Seth Godin’s post today really resonated with me.  He wrote, “Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance.”  When in college, I worked at a Chicago-sytle pizza restaurant owned and operated by a man who had made a good deal of money working in the mercantile exchange in Chicago.  I have lots of good memories of working there, but the one thing that I remember most vividly is when Tony (the owner) told me that in life, there would always be naysayers and people trying to get in my way.  At twenty or so years of age, that didn’t mean a whole lot.  But, together with Godin’s words (and a whole bunch of years of life under my belt since then), I’m reminded of Tony’s words of caution.

I think of myself as a key member of a team coached by Scott McLeod; a team with the objective of evangelizing about forward-thinking, digitally-conscious school leadership.  Scott was the first and is the lead evangelist; he’s been nothing short of persistent and a visionary.  Our team is a small (though growing slowly…very slowly) group of professors of educational leadership who go about our work through teaching, research and, most importantly (IMHO ), advocacy.  That advocacy comes in many forms, including blogging, networking, presenting, consulting, etc.

Resistance to our team’s efforts comes in many, many forms.  I think the leading form of resistance lies at the intersection of tradition and fear.  I can write gobs about that but won’t (at least not now).  For now, I’ll just say that today I’m inspired by Godin’s post and the resulting memories of the words of my former employer.  Godin concluded his post with this: “The yin and yang are clear: without people pushing against your quest to do something worth talking about, it’s unlikely it would be worth the journey. Persist.”

So, persist I will.  Onward and upward!

Tags: education, leadership, resistance, Scott McLeod, Seth Godin, technology