Author: Nelson CoulterWho we choose to BE is far more important than what we choose to do, and orders of magnitude more important than what we say.How do we go about choosing who we want to BE?An impactful guiding question: How will my existence on the planet make it...
Thought Leaders
HelpTest
A valued friend of mine shared a lovely concept with me this week. (I’ll call him Bob for purposes of anonymity.) Bob told me that he had been advised at a young age by valued mentor to take the following approach to life: Whenever you have the opportunity to help...
CoddlingOfTheAmericanMind
I recently read The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation of Failure, byGreg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt (2018). In this is book, Lukianoff and Haidt premise what they call the three Great Untruths: 1)...
The Drumbeat of Excellence
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...
Recalcitrant
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...
SUCCESSion!
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...
Dr. Kim Alexander and Alton Frailey on Rural Innovation
CanDO
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...
CultureMicroscope
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...
OpeningHeight
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...
