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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:23 Grundmeyer Leader Services, where together we are transforming education, one leader at a time.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:27 Now, get ready to amplify your day with your morning boost.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:31 Morning Boost,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:36 Hello, and welcome to Your Morning Boost, Boosters, your daily podcast dedicated
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 to fueling your leadership journey.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 We are especially pleased to welcome our special guest today,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:45 Shannon Watson, founder and executive director of Majority in the Middle.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 She's going to join us here all week.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 So, Shannon, thank you for being here. And why don't you quickly just tell our
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 listeners a little bit about yourself and Majority in the Middle?
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 Absolutely, Adam. I really, I have two sisters who are both in education.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:03 And so I really appreciate the work that you do and the podcast.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 And so very excited to be here.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:11 So majority in the middle, we are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization or a
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 501c3, if you pay attention to things like that.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:21 And we work to empower respectful and effective civic and political engagement.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:27 And we are headquartered in Minnesota. And we do that by trying to elevate knowledge
00:01:27 --> 00:01:33 and help create relationships and spaces and then uplift people who are sort
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 of doing it right, you know, modeling the behavior we want to see.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:42 And we hope that all of that helps us work together across differences and strengthen
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 our civic and political culture.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:48 That's awesome. That's a great mission. Well, I really like what that's going
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 to lead into our conversation this week.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 So we're going to do what I've done with a couple other guests here.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 We're going to do five questions, so I'm going to give you one question for
00:01:56 --> 00:02:00 every single day and let you knock that out of the park because I know you're
00:02:00 --> 00:02:01 going to do, so that's awesome.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 Well, today, actually, this is kind of an important day, too.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 This is National Young Readers Week.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:11 It starts this week for us, so it's a good reminder that our core mission is
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 built on literacy and empathy and the power of shared narratives,
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 and every day we just strive to teach students how to understand diverse perspectives
00:02:19 --> 00:02:23 through reading, but we can only succeed if the adults in our community model
00:02:23 --> 00:02:24 that same respectful understanding.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 And that's why I think this focus is really awesome.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:40 So, Shannon, here's your first question, and that is, how can school leaders,
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 as public-facing figures,
00:02:42 --> 00:02:47 personally model the civility and nonpartisanship that majority in the middle
00:02:47 --> 00:02:52 advocates for, even when facing highly provocative, divisive issues?
00:02:53 --> 00:02:59 Yeah how much time do you have we may be talking about this all week no i do
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 think that there are there are definitely challenges and there are more challenges
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 now than than there used to be it's not like we're dealing with different issues
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 but i do think that the you know the social media.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:16 Has you know added in a whole different sort of not even just the medium but
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 it is added in a different tone and a different tenor.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:23 So the first thing that I would do is I would recommend that,
00:03:24 --> 00:03:28 if you're having to respond to something, if you have the option,
00:03:28 --> 00:03:35 do that either, you know, if it's one person, do it in person or on the phone or on a video call.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:39 If it is for a group of people, like if you're having to update your school
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 or your district or, you know, respond to something in the news,
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 do a video as opposed to something written.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:51 Because not only do most of us learn different ways, you know,
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 some people learn by reading and some people learn by listening,
00:03:55 --> 00:03:59 the tone and the inflection really gets lost in written communications.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:04 And so it also, I mean, it has the added benefit of it holds our attention a little longer.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 And as educators know, attention spans have become a problem,
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 shorter and shorter, even among adults.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 So I think that,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 It humanizes your message in a way that I think people are willing to give you
00:04:18 --> 00:04:23 a little extra grace and understand through your tone and through your body
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 language and through your word choices, all three,
00:04:27 --> 00:04:31 sort of how you're coming at a situation.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:36 I think if, and this is sort of, you know, two different things.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:41 I mean, do you have a parent who is asking about something or do you have a,
00:04:41 --> 00:04:45 you know, a situation in your school that has to be dealt with en masse?
00:04:45 --> 00:04:50 And so I'll sort of touch on each of those individually. I would also recommend
00:04:50 --> 00:04:54 that we really try hard not to generalize.
