Author: Nelson Coulter   I recently read The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation of Failure, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt (2018). In this is book, Lukianoff and Haidt premise what they call the three Great Untruths: 1) The Untruth of Fragility: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; 2) The Untruth …

Author: Dr. Stacy Johnson, Superintendent, Banquete ISD As a small, rural school superintendent, my primary goal is to ensure that excellence and continuous improvement resonates throughout our district. To achieve this, I employ a structured approach that focuses on collaboration, innovation and a commitment to student success and achievement. Strategic Vision: At the core of our efforts is a well-defined …

Author: Nelson Coulter Sometimes we slip into recalcitrant thinking and behavior. The impact of such behavior is defensive, limiting, and “slowing.” That impact is especially magnified when the recalcitrance comes from leadership. What does recalcitrance look like in an organization? Impose layer upon layer of permissions and approval for menial tasks. Talk about data but rarely examine the data with …

Author: Nelson Coulter The best leaders I know are constantly doing the work of succession planning. Most organizational leaders know they are only one minute or one decision away from no longer being the leader. How do these wise leaders go about the business of succession planning? They hire folks who embody the highest qualities of Emotional and Social Intelligence. …

Author: Nelson Coulter Pushing for improvement is a process, not an event. It involves adopting new habits AND abandoning old habits. The time-tested mantra of “Old habits die hard” has staying power because of its profound truth. It really doesn’t matter if we are at the top, middle, or bottom of the organizational power structure, we can all affect improvement. …

Author: Nelson Coulter Culture is the ultimate expression of our values. We default to the values of our dominant cultural affiliation UNLESS we choose values different from those. Important questions to ask ourselves and our teams as we examine whether or not our organizational culture is effectively manifesting our chosen values: How clearly have we articulated our fundamental guiding values? …

Author: Nelson Coulter Early in my career I pretended to be an athletic coach. One of the events I attempted to coach was the high jump. In the high jump (and the pole vault) there is what is called the “opening height.” That is the height at which the bar is initially set to start competition. Athletes must clear that …

Author: Nelson Coulter Birthdays are merely anniversaries of our arrival on this planet. That day may have been much-anticipated and dearly longed for. Maybe not. It might have gone just as expected and without complication. But then, perhaps not. It might have occurred with much fanfare and brouhaha. Or not. Whatever the circumstances, that day launched an inevitable turning of …

Author: Nelson Coulter In most organizations, the end of summer marks a “new” beginning. Rather than January 1, the return of employees (or students) at the end of summer seems the de facto initiation of a work year. The best leaders I know understand the power of HABIT, on themselves and on the organizations in which they work. In simplest …

Author: Nelson Coulter You’ve heard the old saw: “Curiosity killed the cat.” While that idiom may hold fair warning for cats, it’s not a great tenet for humans to live by. People with truly curious minds tinker, poke, stretch, re-do, undo, experiment, innovate, and improvise. They LEARN! (And, usually, they’re fun.) The best leaders I know take that curiosity to …

Author: Nelson Coulter Some of the folks I admire most get a LOT of stuff done. They have eclectic interests, curious minds, and superb skills in task completion. I’ve noticed some commonalities in these Gitter-Doner types: They know the time of day when their brain works best, and they do the most cognitively challenging work at those times. They tackle the “worst …

Author: Nelson Coulter Good listeners are rare. Outstanding listeners are rarer still. What keeps folks — maybe me and you — from listening well and deeply? We might not care. We’re too &$%#ed busy. We think the speaker is uniformed, or worse. We’re distracted by ___?___ (something, or everything). We don’t value the speaker, or her/his opinion. We’d rather be …