For one of my system responsibilities, I’m a facilitator for our Emotional Intelligence workshops. This past Friday, we completed our final module, focusing on Decision Making, Problem Solving and Stress Management.  We spent a great deal of the afternoon sharing our challenges as administrators and discovering ways to protect ourselves from the potential stressors in both our professional and personal lives.  We laughed a great deal and took comfort in the fact that we are all in this together.  One of the video clips that I shared was a classic  “I Love Lucy” sketch ~ I love Lucy Candy Factory Video.

Although the initial intent of showing the video was to illicit laughter about a stressful situation, the audience reaction and subsequent observations led us to a deeper discussion about the effects of “management” on the worker and how that relates to us in education.  I shared with the group that my connection to the video clip was that it reminded me of my progression in leadership.  The beginning of the clip is how I felt as a VP in my first placement ~ I was able to head home at the end of the day, feeling as if my desk was cleared (all of my candies were neatly wrapped).  As my admin career continued into my first principalship, the conveyor belt became faster and every now and then a few “candies” fell off the belt.  Now, I find myself in a complex, exciting and unique building with over 750 students and 85 staff members.  It is very rare that when I leave at the end of the day, I feel as if all of the “candies” are neatly wrapped and yet when our supervisors see us, we make it look manageable and hence the conveyor belt speeds up and we take on more challenges.  We continue to learn and grow with each new challenge and our skills improve.

I can’t help but reflect on those candies that are being neatly wrapped, those that are falling off the conveyor belt and those that I’m hiding in my hat….smile!