00:04:54 --> 00:05:00 You know, all Republicans believe this or all Democrats think that or, you know, this is.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 And it gets hard, especially when we're talking about, you know,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 like federal issues. When you're talking about Congress, you know,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 Democrats and Republicans in Congress are, for the most part,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 all speaking with one voice in each of those situations.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:20 They are in their camps. They have picked their battle lines, and they're doing that.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:26 But when you're talking about just community members, I can tell you for sure,
00:05:26 --> 00:05:30 all Democrats do not believe everything that the rest of the Democrats believe.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 And all Republicans don't agree with all Republicans. So a really good way to
00:05:35 --> 00:05:41 take that first step is to acknowledge that if it is a Republican or a Democrat
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 who has said something or done something, when you're addressing it,
00:05:45 --> 00:05:51 You're not sort of lumping in and vilifying other people along with them.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 You're leaving space for nuance.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:59 There is, there is, I'm not a fan of it, but there is this saying in politics
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 that if you're explaining, you're losing.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:07 And I'm, I'm not a fan of that because, I mean, education is all about the explaining, right?
00:06:07 --> 00:06:12 It's not about the first 10 words. It's about the next 10 words and how things,
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 you know, make sense in context.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:20 So I think acknowledging that there are nuances to most issues,
00:06:20 --> 00:06:24 some things there's really cut and dry, but also there's different nuances.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:29 And I spent a lot of time working in public policy and working with political reporters.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 And one of the challenges to political communication is that,
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 you know, generally, like reporters, they say, OK, well, this is what the Democrats
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 say and this is what the Republicans say.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:43 And there's just these two sides that are being presented.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 But when was the last time there was only two sides to a story,
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 especially when we're talking about public policy or something?
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 Right. It's like there's like 14 sides.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:59 So lean into that and acknowledge that, you know, there can be there can be 14 sides to things.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:06 And then I think one thing, I was just talking to a group at lunch this afternoon
00:07:06 --> 00:07:10 about, well, he's done it publicly, so I'm not throwing him under the bus.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 Our governor, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walls, who, you know,
00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 was the vice presidential candidate.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:22 And in Minnesota, we had a situation this summer where we had a member of our
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 House of Representatives was assassinated and another one was shot. Yeah.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:32 And the governor initially said, you know, political violence has,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 you know, come to Minnesota. This is a problem.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 I am part of the problem. I need to be part of the solution.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 We all need to bring our rhetoric down and back off of these things.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:45 And then he's taken sort of shots at President Trump.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:50 And so a lot of people sort of call out that hypocrisy like
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 well you said you're going to bring your your rhetoric down and
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 then you're taking shots at donald trump and i
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 think the one really good thing that the
00:07:58 --> 00:08:04 governor has done has acknowledged that he's he's kind of goofing up with some
00:08:04 --> 00:08:08 of these things and there are things where he is inconsistent he i mean he has
00:08:08 --> 00:08:12 said that you know something about donald trump just bugs him and so he needs
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 to do a little better So I think, you know, most of the time,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 none of us are going to give a perfect answer.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:25 And so acknowledging when you goof or when you're frustrated or you're uncomfortable,
00:08:25 --> 00:08:30 or if you don't feel like there is a right answer, I think that can go a long way as well.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 Well, I'll tell you what, that's a good start to this week.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 Like you said, I bet you could go on this one for quite a while,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:47 but I hear your message, and it does.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 It takes a little bit of courage to seek that understanding,
00:08:49 --> 00:08:53 not necessarily agreement, but understanding amongst the different parties that
00:08:53 --> 00:08:57 are involved and focusing on kind of that shared humility that we can really
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 emphasize as we get through that process as leaders.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 Because as school leaders, whether we like it or not, you are a public figure.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 We all are. And you're going to be viewed as one. So you do have to kind of
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 play that battleground a little bit to still, at the end of the day,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 do what's best for kids. Because that's really what we want to do.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 Yeah. And that demonstrates that, you know, learning is lifelong.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 And that we all have space to learn and grow. Yeah.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 Absolutely. Well, this is a great start. Thanks for joining us today, Shannon.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 We'll be back again tomorrow, listeners, with even more on your Morning Boost
00:09:27 --> 00:09:31 as we dive into more of Shannon's work. all week long.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 But again, thank you for listening. We will talk with you again tomorrow.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 That concludes another episode of Your Morning Boost.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:45 We hope today's daily dose of professional development helps you amplify knowledge,
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 widen reach, and broaden impact.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:53 Your Morning Boost is an AWB education production brought to you with the generous
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 support of Grundmeyer Leader services.
00:09:55 --> 00:10:00 Join us again tomorrow for more. Until then, keep boosting your impact.