Leadership, Community, and Courage

An interview with Dr. Janice Brown, Executive Director of The Kalamazoo Promise, by Circle of Trust Facilitator Marianne Houston

Marianne: Please tell us about your experience with Courage to Teach® and Courage to Lead®, Janice.

Janice: I feel very fortunate.  I’ve actually had four or five different experiences with Courage to Teach and Courage to Lead.  The first one was an introductory retreat when the Fetzer Institute invited a group of educational leaders for a three-day gathering where we experienced a “Courage retreat.”   Shortly after that I signed up with others from Kalamazoo Public Schools and Western Michigan University  to go through a series of retreats called Courage to Teach.  There were teachers and administrators and teacher educators and might better have been called “Educators’ Courage” because there were lots of different positions represented.  That’s where I began my journey and was very meaningful for me.  The next experience I had was a Courage to Lead series, which brought together leaders from Kalamazoo and Comstock Public Schools, Western Michigan University, and civic leaders from Kalamazoo.   I remain close today to the participants from these two series, each of which took place over a two-year period.  We think of ourselves as “The Courage Community” here.  I also had an opportunity to go to Bainbridge Island at the national headquarters and go to a retreat with Parker Palmer and a lot of the national leaders.  All of this was extraordinarily meaningful to me.    

Marianne:  In that first experience, which you’ve called “Educators’ Courage”, you had a unique experience: you were the superintendent of KPS, and in that group were teachers and others from your district.  What was that like to have a circle experience, in which vulnerability is high, with members of your school community?

Janice:  Yes.  That experience was very important for me.  As an educator I’ve always had the highest regard for teachers.  To be able to interact with them in that sort of format… both formal and informal, structured and unstructured… helped me ground myself even more deeply, in the importance of the work for educators at all levels.  I saw our work as one, and that is so significant.   It was a good experience, and I was so honored to be with the teachers.  I remain close to a number of them.

Marianne: What was required of you in that experience, personally, as you participated?

Janice:  I’ve always thought that to be a healthy, well-rounded person you need to attend to your whole self, and that includes your spiritual development.  That’s pretty much next to impossible when you work as a superintendent, usually 7:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night, day in and day out!  There can be a complete grinding away of that piece of you that I would call your core, your spirituality.  The Courage experience has been an opportunity to do my own formation work, develop my spiritual core.   It’s one of the few times that I have spent time almost exclusively working on myself, with others there to support me as needed, and not judge me.  And frankly, I believe I’ve become a better person as a result of the retreats, surely more tolerant.  

Marianne: I remember so distinctly you saying once that the Circle was “like church” for me.  What did you mean by that?

Janice:  As an individual I’ve always struggled with the formalized, or perhaps “institutionalized” part of religion.  I’ve come to the point where I reduce religion to love of self and neighbor.  And I find that the participation in CTT allows me to develop real, deep, authentic love of myself and my neighbor more than any other formalized experience I’ve had in any other institution.  The circle is a circle of trust, and yes, love.

Marianne:  Though you have already somewhat answered this, I wonder if you would address this  question directly: what difference has “work in the circle” made, specifically, in your daily life and work?

Janice:  My life and work has become more reflective regarding the importance of each of us as people.  In spite of my positions – as I’ve been several years in positions of authority – I am just like everyone else and everyone else is just like me.  And whether you are a teacher, or a city or county official, or whatever walk you take in life, leadership is necessary if you’re trying to be transformative.   The people that I hang out with, despite their formal positions, are people that are trying very hard to be transformative leaders in whatever their work might be.  All of us are necessary to get this done.  The Courage experience has really enhanced my understanding of the importance of all the people in the transformation of our community, our nation and our world.  And I believe you start with yourself, and then your community.

Marianne: The last series you participated in brought together educational leaders from various levels within the public school system, the university, the Community in Schools arena, and also several civic leaders.  What’s your take on bringing together that sort of group in a circle experience?

Janice:  The ability of community leaders to see themselves as a united force, trying to make a better community right here and now, needs a place to be developed.  The daily work of leaders in our circle centers primarily around transforming the community.  (And personally, I believe that should be the work of all leaders whether they be economic development leaders, political leaders, service providers, educators, student support folks…) We need to work with each other in a very positive way to accomplish this. This retreat series was ideally suited to do this, because we can’t do this together unless we know each other, and this is what happens over a period of time in these retreats: we come to know ourselves and each other, and grow in love and respect of both!  Then we can go about our “work of transforming”.  The retreats are deeply beneficial for the person and the community.

Marianne: Thank you, Janice.