Nurtured Thinking

We began our Summer Leadership Retreat at the Coral Crater Adventure Tower and literally faced down our fears and took great leaps of faith.  The Tower is an intimidating 65 ft high structure with 18 obstacles to overcome.  Although we were harnessed in, we needed to move the harness ourselves and unhook and rehook the gear often.  We crossed various unstable, uneven bridges, swung on ropes like Tarzan, and jumped across platforms. It was terrifying.  But, it was also amazing to share in that fear and support each other through it. Everyone needed encouragement and everyone stepped up to provide it.  There were moments when we were paralyzed with fear, afraid to go on, unsure that the risk would pay off and in those moments, our teammates supported us.  Sometimes the support was physical, offering a hand or pulling each other up on a platform.  But more often, it was the words: the reminder that we were safe, the steadfast belief that we could do it.  In fact, one of the most po

Coral Crater Adventure Tower: Kapolei, HI As summer is winding down, it is time to move from the reflecting (or as I like to say internal marinating) phase of thinking to concrete planning. The first event that I will be leading is the Farrington High School Teacher Leadership Cadre Summer Retreat.  Even though the TLC is entering into its third year, this is the first summer we have had a retreat.  The retreat idea came into being after a rocky transition from the first year of TLC to the second.  As we moved into a new team, with new group dynamics, I clearly underestimated the importance of relationships and the power of setting a strong foundation. This year, we are going to start slow to go fast-we will lay down the roots for our tree to grow strong. We will nurture our relationships. This summer all TLC members have been reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.  I will give more insights about this book in a future post, but the overall message is that to lead, one needs