Or maybe it is. How can you know for sure?

Increasingly, I’m noticing that a key role that I have in my clients’ lives is to be a filter.

Based on knowing them, their strengths, and their desired outcomes, I’m helping them to figure out which voices to listen to, what frameworks apply to them, and which advice to take.

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Now that the Little Middle School has closed, I can share some stories that I haven’t shared publicly before.

They’re not so bad, it’s just that now I don’t have to worry about how they reflect on the program.

Here’s one: Some unspecified amount of time ago, I received an email from a parent of one of my students, listing all of the things that she thought we should be doing differently.

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At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, Fiona Apple, at not quite twenty years old, accepted her award for Best New Artist with a speech that earned the criticism and derision of many.

“This world is bullshit,” she said, her choice of words bleeped by the censors. “You shouldn’t model your life about what you think that we think is cool and what we’re wearing and what we’re saying and everything. Go with yourself. Go with yourself.”

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“Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do!”

These words of actress Sally Struthers ring out across the decades, enticing us to take up a new career in TV/VCR Repair, or maybe Learning the Personal Computer, training from the comfort of home.

I don’t know why this line sticks with me so much. Maybe it’s because I heard it approximately three million times on those ads.

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I worked with a leader, Evan, who was extremely humble and self-effacing.

Evan was constantly working to improve himself. Whenever anything went wrong, his first move was to look at his own behavior. His default assumption was, “the problem must be me.”

Often, though, Evan had already done what he needed to do. He had made a plan, communicated clearly, and followed through on his promises.

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