It has been established that effective leadership is necessary for motivation; however, before we are able to lead others, we must be able to successfully lead ourselves first. If we don’t know how to do that, then we must be humble enough to admit we don’t know, and then be willing to ask for help.  Once the assistance is provided to us, we must be diligent in our own personal efforts and battles to improve ourselves.  Once we are able to lead ourselves, we are able to focus on leading others.

Whether we are leading our household, our classroom, our school, our community, or any other organization, leadership is important to motivate those we are leading.  Certainly this is the case when parents and teachers leading their children/student(s).   Once we motivate our team, we can then work together to achieve a common goal.  So what might the goal of a parent and a teacher be? To work together for the betterment of their children!

Successful teamwork must be exemplified on many levels.  Although it is possible, it can be challenging for teachers to be the only ones trying to lead their students.  It may also be difficult for the parent(s) to be the only ones to lead their child.  But together, parents and teachers can collaborate in guiding their children or students towards accomplishing the goal of successfully completing the current grade.

But, teamwork does not stop there. “It takes a community to raise a child,” and a community works best when it works as a team. This means supporting each other’s efforts in accomplishing the shared goal of supporting the children’s education that they may succeed in school and becoming contributing members of society.  In order for a community to be successful, the leaders of the different segments must work cohesively in their common goal:

Parent’s working together to be able to provide a culture in their home that teaches and encompasses, love, respect, teamwork, and support for one another.

Parents supporting teachers so that the learning may continue after the bell rings.

Educational leaders supporting their staffs in their efforts to help students achieve their goal of obtaining a diploma.

Staff working with community leaders to look out for one another.

Community members and Educational leaders working together to produce productive members of society.

Law enforcement leaders working with their staff to keep the community safe.

So, is it possible to lead a person to success by yourself? Ultimately it is, but it is easier to lead someone to success when you have a team functioning in unison and utilizing each member’s strengths collaboratively. This mutual contribution yields synergy which usually produces better results than any one of the members could produce individually. When we take the time to investigate the most successful people that we may consider to be successful/famous/important they usually had a team to support them.  A successful athlete, not only has a coach, but he also usually has supportive parent(s), a medical staff, trainers, educators, investors, etc. Similarly, a child/student needs a team behind them to increase their chances of success in their education endeavors.

Please join Natchez United, as we strive for a stronger community:

47 p.m. Mondays — Prayer at the Hotel Vue

47 p.m. Tuesdays — Community Issues at the Hotel Vue

47 p.m. Thursdays — Open Mic on the Porch at the Natchez Grand.
Jeremiah Rios is a member of Natchez United.