Thought Leaders

We ALL have values, whether we know it or not. Some of us simply adopt the values we were raised with, giving little thought to them. Others of us spend a great deal of time and thought examining our values, then carefully articulating them for clarity...

Leaders are like prospectors. Some seem focused on looking for gold. Others, however, seem busily intent on digging up dirt, detritus, and dung. Both kinds are mining in the same medium. The difference is in the leader’s perspective. De-energizing leaders look for...

I recently read Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders by Joel Manby (2020). In this book Manby frames his experiences as a chief executive officer of several large organizations against the pillars of love as articulated in 1...

I love knives, and I have a collection of pocket knives that I’m a bit proud of.  I received a gift card for Christmas, and knowing that I would be leaving Roscoe Collegiate ISD at the end of January, I decided to purchase a new pocket knife that would...

We are apportioned only so many days on Earth. For some, that window of life is tragically short. For others, it can approach 100 years. Regardless of how long we live, there is a finite amount of Life Energy allocated to us each day. We get to determine how to spend...

A lifetime is too short to learn the craft of leadership. As we grow ourselves into more impactful Servant Leaders, there exists some powerful accelerants to the process: Clarity – be absolutely clear about the direction we are heading, about the outcomes we...

For your consideration:Cynicism = Don’t know + don’t care + not believing itCuriosity = Don’t know much about it + interested in knowing moreSkepticism = Know a little already + convince me + gonna ask critical questionsSkeptiosity = Curiosity + Skepticism...

There’s this thing called the 80-20 Principle (aka Pareto Principle). The premise is that 80% of the outcomes are generated by 20% of the inputs (or inputers). Another way to think of it is that 20% of our thoughts/mindsets and actions/behaviors drive 80% of our...

We have all heard “you need more community engagement” or “more community buy-in”, but what exactly does that mean? There is not just one way to define community engagement or what it should look like in your district. Community engagement should be seen as a living...

Meetings are a necessary part of organizational work. Unnecessary meetings are one of the most non-productive uses of time in organizational work. If not needed, don’t call ’em. Poorly deployed meetings are one of the most frequent time and energy sucks of...