My grandparents are some of the most dedicated people I know, in many areas of their life. However, if there is one area where their dedication shines through most, it is in their dedication to the Atlanta Braves. They have watched close to every single Braves game that has been played over my entire lifetime. Given that I lived 15 minutes away from them in my early childhood and was raised by their son, early on I was bred to be a Braves fan and a fan of the sport of Baseball as a whole. Many people say that it is a boring game and they can’t stay awake to even watch the game, I get where these people are coming from, but this will never be true for me.
So why is baseball relevant to this blog post? I began reading a book for my job this coming summer called 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, which addresses 7 Practices for refocusing and organizing a ministry setting, in the case of the story in the book, a continuously expanding and growing church. The beginning of this book tells a parable of an overwhelmed Pastor who skips a church elder board meeting to attend a baseball game that a friend had given him a free ticket to. Little did he know this was not just an ordinary baseball game, but actually a meeting with the manager of the baseball team, a notoriously famous business man. The Pastor quickly learned that the goal of him being present was not simply to watch the game, but for him to rethink the method in which he was leading his church.
As I have read through the first of these 7 practices, it has been impossible to separate them from my “ministry” in my classroom and any role of leadership I hold as their applications are practical and endless. The first of these 7 practices specifically stuck with me: it is “Clarify the Win”. In the context of a baseball game, there is no question that the “win” is to win the game by scoring the most runs. Each player from their respective teams steps on to the field knowing that their goal is to score runs to win the game. This is their sole focus and as such they are able to focus all of their energy on this goal.
Reading this forced me to ask myself “What is the win in my classroom?” Is the win having all my students get A’s? Is the win having all my students jumping up and down because they are so excited to be in my class? Is the win having all students perfectly learn the math and have it be their new favorite subject? The easy answer to all these possible wins, is that no they are not what a win is in my classroom. It didn’t take me long to clarify the win: The win in Ms. Boggs classroom is for students to try their hardest, take risks, and learn to pick themselves back up when they make a mistake or don’t get something on the first try.
If students do this day after day, they are working towards the win in my class (and along the way they will learn the math and earn a good grade). The question then becomes how do I communicate this to my students? I first thought that I had to tell them this story and baseball metaphor, but then I was reminded that there is more than one way to communicate with students. By encouraging my students to work their hardest and praising them when they are participating and expecting them to do so, I am communicating to them that this is the win. By loving my students through their good days when this is easy and their hard days when they struggle to do one problem, I communicate to them that the win is that they try and work their hardest.
In leadership and as a teacher, if you don’t know what the win is and can’t communicate that to those you are leading, then when they step onto the field they won’t be focused, they won’t know what it is that they are working towards, and they are less likely to succeed. So, in whatever leadership position you find yourself, make sure that you clarify the win for yourself and those you lead, and determine what is the best way to communicate to them, let them know what they are working towards, and they will focus in and work towards it.
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