Several years ago, I found myself in a spirited discussion about Multiplier leadership with Nevin, a manufacturing leader. We discussed the fundamentals: Why do some leaders amplify intelligence (Multipliers), while other leaders drain it (Diminishers)? We explored the behaviors we’d experienced in our work and how they’d impacted us. As a twenty-plus year veteran in [...]
This is not the first time an unarmed, non-threatening, Black man was killed at the hands of White police officers, resulting in nationwide protests. It is the first time I learned about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre*, where the bustling predominantly Black neighborhood, known not only for its strong business district, but also the hospitals and schools, was nearly [...]
Curated Resources for Leading and Living in a Time of Coronavirus Update: September 2020 Wow, times are certainly strange, at least from my vantage point. Every region of the country is managing this crisis differently, which means more complexity. In our area of the country, we have some schools in full-remote mode (with the [...]
Finding the space to think, let alone reflect on that thinking, seems in short supply (at least for me). Some people meditate; others journal; I find my most reflective and thoughtful moments come while out running the tree-lined streets of my neighborhood. Whether at dawn, or in the blazing sun of a noon-time run, there [...]
What a colorful lens we each look through, or perhaps it’s not as colorful as we think. It was a privilege to spend a recent Saturday with engineering students at the Virginia Tech Torgersen Leadership Summit and a reminder of how much our experiences shape our thinking, our decision making, our everything. Nostalgia [...]
2 Questions for More Powerful Coaching Conversations It’s never a great moment when a coachee comes back after trying something you suggested to find out it didn’t work. Or is it? In a recent conversation with a school leader who was facing a performance challenge, he expressed the following concern: “So, I did it – I tried [...]
Whether you’re working with high-performing teachers or struggling teachers—or those in between—a performance conversation can bring with it much anxiety. That was definitely the case when a concerned school-level leader approached me about an upcoming meeting with a struggling teacher. He had been working with this teacher for weeks – student focus and classroom management [...]
Closing the Idea-Implementation Gap Before we can suggest how to close the idea gap, it's important to wonder: Why might there be a gap that needs to be closed? An idea-implementation gap often is rooted in the decision--making process. Despite educational leaders desire to create an inclusive community with [...]
The Unintended Consequences of High Expectations How often do you see administrators who wholeheartedly believe their students and teachers are smart and capable? At the same time, how frequently do you see these same leaders missing out on the full talent and capability of their staff, students and community [...]
Op-Ed: Teachers Have Different Challenges On the one hand, it sounds like Gov. John Kasich’s proposal in HB 49, to require “onsite work experiences” as a condition of teacher licensure, seems like an indictment that teachers don’t know how to teach, as suggested by Renee Middleton, dean of Ohio University's [...]
