Leadership

For those who don’t get it…

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Something that occasionally presents itself in the world of leadership is that there is one person, also a leader, who doesn’t “get it.” Maybe it’s another teacher, a member of administration or your direct supervisor. They see what you are doing, they know that those you lead appreciate what you’re doing, but for one reason … Read more

The Olympics of Dedication

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The Olympics have a way of shining a new light on the meaning of dedication.

The opening ceremonies were comprised of one spectacular vignette after another, with thousands of performers, musicians and athletes knowing exactly where to go and what to do during every minute of their moment in the spotlight. That’s dedication.

Every commercial that runs during the Olympic Games tells the athlete’s tale of foregoing dessert, not watching TV, not skipping a single day’s workout in order to be the best. That’s dedication.

Then there was the Chinese farmer who spent the last two years traveling to London via rickshaw just to see the Olympic games. A little extreme, but yes – that’s dedication.

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Fear and Vision

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Fear paralyzes; sometimes we allow it to, calling it “caution”. It’s good to be cautious.  Not so good to be paralyzed. Either by over-analysis OR by fear. (Though, extreme analysis can combat fear; see Freakonomics for the statistics on child restraints…) A good nugget from Tim Ferriss’s Four-Hour Workweek is this (paraphrased): The thought of … Read more

Effective leaders value clarity

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Few things are more energizing than leaving a productive meeting with your team, set ablaze with fresh ideas that will set the wheels in motion. You’re ready to go. Your team is ready to go. You’ve established MT goals and are ready to tackle the world. It’s a great feeling. Until something, somewhere, gets a … Read more

The Leadership Challenge – Happy Birthday!

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Happy Anniversary to the most important book on leadership on my shelf.  Not only is it compelling, research-based, comprehensive, elegant, immediately applicable, and timeless; it changed my life. Research ought to be relevant, right? So, when it was time  to pick a topic for my master’s thesis, it was easy.  I was a band teacher … Read more

Resist the temptation…

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In an earlier post, “Instead of…” was presented as an alternative to saying “Don’t.” “Instead of” forces you to come up with an alternative action, which is usually good. However, if time is critical, or it’s not all that consequential, or you can’t come up with an alternative, try this: “Resist the temptation to…”It works … Read more

Frame! (kind of a book report)

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The brilliant folks at Manager Tools–specifically, Mark–have recommended this book highly for years.  I read much of it a while ago, and recently picked it up to re-read it. In 300 words, here’s why it’s worthy of attention; read at least chapters 1, 2, 16, and 20. (Those chapters recommended by Luther College professor Schweizer — … Read more

“Where do you get that energy?!”

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Frequently, people ask me that question.  Those who ask are usually witnessing me in a professional situation; if they saw me after the alarm goes off, there’s no way they’d ask that! But it’s true- if we lead, we have an obligation to give those we serve our best, and that means maintaining optimal mental … Read more