Closing Circle
My friend Liz gathers her people at the end of the day for a closing circle. It’s a ritual, like a stand up meeting that many leaders do at the start of the day to check in on priorities, challenges, and how everyone is doing.
But Liz’s closing circles mark the end of the day. It’s a retro. What worked for us? What didn’t work for us? What did we learn? What or who do we appreciate?
Endings are important. And good endings are essential. It’s difficult to start something on the right foot when an ending is incomplete or ignored entirely.
Liz has led, mentored, taught and poured her heart into more than 780 humans over her career. She focuses as much on her peoples’ emotional and social intelligence as their competency. This is obvious in the closing circles.
What makes Liz’s team different is that they are fifth graders and they have a LOT to teach us about leadership, community, and what makes a team work.
Here’s how closing circles go in Liz’s classroom:
Sometimes the students say a thing that went well: we finished the science project on time!
Sometimes they say a thing that sucked: I fell in PE today
Sometimes they say things about their learning: in Liz’s class writing is rigorous and requires stamina. So they celebrate the process. Lots of sticky notes on their work is a good thing—”Look how many revisions I did!”
Students notice and acknowledge others doing kind things throughout the day and week. In the circle they look each other in the eye and say what they experienced. It’s not superficial like, “Thank you for being my friend.” It’s specific and sometimes out of their comfort zone: “Today we were working on a math problem that I didn’t really get at first and you encouraged me when you said ‘you’ve got this Patty.’”
It’s vulnerable, honest, and kind.
These students are learning how to complete their days in a meaningful way. They’re also learning how to be great leaders and even better humans.
As the year winds to close, think about how you will honor this ending. What worked? What didn’t? What did you learn? Who will you appreciate and acknowledge for their impact?
Closing circles are powerful in the classroom, the conference room, and the zoom room. Liz’s 5th graders get it. We can too.
Happy and healthy holidays sweet Elves.
Love,
Patty