About a year ago, I met Sirje Kautsaari, the then director of Rapla Gymnasium, by chance during lunch on a conference day. We ended up at the same table. Our conversation turned into a passionate debate on education and leadership. Sirje’s idea that why not come and talk to young people about leadership, so that they would know how to make more accurate choices about their careers and leaders in their lives, sounded nice, but unrealistic. The next thing I knew, we were communicating on LinkedIn, I saw that I was going to send the syllabus to Sirje and that I was going to teach? We’re waiting for the results of the autumn registration round to see if any of those interested will come to my course. Secretly, perhaps, I even hoped it wouldn’t. Still a little scared, what with training lots of new people every week. But still a whole week, at school, with students…
When Aime, the school’s head teacher, told me in the autumn that my course was one of the most popular – 27 students – I was surprised. And so it was agreed that during the week of March I will be a guest teacher in Rapla Gümnaasium for 5 days. It is one of the schools in Estonia where, 3 times a year, students have the opportunity to design a week entirely for themselves, choosing from a range of courses to choose the one that suits them best. Wonderful!
So I settled in for a week in Rapla County. I don’t know at the moment what will happen as a result, but professionally this week was one of my most transformative. I have never had to be so creative, so adaptable, so flexible and amazed at how intelligent and open-minded young people are when training or giving a course. 27 students from grades 10 to 12 articulated a number of leadership issues with a clarity and clarity that adults dare not express, they conducted 54 interviews with leaders and managers over the course of a week, and they were able to identify the key challenges facing the world of organisations today.
I was deeply touched when, at the end of class on Friday, several students came up to thank me individually one-on-one and told me how I had changed the image of leadership for them and how open and welcoming the atmosphere in the classroom was this week, it was touching.
Making this course fierce together in the classroom, the independent interviews of the students, the discussions that ensued and the growth of trust and openness – wow.
I enjoyed absolutely every second working with young people, I enjoyed being completely away from the hustle and bustle of Tallinn for a week. It was like a week on another planet. From the planet where I got it all: creativity, trust, openness, inspiration, deep gratitude.
This is a perfect example of how “accidental” things can become big things. The conference where Sirje and I met for the first time didn’t leave a deep impression on me, it even felt like a waste of time. But now I know that this conference was needed to get to Raphael. This was necessary for something great to happen. Every thing is good for something, and it’s at its best when it gives you chills of positive energy.
🎓Thank you, Rapla Gümnaasium, for this shockingly deep week!
