Live Well, Lead Strong: We Can All Do Small Things
Hello, my friends!
Recently, I saw a history professor I admire very much, Tim Snyder, in a video he recorded in Ukraine. You may know his bestselling book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, which became very famous a few years ago. I absolutely love his work!
Tim’s message this time was about what he called “small courage.” His theme was that all of us have the capacity to act in ways that we may view as minor, but some of our everyday choices may actually be viewed as courageous in times of conflict and tension like today. It may be that we choose to welcome a person unlike us into a group or seek out a person with different experiences and listen to them with an open mind. You may step into that conversation not knowing if you’ll be shamed or accepted, blamed or welcomed. These days, those actions may even be countercultural, and they can look like courage in daily life.
How about in your leadership life? Realize that, in many cases, you’re demonstrating small courage and serving the common good by acting as an advocate for someone who may not have a voice. You may need to speak on behalf of a marginalized parent who is being treated unfairly or a student whose emotional needs deserve special attention. You may need to help a veteran employee understand the needs of a new person on their team and shape the culture of that group to work together. In all these cases, you’re embracing the role of a leader who stands for what is right—and that courage is priceless.
Sometimes courage involves holding brave conversations and valuing courage over comfort. We may think first about our own values and how we want to live them out daily. Then we can recognize that “what we permit, we promote,” and that we can’t disappoint our best people by failing to address marginal performance. Remember, your role as a leader is to advocate for all students to be served with the same level of excellence. The day you don’t want to speak up is really the day you need to speak up, right? When you cloak yourself in this type of courage, you’ll leave a legacy that will last. So what kind of courage do you need right now?
Tim Snyder’s video caused me to remember the lovely words attributed to Mother Teresa:
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
What if each of us took a look at our own lives every day and decided we would intentionally practice small courage and small acts of love? These days, we may often feel helpless to do something productive in the face of daunting challenges, but we are in charge of the small choices we can make for good in every moment. That’s something I think we all can control—and I bet the world would be a better place if we did.
May your courage shine,
Debbie McFalone, Ph.D.