it and what I write here.

All organizations go through seasons. Christian schools do too. In no particular order, these are a few of the possible seasons that organizations encounter:

Sauntering: characterized by searching, exploring, and soul-seeking. Ideas are being discussed, the ground is being tested, and the organization is ready to begin some work towards a vision or a goal.

Building: This is the time when organizations are taking the ideas that they’ve been discussing and putting legs to them. It is a time characterized by hard work, connecting ideas, and developing new ways forward.

Momentum: Momentum is a little bit different than building because it is the point when seeds that are being or have been sowed are being watered, are beginning to take root, and are sprouting into the fullness that they one day will be.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the real fun of being in organizations and it is when the ideas that have been explored and given legs are fully grown and are reproducing themselves. We see growth and new life.
Crisis: Crisis can happen at any point along the way. These are the moments that define the next stage of an organization, and they also happen to all organizations. Bill Hybels, of Willow Creek fame, once said that conflict is an opportunity to strengthen relationships. Joseph Grenny adds to this by saying that the best way to avoid conflict is to live a meaningless life. The point here is that we ought to look at conflict as an inevitable by-product of passion and that we ought also to find ways to use crisis and conflict as a means to make our organizations better.
Recovery: Recovery is the path that is cleared when we do crisis well. It involved forgiveness, healing, and the development of new and beautiful ways forward.

We are always at one of these stages at Knox Christian School. Where have we been? Where are we now? Where will we go next. Each of us holds an important and God-given role in this organization and we are called to take it seriously. Knox exists because of faithfulness – God’s, and ours to His call in our lives.

Ephesians 1:22 says that “God placed all things under his (Jesus) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church”. Properly understood, Jesus runs Knox. I don’t mean to be flippant. What I mean to say is that our proper perspective for understanding why we do what we do as the Bowmanville District Christian School Society is to honour Jesus in each area of life, including education. With this perspective we are able to find peace in conflict, able to remember our past with celebration, and able to explore new ways forward in anticipation of what God is going to do next.

0 Comments

Trust Must Start with Us

11/9/2014

0 Comments

We’ve all heard the adage that “trust is earned”. It’s an oft-uttered phrase, but one that I believe needs to be examined. Walter C. Wright knows trust well, afterall his hobby is mountaineering, a pastime that absolutely requires trust in one’s teammates. In his book “Don’t Step on the Rope” he claims that “the risk of relationship gives trust in faith” (p. 10). What he means, I believe, is that inherent in relationships, at least healthy ones, is a certain amount of risk. By engaging in relationships with others we risk hurt, disappointment, criticism, etc. But to begin in relationship in the first place requires a step of trust. If our starting point is that trust is earned, we limit our ability to engage fully in the relationships that will form the core of our families, organizations, and friendships.

Imagine a scenario where you are hired to perform an important task in an organization. Once you are hired, though, it becomes clear that your manager is not allocating you any trust. She constantly checks up on you and gives only the easiest assignments. You feel stifled and unappreciated. Worse, you get stale and find it hard to be motivated to do better. It doesn’t work. Relationships begin with a leap of trust. Trust is strengthened, bolstered, fostered, and perhaps even lost, but our posture as leaders shouldn’t be to cautiously dole our trust – we must start with trust.

Wright goes on to outline that “An effective team focused on results and relationships is powered by trust. Trust is the lifeblood of relationship and thus the fuel of teams” (p. 10)[1] Trust is empowering, but it is wisely noted by Sinek that “the true social benefit of trust must be reciprocal. One-way trust is not beneficial to the individual or the group” (p. 75). Trust needs to be a two-way street, and as usual, must either begin with the leader, or be modeled by the leader.

The implications of this for the leadership we show in our schools are large. How do you show a first year teacher at your school that you trust him or her without having seen their full body of work? How do you step into a relationship of trust with the new Board Chair who you’ve only known for 2 months? Relationships and teams flourish when trust is strong. How are you as a leader going to build and foster relationships that begin with trust?

[1] It should be noted that on the same page Wright goes on to say that “trust is essential for cohesion and community. It is both given and earned.” In this last point, I obviously disagree with him. However, I can think of a circumstance where a relationship is able to blossom over time with someone who we were unable to trust from the start because of extenuating circumstances. In this case, trust can definitely be earned, but I don’t believe it is the starting point of normal and healthy relationships.

Sinek, S. (2014). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don't. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Wright, Walter C. (2005). Don't Step on the Rope!: Reflections on leadership, relationships, and teamwork. Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster.

0 Comments

The Christian School Lifecycle

Trust Must Start with Us

Author

Archives

Categories