Lessons in Leadership

The last couple of days, I have had the opportunity to reflect on the power of leaders- for good and for bad.

We spent this last week testing in schools in a small but growing town near Salt Lake. First up was a new but already “bugling at the seams” elementary school. The principal of this school was a very interesting guy. Just being in his office was an experience. He is a collector of “stuff”- mostly old rusted stuff that once had served its purpose well. Many of these rusty old items, to the non-collector, would be overlooked, kicked aside, or even stomped upon. But there they were, prominently displayed on his office walls, museum-like, with appropriate framed notes and commentary. Within each frame was a beautiful, sparkling gem- a significant life lesson suggested by the old rusty item. What an inspiration just to sit in his office! In addition, he had a shelf with items not yet displayed, brought to him by students who had obviously been inspired, as well, to become collectors and, perhaps, deep thinkers, like unto their principal.

But, it only began in this most unusual office. This man was the undisputed leader of his school. He called each child by name as he went out into the halls and it was evident that the students loved him. He was extremely supportive of our efforts and did everything he could to facilitate a positive experience. In addition, he was a problem solver extraordinaire when a little rumple in the plan occurred. He was very appreciative and complimentary of our work and gave us a very positive review when a follow-up call was made by our supervisor.

Interestingly, two years ago, when we tested at a high school in the same district, the same man was principal at that school. When we first met with him, he assured us, “You’ll have no problems with these students. These are great kids!” His expectations for his students were realized when we tested them. He was right- they were great kids! From the two experiences with this principal, it was not too hard to learn how to do the math:
Great leader + Great Example + Great Expectations + Care, Concern, and Wisdom = Great Followers

Another experience this week with a great leader was at a junior high school. Two years ago, we tested at the school and it was not a good experience. The kids were rowdy, rather obnoxious and negative, and there was a potty-break pandemic that was out of control. There was no authoritarian figure from the school to support us in our efforts to make sure that each student had a good testing experience. We felt like we had been “thrown to the wolves.” Fast-forward to this week and a totally different experience: The principal was there to greet the kids as they came into the cafeteria. He gave them a pep talk before the test and encouraged them to do their best. He then stayed during the testing period and monitored how things were going. And, things went really well. The kids were great! No problems at all! At the end of the test, the principal complimented his students and our team, saying that in his 26 years as an administrator, he had never had such a good testing experience. He asked the students to give us a round of applause- that has never happened before.

We had been worried about this school, given our last experience and because our supervisor was making an official visit to evaluate our team. David and I prayed that morning that all would go well, that we would have no problems, and that we would make it there safely since there was a raging snowstorm outside and we had almost 45 miles to go to our destination. We left very early and arrived early, but our supervisor didn’t. It was not a good way to start her day. The minute she arrived, there was tension in the air. Everything we did, she wanted to know, “Why are you doing it that way?” She was nit-picking on every procedure, criticized each one of us, and freaked out over one procedural detail that wasn’t done exactly by the book. (Hello!... the situation wasn’t covered by the book!) She took a plethora of notes while she was observing, but, amazingly, she was not in the cafeteria to hear the principal’s positive comments at the end of the test or the applause. As we were winding things up for the day, she questioned David on everything and she kept asking, “Didn’t you get my e-mail about this?” Since she sends multiple e-mails each day, I wanted to ask, since David didn’t, “Which one, exactly?” But, I kept my mouth shut. Needless to say, our team was demoralized, angry, and ready to quit. After all, they don’t pay us enough for all the work we do. Can you tell how upset we were? David and I didn’t say a word to each other on our long trip home.

It was hard to pull ourselves out of bed to go back out to the town for testing the next day, but we did. When we drove up to the elementary school, this is what we saw on the marquee in front of the school:

The principal was at the front door welcoming us in and he thanked us for being there. He was thoroughly professional yet a very fun guy and he had everything organized, complete, and was ready to support us in every way. He gave a rousing pep talk to his 4th graders about the test and doing their best because they were representing their school and other 4th graders from Utah. As he led us to the 4th grade classrooms, he called kids by name, made cute comments to them and encouraged them for the day, and raved about his school to us. At the end of the day… the kids were great, the teachers were great, and the experience was great. In the hall by the 4th grade classrooms, we couldn’t help but notice this guy hanging out:

What a fun illustration of the correlation between excellent leadership
and the expectation of what will follow!

With such examples as the ones I’ve mentioned, not a lot of comment is necessary to delineate the qualities of a great leader who encourages and uplifts as opposed to one who discourages and demoralizes. The lessons can be applied to a myriad of life situations- obviously, in education, but also in business, in government, in the home, in the Church, in any relationship where leadership is required. The important question for each of us is, of course, in our individual situations, what type of leader will we choose to be?

(As a post-script, in his weekly call to our supervisor, David told her how discouraged and upset we were as a team after her visit. He explained to her that in his professional and life experience, a person with the title of supervisor works best by encouraging, helping, and motivating, rather than being completely critical. He said her comment was, “Oh,” followed by an apology. The next day, she sent an e-mail of apology that she wanted David to read to our team…. Go, David! He is an example of a courageous leader as well as being a great leader with the qualities about which he spoke.)

