Thought Leaders

Little children, pets, and visionaries often share a similar trait. They see a person, object, or objective of great desire. They accelerate quickly in the direction of that person, object, or objective, gaining unbridled enthusiasm and speed in the pursuit....

Organizations are actually living, breathing organisms. They have health markers, just like us humans. Leaders are in particular need of being able to assess and address organizational un-health. Consider the following graphic conception for viewing, thinking...

As a school principal, and as a school superintendent, and as a teacher of those who aspire to the same, I have often said the following: “School” is a sanctuary of learning. It exists for the sole and sacred purpose of LEARNING. If the leaders of the school —...

Getting better is a tough slog. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about our personal “state” or that of our organization. Why? Because getting better always means a change in the current state. Change is hard even if we agree that it’s needed. It’s particularly hard...

No, there’s not a contest or tournament which results in declaring who the World Champion Leader is. Yet, those of us in leadership roles typically long to be viewed as exemplars of the craft. IF, however, such a contest existed, at the very top of the list of...

Organizational dysfunction or inertia is typically the result of subversive behavior on the part of some members of the organization (either a few of ’em or a lot). Assuming that we are voluntary members of organizations that have worthy and noble intentions, what are...

For most of us No is the last thing we want to hear, especially as we progress through our career. In this, my twentieth year in education all the No’s led me to where I am today. I started my career in education in the very small town I grew up in, just about ten...

Learning has ALWAYS been personal. Even when we were sitting in lecture halls with hundreds of others, whatever learning we took out of the experience was personal. We either owned it, or we didn’t. Governmental insistence over the last several decades,...

Research indicates that one of the most powerful “attractors,” and most persistent “repellants,” in our workplaces is the quality and behavior of the folks leading the organization. Here’s a wish list (what we’d like Santa to bring us) for organizational leaders to...