HealthFlex
×
  • About
    • About Mike
    • About KaleidoEye
  • Services
    • Individual
    • Education
    • Business
    • Athletics
    • Keynote
  • Testimonials
    • Education
    • Athletics
    • Professional Reference
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Connect

Posters on the wall

June 18, 2014Mike SisselBlog1

untitledEach year as a classroom teacher I spent countless hours decorating my room, eager to create an environment that was pleasing to the eyes and the hearts of my students.  While some teachers chose a different theme each year and decorated their walls accordingly, most of my wall space was occupied with motivational quotes or colorful posters that contained character buzz words like integrity or respect. 

Early in my teaching career, I spent a lot of time referring to these posters as visual reminders.  For example, if there was a heated argument on the playground between a few of my students, I would direct their attention to the poster and say, “I’d like for you to be that.”  After all, we had spent the first two weeks of the school year discussing what each word meant.  I even had each student take an oath that they would honor these values.  Wasn’t that enough?

As the years progressed, I realized that the posters themselves weren’t going to make a difference.  Therefore, I couldn’t just staple them on the wall and expect my students to honor them.  Student behavior was not going to change as a result of a poster.  Once I realized this, I made a commitment to doing two things which continue to serve as a foundation for the way I teach and parent. 

#1 – I must live the principles I’m teaching.

My favorite definition for the word integrity is – the state of being whole and undivided.  Put another way, your actions are directly aligned with your values.  One of the biggest mistakes we make as teachers and parents is to ask our kids to think or behave in a way that we are not modeling ourselves.  As you know, kids have an uncanny knack at recognizing a lack of integrity and in many cases they aren’t afraid to tell you.  I can remember countless occasions when students would call me out by saying, “Why aren’t you doing that, Mr. Sissel?”  In those moments, I found myself in a reactive state, often feeling as though the same rules didn’t apply to me.  Regardless of the excuses I made in my mind, nothing changed the fact that I wasn’t living the principles I had asked them to live.  

There’s a great story of Gandhi that illustrates this idea beautifully.

There was a six-year old boy living in the same Indian community as Gandhi.  This boy had a very strong sweet tooth.  He couldn’t resist sugar.  Because he was diabetic, the sugar created painful boils all over his body.

His parents took him to the doctor, who said the boy must avoid all sweets; otherwise, the ailment would not go away.  The parents nagged the boy every day to stop eating sugar, but this was a challenge the boy wasn’t willing to overcome. 

In desperation, the boy’s mother came to Gandhi and asked if he could please convince her boy not to eat sweets.  Gandhi said, “Come back in 15 days and I’ll speak to him then.”  So the mother came back after 15 days.  Gandhi took her son aside and spoke to him for a few minutes.  The boy went home and immediately gave up sweets.

The mother was puzzled.  She asked Gandhi later, “Why did you ask us to come back after 15 days?  And what miracle did you perform to get my son to quit eating sweets?”

Gandhi replied that it wasn’t a miracle.  He said, “When your boy first came to me, I too had been eating sugar.”  He had told the boy that he couldn’t ask him to do something he, Gandhi, wasn’t willing to do himself. 

#2 – I need to teach my students (my daughters) how to live these principles.

Once I made a commitment to live in accordance with the values I was asking my students to honor, I realized that I couldn’t just tell them why they needed to, I had to teach them how.  The posters I mentioned earlier continued to be a staple in my classroom, but now I dedicated more time to giving my students tools and strategies that would bring these words to life.  For example, instead of just saying, “Be respectful,” I taught them how to be aware of their own thoughts and feelings and recognize how they influence our behavior. 

Five years after leaving the classroom, I continue to make these two a foundation of my teachings.  While I admittedly make mistakes and fall short of perfection, I remain steadfast in my commitment to live the Lenses of Leadership principles and to teach our youth how to live them as well.

Guess what?  You don’t have to teach a youth leadership class to make the same commitment.  If you have children, I challenge you to live what you are teaching them and to give them various tools and strategies to learn how.  If you are a teacher, I challenge you to live what you are teaching your students and to spend time each day showing them how. 

Comments

cyndia Reply
August 29, 2014

The truth in this is so powerful.my children also remind me of the sometimes double standard of what I expect of them and what I do. How important our role modeling is to teach what we want!

Add Comment Cancel


Follow Me on Instagram

Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No posts found.

