Everyone is a Teacher

I'm 22 years old, sitting with my head on my desk in my room at my fraternity house. For the last four years, I'd studied and told myself that I was going to be a teacher, but now that it was time to apply for jobs, something was giving me pause.

I knew I wanted to educate others, to work with students, to "change lives." All of the most influential people in my life were educators, and I wanted nothing more than to pass on the positive impact they'd had on me. I was meant to teach, I just knew that deep down I wasn't meant to be in a classroom.

I close my laptop and check the time. "Dang it," I exclaim to no one. I was late to Feelings at Finnegan's. Every Tuesday, my buddy Trent and I met at our favorite spot, Finnegan's, to talk about what was going on in our lives, hence the feelings part.

I push into the dimly lit space to find Trent already seated. I pull up a stool and he gives me a knowing sideways glance. "Want to talk about it?" he says in a way that lets me know it's okay if I don't. I tell him I'm at a crossroads. People expect me to teach, even I expected that I'd teach, yet I don't want to commit to a singular place.

He takes a beat, shrugs, and asks, "Who says you have to be in a classroom to teach? Everyone's a teacher, man. They just get paid for it."

We begin talking about all of the ways we'd changed, even in the last few years of our lives, and how most things we learned didn't stem from inside the classroom. Even the ways my actual educators had influenced me for the better had much more to do with character than curriculum.

I learned how to treat strangers from watching Dr. David Frazier order coffee.

I learned how to be generous when my friend Ben gave me his last five dollars so I could get lunch.

I learned how to be decisive from picking produce on Chris Winter's farm.

I learned how to admit I was wrong after my dad came back into my life, although I'm still working on this one.

Trent was right. The most important things I'd learned in life came from watching those I respected most.

The realization struck me that while some people teach from the front of a classroom, most of us teach from the seat of a pickup, from the next desk over, or over a cup of coffee.

The question isn't whether or not we are teachers. The question is, what is it that we've been teaching?

Someone is learning from how you handle stress. Someone is learning from the way you talk about your spouse or friends. Someone is learning from what you tolerate, what you celebrate, what makes you angry, and what makes you grateful.

You may never have a lesson plan. You may never stand in front of a room. But every day, people are taking notes.

The question isn't whether you're a teacher.

The question is whether you'd be proud of what they're learning.

Fact

According to social learning theory, people learn new behaviors not just through instruction, but by observing and modeling the actions of others. In other words, who we are often teaches more than what we say.

Action

Identify one behavior you'd be proud for someone else to copy and practice it intentionally this week.

Question

If someone followed you around for a week, what lesson would they learn?

Quote

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." - Albert Schweitzer