Episode 79: Faith & Leadership: Following Jesus as a Public School Principal

The Big Question For Leaders

Principal JL 1:20

Can you be a public school principal, administrator, superintendent, assistant principal, educational leader, director, and openly follow Jesus? That's a question I've been wrestling with for probably the last year or so. Because I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of Jesus, but I'm also a principal of a public high school where I lead students and staff and I am active with the community, but I'm talking to people that have different beliefs, people that may not believe in God. And it's my responsibility to serve all of them. So where is that line? How do I live out my faith without pushing my faith onto somebody? How do I follow Jesus, but also honoring the responsibilities as a public school leader? And maybe the biggest question I've asked myself, do I have to hide my faith in order to lead everyone fairly? Well, I've come to believe the answer is actually no. Because by living my faith as a principal, it's not about practicing Christianity in my school. Has nothing to do with that. But maybe it's the way I treat people, the way I talk to people, the way I interact with people will show them the principles of Jesus. And so how do I do that? How do I serve? It's how I talk to people, how I listen, how I can forgive, show grace, how I interact with people when they mess up, how do I interact with somebody when they're struggling? I mean, how do I treat people when we totally disagree on something? Because leadership isn't ultimately about what you believe, it's about what people experience because of what you believe. So over the last year, my relationship with Jesus has completely changed the way I've been thinking about my purpose, my career, and my calling as an educator. Today I'm gonna tell you a story that's gonna be very personal to me. And it's something that I it is on my heart and I want to share with you guys. So without further ado, let's get right to the episode. Welcome back, everybody, to another exciting episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast. I'm so excited today. I'm gonna do something different, guys. Do something different because I'm gonna talk about something very personal and meaningful to me, and it's about my walk with Jesus. And to be honest with you, this is something I think about a lot because I'm like going, okay, I love Jesus, I follow Jesus, I am you know going down that path, but then how do I balance my faith with my position and with being a principal? And how do I do that in a public school? I think that's really something maybe some of you guys struggle with out there, and maybe something you think about. And maybe some of you guys are going, you know what, I'm turning this episode off because I don't want to hear about it. And that's that's your prerogative. But at the same time, I think this episode is really important just to try to understand that when you're a leader or a public school leader, it's not about are you a Christian or how you tell people about Jesus, it's about how you lead. It really comes down to the way you lead shows Jesus to others. And you don't even have to say anything, you don't have to

Leading Everyone Without Pushing Beliefs

Principal JL 5:17

say Jesus is the way, you know, and all that stuff. But at the same time, it's how you treat people, how you interact with people, and how you respond to people in a way that they may go, you know what, there's something different here. There's something different about this place, this school, and that leader. And that's maybe a way that you can share your faith, but without, you know, going out there and saying you must believe what I what I believe. Because guess what? In a public school, I work with lots of different people, some people, a lot of people with different backgrounds, different faiths, different cultural religions, but also people that may not believe, and that's that's okay. But I'm gonna treat those people the same no matter what, because that's what Jesus would want me to do. And I think that's really important is to figure out what are those balances. So as a high school principal, I serve students, teachers, families, staff members, I mean, people from all backgrounds. I just talked about that. And just to kind of like talk about my journey back to faith, I'm gonna go back to my childhood. Okay, I grew up in Lexington, Nebraska. My mom had me and my brothers go to church every Wednesday night, every Sunday, you know, youth group. When the church was open, we were there, right? Growing up in the Calvary Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church. We went to church camp from the time I was in fourth grade all the way through my senior year of high school. Didn't miss one. Not one time did I miss church camp. It was probably some of the funnest times I've had, and actually have relationships today with people that are out there that have gone to those camps, and we still keep in touch. So it's kind of a cool deal. But at the same time, looking back at it, you know, there was a time where I was thinking, you know, I'm gonna be a youth pastor, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna go in the ministry, but that's not what happened because I really soured on the church. I really looked at it like hypocritical, and you know, I was felt like I was forced into this and you know, only believed because my mom made me go to church and you know, and I it was believed in that way. You know, I never really stopped believing in God. I never really stopped believing in Jesus, but I lost my way. The kind

