Byron's Babbles

Today I had a Narnian experience. I went to the Narnia Door located in St Mary’s Passage in Oxford, England. I’ve got to say that making that walk with the Lamp just ahead was just like I would imagine Narnia. And the door! From the wood used to make the door, to the lion carving on the door, to the two sculptures of fauns that look like Mr. Tumnus, I could see why there are many who believe this was the inspiration of C. S. Lewis for Narnia. It is cool that this is one of those myth versus history things because no one knows for sure. Me; I believe there might just be some truth to it. Think about it: Lewis was on the Oxford campus from 1925-1954. He had to see that door!

Let’s get back to the genius of Narnia. As I walked back and forth on St Mary’s Passage to the Lamp and back to the door, over and over, I was thinking about the kids – Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie (check out my pictures). What it would have been like to have been them going through the wardrobe to the Lamp and beyond. Then I began to think about all the leadership lessons that Lewis had built into this fairy tale. The one that always stands out to me most is when Aslan empowered Peter (another leadership lesson) to lead the Narnian army. His reaction was that he could not do it because he had never led an army before. As a believer that everyone is a leader, we often find ourselves in situations where we don’t have all the experience we might want or all the answers. Reality is, this will always be the case. I just told a group of mentor principals last week that my first year as a principal I would have people come and ask me questions that I had no idea what they were even talking about. Fortunately I had great people around me and we were able to figure out all the answers together. And, I want to note: we NEVER used the philosophy of “fake it till you make it.” That DOES NOT WORK! Don’t try it. As we know, Peter channeled his courage and was successful.

Through my involvement with the University of Oxford I just became a member of 2U’s edX Career Engagement Network and they posted this yesterday:

Re: Imposter Syndrome – An estimated 70% of the population has experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their career. You don’t need to meet 100% of the requirements to apply for the job.

I love what they say here: you don’t need 100% of the requirements to apply. In fact I’m not sure there is ever a person that has 100% of the requirements. I know I never have; particularly when I founded my own business or, as I mentioned earlier, became a principal for the first time. I find teachers bringing up imposter syndrome. Amazingly, it is always some of the best teachers I’ve witnessed in the classroom. Unfortunately, many times the feelings of imposter syndrome come from expectations put on us by others who really don’t understand the job to start with. Bottom-line: we need to allow ourselves to be challenged and grow.