On a daily basis, I get to tell my teacher candidates that our “I-Care values” at San Juan College are not lip service. And on a regular basis, I hear back from new candidates that they are choosing our program because they’ve heard the story that we care. It’s why the vignette about Charles Modlin in Dugan's Leadership Theory resonates with me.
His story reminds me of SEVERAL friends and colleagues I’ve heard from recently. Collin Seale (2024), founder and CEO of ThinkLaw, posted this week on social media that he will no longer believe—or pass on to his sons—the belief that “I got to work twice as hard to get half as far.” I recently wrote a blog post to a similar effect—arguing that we limit our potential when we look at the OLD WAYS of success for black and brown people, for marginalized people, for OTHERED people. We also limit what our world can be until we put our hands upon it. In equity work, we make a decision to practice kindness because we believe that things can be different. And we are LEADERS when we do that. Like Charles Modlin, we can use our education and our talents to give back in ways that not only benefit our communities, but also reshape our communities for all time (Dugan, 2017, p. 223). I have a new ALP candidate, who’s bringing his unique skills back to his community. Timberlin Henserson is an extreme distance runner, and he’s using his passion to connect to indigenous youth as an educator and coach so he can share the healing power of pounding miles across the earth. He’s running in the Shiprock Marathon in April 2024 to try and set a new course record on his best-known training ground. I can’t wait to watch this “short” race for Timberlin, to cheer him on while he does his thing. I do tiny things—those are my things. I include collaborators in thank you cards to colleagues. I share credit for authorship when I got ideas from peers—ideas are part of the writing process to me. I practice equity in the daily grind because my I-Care values aren’t lip service, and I want to show it. When someone tells me that they heard I care, that’s the trophy at the finish line for me. It’s a quiet victory for being who I am, and I know it’s making a difference in my community—for all time. Every one of us can lead change in our communities; we just have to decide we’re going to. And we have to show up for the people, who are also doing the work. Make their acquaintance. Put in the relationship time. Be on their team. This sort of leadership captivates the powerful and the powerless alike—part of why it’s unstoppable—part of why it works. It’s genuine. Selfishly, it’s rewarding, too. And since the pay is AWFUL in equity work, at least it’s really fun. References: Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory. Jossey-Bass. McCay, K. A. (2024, January 31). ALP Candidate Interview with Timberlin Henderson. personal. Seale, C. (2024, January 30). LinkedIn Post. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Colin%20Seale&origin=GLOBAL_SEARCH_HEADER&sid=(F4
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