Growing Up In Church Then Drifting

Principal JL 7:40

of weird thing that happened was to be honest, God put me on a path, and I didn't realize He was putting me on the path I need to go down until I look back 20 years later. So I'm going into my 20th year of education, my ninth year as a build-in principal, and God put me in a position to make an impact. And it's really interesting, even though I wasn't following God and I wasn't really doing the things that most people would do when they're, you know, confessing their faith in Christ and those things. I look back, God had his hand in my life all the way through, even when I didn't realize he had his hand in it. And so becoming an educator was something that I was called to do, and I knew that. I knew becoming an educator was what I was supposed to do. I knew in my heart that's what God was calling me to do, and so I did it, and God's rewarded me for that. I am where I am at today because I followed the path that I'm supposed to be down, and I'm really happy that I'm here. But did I live a no one's gonna live a perfect life, but was I following Jesus in a way that people would know? Because probably not, because I'm gonna be honest with you. I always felt like if people know your religion in school, then you're not doing a good enough job as a teacher, right? If they knew what you believe, I think there's a balance to that. As a believer, I'm not gonna go into a public school situation and have a sermon, right? I'm not gonna like have a you know preach and do those things, but the way I carry myself is super important. Now, I always believed that there's a spiritual battle. I always knew they were out there, but I really never paid attention to it, if that makes sense. And really, my awakening was when Charlie Kirk got shot. When he got shot, he was martyred for his faith. Because the dude was out there just professing his faith on college campus, everywhere. He was living for Christ out loud. And I knew that, I knew about him, I mean I've listened to him before, but at the same time, I never really paid attention. But when that happened, something shook me to the core. Something went like, wake up, Jeff, wake up, because there is a spiritual battle out there that you need to be aware of. And I'm not gonna get into all that, but that was my awakening. That's where I realized I started going, you know what? I rededicated my life to Jesus at that moment, and I just said, okay, I'm gonna do my best to do better at following Jesus. And so, yeah, you know, I've been taking my daughter, she's been going to youth group or going to church, and then we'd go to church, but at the same time, she really loves learning about God, she's kind of figuring that out, and really that kind of was all kind of happening at the same time. And so, really, to be honest with you, me going back to church has a lot to do with my daughter wanting to go to church, and so with that, I was able to read that, but I started going, what are some things I can do to follow Jesus and to learn more about him? Because I mean, tell you what,

A Shocking Wake Up Call

Principal JL 11:14

I grew up knowing the Bible, but I probably know the Bible better now as an adult than I did as a teenager. And to be honest with you, I started a 365 read the Bible in one year. I think I just finished 222 days in a row of doing that, and I do that every morning. I do that before I do anything else. I do it when I wake up, you know, doing it while I get ready. So I have a little audio Bible that I listen to, but then I have a recap after it. And it's been really good because it's been something I've been able to meditate on, but I have a daily scripture that I listen to and I read about, I learn about, and then I have my passages that I read in the Bible. And I do that's just something I did, and I just started making those small changes because I want to live for Jesus, I want to live out loud, but at the same time, I think the biggest thing step I just took was I put out a Facebook post telling people, I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus, he is the way, and if you you know want to come to him, this is all you need to do. Like, here you go. And for me, that was a big step because I always felt like people shouldn't know your business because of your position. But I think there's a way you can do that to where, hey, you can be a Christian and you could be a leader of a public school, and you can lead in a way that helps people know that you're gonna take care of them, you're gonna serve them, and maybe, and just maybe, when you lead with you know, Jesus principles

Small Daily Habits That Change You

Principal JL 12:52

out there, that they may ask you questions about it, and they may ask you about what's different, what you know you lead differently than other people and you do things differently, you know, and that will maybe give you an opportunity to tell them, like, yeah, I'm a Christian, I believe this way, and I believe this is the way you should take care of people. And I think that's powerful in its own right. But at the same time, we got a model that as leaders, and I don't think it really, I think it's really important to know that yes, I can be a Christian, I can believe in Jesus, but I also can be a really good principal. Like I can love people, I can serve people no matter where they're at, if they're a believer or non-believer. And I think that's something that I've learned. It doesn't matter if it's an adult or if it's a student. I want to love on that person no matter what, because that's what Jesus would do, regardless if he accepts them or rejects them. And I think that's something we gotta realize as leaders. So that's kind of like my story. That's kind of like where I got into just the last year, my journey, and where I'm at today. So honestly, being a Christian in a public school setting is something that you can do, you can profess your faith, but you don't have to sit there and you know preach at people or anything like that. You just do your job. Like I'm gonna come in here, I'm gonna do my job, I'm gonna lead. But this is something that I picked up on in all the books that I'm reading, right? I'm reading about principles that people can live their lives by. Well, I could take those principles, those books. So it does John Maxwell book, a Sean Coveney book about the seven habits, right, of highly affected people. You know, the principles in that. John Gordon, you know, if you read a lot of his stuff, those principles are principles from Jesus. It's how Jesus led. And they may not come out and say that exactly, but those principles are what those are. It doesn't matter if you're a believer or not, those principles are great principles to use in your leadership and in your personal life. And I think that's something important. That's a connection that I made as I'm reading all these books because these people are Christians. They are, you know, people that live out loud in their faith, but they're not going to be people that are going to be like, you better repent or go to hell. They're not that kind of people, right? But they want to share like the principles and those things, how you can be a better person because of these principles. And I think that's I think that's what people got to realize. And so, yes, you can have this belief. You can also lead with these principles in a way that helps your school be great.