Do You Know the Way to Ibapah?

We didn't. In fact, we had never even heard of Ibapah, Utah. But we found out. We left the glitz of Wendover, Nevada and headed out on the West Desert towards Ely. We almost missed the turn that would take us back into Utah and thirty more miles to a mere bump in the road called Ibapah. Funniest thing- right at the turn there was an overturned garbage can and more were here and there along the thirty mile stretch, looking every bit like it had been garbage collection day, but there were no real roads and certainly no houses anywhere along the road, or, for that matter, on the horizon. There were cows, however. (Technically speaking, they were cattle.) We had been warned about the cattle- like, watch out for the cattle as you come around a curve or over a hill. And, there was the story about the school bus driver who hit a black cow, lying in the middle of the warm road, in the pre-dawn darkness of the desert. We also heard the one about the principal hitting, perhaps, the same cow, at the same time of day. We're not sure which story was true, but the cows were there, right along the road. We did stop to say "Hi!"- after all, we want our Utah cows to be as happy as those California cows on the cheese commercials.
Turns out, we were heading along some pretty historic territory. At one point, we got out and read about the Pony Express route that cut right through the Ibapah Valley.

And, we met a real live Pony Express rider- she has the pictures to prove it. She's an Ibapahite (one who lives in Ibapah?) who rides in the Pony Express re-enactment each year and teaches 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at the Ibapah School. . . which brings us to the reason why we were out in the middle of the West Desert looking for Ibapah.

David and I are involved again in a testing job for the Federal Government. It's called the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It happens once every two years and is sometimes referred to as "The Nation's Report Card." Twenty thousand schools and one million 4th, 8th, and 12th grade students participate in NAEP each testing year and we have 19 of those 20 thousand schools to test this year. David is the Assessment Coordinator and I am an Assessment Administrator (test giver), but I help David with Pre-Assessment visits to each of the schools where we will be testing.

Ibapah is one of our schools, thus the visit. There are only three 4th grade students that will be tested, but we had to go out and make all the arrangements for the test. The Pony Express rider was the School Coordinator, as well as the 4th grade teacher. It really was an interesting visit. This teacher grew up on a ranch in the Ibapah Valley and still ranches with her husband and family in this remote little corner of the world, which borders on the Goshute Indian Reservation. There are only 3 classrooms in the tiny Ibapah school which educates children of local ranchers as well as some Goshute children.

The teacher had been teaching at the school for 20 years and obviously loved her job, the students, the valley, and her life. It was so refreshing to talk to her. She told us of her experiences riding her favorite horse in the Pony Express re-enactments and showed us a book that she and her students had written and illustrated commemorating her rides. She was excited to share a copy with us and it is a treasure!

What could have been an annoying "And why are we doing this?" experience turned out to be great little adventure. Next time, not only will we know the way to Ibapah and to beware of cows that may be hanging out around the bend, we actually look forward to returning to test the three students who will represent "the best of Ibapah!"

(Now that we've whetted your appetite to know more about Ibapah, check out the link on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibapah,_Utah to plan your next trip!)

Christmas is Over, The Geese Got Really Fat

Well, only half of that is true. The geese didn’t get too fat- we only gained a pound or two. The calendar says December 26 and it’s back to reality. David has been up since before 6:00 a.m. working on coding booklets for NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) testing and I helped a couple of hours. But the memories of Christmas Past (a la 2008) are about to be immortalized as only they can be as a blog post.

We returned to Utah from California and half of December was already over. Luckily, before we left for California, we hit the day after Thanksgiving sales and cashed in on “killer deals” on two little trees for the porch and a new artificial tree for our living room. (We “caved in” after years of dead fresh trees by Christmas and bought one for our living room.)

Snow came about the same time as our return and, of course, the birds had to be fed...

and we discovered that a couple of rabbits had taken up residence in our backyard.

By the time we got started on decorating for Christmas, all our neighbors had their houses lit and decorated for about 3-4 weeks. (Remember- “Thanksgiving came late this year.”) We really had to “play catch-up.” To make up for the lack of a fresh tree, we bought a fresh cedar garland. I “trimmed”...

and David cleaned up after me.

This year, we were in charge of the Tanner Family Christmas Party. We decided on our mission, after attending a wonderful Ward Christmas party with the centerpiece being assembling Hygiene Kits for LDS Humanitarian Services, that if we were in charge of a big Christmas party, we would like to do the same thing. So, that’s what we did. We planned, organized, invited, and did the bulk of the buying before we left for California and finished the preparations the week we came back. The party was wonderful! We had soup, salads, and rolls before we started work on the hygiene kits. It is so true- “many hands make light work” and we had lots of hands- little ones...

and bigger ones! It took very little time to assemble 72 kits. We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies and then Grandma Tanner shared a story about giving at Christmas and “feeling good from the inside out” that entertained the kids of all ages.

Each child had been invited to bring new or gently used toys to donate to LDS Humanitarian Services to go orphanages around the world. Grandpa and Grandma filled in for Santa and Mrs. Santa and kids filled the giant red bag to overflowing.