Make sure this account has posts available on instagram.com.

the latest from the blog

  • Different landscape, same mindset Sep 19

    Carpets are cleaned, desks are meticulously polished, pencils are sharpened, and lockers...

  • one or two? Mar 25

    Think back to the last time you had an eye exam.  Aside...

search this site

Connect

[contact-form to="mike@kaleidoeye.com" subject="Kaleidoeye.com web form submission"][contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="1"][contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="1"][contact-field label="Message" type="textarea"][/contact-form]

From Our Clients

"At Nike, I like to say ‘You Own Your Career’, Mike presented to my team and provided them with strategies & tools that inspired them to take ownership of their actions, performance, and careers. It was Motivational Coaching that impacted all attendees – regardless of their roles. All team members learned what behaviors make good leaders, and that all of us can be a leader. Mike was an energetic, passionate and effective presenter. I look forward to seeing my team practicing and implementing these skills into their Personal & Professional Developmental Plans.”

Jeff DuMont

KaleidoEye
2018-05-23T09:41:45-07:00

Jeff DuMont

"At Nike, I like to say ‘You Own Your Career’, Mike presented to my team and provided them with strategies & tools that inspired them to take ownership of their actions, performance, and careers. It was Motivational Coaching that impacted all attendees – regardless of their roles. All team members learned what behaviors make good leaders, and that all of us can be a leader. Mike was an energetic, passionate and effective presenter. I look forward to seeing my team practicing and implementing these skills into their Personal & Professional Developmental Plans.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/jeff-dumont/
“Mike has an amazing ability to reach our children and to challenge their thinking. His positive outlook and desire to help every child be the best they can be is inspiring. My daughter comes home from her time with him with a smile on her face and new words of wisdom to share with me.  My 13 year old son watches his motivational videos and every time turns to me and says "He is so right. Everything he is saying is so true".  So thankful to have him in my children's lives.”

 

Sally Moore

KaleidoEye
2017-09-14T15:01:56-07:00

Sally Moore

“Mike has an amazing ability to reach our children and to challenge their thinking. His positive outlook and desire to help every child be the best they can be is inspiring. My daughter comes home from her time with him with a smile on her face and new words of wisdom to share with me.  My 13 year old son watches his motivational videos and every time turns to me and says "He is so right. Everything he is saying is so true".  So thankful to have him in my children's lives.”  
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/sally-moore/
“Mike Sissel is an amazing man. With a positive force driving his ultimate vision to help the world be a better place, he reminds young and old what it means to be and do good by finding it in within. His practical steps are accessible to children and admired by adults. Whether he facilitates a retreat, in-service, assembly, or consults, positive and tangible results will be the outcome. I highly recommend him!”

Greg Hebert

KaleidoEye
2018-05-23T09:48:39-07:00

Greg Hebert

“Mike Sissel is an amazing man. With a positive force driving his ultimate vision to help the world be a better place, he reminds young and old what it means to be and do good by finding it in within. His practical steps are accessible to children and admired by adults. Whether he facilitates a retreat, in-service, assembly, or consults, positive and tangible results will be the outcome. I highly recommend him!”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/greg-hebert/
“Our school mission has always been to educate the 'whole child', including their social and emotional development. Mike’s contribution to this mission, through the delivery of his meaningful, engaging lessons, has made a lasting impact on our school culture. In addition to the rich content he shares with our students, the energy he brings to each classroom is contagious. He has been an inspiration to our staff and students and truly lives the leadership principles he teaches.”

Christie Winkelmann

KaleidoEye
2018-05-23T09:49:19-07:00

Christie Winkelmann

“Our school mission has always been to educate the 'whole child', including their social and emotional development. Mike’s contribution to this mission, through the delivery of his meaningful, engaging lessons, has made a lasting impact on our school culture. In addition to the rich content he shares with our students, the energy he brings to each classroom is contagious. He has been an inspiration to our staff and students and truly lives the leadership principles he teaches.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/christie-winkelmann/
“Wow! What an amazing person! We are so fortunate to have Mike Sissel in our lives. Having two daughters that compete, I cannot thank him enough for all of valuable lessons learned. He empowers my girls with tools and strategies to become not only better athletes but better people. He helps them to build strong character traits that will benefit them long after their time in completion has come to an end. He's had a positive influence on the mindset of our entire family and for that we are truly blessed.”

