Thank You, Brené

Dear Brené,

I felt the need to write to you today.

I’m sitting in my recently organized office, admiring the chromatic organization of all my pens and markers, which serve as the perfect teacher’s centerpiece. For a second, I pause and look to my left, where three of your quotes hang:

“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort.”

“Clear is kind.”

“Daring leaders who live into their values are never silent about hard things.”

I heard those quotes for the first time in 2019, and I promised myself I would hang them on a wall if I ever stepped into a leadership role. Your work made sense to me because it helped me see the kind of leadership I needed as a teacher. I promised myself back then that I would always keep that perspective alive: be the leader teachers need me to be.

I didn’t start off the right way, though. I was stubborn and willful. I cared about “the right thing,” but had no idea how much I had to learn about those around me to co-construct what that meant.

Brené, your wisdom changed my perspective upon our first audible encounter. Still, in practice, I had to replay those chapters to figure out the real work. I wanted to pinpoint the actual practices I needed to implement to be the leader you described. Then, I listened to your voice repeat these words over and over, “Ana, remember your values.”

Growth and Give Back. 

Everything I do, think, say, and expect from others is filtered through one of those, if not both. This year presented itself as an opportunity to walk the talk, and it felt like I was skipping on the wrong side of the street. Too fast, too much, sometimes alone. I needed you.

Luckily, I have you on my Audible library, so you immediately delivered. You told me to start seeing those two values in my interactions with teachers and the work we did together. That’s when I noticed the missing piece: feedback. If I wanted to walk the talk, I needed to ask for directions to get back on track.

I decided to gather specific feedback to define the next steps while honoring the purpose I share with the teachers I work with, so I put together a survey, crafted questions with precise details, studied your Daring Feedback checklist (and realized I was failing at some of them), and prepared myself to analyze the results. Your voice kept whispering in my ear, “All these people are in the arena. Be ready to hear them.”

Here’s the thing: I went into this role knowing what was at stake: teachers. My goal was to be of service to them, and when I sat down to read their responses, I decided to look beyond the positive and highlight the [many] opportunities I missed. 

Their feedback helped me identify goals for next year and, most importantly, they gave me reasons to say no to “stuff.” When teachers bring me back to clarity, I know I’m getting it right, like you say. I also have a list of questions for you, but I’ll ask after I take my vacation—I need some distance from the role for a few days!

In August, I’ll come knocking when I prepare to share the survey results with all teachers. If you have any suggestions to set the year off with the right intentions, please let me know. Just point to a chapter in your book, and I’ll go digging! Learning alongside teachers this year was such a high. They are the reason I’m in this office.

Thank you again, Brené, and I’ll “hear you” soon!

Love,

Ana