Jeff Henderson states, "It's no longer about being the best company IN the world. It's about being the best company FOR the world." This quote has me thinking about my legacy and what the world is going to remember me and my business for. 

Creating your legacy can begin today.  How do you want the world to remember you and your organization? 

When you think of Alfred Nobel, what comes to mind? You might be like me and not have known his first name, but that last name conjures up the faces of the best of the best of humanity--Mother Teresa, Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, and Barack Obama to name a few Nobel Peace Prize winners. 

Alfred Nobel is the man responsible for the Nobel Peace Prize, but did you know that he was also a chemist, engineer, and innovator who manufactured weapons? He had dedicated his life to developing nitroglycerine as an explosive; one of his brothers, Emil, was even killed during one experiment. Ultimately, he invented...

Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics, went from once a struggling waitress to an international best-selling sensation, eventually selling her company for over a billion dollars becoming the first female CEO of a brand in L’Oréal’s 100+ year history.

How did she do this? By not changing her "why!" Jamie shares, "If other people's opinions can shift your "why", it's not powerful enough." 

I believe sustained organizational health and success begins with a clear and concise mission statement. Your organization's mission is the WHY behind your existence. 

Here is what I mean.

Great organizations continuously follow their mission and rarely stray from it; as even a deviation can result in a flutter of ineffective activity and confusion. 

As marketing expert Donald Miller says, “When you confuse, you lose.” 

The most effective schools I have studied sustained their mission through stable school leadership, clear education...

On October 8th, at the Live2Lead Conference  John Maxwell will be teaching key lessons and anecdotes on 2 of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The Law of Addition for leadership states that if you choose to serve your customers and your employees by adding value rather than trying to come out on top or make yourself richer, higher profits will follow. On the Law of Connection, John Maxwell writes, “When it comes to working with people, the heart comes before the head.” Logic will only take you so far—in order to really get people on board with your mission, you need to connect with their emotions.

I would like to share with you a story, where I saw first hand the Law of Connection at play. I had been given the opportunity to lead a group of nonprofit board members in Philadelphia. Most of them governed charter schools but a few were from other organizations, law firms and local colleges.  Hearing that the audience would be quite...

As a school leader, you are in the people business. If it is good for the people, it will be good for your business. 

I recently met author and thought leader Jeff Henderson. He wrote the book, Know What You're FOR.

Jeff has an incredible path to success, working with Fortune 500 companies like Chic-Fil-a and some of the largest churches and school districts across the country on their purpose, values, orientation, culture and marketing.

In Jeff's book, he shares that there are two critical questions that every organization needs to ask and work daily to ensure the answers align.

1. What do we want to be know for? (Your Vision)
2. What are we know for?  (Current Reality)

The first question you need to ask yourself and your team. You will probably get a handful of different answers.

Here is our What are you FOR statement: 

Leaders Building Leaders, at its core, is about making a difference. Our brand is for principals and school leaders who desire to unlock their...

I have learned from my mentor, John Maxwell, that great leaders know the way and show the way.  He goes on to say that, "The smallest action is better than the biggest intention. No one ever intended their way into greatness." 

As a leader, your first step is being able to see the big picture, the overall vision for the organization, initiative or product.

Have ever heard the quote, Without vision, the people will perish?

This doesn't mean that people will actually perish. It means that because people do not see where we are going. As a result, I am not going to put forth much of an effort. Creating not just a lack of productivity, but a lack of effort. 

The leader must have the ability to effectively communicate this vision to his or her team, collaborating with their team to systematically get the steps and plans down.

They must see the challenges ahead and chart a course that everyone can follow. This is the Law of Navigation, which says "anyone can steer the...

I believe when you do what you love, it is NOT really work. 

Seven years ago this was my last week of “real work.”  I mean a place where I had to report every day, be somewhere at a certain time and oh yeah, had a boss. 

I still remember finishing up my last day as a consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to start my own consulting, training and coaching business specifically schools and school leaders.

It was July 3rd of 2014.

I walked out of DPI with nothing but a cardboard box of "stuff" and a crazy vision of being the difference-maker in the leadership development of individuals and organizations.

To be honest, I had NO IDEA WHAT I was doing, but I was a little angry. 

I was angry and frustrated with seeing SO many outstanding people, leading charter schools across the state, who were NOT meeting their potential. School leaders that were stressed to the max, working late hours, feeling under-appreciated, failing in...

I believe that when it comes to improvement (personal or school) consistency is more important than intensity. 

One school that exemplifies this principle is Piedmont Community Charter School in Gaston County North Carolina.

In 2015, Piedmont was in the middle of a leadership transition and was underperforming in the areas of academics and student enrollment. It did not have a reputation for being a school or rigorous academics, especially in high school.  

The new Head of School at the time, Jennifer Killen, had an incredible challenge ahead of her. She knew that she would have to work diligently not just on her own leadership capacity, but the skills and the quality of her team. 

Fast forward to this past year and Piedmont Community Charter School was recognized as one of the “Best High Schools” by U.S. News & World Report. They also moved into a state of the art new facility. Piedmont Charter’s new campus...

If I were to ask the question: “Do you want to grow?” How would YOU respond?

I believe it would be a resounding yes, I want to grow! But the truth of the matter is that for most of us, we avoid any form of pressure because we don’t want to feel uncomfortable. You see, we have been taught that comfort is a place to be desired and strived for. 

I would like to introduce a new thought today. 

All living things grow and that growth requires stretching. 

In John Maxwell’s 15 Laws of Growth, the Law of the Rubber Band, he says: “True life begins at the end of our comfort zone and we arrive there by stretching.”

When it comes to tension and stretching, a rubber band is a great example.

Rubber bands are ONLY useful when they are stretched. You would not be where you are professionally, and who you are personally, without some form of tension or stretching taking place. 

For many, the thought is, when I graduate from college and...

I believe that consistency wins over intensity.

Here is what I mean.

Ever jump into a project, diet or other life-changing program with incredible determination and intensity; but after 5-10 days we find that it is more difficult than anticipated and we end up quitting. Allowing our previous habits to win out and overwhelm our new found passion? 

Ever say as a principal, I am going to get all of my observations (10) done this week. Then on Friday realizing you barely completed two. 

The feeling of guilt, disappointment or blame overwhelms the need for true reflection and growth. 

“Well, I got a lot done.” “Well, we had those issues with the angry parents.” “We had two birthdays, I couldn’t not eat the cake!” “It was a long week, exercise just didn’t fit in the schedule.”

We blame everything from the program to our genetics. 

At the end, choosing what is comfortable or easy over the change we so...