Kim Roberts-Johson

KaleidoEye
2017-09-14T15:05:04-07:00

Kim Roberts-Johson

“Wow! What an amazing person! We are so fortunate to have Mike Sissel in our lives. Having two daughters that compete, I cannot thank him enough for all of valuable lessons learned. He empowers my girls with tools and strategies to become not only better athletes but better people. He helps them to build strong character traits that will benefit them long after their time in completion has come to an end. He's had a positive influence on the mindset of our entire family and for that we are truly blessed.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/kim-roberts-johson/
“Having been in the coaching profession for many years, I’ve gained the most satisfaction by having the opportunity to help shape the character of my players, ultimately preparing them for life beyond baseball. Mike Sissel is a masterful coach who shares a similar passion for the 'game of life'. His ability to connect with athletes is unmatched. If you have an opportunity for Mike to work with your team, it will truly be the 'gift' that will keep on giving. He has been a blessing to my family.”

Pat Murphy

KaleidoEye
2018-05-23T09:46:00-07:00

Pat Murphy

“Having been in the coaching profession for many years, I’ve gained the most satisfaction by having the opportunity to help shape the character of my players, ultimately preparing them for life beyond baseball. Mike Sissel is a masterful coach who shares a similar passion for the 'game of life'. His ability to connect with athletes is unmatched. If you have an opportunity for Mike to work with your team, it will truly be the 'gift' that will keep on giving. He has been a blessing to my family.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/pat-murphy/
“The power of positivity is infectious and Mr. Sissel has a real gift of helping others believe that they have the mental strength within themselves to get past whatever they might be struggling with. We were introduced to Mike through Gold Medal Gymnastics and seeing the impact he has made on the lives of so many including our daughter is astounding. He helped her to overcome the feelings of insecurity, feeling bullied and showed her how to focus and 'change her lens' so that she could perform successfully.”

 

Fred Sanchez

KaleidoEye
2017-09-14T15:02:28-07:00

Fred Sanchez

“The power of positivity is infectious and Mr. Sissel has a real gift of helping others believe that they have the mental strength within themselves to get past whatever they might be struggling with. We were introduced to Mike through Gold Medal Gymnastics and seeing the impact he has made on the lives of so many including our daughter is astounding. He helped her to overcome the feelings of insecurity, feeling bullied and showed her how to focus and 'change her lens' so that she could perform successfully.”  
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/fred-sanchez/
“Mr. Sissel has been an incredible positive influence for my kids! Every time he goes to their school they look forward to learning something new from him! I have a teen and preteen and they have had him for the last several years and have quoted his lessons to us at home. Mr. Sissel has a special gift of teaching ALL ages with passion and dedication and truly knows how to connect with his audience, which makes it fun. I have also recommended him as one on one coaching for my dear friend’s son after she went through a divorce and her son was acting out and his insight truly helped her.”

Judy Salinas

KaleidoEye
2017-09-14T14:39:25-07:00

Judy Salinas

“Mr. Sissel has been an incredible positive influence for my kids! Every time he goes to their school they look forward to learning something new from him! I have a teen and preteen and they have had him for the last several years and have quoted his lessons to us at home. Mr. Sissel has a special gift of teaching ALL ages with passion and dedication and truly knows how to connect with his audience, which makes it fun. I have also recommended him as one on one coaching for my dear friend’s son after she went through a divorce and her son was acting out and his insight truly helped her.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/3596/
“Mr Sissel has been such an unbelievably positive presence both at Gold Medal Gymnastics and at our daughter's school, CEE. There is always enthusiasm and excitement when she knows that they will be having a session with him. The topics that he addresses are so important and he helps the kids see not only life's big picture, but also how individually they can make a real difference for themselves and those around them with their choices. We are thankful and look forward to more work with him in the future.”

 

Margo Ingram

KaleidoEye
2017-09-14T15:04:38-07:00

Margo Ingram

“Mr Sissel has been such an unbelievably positive presence both at Gold Medal Gymnastics and at our daughter's school, CEE. There is always enthusiasm and excitement when she knows that they will be having a session with him. The topics that he addresses are so important and he helps the kids see not only life's big picture, but also how individually they can make a real difference for themselves and those around them with their choices. We are thankful and look forward to more work with him in the future.”  
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/margo-ingram/
0
0
KaleidoEye
Copyright ©2019 KaleidoEye