Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Quotes

I'm currently swamped in grad school papers and working on completing my portfolio (so close to the end, but yet so far!) and I have to do several book reports (flashback to 4th grade). One of the books that I have to read is a book that my professor required us to purchase and read, nevermind the fact that it's a book that he is featured in...geez! However, despite all of that, I found a few quotes that really spoke to me today that I thought I'd share. The book is called "Leading the Way to Success" and while it is not written for the education field, there are several ideas that carry over well. Both of these quotes are from James Kouzes.
"The secret to succes is: Stay in love. Staying in love gives you the fire to really ignite other people, to see inside other people, to get more things done than other people. A person who is not in love doesn't really feel the kind of excitement that helps him to get ahead and to lead others to achieve. I don't know any other fire or anything in life that is more exhilarating and powerful a feeling than love is."

It's no secret that I want to be in an administrative role in the future in the schools whether that be a principal or curriculum coordinator or something else. All of my classes have dealt with leadership and I think staying passionate about teaching is a must in whatever position one is in.
"You find your great call where your great joy meets the world's great need. I think that comes as close to a formula for success as I can find. Watch your great joy. Watch the great need in the world that enables you to use your great joy and therein lies your calling."
I think of my brother when I read this, but I also think about how blessed I am to know my calling and am able to do something that I love. Regardless of what position I hold in the future, I have found success because I found a way to use my joy to meet the world's needs. Cheesy, I know. Just bare with me. I've had to do a lot of reading lately!