I’m a doctoral dropout.
A few of you may not have known this, but just about everyone I know understands that I stopped working on my doctorate after I completed my dissertation proposal course back in 2018. I simply lack the last step – putting it all together and defending my work. ADMN 8999 and all the work that goes into it is what I lack.
While I’ve mostly made peace with the fact that I’m “done” with the pursuit of my Ed.D., it’s a topic that comes up from time to time with family, friends, and colleagues. There are hard, complicated truths behind why I’m no longer interested in writing A Legal Analysis of the Constitutional Issues Surrounding Search and Seizure with Dogs in Schools.
(Aside: For anyone wondering, Kasey’s blood pressure is much higher right now than it was before she began reading this post.)
More than anything, though, I don’t see myself finishing it because I no longer see it as something I need to live the life I envision for myself. While there will always be a part of me that wonders about becoming a superintendent, I now know enough of them, and have seen enough of it unfold in others’ lives, to know it’s a job for which I am uniquely unqualified.
There is, however, one person in my life who refuses to accept any of this. My friend, Brianna, is a superintendent, and I’m certain she wants me to finish it far more than I want to finish my doctorate.
I’m not exaggerating. She texts me about it randomly. She brings it up whenever we are meeting. She tells other people I need to finish it whenever I come up in conversation with them. She is relentless.
While she has not yet been able to convince me to reopen those files, email someone at UNCC, or complete applications for ABD programs, her encouragement has caused me to think about something else this morning: There is something incredibly powerful about having someone in your life who sees something in you, believes you’re capable of doing something difficult, and refuses to let you completely forget it.
That’s the heart of encouragement and the essence of real leadership. Sometimes, I think we reduce encouragement to saying nice things to people. Whether it’s a simple compliment or a sincere affirmation, we often see encouragement as a positive statement about what’s already been done.
But the best encouragers in my life have always done more than affirm what I’ve already done; they’ve called me forward, toward many things I’ve not yet done. They’ve reminded me of what I’m capable of doing, even when I may have forgotten. They’ve challenged the stories I’ve told myself along the way. More than anything, they’ve believed in a version of me – a better one – that I’ve yet to become.
This morning, that has me wondering: Who am I encouraging with that kind of intentionality? Who’s getting the random text from me? Whose potential do I keep bringing up? Who knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I believe they can do the hard thing set in front of them?
Remember, leadership isn’t just about getting people to follow us; it’s about believing in people so persistently that they’re more capable of believing in and following the greatness already within them.
#ChooseToBeGreat
Angelo
CHOOSE TO BE GREAT 