The Softer Side Of Leadership

Drawing from his thirty-five years as a CEO, popular leadership literature, and the Scriptures, Eugene Habecker makes the case of the integration of soft skills, like emotional intelligence and character quality, in building healthier professional and personal lives and healthier organizations.

With the new federal law, No Child Left Behind, there is ever increasing pressure on schools to be accountable for improving student achievement. That pressure is taking the form of focused efforts around data-driven decision making. However, very little is known about what data-driven decision making can really tell one about improving achievement nor is there a full explanation available about what it really takes to do this work. The few examples that do exist, while proposing to get at some of these issues, make huge assumptions about educators' knowledge base and available resources necessary for success. In this book, Philip Streifer fills the gaps by laying out how this work can be done and then explains what is knowable when one actually conducts these analyses and what follow-up steps are needed to make true improvements. He provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of what data-driven decision making can and cannot tell educators about student achievement and addresses the related issues for leadership, policy development, and accountability. Senior level district administration for policy development, school level administrators who have to put policy into practice, and graduate college professors teaching data-driven decision making will find this book most useful.

Its too easy to learn and apply business leadership models to the pastoral sector. But is it the best alternative to form Church leaders? What are we missing when we use business models in ministry? This book is about creating more sensitivity on how some of these secularly learned models can inadvertently limit pastoral effectiveness, and suggests an hourglass approach to leadership capable of fostering a set of principles more harmonious with ministry intent. In many ways this book is a guide for cultivating and developing a more authentic sense of leadership in ministry, one that emerges from within the scholarly sources of the leadership field but at the same time is rooted in the principle leadership is a spiritual practice. This book is a must have for clergy, religious women and men, and anyone engaged with forming ministry leaders or performing leadership roles in diocesan, parish life, or Church ministry.

The purpose of this book is to examine the tensions, gaps, and intersections between the practices of leadership in educational systems, school leadership preparation programs, and the often different worlds of academia and k12 schools. Voices from both academia and k12 schools are used to illustrate the tensions that cluster around capacity, politics, and the everyday practice of inspiring, engaging, and preparing school leaders. Advance Praise for Leadership: Learning, Teaching, and Practice This is a book about experience. This is a book that draws from the knowledge—both personal and professional-- that professors and practitioners shared on their journeys through academia and the day-to-day of K-12 administration. The book is framed around the trinity of teaching, learning, and practice. It is a book that “examines the tensions, gaps, and intersections between the practices of leadership within educational systems and school leadership preparation programs.” The reader will be challenged to consider one’s own approach to leadership in education by examining each author’s perspective on leading for learning in America’s schools. ~ Professor James E. Berry, Executive Director, National Council of Professors of Educational Administration This book provides a great balance of scholarly work focused on leadership and shaped by the actual experiences of practicing administrators. It is absolutely outstanding literature for leaders. The book provides concepts and experiences that will help veteran administrators and will serve as a great resource for instructors in leadership development programs. It strikes at the heart of teaching and learning and will ultimately have a positive influence on children. ~ Lyle E. Evans, Ed.D Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Administrative Services, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Commonwealth of Virginia The challenges faced by school leaders today are daunting. In Leadership: Learning, Teaching and Practice, experts from across the nation bridge the gap between theory and practice. This book explores those tensions, calling us to examine our ideal view of school leadership and compare it to the reality of the current school systems in which we work. It furthers this discourse by examining the role leadership preparation programs play in preparing school administrators with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective while retaining their humanity. An easy read that will transform how leaders think about leadership! Jessica Kemler, Principal, Babylon Elementary School Long Island, New York

This book focuses on leading through times of crisis as a true measure of authentic and credible leadership, which is often tested during turbulent, inconsistent, and unpredictable times rather than through stable and steady phases. The emphasis is on those leaders that learned valuable lessons from various crisis experiences and adapted accordingly. Rather than be swayed by external circumstances, it is time to lead, to become the rudder—offering direction and opportunity—rather than the sails—being wavered by the winds. The most appropriate question that leaders should ask upon the onset of a crisis is not “When will all this end?” but rather “How will all this end?” The “how” entails an opportunity to make something positive out of a seemingly negative situation. This book offers a window of hope through which to look at an incoming crisis with eyes of faith, as a learning experience and opportunity to thrive. It builds on four pillars required to lead during crises—resilience, stamina, agility, and confrontation—and offers a leadership model based on Jesus Christ’s crisis-handling methods, which are essential for any leader seeking to succeed in a multi-crisis era.

