It's been a while.... and what I have learned.

During a recent trip, I was returning home from Los Angeles and had to make a connecting flight from Dallas to Amarillo. Our plane was an hour late leaving from Los Angeles to Dallas because they were having issues with another passengers seat belt. I was worried about making my connection because my layover time was already shorter than I would have liked it to be. We land in Dallas and I have 15 minutes to get off the plane, make it to a different terminal, and to board the plane. I sprint from one terminal to the other and of course my gate is at the VERY END of the terminal.  Just imagine the scene from Home Alone where the family is running through the airport. jumping over bags, dodging people, and running onto the plane at the very last minute, and you will see what I was doing through the terminal. I finally get to the gate, board the plane and I am so ecstatic that I made it! It meant I was going to make it home on time so I could tuck my babies into bed for the night. I sit down in my seat with a sense of accomplishment and soon we are taking off. We are 5 minutes into the air and I am wishing I had missed the flight. It was by far the worst flight I have ever been on. The turbulence is HORRENDOUS . We are on one of those small American Eagle planes and we are veering up and down and side to side. During the entire flight I am looking at the flight attendants to see their facial expressions. If they are calm then I am calm. If they get worked up, then I will get worked up. The flight attendants seem calm. They are smiling and laughing at each other. If they are smiling and laughing then things must be ok, right? Right.

As soon as I am starting to calm down, the pilot gets on the intercom and says in a nervous tone "I am sorry folks but this turbulence is horrible! We are doing the best we can. We are now going to have to drop altitude which is going to be hard on our fuel."

I immediately start to panic. I am sure we are going to crash. We are going to run out of fuel. If he says it is horrible then it must be really bad. A pilot wouldn't call it horrible if it wasn't truly horrible. He sounded nervous when he was speaking to us. It must be bad! We are going to die!

Ok , I may have been a bit dramatic, but I was looking to him for reassurance. I already knew the turbulence was bad, but why did he have to tell me that? Why did he have to tell me about the fuel? He is suppose to keep us calm. Not worry us more!

I prayed harder than I ever have before.  The plane continues to be tossed around. I am looking around and the other passengers have a look of panic on their faces as well. We are finally about to land and as we touch the ground the plane is still being tossed from side to side. It wasn't until I step off the plane that I finally felt safe.

After I recovered from the horrendous flight, it hit me like a ton of bricks,  this is exactly what leadership is like. The school is the plane and I am the pilot (or co-pilot since I am an assistant principal). The teachers and students are the passengers. When something rocks our school (like turbulence) the passengers are looking to the pilots for reassurance. If I am frazzled or panicking in front of my teachers than they too are going to be frazzled and panicked. But if I am calm during a difficult situation then they are going to have confidence that things are going to be ok. If our pilot would have come onto the intercom and reassured us and said more comfort-inspiring words then I wouldn't have been so panicked. I would have still known that we were going to go through some bumps along the way, but his reassuring words would have made me feel confident we would get through the turbulence together. The same goes for being a leader at school.  Calmness and reassurance go a long way when faced with difficult circumstances.

This past semester our school went through some really tough times. It started the night before my kidney donation surgery and things were still little rocky all the way up to Christmas break. I did my best to stay calm but to be honest I could have been better. It wasn't until the lesson I learned from the that turbulent plane ride, did I truly realize how important it is for the leader to be calm and collected even during the toughest times. Sure, I knew it was important, but until you experience something that rocks your school to it's core, do you realize how important it really truly is.

In order to stay calm and level headed for those you lead, you must take care of YOU!

Leadership is tough. You have to be strong and calm during difficult times. Even if you want to break down, you can't. At least not in front of those who are depending on you to be strong. I have learned how important it is to have an outlet. Something you can do for yourself that will relieve stress. Running does it for me. I used to run all the time, but I stopped when I became an assistant principal. I thought I no longer had the time. Ha! I have now realized that in order to be the best leader possible I need to MAKE the time. I have to have something that can allow me to decompress and for me that is running. Always has been, and always will be.

As tough as leadership is, I know I am exactly where I am suppose to be. I love my students and my teachers and I feel honored and blessed to be their assistant principal. I hope and pray that I can be the leader I need and deserve. I am far beyond perfect but I strive to be better than the day before.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year. Here is to a new year with new blessings and opportunities. Happy 2018!