Abraham Lincoln said, “we can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or we can rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”  I like that.  My wife and I plant rose bushes.  In our previous home, we once had a pretty good collection.  We plan to regenerate and expand upon that collection as we develop the gardens in our current home.  Rose bushes are great because they’re hearty, they’re beautiful, and they smell nice.  There is tradition behind rose bushes.  They have meaning and are symbolic.  Everyone knew and cared about someone who had rose bushes.  They help us to think about and celebrate the places and people we choose to keep close as we move along our paths.  We have each seen them, but how do we each view them?

I’m starting to think that shifting my understanding of what a rose bush is might enhance its value and beauty.  For the greater part of my forty years, a rose bush has simply been a rose bush.  Until recently, I couldn’t have considered it anything else.  Now, I’m beginning to realize that it might actually be a thorn bush, and how cool is it that thorn bushes have roses.  It truly is something to rejoice about!  More importantly for us in educational leadership, the distinction illustrates that there are multiple perspectives from which to view the world, and arguably, a great many more than that.

School communities are populated with people from diverse backgrounds, holding varied beliefs, and coming from unique sets of personal core values.  Often times, those backgrounds, beliefs, and core values are similar.  After all, stakeholders in any given school community live in relatively close proximity to one another.  They shop at the same stores, play in the same parks, and run into one another at the Fourth of July parade.  They walk past each other’s rose bushes.  However, it is entirely possible that they each see something slightly different when they do.  I think that one of the most important things an educational leader can do is try to understand the perspective of each individual that he/she serves.

One way to achieve that is through focused listening.  See a rose bush, see a thorn bush, but no matter what you see, work hard to understand what others see.  That way, you can also work hard to incorporate each individual’s values, vision, and needs into the collective paradigm of your school community.  Then…rejoice.  Below is a really short animation that illustrates some of how and why I think listening should be done.  The key is focus.  Forget about judging, forget about responding, some of the best listening happens when it’s the only thing that is happening.  Just listen.  When done right, the developmental benefits can be extremely fulfilling for everyone involved.

Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.