Thursday, July 24, 2014

Quote-A-Day: Day 205

#Journey often.  Nothing encourages #thinking differently like being in a different place.  #QuoteADay #Day205 #edchat #ASCDL2L #SeeYouSoon

I’m sitting in JFK airport waiting to board my plane to Reagan.  I’m heading to ASCD’s Leader 2 Leader conference (L2L), a conference that is designed to build the capacity of leaders both for serving in their current and future positions as well as within the ASCD organization. 

A slight delay (due to some crazy attempt by Delta to board four planes from the same gate and a missing flight attendant; explain those to me) has given me about twenty minutes to put this post together.  This is good, because from the time I arrive today until I leave on Saturday, my brain will be going nonstop.  The past two years that I have attended, my brain has actually hurt at the end of the conference.  I have no reason to believe this year will be any different.

What’s so great about going to any conference is the ability to think differently.  Sometimes, all that is needed is a change in location to help us reframe our thoughts, whether that means more creatively, more constructively, or something else entirely.

Like any leader or learner, I actually enjoy the process of thinking.  I love what it feels like to have ideas go through my head, and I enjoy letting them percolate.  I enjoy sharing my own ideas and hearing the ideas of others.  All these characteristics are important traits for developing leaders and learners.

What is so great about L2L is I’m surrounded by folks who are infinitely better and more successful leaders than I am.  So, I can take the opportunity to learn from each of them.  What is even more special about the conference is it happens in a place that is different from my normal places of thinking and learning.  As I’ve mentioned previously, when I’m in a different place, I’m able to consider ideas differently, and building different pathways of thought is incredibly important to being an effective leader.


While the journey is sometimes half the fun, exposing our senses to different stimuli is really what lets us expand our thinking.  I’m looking forward to the opportunity to take my learning and leading in new directions.  I hope you are always looking forward to these experiences too.

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