From the Chair: 4 Keys to Leadership Success

As I took time to reflect upon our profession during National School Counseling Week, I found myself thinking about how far we have come in the world of school counseling and how lucky I am to be part of this family. I think back to when I was in elementary and middle school. I moved a lot, struggled with learning, was very social to compensate for my academic hardships and was often spoken to for talking in class.  A few teachers took me under their wing, but I don’t remember having a school counselor in any of the schools I attended. The first time I met my “guidance counselor” was in high school. We talked once and he told me my class rank (below average) and that I should reconsider some of the colleges I was applying to. I was sent to a college coach that my family paid for, to help me decide my career path and colleges choices. I proved my guidance counselor wrong and got into every school where I applied – my socialness helped me tremendously in all of those college interviews! 

This was my experience, 30+ years ago. Sometimes I wonder how I made it.  Now, we work hard to have school counselors in every school, at every level, supporting students, families, staff and our communities. We advocate at the state level, the national level and globally. We work to design comprehensive school counseling programs by creating curriculum, teaching in classrooms, working with students individually and in groups on social/emotional, academic and career domains. We collect data to improve our programming. We support teachers and administration; we collaborate with families and outside resources. We support one another in times of crisis and need of supervision.

I feel so fortunate to have met so many wonderful school counselors during my journey. When I was a new graduate student, two MESCA board members reached out to me to run for the board. What did I know? I was still learning. But they took a chance on me, and several years later, I have not only served on our state board in leadership positions, but it led me to serve on the ASCA board of directors. This, in turn, led me to meet wonderful school counselors from across the country whom I now consider my dear friends. I make sure I give back to the profession by taking practicum and intern students every semester. I teach at USM and have met so many wonderful graduate students. We are in this together.

What are those four keys I promised?

1. Work hard.
2. Advocate.
3. Give back.
4. Just keep swimming.

Reach out to a colleague, a graduate student, take an intern, teach a class. Practice self-care, do something new, make connections and don’t be afraid to take a chance. Advocate every chance you get! Talk about your job to staff, school board members, your superintendent, and educate them on what we do! Celebrate yourselves and our profession every day! Thank you for what you do every single day!

Contact Bonnie Robbins, MESCA board chair, at brobbins@rsu16.org.