Sharing Your Genius - It's not a choice, it's an obligation

For quite some time, I have had these thoughts:

'As educators, we have a moral obligation to share our genius.'

'As educators, we need to share our genius with others more often'

'As educators, we need to have the courage to share our passion in front of our peers' 

So, this post is serving two masters for me: I have set the professional goal to do more than think outside the box, it is time I have the courage to model what I preach to others.  A second goal I have set is to share my 'genius' with others through blogging.

You see, for me, this process of blogging is where I work through inner dialog.  It is where I hash out the inner workings of ideas.  It is where reflect on my JOB to get better at my PASSION of being an educator and leader.  Over the past couple of years, I have written probably somewhere around 100 blog posts and then later deleted them because I didn't have the courage to post these outside the box ideas for others.

To accomplish these two goals,  I am setting the goal of having a meaningful blog post once a week.  I am going to be action oriented when I return to work in the fall.  My role in our school has grown into one where I am the person who calls it like I see it and isn't afraid to cast away tradition in the hopes finding a better way to do it.  Luckily, I have a boss who relies on me to 'rock his boat'.  Now it is time, I take another step and be willing to model the leadership thoughts, educational actions and new ideas that I generally take to others.  So, stay tuned for more.

The real impetus behind sharing this post came from a 'Honey-Slap' moment as Adam Bellow (@AdamBellow) calls it.  I was lured into an experience for the honey and slapped with the reality of truth.  That honey-slap moment for me was sitting in the #HackKeynote by Adam and Dean Shareski (@shareski).  The one and only Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) sat down behind and me and it was go time baby!  Those who know me best, know the giddy excitement I experience from meeting my EDUCATION heros, so this was like nirvana for me.

This was my nirvana moment as I was surrounded by rock stars Adam Bellow, Tony Vincent, and Dean Shareski...not to mention fellow #CozadMakers Patty Wolfe & Karen Berreckman

And then it dawned on me...The people that I idolize are ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things...and they make others more extraordinary by sharing their genius.  The slap was this - We have a moral obligation to share our talents and live our passion for the world around us'.  There is no doubt that these guys are rock stars and uber talented, but the reality is that they have made a conscious choice to share their genius with us.  Their sharing has made me better and I owe it to others to share that with them.

I wonder how the culture of school would change if, we as educators and leaders, had the courage to share our genius with our peers and not be self conscious in showing our passion to our fellow educators.  When others are showing their passion it is contagious.  It is a contagion that lifts your spirits.  I can assure you that this year I am moving forward in my work as an educator to share my genius and just maybe I will be able to elevate those around me.

Lastly, I must give credit to a few of the people who have inspired me to be more awesome.  Thanks Adam Bellow for imploring all of us to make education better.  Thank you to Angela Maiers for encouraging other to share their genius.  Thanks Pernille Ripp for modeling blogging and authentic sharing.  Thank you Tony Vincent for being such a confident down to earth rock star.  And lastly, thank you to my fellow educators and friend for inspiring me to grow.