More Less New Whilst working with our staff on our school’s strategic plan evaluation about three years ago, I became stuck on how we would move ahead. Our staff had spent a lot of time across the previous six months, pulling apart our data in every conceivable way trying to effectively evaluate our impact. They…
Category: All Leaders
If you only read one educational leadership book in 2017 make it this one
Leading Teaching and Learning Stephen Dinham If you are only going to read one educational leadership book in 2017, then make it Leading Teaching and Learning by Stephen Dinham (and then get your priorities in order and read more books!). This book is an excellent summary of the broad range of educational research and evidence,…
You should read this if you want to be a Superboss
Superbosses – Sydney Finkelstein Superbosses is an amazing piece of research, summarised into outstanding lessons for leaders of organisations and schools, that ultimately works better as a short article than a book. I came across this book in an HBR article (HBR – January-February 2016), which summarised the main findings of author Sydney Finkelstein’s research….
Give and Take
Give and Take Adam Grant I’ve been circling this book for a while, waiting for the right time to jump in and absorb it. Finally I’ve pushed the rest of my reading list to the side to tackle it and it hasn’t disappointed. Adam Grant’s Give and Take…
Leadership Transitions
Earlier this week I co presented a workshop for aspiring leaders within my school and local school network. The workshop was the first of three for the year, and was designed to get participants to actively and honestly engage in self-reflection, as a foundation for leadership development. The workshops are designed to assist leaders at…
Leadership books you may have missed in 2014
Leadership books you might have missed in 2014 Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a sucker for a good list, and the New Year’s period always provides some worthy list fodder such as Top 5 Movies of 2014, Top social media fails of 2014 and other such nonsense. So I thought…
You should read this if you want to improve the organisational health of your school
The Advantage – How organisational health trumps everything Patrick Lencioni Staff opinion surveys are the bane of many a school leader. Many tend to see them more as an imposition, rather than a chance to really understand how their school is operating. Staff may realise the survey…
Collaboration for improved student learning
Collaboration for improved student learning Recently my school welcomed Dr. Ben Jensen from the Grattan Institute. Dr. Jensen presented a summary of his findings into top tier Asian schools, based on his 2012 report. One of the more revealing aspects of Dr. Jensen’s report (and a little reported on aspect) are the collaboration strategies employed…
You should read this if you are leading change
Switch – Chip and Dan Heath Chip and Dan Heaths excellent ‘Made to Stick’ has already been reviewed here, now their next major book, ‘Switch, How to Change Things When Change is Hard’ is a standout read in the ever growing canon of change management books. Drawing from a wide array of research in psychology…
On the humanity of leadership and legacies
On the humanity of leadership and legacies Recently the foundation Principal of my school Mill Park Secondary College, Adrian Bennetto passed away at the age of 74. I was tasked with writing the notice for our College newsletter. Opening in 1992, I count myself lucky to have been one of the original cohort of students…
You should read this if you want double the capacity of your team
Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter – Liz Wiseman with Greg McKeown Across your career in teaching, there have probably been school leaders that you have loved working with and others that you have loathed working for. With some leaders you will have felt smarter, valued, supported, challenged and loved your work while…
You should read this if you want to instil your students with character and grit
How Children Succeed – Grit, Curiosity, and the hidden power of character Paul Tough In ‘How Children Succeed – Grit, Curiosity and the hidden power of character’ Paul Tough identifies the character strengths that make a difference in education and tells the stories of the leaders and schools that are making a difference. Tough highlights…
