When the first Shrek movie came out, my friends and I went to the theater to watch it, and I laughed so hard that I was almost asked to leave the room. I told the kid with the flashlight that I would try, but I wasn’t sure how to “lower the volume” on myself.
I’m not the same person I was in 2001, but my loudness is the same as it’s always been. Not only is my laugh loud, but my voice and ideas are, too. And for a long time, I was proud of that. I didn’t think I had a reason to keep those loud ideas to myself, especially ideas that found me just like Donkey found Shrek.
Years later, I accidentally began learning about team collaboration principles and strategies to get people working toward a common purpose. I was lucky enough to be in a place that not only used the words “collaboration” and ” team members” as a branding strategy but also invested in truly training its people to work together.
I was loud when I got there, but I learned to lower my volume to listen, understand, and learn from others. Louder, newer, and better ideas suddenly surrounded me. As I went quiet, a strong sense of shame rushed in, and for a while, it went everywhere with me.
Two things happened: I realized there was a lot I didn’t know, and I also struggled with the idea of holding myself back. Over time, curiosity and a desire for learning pushed shame to the back seat, and I realized that I was gaining so much knowledge in return with all the quiet. Not only did I learn about new/better instructional approaches, but I also discovered the art of guiding others in sharing their loud ideas.
In 2018, I was formally trained to lead groups and work with teachers using an approach that required a big mute button. My quiet became intentional. I learned to use questions and protocols to facilitate conversations. I studied the way teams build understanding and make decisions. My ideas kept growing on the side, but I stepped into a new role that pushed the boundaries of how I learned.
Three years later, I found myself in a new school where my loud ideas made a comeback. The facilitator’s shoes went in a box under the bed, and I turned the volume up as a teacher with a lot to share. And for some time, that was okay. However, being loud can lead me to forget I still have much to learn. And I do want to keep learning.
This year, instead of waiting for something to happen, I set some things in motion to put myself in that facilitator’s role again. In December, I began facilitating meetings for a new committee at my school. I had many reasons to avoid taking on another task, but I wanted to remind myself what it feels like to shut up and listen. And although I have had loud moments in our meetings, my intention to learn from others remains. My loud ideas need no shushing; they just need new voices to sing together.
With this post, I make those intentions visible. I want to test my understanding of the ideas I hold dear while trying new things. Most of all, I want to be part of something bigger that happens because I shared the mic. Here are the important aspects of team leading I must keep present when doing this work:
- Listening styles
- Intentionality for protocols
- Meeting agendas and timing
- Balanced participation
Start with a Story 