We were very excited about how the party turned out. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, there was lots of interaction between individual families, we had lots of good food and fun, and we all felt good about the service we were able to give.

Which brings us to the week of Christmas… We finally got the tree decorated a couple of days before Christmas ...

and the rest of the house (upstairs) was done by Christmas Eve.
With no family here for Christmas, we pared down and just decorated for ourselves and got it done when we got it done. We planned a few fun activities to keep us busy- Ballet West’s Nutcracker, Temple Night with the Ward, brunch with another “empty-nester” couple Christmas morning, and talking to our kids and grandkids on Christmas Day.

It was a joyful Christmas. Our big present this year was getting our living room done and we love it! The last pieces came in time to decorate for Christmas.
Since we haven’t posted pictures for a while, you can see our new room as it is decked out for Christmas.

While Christmas Day has passed, we still have lots to celebrate and we appreciate all those gifts that will last- a wonderful family, good friends, and each other.

Most important of all, we have the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, with all its blessings, and throughout the year, we will remember

Tender Mercies

My life is full of “tender mercies,” but I have been especially blessed this last week. By the miracle of the internet, I was able to hear Brian sing "I'll be home for Christmas" (sigh- we'll miss him!) at his Ward Christmas party (Soirée Serenade) , read that his broken foot has healed and he is walking around, albeit somewhat crazily, on two good feet, and learn that our grandson, Braden, is wishing for his two front teeth this Christmas. By phone, I learned that Julie’s broken leg is healing. And, I had the opportunity, with David, to visit Tom, Amy, Jacob, Allison, and Gideon in California. (David attended a leadership training conference for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in which we will be involved in January through the first of March. We went down early to spend some time with the Omer Family.)

Here are some highlights of our trip…

Hiking up to Griffith Observatory. These guys are world class hikers. Los Angeles was spectacular in the distance. On the other side of the mountain was Hollywood and its famous sign.

A fun time was had by all! Getting ready for church... Grandpa was in charge of Jacob's close shave...

while Grandma loved getting Allison "all dolled up!"

Visiting Jacob's pre-school...

Postgame Jenga after FHE...

A chance to read together...

And hang out at our hotel... loved the warm hot tub.

Jacob and Allison braved the chilly water and weather to show Grandma their swimming skills.

Ahh... a towel and a snuggle is a good thing.

On our way to Los Angeles, David and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the magnificent Getty Center- awesome gardens...

wonderful art...

and amazing architecture.

Then we headed down to Hollywood, where the last but a significant tender mercy occurred. We were one exit away from our destination, the Pantages Theater, when we hit heavy traffic. We slowed down, but the car in front of us apparently didn’t. He swerved and laid rubber and we put on the brakes. For a calm second or two, we thought we were fine, until the car behind us slammed into us. The best laid plans of walking around Hollywood before heading to the theater evaporated as we waited quite a while for the Highway Patrol to arrive. Once we were safely off the freeway, another officer arrived and the two of them worked quickly to get us on our way to the theater to see... “Wicked.”

We arrived just in time for the bell warning the audience to be seated. We really did enjoy the show, but the experience was dampened by our highway mishap and sore necks, as a result. However, we were so full of gratitude for tender mercies. We could have been going much faster and following much closer, with disastrous effects. The car behind us could have been going faster and following closer, with disastrous effects. Our rental car sustained scrapes and dents

but the other car had some major damage, including a bumper that was about to fall off on the side not seen in the picture.

We could have suffered significant injuries, but we were pretty much ok. We did find out that the insurance company of the people who hit us has agreed to cover everything, including medical care if we need it. Our insurance company will never hear about it.... We are truly blessed and we acknowledge all those tender mercies we experienced during our visit to California.

Hooray for Halloween!

Most years at Halloween, I find myself hanging out at the Salt Lake Clinic doing flu shots. Departments battle each other for the best decorations, the best pumpkin carvings, and everybody gets "Booed" with anonymous treats. It's fun. About half the clinic employees dress up for Halloween, some of whom really get into it and are hilarious, especially our head hauncho, Ross. So, there is some peer pressure to dress up more or less. I went looking for a costume at our local favorite costume shop, D.I., and found a cute Old Navy long sleeved tee with pumpkin. Then I set out to find something to go with it. Wednesday, I found exactly what I was

looking for- classic Charlie Brown- not only fun, but comfy, and I can wear them for PJ's.

So, here I am, on my way to work this morning, carrying our little Flu Shot Clinic

Great Pumpkin. (Thanks, Grandpa Tanner!)

After work, it was time to get ready for who knows how many kids. Each year it's a big guessing game. Looks like we'll come out about even this year.

David likes to hand out the candy and he really gets a kick out of wearing his costume-

imported from Scotland. He is really fun with the kids. Gotta enjoy them since we

don't have grandkids around.

Here's a shot of a huge gang of kids that showed up at our door. Many of them we

don't know because they come up from other areas in vans.

One last shot... this adorable little giraffe who was savoring every moment and treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!