Lesson 68: Authenticity
“My Nephew, I am truly impressed and highly proud of your journey in the field of education and what you are about to do with your life. I only wish that your Dad were here to celebrate all your achievements.”
This message is from my uncle on my father’s side of the family. His words of encouragement came after he learned I spoke at the Toigo Foundation’s Industry Gala. Thankfully, my mother could join the event to see my speech, but my father could not because he passed away when I was a child. Therefore, my uncle’s heartfelt message filled me with gratitude. As I meet new people at these valuable opportunities, remaining connected to people who have known me my whole life keeps me authentic and grounded in who I am.
Authentic leadership draws on everything that makes you unique to create an environment where people feel empowered to do their best work. Refusing to be someone you are not is a common thread among the most successful leaders. Jay Z once said in an interview with Warren Buffett that he never tried “being something I’m not.” In fact, seeing them embrace how they were cut from a different cloth makes me embrace my unique past as an educator.
One skill you gain as a teacher is the ability to build a lesson plan that fits your students. For example, I found one of my first lesson plans. In 14 pages, it details for the teacher where the lesson is going and how the class will get there. Similarly, businesses have a Value Creation Plan (VCP). The book Restructuring the Hold by Tom Anderson and Mark Habner explains how the VCP details for the operator where a business is going and how it will get there.
According to Anderson and Habner, a great VCP has five key parts, which felt familiar to me as an educator:
The Investment Objective is like the ultimate goal of a semester—the concrete knowledge and concepts we want to learn by a certain date.
The Value Proposition is the 'why'—it is the part where I explain to my students how algebra is valuable for their lives today.
The Strategies are the units I would plan, and the Key Initiatives are the daily activities and homework that bring those lessons to life.
The Core Values. In my classroom, this was about creating a culture that celebrates curiosity. In a business, these values guide every decision and empower the people who bring the plan to life.
My values are to act with love, humility and wisdom. You must show your team love, and it is just as important to show yourself love. Similar to teaching, I must be authentic on how I bring plans to life. I see how being myself will add value that no one else can. Demonstrating I can be successful because I am being myself, influences my team to trust they can be themselves. Remaining authentic is something both my father and I would always celebrate.
This is Lesson 68: Authenticity. Next week is Lesson 69: Focus.
