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P xv throughout this book will matter if you don’t take the time to create and develop these strong relationships. Let’s also take a moment to acknowledge some basic truths that we can embrace. We are asking others to follow us as we prepare our learners for a changing world. That means we better be equipped to lead. We need to be honest with ourselves about the realities of our beliefs and our actions. We need to adopt a can-do mindset and work hard to live as a leader. Here are some essential truths for champions of learning. • I aspire to be better. • I am willing to lead. • I place value in meeting the AASL National School Library Standards. • I recognize the important work of Future Ready Librarians. • I value the local and global learning community. • I seek and value collaboration. • I acknowledge and respect my responsibility to provide student learners with the skills, knowl- edge, and experiences necessary to be successful in their future. • I acknowledge the shared responsibility to prepare our students for success in a global world. • I view librarians as teachers. • I embrace a growth mindset. • I am willing to put in the work. If you can, with conviction, say you live by these truths, you can be assured that you are fit to lead. However, that doesn’t mean that leadership opportunities will just happen. I understand and recognize that these truths are often met with roadblocks that form bar- riers on the road toward success. Roadblocks bring me to my final point. I would be remiss if I failed to discuss the need for grit, passion, and responsibility as underlying factors for success. I am the first person to recognize that our work is exhausting. So, what is it that makes me as passionate and as driven as I am to push through the difficult work that lies between me and the success of my learners? The truth is, I know my work is vital, and I own that responsibility. As cliché as it sounds, we have the future in our hands. We are developing the skills and knowledge of our future workforce and developing informed, responsible citizens. When we take time to invest in our learners, we will not only make an impact on them but also make an impact on our future (they are our future, right?). I own the shared responsibility of empowering learners to leave our classrooms with a continual thirst for learning and a desire to impact the world in a positive way. Passion and grit simply cannot be overlooked as essential components of our efforts to lead innovative learning experiences within our schools. I hope you are willing to roll up your sleeves and embrace the new AASL Standards and Future Ready Librarian™ principles, and join me as we take the lead on developing inno- vative learning experiences. It is our craft, skills, and underlying efforts that will positively impact learning. For the sake of growth, we need to push ourselves, our learners, and our organizations out of their comfort zones. We need to welcome failure and cultivate a mindset of failing forward. We make forward progression toward growth when we learn from our mistakes and failures. I promise, if we can embrace these truths, attitudes, and mindsets that were outlined earlier, and will be in the following chapters, together we will be prepared to lead successful innovative library programs that effectively prepare learners for the future.