This blog is called Everyday Leadership. Obama is Obama. Trump is Trump. And you and I can choose to be everyday leaders. 324,707,000 people reside here. It’s pretty wonderful and pretty crazy that as 1 out of 324,707,000 each of us feels entitled to have our voice matter in this representative democracy. Doesn’t it seem … Continued
Thanks for all the great comments last week in response to my blog about whether you would have the courage to read a (rather long) Reading for Leading about race in America. If you missed last week’s missive it was about how as white folk, we have a tremendous opportunity to educate ourselves and become … Continued
I think she almost laughed at me. Kind of blurted an involuntary guffaw. But then my Teaching Assistant followed up her involuntary non-verbal display with sincere verbal reassurance. We were recapping the last 3 classes, all of which were led by students themselves. We were in strong agreement that the classes had gone well (as … Continued
As we swim in the national soup of a presidential campaign, the best learning about leadership lies outside the usual back-and-forth. Whether we are leading in an office or company, a school or family, a church or neighborhood, we have to grapple with IMPRESSIONS and FEELINGS and not just data and facts. I offer: an … Continued
Please bring to mind one thing that’s been preoccupying you. For instance, I am beleaguered by thoughts about a syllabus I need to revise for Fall. It pops into my head, unbidden. It can tighten me up, or get me in its grip. I can plan to get to working on it, but then somehow not! … Continued
I originally published this column in 2008 and got almost 80 reader responses. Thought it worth sharing with some minor revisions… Do you make anything of this? Last Monday I wrote about “managing up.” I got only 4 blog comments, three of which were random attacks on the Governor that were unrelated to my column. … Continued
It’s so easy to get discouraged when you want change, but it won’t come. You get numb. You get mad. You give up. You whine. You mobilize. You hit your head against a wall. You’re the messenger who gets shot. You get cynical. You feel guilty. You get sick and tired of being sick and … Continued
Today’s RFL is a “best of” edition. I feel as strongly as the day I wrote it. I was just talking to a good friend and his 9th grade son, and while “pops” was distracted by another conversation, I asked the younger: “Who’s the leader in your house — your mom or your dad?” His … Continued
3 mini-stories today on the power of lists, with great thanks to my good teachers: Eve, Uncle John, and Ivana. 1. Every Monday I share my list of top3 goals with my accountabilibuddy,” Eve. Last month we hit our 100th week of exchanging by email our top 3 goals for the week ahead (as well … Continued
A “Reading for Leading” reader — I’ll call her Ann — pushed back in a private email to me. She wrote these two paragraphs: In a future newsletter, you may want to distinguish between rules to be broken and those that should be honored. To me, the first are ones imposed without consent (English taxes … Continued