Leadership, Joy, and a Room Full of Little Readers
I read to over 100 preschoolers and kindergarteners recently.
It might have been the most important leadership moment I’ve had all year.
A few months ago, I wrote about burnout and the importance of choosing joy on purpose.
In that post, I mentioned something small that stayed with me:
Reading to preschoolers during March’s Reading Month was one of the highlights of my year.
I said I wanted to do more of it.
Recently, I did.
This time, it wasn’t one classroom.
It was multiple rooms. Different groups. Same impact.
There’s something powerful about reading to young children.
They don’t care about your title.
They don’t care about your résumé.
They don’t care how busy you are.
They just listen.
They laugh.
They react.
And for a few minutes, nothing else matters.
No emails.
No deadlines.
No stress.
Just presence.
It reminded me of something I’m still learning:
The moments that restore you are often the ones that have nothing to do with your job.
Back in December, I wrote about putting on your own oxygen mask first.
This felt like that.
Not a big change.
Just a simple moment that filled me back up.
Leadership isn’t about running yourself into the ground.
It’s about finding ways to stay human while you lead.
For me, sometimes that looks like standing in front of a room full of little readers…Activate to view larger image,