Outstanding in Her Field

It is Monday in Western PA and it is raining. I am not usually thrilled with a rainy day, but today I am. Over the weekend during unusually pleasant temps and conditions, I worked outside in my yard and my garden. I planted onions, lettuce, and spinach. I am more of a flower gardener than a vegetable gardener, but this year with the anticipation of increased produce prices, I am taking on a variety of vegetables not just my usual peppers and tomatoes.

The hard and harshly cold rain pounding outside right now will reveal what I knew and what I need to learn about these three varieties of vegetable plants and my anticipated harvest. Was I able to place the tiny and delicate root systems of the leaf lettuce and spinach firmly but carefully into the soil? Will I find exposed root systems when the rain stops, or will the plants take hold and grow? Did the onions get set at one inch like the directions on the tag specified? Will I find the tiny onion bulbs high and dry after the rain stops? What about the crows? How will I ever keep them from pulling out my tiny seedlings?

This very brief description of my garden is my metaphor for our need as educators and as citizens for leadership. Folks who are perceived as being in leadership positions attempt to be gardeners with all of us as the seedlings. These leaders are just like me because they think they understand the principles of gardening. What needs could there be beyond some fertile soil, some seedlings, some time, some rain, and some sun? As we all know, there is plenty more to anticipate and learn when thinking about becoming a gardener–at least a successful gardener.

If we look around us today, we can feel the desire of the folks around us for leadership. Yes, I suppose the ultimate leadership desire is for effective and ethical political leadership because a lack of leadership in the political area seems to effect everything and everyone. A lack of educational leadership has lead us to an ineffective system to deliver services to our students. A lack of financial leadership has left many homeowners without a home. Is this an endless list of endless needs or a chance for growth?…A cup half full or half empty? …Delivery of not what we want, but what we need?

In the most simple terms, my concern is for the future of the garden I have planted. Hard work alone is not enough. I need knowledge, skills, and the ability to translate those two items into an effort that serves my seedlings, the growth of those seedlings, the mature plants, and the soil that will continue to nuture growth. I would disagree with Napoleon who stated that a leader is a dealer in hope. Henry Kissinger, on the other hand, and I am paraphrasing here, said that leaders are responsible for the consequences of their actions, not for running public opinion polls.

The consequence that I want is for my garden to grow and thrive. I will do all of the hard work I can to make it happen. Yes, I will be that prototype farmer with the slogan “Outstanding in her field.”

How about our aspiring leaders on the national, local, and building level? What will the consequences for their behaviors and initiatives be?  Will they be doing their homework to become outstanding or will they be just out standing in a field?