What works and what works best. (What’s it all about, Alfie?)
In the 1970’s I learned a lot about human motivation, human development and human behavior. I worked in schools, universities and hospitals. I learned about organizational development and how systems worked and learned why sometimes they didn’t work. It seemed to me that a system worked because it was designed with the users in mind
0Fussing About “Thought Leaders”
So I read something earlier this morning about thought leaders, tweeted it and there it rested for moment until I said, ok, I’ll write a blog. Ever notice how so many people now start out by saying, “So….?” It must be the transition from the experience of being constantly connected and streaming consciousness and what’s
0LEADING IS…
I have been using the following idea recently at the end of my email messages: “Leading is building collaborative energy, listening, asking questions, discerning, and helping groups move forward with a purposeful, shared vision.” There are six main points in that statement about leading, perhaps too many to digest in one quick reading. However, here
0Mind the Gap: Distance Between Real and Ideal
Mind the Gap: Perceived discrepancies between the “real” and the “ideal” OR What my mentor forgot to tell me! After two years of living and working in London, “mind the gap” became more than a popular phrase used on the underground transportation system. There, of course, it referred to the distance between the train and
0Social Media Mom Outs Sons
How about the Tennessee mom who posted a scolding on Facebook aimed at her two sloppy sons and in so doing revealed that their residence did not qualify them to play on the high school football team where they had transferred recently? Regardless what you might think about some of the silly state athletic association
0“Top Ten Afflictions Among Educators”
10. MABS – Myopic, Apathetic Blame Syndrome. A dis-ease characterized by lack of vision, indifference and the attempt to shift responsibility to other people as in “that’s not my job.”9. PEST – Plasmapheric Educational System Transference. A condition recognized in those who drain the organism and then because of inactivity offer bureaucracy as a reason
0Conscious and Intentional
Years ago I developed a little scheme for helping people to deal with what I called, reactive emotions that usually got them nowhere, except mired in their own misery and instead offered them another option. Imagine someone making a snide remark or remember the last time someone said something to you that prompted an immediate,
0The Psyche of the Leader
Psyche was the youngest of the three daughters of some king, her beauty prompted the jealousy and envy of Venus (Aphrodite). In order to avenge herself, the goddess ordered Amor (Eros) to inspire Psyche with a love for the most contemptible of all men, but Amor was so stricken with her beauty that he fell
0Executive Decisions
Making an executive decision requires a bit more than using that part of the brain called “executive functioning” which can be defined as “a set of cognitive abilities that control and regulate other abilities and behaviors. Executive functions are necessary for goal-directed behavior. They include the ability to initiate and stop actions, to monitor and
0