On Friday, I attended a meeting of all our head coaches of our athletic teams. Led by our athletic cooratinator, Coach Ron Harris, he reviewed upcoming events, expectations, and sought input from his staff. As he ended the meeting, he challenged his head coaches to something profound.

“We have to be the best team on campus”. Coach Harris was referring to his men and women coaches.

I was having a discussion with my wonderful and talented daughter, Bethany, about social media this weekend. She was explaining to her mother and I that if I searched for the New York Yankees while we were together that both of them might have ads for the New York Yankees start appearing in their feeds. This was a fascinating conversation.

“It’s the people that make us special.”

This isn’t something you haven’t already heard and it isn’t revolutionary or groundbreaking.

“People before paper” or “People not programs!”

As administrators, we have all uttered these phrases before. While we believe them, do our actions always match this? If we are not careful, we could fall into the administrative quick stand.

Last week, a family friend took her life. She left behind three children, two of them that are adults and one that is in elementary school. She had struggled with her mental health the last few years and I will never forgive myself for not being there more for her after she moved away from Texas.

As I have documented on social media and written about in my blog, I have started my running journey again. Running is the ultimate individual test. It’s you vs the road or path.

While I wasn’t a fan of Star Trek, I do remember the opening of the show. “Space, the final frontier . . . To go where no man has gone before.”

How does this relate to a weekly leadership blog?

I have started running again. For those of you that have seen my running style, you might challenge that assertion. For me, I will never be mistaken for an Olympian runner and I am perfectly fine with that. I am building the habits of a runner and that includes picking one foot up and putting the other down in his hot San Antonio humidly.

I needed this vacation.

I needed to see the sun rise over the Gulf of Mexico and I needed to hear the waves crashing on the shore. As a high school principal in the great state of Texas, I have been on the go since last July. I needed to unplug.

Growing up in New York State, February 2nd was an important day for kids that were tired of the snow and cold weather. We eagerly waited for Punxsutawney Phil and asked if he saw his shadow or not. It seems funny now to think that he could determine if Spring was coming sooner or if we have six more weeks of winter. I should have known that it was going to snow until March and be cold until April in Upstate New York.