Over 700 total pages .... Introduction: Leadership has often been viewed as more of an art than a science. However, the expanding field of neuroscience is confirming that leadership may be more science than art. While the thinking components of the brain have been noticeably evolving along with the pace of technology, the emotional parts are still very primitive, yet play an important role in leadership and behavior. The latest neurological, psychological, and organizational research is converging towards the fact that emotional leadership is the key ingredient to an organization’s performance. Successfully leading in dynamic, complex environments, making wise decisions while facing tremendous resource constraints, avoiding moral and ethical lapses, preventing failures in leadership, building healthy relationships, and fostering resiliency across the workforce is less about the hard skills of cognitive intelligence and more about the soft skills of emotional intelligence. Leaders still need foundational, cognitive skills, but they cannot lead solely from their intellect in today’s interconnected world. Contains the following studies / publications: 1. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE COMPETENCIES AND THE ARMY LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS MODEL 2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND LEADER PERFORMANCE 3. THE FAILURE OF SUCCESS: HOW THE BATHSHEBA SYNDROME AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE CONTRIBUTE TO THE DOWNFALL OF ARMY ORGANIZATIONAL-LEVEL LEADER 4. Emotional Intelligence: Advocating for the Softer Side of Leadership 5. Lack of Emotional Intelligence as a Factor in the Relief of US Army Commanders 6. Refinement and Validation of a Military Emotional Intelligence Training Program 7. DEVELOPING A CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITY 8. THE TRUST PROJECT - SYMBIOTIC HUMAN-MACHINE TEAMS: SOCIAL CUEING FOR TRUST & RELIANCE 9. Tests of Cognitive Ability

Dynamic corporate speaker and coach, Cassandra Worthy, introduces a growth mindset practice that helps readers to view change and the emotions surrounding it as a gift. Cassandra Worthy is a highly sought-after consultant, speaker, and Change Enthusiast, who is sharing her revolutionary approach for not only embracing change but using it to propel you to heights you never imagined. Only 10 percent of successful change adoption is about know-how; the other 90 percent is centered squarely on the motivation and willingness to accept the change. Cassandra explains that if you don't address the emotions surrounding change then your transformation journey will be stopped in its tracks. In this book, Cassandra will teach you to: Redefine your relationship to change Embrace "negative" emotions and use them for epic growth and transformation Make conscious, productive choices in the face of disruption of any sort Develop your resilience muscle View change as something that happens for you vs. to you Cassandra's practical yet inspiring strategies can inspire anyone to authentically embrace change and find their own unique power of resilience during turbulent times. Using insights gleaned from her life, those of her clients, and the tools and exercises she has refined over the years, Cassandra Worthy has written the playbook for anyone leading, influencing, going through, or embarking upon change.

This compilation of scholarly reviews and personal reflections on women and leadership styles focuses on multicultural and organizational issues—empowering information that female leaders can use to break through the glass ceiling. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor are just two of the most visible examples among the hundreds of thousands of women nationwide today in leadership positions. Female leaders at the grassroots to global levels are everywhere, lending credence to the idea that the glass ceiling for women may finally be thinning. This two-volume work provides an exhaustive examination of the scholarly research on women leaders and the leadership philosophies that have enabled their success. Volume one of Women as Transformational Leaders: From Grassroots to Global Interests presents an overview of stereotypes, attributions, and stigma about women leaders that focuses on social and psychological reasons for discrimination against women leaders. The second volume addresses cultural and organizational issues, including global leadership to eliminate violence against women and international insights on women and transformational leadership. The subject of transformational leadership in viewed within several disciplines, including women's studies, religion, the public sector, and private sector, documenting how far women have advanced—and how their leadership style typically differs from that of men.