Leadership Voice

Larry Nyland

Leadership Voice … in support of racial equity  “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This quote likely comes from John Stuart Mill’s inaugural address in 1867. “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no…

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Community Voice

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Creating Equitable Community Voice  “A master class” in equity.  “On fire.” “Bringing justice.” “Concrete and Precise.”  Those are a few of the accolades for Dr. Gloria Henderson’s presentation, Advancing an Equity Policy, at a recent conference.   In a time of intense conflict, Dr. Henderson creates an open and honest community wide dialogue on racial equity. …

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Strategic Voice

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Strategic Voice – A Review of … Strategic Planning: An Interactive Process for Leaders By Dan R Ebener, and Frederick L Smith, 2015, Paulist Press Strategic Voice   Looking ahead builds forward momentum.  Post-pandemic we need fresh voices for the future.  This short book offers great ideas for engaging staff and community in strategic thinking and…

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Student Voice

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Know better … Do Better … Listening to Student Voice Want to build back better? Listen to student voice. Students are in class all day every day.  Their wisdom will astound you.  And hopefully change you for the better.   Those are some of the take-aways from this interview with Jenn McDermott, Director of Innovative Initiatives…

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Leading High-Performance School Systems: Lessons from the World’s Best

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Leading High-Performance School Systems … by Marc Tucker http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Leading-High-Performance-School-Systems.aspx A New Higher World Standard Marc Tucker heads the National Center on Education and the Economy.  For thirty years he has made the case that our students will need High Skills for High Wages.  Here in Leading High-Performance School Systems he points out that basic jobs…

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Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great 

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Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great  by Jim Collins https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062933799/turning-the-flywheel/ This is a great 30 page read, 40 pages including the appendices (a brief summary of the major ideas in Collins’ six previous books).  In this monograph, Turning the Flywheel, Jim Collins, adds far more detail to what the flywheel is and…

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From Good to Great: Lessons Learned

From Good to Great: Lessons Learned I recently interviewed Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and a new monograph, Turning the Flywheel.  As, I have been writing and re-writing those interview notes, I have also been eagerly applying those ideas with school districts and non-profits. Here are some of my take-aways: The AHA!  The…

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Moving from Alignment to Coherence

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Peter Senge and Systems Improvement I am a long-time fan of Peter Senge’s work.  When AASA asked me which author had had the greatest impact on me – my response was Peter Senge and his book, The Fifth Discipline. I spent time with Peter Senge in Boston and devoured his material on common purpose, shared…

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