Texas was a “good” program before Steve Sarkisian was hired on January 2, 2021.
The Longhorns had four winning seasons under Tom Herman.
They never lost a bowl game.
Texas had a Sugar Bowl win.
Again, it was a “good” program.
They wanted the football program to be “great.”
Leadership and management skills are both important. However, not all great managers are great leaders and vice versa. Leaders are visionaries who innovate and empower others to examine new ideas. Managers focus on executing the vision set by leaders—i.e. a strategic plan. #Leadership
“Rick, when I sold vacuums, we learned to always focus on our North Star. Back then, it was moving vacuum units. Now, it’s 22nd-Century Skills.
www.educationnext.org/22nd-century...
As an educational leader, if you cannot imagine or are not willing to challenge the status quo, student outcomes will remain stagnant and opportunities for meaningful growth will be lost. #Leadership #Northstar @educentric_org
Four out of 10 Chicago Public Schools teachers were absent from class more than 10 days last year. That’s not acceptable.
Have you worked tireless with a team determined to turn around a failing school and in spite of your best efforts, little improves. Focusing on too many things and working on the wrong things doom a lot of good intentions. www.educentric.org
In 1984, the first year for which data is available, 35 percent of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun “almost every day,” according to NAEP. By 2023, that figure was down to 14 percent, and 31 percent of respondents said they never read for fun at all.
It has always fascinated me that people with low ability overestimate their competence. The worst leaders often believe they’re crushing it, because people are too afraid to say what’s really on their minds. Instead, they tell their boss what they think they want to hear.
Great leaders know that anytime they introduce something new, the are going to get resistance. To help combat that status quo push-back, start by explaining the why behind the new.
The lazy lose to the average.
The average lose to the focused.
The focused lose to the obsessed. (fs)
The obsessed seldom lose!
Great leaders newer say “Yes, but.” They are constantly saying, “Why not? And How can we?”
Julius Erving when asked if he could still dunk in his 70s: "My last dunk was at 63, I'm dunking donuts now.” My kind of man!
When selecting school principals, character and the ability to work well with adults were given’s. The ability to push through adversity and and the obsession with creating breakthrough results for all students were two other extremely important traits. www.educentric.org
Few superintendents have districts with whom they compete. As a result, they stoke the status quo. I always wanted to know what Smith, Steinhauser, Hinojosa, etc. were obsessed with. What trade-offs were they giving up to get something else that created breakthrough performance? www.Educentric.org
“There is no such thing as a quantum leap. There is only dogged persistence – and in the end, you make it look like a quantum leap.” —James Dyson (fs) www.Educentric.org
While focusing on your organization’s most important metric (NSM) will help you create breakthrough performance, becoming obsessed with finding and implementing solutions to improve that metric is the difference between good and great leaders! www.educentric.org
As a former school superintendent for 32 years, I realized early on that arguing with reality comes at the expense of improving your schools. The status quo is a powerful adversary. www.educentric.org
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that “people who are right a lot listen a lot, and they change their mind a lot.”
