Thought Leaders

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...

Trees come in lots of flavors and styles. Some trees… Grow best in dense forests; others survive best in complete isolation. Have deep and strong tap roots; some exist with shallow roots near the surface. Have massive trunks and impervious bark; others have wispy...

Sarcasm generates giggles. Tackiness scores laughs. Insults get chuckles. Condescension delights. Disrespectful snipes entertain. Mockery amuses. Ridicule gets likes. Almost always are those effects short lived, among the watchers. Almost never are those efforts...

Most of us want to accomplish a couple of things in life: Have meaningful impact Be effective in our undertakings To be sure, there are a lot of sub-objectives to both of those endeavors, with nuances and webs extending from each. Constant reflection is...

As a kid, I grew up in a low-income family home with 3 brothers, my mom and an alcoholic step dad. We lived in south Texas near the coast in a very small town. I never thought of myself as being poor. My mom never really allowed any of us to believe there was...

As the school year closes and the summer months begin, I reflect on the journey from beginning to end. Being a principal has blessed me. I have been able to help students and adults in ways that I never could in the past. I have been an advocate, a listening ear, a...

Sometimes we get stuck. The rut seems to grab hold and won’t let go. Getting stuck happens to everyone. Getting unstuck is not rocket science. Try this recipe: Get off the accelerator. Spinning the tires even faster won’t get us out of the rut. Reflect carefully....

Football can serve as a nice metaphor for organizational endeavor. The VISION of the football team is to win games and championships. The MISSION of the offense is to make first downs and score points. The ACTION PLAN of the offense is to effectively...

recently read God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O’Gieblyn (2021). My top takeaways: Science presumes a third person perspective, yet consciousness is a first-person experience. We have yet to understand...

Blessings come our way in a multitude of forms: kindness extended, forgiveness offered, assistance, deference, prayers, time given, a listening and nonjudgmental ear, a simple smile, an encouraging word, ………. the list goes on and on. Most (and some of the most...