Wisdom from Blach: Pick Yourself

I get the weekly newsletters from each of our schools,  I often admire Sandra McGonagle's take on things.  She either has wonderful original stories, or occasionally finds someone else's inspirational writing to share with the families.  It's a great reflection on where she is as an educator and a leader.  Here's a winner from this week:

Dear Blach Families,

 

Even at this age we have students suffering from “Bat Boy Syndrome”. Seth Godin’s latest blog post on the topic really had me thinking. It’s worthwhile enough to quote the entire short post.

 

“Here's a common fantasy: Your team wins the pennant. It goes on to the World Series. It wins! And you're there for it, all along, the bat boy, helping out the sluggers, doing your job, proximity to greatness.

 

The line to get a job at Disney and Google and Pixar is long indeed. Countless people eager to get picked to join a winning team. Not as the person who is going to have to step up and cause success, no, the opportunity sought is to be on the team, to bask without being asked for heroics (which of course, carry risk).

 

The industrial culture, the resume-building mindset—it's no wonder so many have bat boy syndrome. The alternative, the alternative of picking yourself, is frightening because we've been hoodwinked and brainwashed into believing that it's not up to us. But it is.”

 

Here at Blach we have long lines to get into Leadership, Student Cabinet, sports teams...the list goes on. However, it appears that having the title is enough for many. They don’t want to take the risk, do the work, or put themselves on the line. Only a very few understand that THEY ARE THE GREATNESS.

 

The big question is how to we get more to see that BEING THE GREATNESS is so much better than being the bat boy and that we all have the potential to be GREAT if we believe?

 

Here's to “picking yourself”.

 

Sandra

 

 

Well said, Sandra.  And I love how you're putting that into action at Blach.