To close out my January, I need to SHOUT OUT a group of educators in Orange County who gave up a Saturday to raise their game for their staff and students. With little fanfare, about 200 or so administrators came to Concordia University in Irvine to talk about school culture, among other things. The event was sponsored by The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) who put on a pretty good day of speakers, workshops, and food that proved to be a pretty good conference. So kudos to attendees and sponsors for a good day for the OC.
I want to belabor a point, though. It was a Saturday and probably went without anyone noticing, except for the families and loved ones of the attendees. It is not lost on me that the sacrifice made on this particular weekend deserves to be recognized. You see, leadership is a growth process, an evolution of sorts. The more experiences and conversations one has about organizations, the more our philosophies get fine-tuned. I am proud of those leaders that came and participated. Taking personal responsibility is the only way to develop as a leader, and I saw a lot of leaders in Irvine. My fear is they get taken for granted and, in this forum at least, I send my thanks and respect for getting out there.