I recently won a pitch competition for my startup BrightLoop. After the applause had ended, one of the female judges approached me and said – “you did great, but if you are going to be a strong candidate at this competition, you need to stop being the cute teacher.”
When I decided to leave my full time teaching position to run a startup I felt insecure, as if to do this right I needed to be someone else, someone tougher or more business-like. I have never taken a business class before, but unlike most entrepreneurs these days, I developed a product that was needed before I even knew what the term startup was. Each event that I attended, I put on an act. I nodded when I didn’t actually understand and instead of learning from those that were more knowledgeable than I was, I pretended I knew what they meant.
But then I stopped. I started asking questions even when the answer seemed obvious. The results were astounding. I realized that being myself in a world that is less than authentic was actually a more powerful business tool than I could have imagined.
As I walked away from that interaction, I thought to myself… “Cute teachers can have the corner office” and in fact perhaps it is time we took a closer look on why teachers can, and should, rule the world:
1. You’ve already run an 80+ person organization without a personal assistant or staff
An elementary teacher has 30 students, 50 parents and 5 or more school staff which they work with closely – a high school teacher can triple that. Not only do you have a lot of people you work closely with, but parents are giving you their most prized possessions- their “million dollar baby.” Regardless of what kind of neighborhood you teach in, you are still helping to shape their children and you can bet they will have an opinion about it. In addition, you have the pressure from the top down, the internal pressure to ensure these children are successful and the constant need to meet deadlines. How many CEO’s do you know that could function with this much pressure and no support?
2. You can deliver extremely sensitive information without upsetting anyone
As a teacher you are forced to share all kinds of news with parents and students. Due to this you are able to connect with, share tough information and empathize with the person on the spot. In the business world you are constantly required to figure out the best approach to on-boarding new clients, having tough conversations with your staff or dealing with unruly customers. A teacher’s internal compass can guide them through this without batting an eye.
3. You are extremely comfortable with pivoting – you already do it all day
I have been planning this great lesson all week. I stayed up late last night and I think my students are going to love it! Ten minutes in, I know I am on a sinking ship and the only way to get to shore is to pivot… immediately. The importance of the pivot is something that is very important for businesses and startups, but can also be very difficult. It can be hard to decide that you had the wrong idea and to go in a different direction, however, teaching brings a flexibility of thought and an understanding that pivoting is natural and not embarrassing or shameful… you just mis-read your market (or your students).
4. Forget marketing, you spend your days convincing 30 different humans to love reading classic literature, biology or fractions – and Oh Captain, my captain – you often succeed.
Boys and girls, today we are going to explore something really cool… punctuation! A collective groan goes out in the class. “But wait,” you say, “Punctuation can be so cool – when you read with punctuation you are a movie star” as you take your sunglasses and put them on. Whoah, punctuation just got a whole lot cooler. In minutes you read your market, identified what would make them feel excited or cool, and became that. This is marketing.
5. You can look at the bigger picture while still focusing on the small details
For each thing you teach daily, you are tying it to a longer curriculum, skills that build on themselves and that they need to master in order to meet curriculum benchmarks later down the line. You need to understand child development and cater to the needs of a large range of students for every lesson including students with special needs. Each student may have a multitude of different long-term goals that need to be met. You keep track of this for each subject, for each student, each day, while still keeping your eyes on the greater goals. There are very few leaders that can see the vision and manage the day-to-day operations. As a teacher it is not an option, you must be able to do both or the students will not be successful.
6. You have a vast supply of patience
When students or parents are rude, you are calm and rational. When your students are frustrated you patiently guide them back and help them get started. You look each student in the eye and recognize their inherent goodness even when inside you are screaming with frustration (insert client or employee for student).
7. You understand the importance of kindness, gratitude and firmness and express the right amount of each
You say thank you, and express kindness to your students and families. In business they write books and publish articles on being grateful and kind (they call it Appreciation Marketing). However, you also understand the importance of limits and can find a beautiful balance between “this must be done” and “thanks for all your hard work.”
8. Each year you develop your own organizational structure and iterate to improve it’s output
If you can manage a classroom, you can manage an organization. Classroom management is one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. Imagine a CEO throwing a birthday party for 30 of his/her 7 year old daughter’s friends… the day would end with everyone feeling frazzled and exhausted (and probably a lot of wine). Now imagine doing that every day, each moment has to be purposeful and students must be held accountable. Each year as a teacher I used the previous year to enhance the structure of the coming year. An unruly classroom is much more apparent than an unruly office, but the change in culture and output is no different.
9. You understand that honest reflection is necessary to be successful
Reflection, that is what teachers’ do best. We must be truthful with our abilities as a leader and instructor and change them immediately if they are not working. It is not just dollars lost, it is lives.
10. You know that feeling challenged and included is paramount to success
You daily create a culture where your students feel challenged and included. This is the foundation of successful office culture but is often very difficult for an employer to master. You are strong at identifying and supporting your student’s growth and you know that if students do not feel safe and included they are likely to perform poorly. Employees are no different.
While it may sound obvious… If your foundation is learning you can never fail.
This is the most important lesson. When I began transitioning into the world of startups I pretended I knew what everyone was saying. Then I realized that the greatest teacher is curiosity and asking questions, and so I practiced what I had preached for years. I asked what people meant, I asked clarifying questions, I raised my hand and tried not to preface my inquiries with “this is probably a stupid question.” I identified what I didn’t know and I found ways to learn it. Sometimes I would go to events and just write down business terms and look them up later. I may still not know everything, but if you tell me what I should have known yesterday… I will find a way to learn it by tomorrow. Teachers are resourceful, they believe in learning and they are incredibly brilliant with their vision and action.
The parallels to running a classroom and running a successful company are not that far off. In fact, companies like Google are beginning to demonstrate many of the culture and learning opportunities that teachers have known all along. It is time we gave a little more respect to the incredibly hard job that teacher’s do each day and recognized that they might have a lesson or two to teach you about running your own company.
Want to learn more about how you can use your teaching skills outside the classroom? Sign up for a free coaching session or check out our classes on entrepreneurship for teachers.
Teach the Change 