Using Leadership Principles Rooted In Faith

Principal JL 16:23

And so, really how you treat people, how you interact with them, how you you know, listen to them, how you forgive them, how you help them is so important. And it's something that we all gotta do a better job of at this time because we need strong leaders in public schools. Right now, public schools are getting a bad rap. Like, hey, you know, people are saying I don't want my kid to go to public school because they hear and see all these bad things. But guess what? They need strong leaders, they need people that are gonna have conviction, they're gonna be able to stand on their conviction and lead in a way that helps everybody get better, how everybody learn and grow, and help people just become better human beings. And I think that's something that we have to realize in the public school setting that we can do is we can impact people, I would say, more in a public school setting by being able to live out our faith in a way that people see that they know that, but it's how you re how you interact with them that is going to be the key. And that's that's that's the thing here. It's us showing them that we're not gonna judge you. I'm not gonna judge you because you don't believe, and that's okay. Like you don't have to believe, but at the same time, I'm here to help and serve you so you can become the best teacher you can be. I'm here to help and serve this student so they can become the best student no matter what their background. And I think that's something that we really gotta understand moving forward. So, really, like I said, the leadership principles we use out of these books are something that have been around for a long time. It's just how people package them, how people talk about them, and they're good principles for us to use every day. So, some books I would really recommend anything by John C. Maxwell, Sean Coveny, John Gordon, those are my main like leadership people out there that I would recommend for you to, you know, kind of read through. And they do talk about their faith a little bit, but they don't really go in depth with it. And so that's what I found like, oh, this is really kind of neat because of their backgrounds and what they do. I think that's really important to highlight and gives you guys some good principles to build your leadership around. Because, like I said, this whole episode is just as leaders, we don't need to hide our faith anymore. We can live by our faith and say, yes, I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus, and I believe he is the Son of God, and He, you know, died for our sins, and he rose after three days and defeated death because his death atoned our sins. And yes, I'm gonna be a sinner for, you know, I'm a sinner. I like, I'll sin, I'm gonna mess up. But as long as I have my relationship with Jesus, I know I'm gonna be okay. I know things are gonna work out the way they are. And you know what? People may not like this, the devil's not gonna like this for sure, but at the same time, I really think it's really important that you guys understand just because you have a faith in Jesus doesn't mean you cannot let people know. Like I was really afraid of letting people know of my beliefs, and now I'm I'm done, tired of hiding, I'm tired of being shameful for being a Christian and for believing it. Therefore, that's why I took that step on Facebook. But at the same time, I really feel like this episode is important to get out there. So there might be other people out there thinking the same thing. And I want to encourage you that you can lead your school building with principles that show people what Jesus is really like. And when you do that, that may open the door for you, but at the same time, you're just loving on people, you're just telling people no matter who they are, where they're from, that you love them and you want to take care of them just like Jesus would,

Grace Accountability And Clean Slates

Principal JL 20:26

no matter what. And I think when people do that, I think that's the the best thing that you can do out there because I look at people as, you know, I I love people who they are. I may not love their actions, they may make a stupid decision, but they may and they may have a consequence for it. But you know what? I'm gonna still love on that person. And guess what? I'm not gonna hold their actions against them because I know that they made a poor chose at that time, but doesn't mean that makes them someone that deserves you know judgment or punishment because they made that one mistake. So give them a clean slate, moving on, you know, show them some grace, but also showing them love as well. To kind of wrap this up is I know a lot of you guys are out there getting ready to start school. I really hope you guys have a really great start to your school year. I also want to hear what are some great things you guys are doing to start the school year. I know for us we had open house, we're gonna have our freshman only day, and then we're gonna kick off school. I always have an assembly at the beginning of the very first day where everybody's back. I have an assembly, you know, finishing up our pre-service days right now. And so we're really gonna get rocking it, you know, here later this week. So, what are some things you guys are doing? I'd love to hear about it. So shoot me an email at the dot principal.jl at gmail.com. Love to hear all the cool things you guys are doing out there. And you know what? If you respond to this and you get me your email or give me some cool things that you're doing to kick off the school year, I would love to give you a shout out. Give you your name, your school, what are you doing, and give you a shout out on a future episode. So I want you guys to have an incredible start to your school year. I hope you guys are ready to rock it. I hope you're ready to make a difference and make that impact in every single person's life. And so with that, God bless you. And remember, as always, be curious and 1% better. I hope you guys enjoyed that episode. If this episode resonated with you, please share with somebody

Starting The School Year Strong

Principal JL 22:47

that needs to hear it. Please like and subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss another episode like this one. Also, if there's anything you want me to talk about, you know, on a future episode, please send in your recommendations. I would love to hear the things that you guys would love me to tackle on this podcast so I can get it out there for it, give you guys my perspective. But also, I have episodes with Robert Henchcliffe. Love to give us both of us our perspectives on things out there. Please give me an email at the dot principal.jl at gmail.com. Hope you guys enjoy this episode and always remember to be curious and one percent better.