As a way of making sense of my days, even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, most nights before I retire I do some journaling to help me reflect upon my day and my leadership practice. I ask not only how’d we do today; but also, how might I do better tomorrow. That’s why I tend to frame what I do, not as leadership, but rather as leadership practice. It’s a practice – because some days I feel like I get it right and other days I shake my head in disbelief, as my intentions don’t always produce my desired outcomes (and, in fact might be way off)! But, a practice mindset allows me to reflect and learn, so the next day I come back at it and try again. I appreciate that the NMC faculty and staff have been willing to come back at it over these past few weeks, embracing a leadership practice mindset during this crisis situation, despite the sometimes overwhelming sense of uncertainty and fear that surrounds us.

Someone put it this way to me: when we’re facing such uncertainty and fear, we can be our worst selves, or our best, bravest selves. Amidst such uncertainty and fear one might expect most people to focus on self-protection. Instead, what I am seeing, is the College (and society, collectively) is choosing to come together. For example, just look at our NMC Marine Tech students and brother-sister duo Aaron and Bernadette Bottke, who are 3-D printing protective masks for our local Munson Medical Center health care providers. And then, there are NMC alums, like Marylyn Dean. Marylyn and her husband Jerry are part of a group of retirees here in Traverse City who are checking in on seniors in our community, making sure they don’t fall through the cracks, especially during these times. Whether it’s the example of the Bottkes’ generosity and giving, or Marylyn Dean’s courageousness and caring; whether it’s students or alumni, what’s obvious is that our College community has come together during this crisis, helping our students to work through this and our community to remain strong. I believe that we are learning to lead in new ways, together – participating in a sort of real-life action-learning project.

As we choose to embrace courageous creativity and compassion, we are becoming our best, bravest selves. The students are recognizing that in our faculty. Today, I chatted with our Phi Theta Kappa students in a Zoom meeting, wanting to check-in and to be sure that I am directly hearing the students’ voice, to better understand how things are going. One student proudly shared, “When I came to NMC, I created a vision of my future, I developed a plan, with deadlines, and I’ve been pursuing that plan faithfully.” But, she added with a sense of deflation, “things have become uncertain.” Quickly, her positive spirit returned, when she shared, “But, my instructors are taking my stress away; I know they don’t have a crystal ball or something, but, they’re really there for us. I might have to add a semester or two to my plan. But, I know I’ll get through it, because my instructors are doing everything they can to support our success.” And, that’s why I know, also. We’ll get through this, because we have faculty and staff who are willing to approach the daunting challenges with courageous creativity; transforming ourselves and our students, becoming our best, bravest selves.