Leadership

SOGI – Building Understanding, Acceptance and a Sense of Belonging

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

I Remember the Day my Best Friend ‘came out’ to Me

I think it was in 1985 — I can’t be sure though — it was a really long time ago.  We had been friends for quite awhile — since high school.  I had been to his home many times and he to mine.  We traveled on high school trips together.  We played Friday night pick-up hockey at 11:30 pm.  I had been to his family ranch outside of Calgary a number of times.  We did lots of stuff together.  Great friendship.

I Had no Idea That he was Gay Continue reading →

Are We Becoming Innovation Complacent?

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

“It’s OK to be where you are right now.  It’s just not OK to stay there.”

This phrase resides above my desk.  I heard it a long time ago at a table of educators — it really resonated with me.  I have had it as a daily reminder every day since then.  It guides me in how I observe, what I ponder and why I plan:

  • We’re all at a particular place in our learning — and, it’s acceptable to be there for the moment.  After all, we all have a different history and experiences in life.
  • However, it’s not OK to remain in that spot — we need to keep moving forward.  Continual improvement needs to be our goal —  our reason for thinking, learning and improving in our practice.

We Need to Grow, Learn and — in some cases — even Reinvent Ourselves

For public education I believe this to be particularly true.  To remain a relevant societal enterprise we need to be constantly evolving — and that begins with the people who work in the system — every last one of us. Continue reading →

Transparency – The Right Stuff

/ Dave Eberwein / 3 Comments

I believe in it — transparency.  I believe that it should be the cornerstone in any leader’s foundation.  Transparency leads to consistency which leads to increasing trust from those in your organization.  And to be an effective leader one needs to have the trust of those whom they hope to lead.

Leaders who are not transparent aren’t the kind of people we should be following.  We can all probably think of people in leadership positions who change their words and actions depending on who they are speaking with at any particular moment.  You never really know what they believe and as a result you lose faith in them, trust in them and belief in them to work with you to move an agenda forward.  You likely give up at some point and strike out on your own with feelings of disillusionment and frustration.  Continue reading →