Daniel Bauer of the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast interviewed me and posted it today. As Daniel helps develop school leaders, mainly K-12, he approached Leadership Step by Step and my work from a more learning and educational perspective than most of the business and personal development approaches of other interviews. It's a natural perspective since I'm teaching, so I'm glad he did. The interview touched on a lot of where my material came from, and at least one very vulnerable moment I don't often share because it was such a difficult time---actually, one particular painful, tearful day that I…

I was pleasantly surprised by my publisher, Amacom, yesterday to learn that my book, Leadership Step by Step, received a starred review from Booklist. Booklist will publish the full review in their February 1st issue, so I can't quote the whole thing, but I'll quote what Amacom quoted: This is practical training made perfect. Bravo! For those who don't know much about Booklist, like I didn't before looking them up, I'll quote this Slate article, "Book Report:How four magazines you've probably never read help determine what books you buy": Look up a book on Amazon.com, and the first media review…

The pictures speak for themselves.

Some teachers ask students to grade peers. Some ask for student input on grading. I go further. Radical self-grading I have students in my leadership courses grade themselves---not just give some input. They choose their grades. Moreover, I tell them that I will defend to the administration that they deserve them even if they all give themselves A's. I also add that this loyalty and defense requires backup from them. I don't just ask them their opinion at the end of the course. I have them write me at the beginning of the course what grade they target for themselves…

As promised in yesterday's post, "Writing a book is work!," today I'll share a problem I found after the deadline to go to press. Actually, I said I'd share more than one, so I'll follow up with more in later posts. What got in This one is my term ASEEP, an acronym I created to describe fields that are active, social, emotional, expressive, and performance-based, which includes acting, playing musical instruments, athletics, dance, and even the military. We teach all of these fields effectively, and in none of them do we start by lecturing theory at students for a year,…

As part of teaching my leadership course at NYU, I give out a mid-semester evaluation. One student gave me permission to quote her evaluation. Here it is, unedited, besides my making the name of the course a link and making some text bold: What I like about the course, Leadership Step by Step, is my understanding of the decisions I make and why I think the way I do. From emotions to feelings to acting on a belief. Through work, friends and family my direct interactions with people have been enriched. I adjusted my speech and I chose to use…

I've been refining how to describe my technique in leading others succinctly: Leading others is about behaving and communicating so the other person feels comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities. Their vulnerabilities tend to be their greatest passions and strongest motivations. Their sharing their passions makes them feel understood and open to being led to act on it. In fact, they crave being led by their passions. With experience, their sharing their motivations with you feels like them asking you to lead them with them. Connecting their passions to the team task imbues their work with meaning and inspires them. You supporting…

Over the weekend I got the first printed copies of my book! I've been working on it intensely for months, and building up to that intensity for longer than that. I've been developing the content and my practice for the better part of a decade. Some parts more. It feels great to hold it in my hands. I couldn't help take a few pictures with my phone, damn the torpedoes on the picture quality. I had to share! I'm still editing and ramping up the marketing, but the first physical copy feels like a major milestone. Stay tuned! More to…