Remember Tony Danza?
He is probably best known for his roles on Taxi and Who’s The Boss. His recent appearance on Oprah, however, was about his dream job, at which he has been working for the last year; high school English teacher.
Danza originally went to college to be a teacher. To help pay his way, he was also an amateur boxer, and that avenue eventually led him to acting. But, after many years on the large and small screen, he decided at the age of 58 that he wanted to go back to his original passion and teach. He remembered how he struggled with motivated learning, and really believed that he could help today’s students.
Imagine being a 10th grade student at Northeast High School in Philadelphia who walks into the classroom on the first day of school and sees Tony Danza. And, he’s your teacher! Imagine being a teacher walking into the faculty room, and Tony Danza is now your peer. It was not an easy road for him, for sure.
Long story short, Danza got off to a rocky start, but ended the school year strong. After so many years out of school, he just needed to focus his passion, find his stride, and then his students responded.
At the end of the Oprah piece, short clips were shown of students and faculty commenting on how Danza did in his first year back to teaching. One of the comments made by Mrs. Linda Carroll, the school principal, stood out for me.
You are not a teacher until someone is learning.
Couldn’t we say the same about leaders?
You are not a leader until someone is following.
Many people claim to be leaders. In the absence of anyone following, are they really leaders? If leadership is influence, and no one is being influenced, is there a leader? If you’re a leader, who is following? If Oprah interviewed them, what would they say about you?
If you want to know more about Tony Danza’s latest career choice, read THIS interview. Although he is specifically commenting about his role as a teacher, many of his insights apply to leadership of all kinds; self-control, empathy, giving to others, and more.
In closing, I invite you to consider this:
If you could have your dream job, what would it be? What’s stopping you? Feel free to share your thoughts by adding a comment. You just might inspire someone else to pursue their dream job! Imagine the possibilities!
