Paul D. Houston

These are challenging times, especially for leaders. Leaders need to supercharge their leadership skills to empower others to meet the demands of technological advances, globalization and rapid change. How do you become a more empowering leader? How do you supercharge your leadership skills to navigate these turbulent times? The answers can be found by tapping into 12 universal Core Values illuminated in this book. These Core Values are seeds of empowerment: Expanding Your Unique Gifts and Talents Manifesting Your Intention Augmenting Affirmation Cultivating A Sense of Mission and Purpose Balancing Head and Heart Manifesting Your Vision Mastering Visualization Maximizing Expectation Boosting Intuition Honing Awareness Amplifying Your Higher Self Magnifying Openness As an Empowering Leader, you will also be able to take advantage of the gifts of: Synchronicity (Bonus Chapter 1) and Syntropy (Bonus Chapter 2). As you nurture these seeds of empowerment you will make better choices and increasingly become a more empowering leader-- a leader with supercharged leadership skills. Supercharged empowering leadership is the path to a better and brighter future for all of us.

These are challenging times, especially for leaders. Leaders need to supercharge their leadership skills to empower others to meet the demands of technological advances, globalization and rapid change. How do you become a more empowering leader? How do you supercharge your leadership skills to navigate these turbulent times? The answers can be found by tapping into 12 universal Core Values illuminated in this book. These Core Values are seeds of empowerment: Expanding Your Unique Gifts and Talents Manifesting Your Intention Augmenting Affirmation Cultivating A Sense of Mission and Purpose Balancing Head and Heart Manifesting Your Vision Mastering Visualization Maximizing Expectation Boosting Intuition Honing Awareness Amplifying Your Higher Self Magnifying Openness As an Empowering Leader, you will also be able to take advantage of the gifts of: Synchronicity (Bonus Chapter 1) and Syntropy (Bonus Chapter 2). As you nurture these seeds of empowerment you will make better choices and increasingly become a more empowering leader-- a leader with supercharged leadership skills. Supercharged empowering leadership is the path to a better and brighter future for all of us.

A central role of any educational leader is that of an accomplished communicator—one who can relate to diverse communities, promote cooperative interaction, and unify stakeholders around the larger cause of quality education for every student. This sixth volume in the Soul of Educational Leadership series provides innovative ideas on diplomacy and practical strategies for strengthening communications skills. With contributions from top leadership figures like Paul D. Houston, John R. Hoyle, Richard Bagin, and Daniel H. Pink, this resource emphasizes the importance of clear and purposeful communication in gaining support, avoiding misunderstandings, and establishing productive communitywide relationships. Individual chapters demonstrate how readers can: - Create dynamic, effective districtwide communication systems - Respond to district challenges and issues - Use electronic communication tools effectively - Secure and increase funding for their schools and districts - Increase avenues for informing the public about issues that affect schools and students This insightful book offers all school leaders a rich array of creative, thoughtful communication approaches to empower their leadership and inspire everyone who has a stake in preparing today's students for tomorrow's challenges.

"My shelves are overflowing with books about leadership and education. This one I will keep close by. Any time I begin to doubt the difference schools and leaders can make, I will pick it up, turn to a story and remind myself of why I became an educator." —From the Foreword by Terrence E. Deal A collection of influential and insightful articles on educational leadership! In this resource, retiring executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, former superintendent, and best-selling author Paul D. Houston examines the growing complexity of the educational process and the challenge of transforming learning into an engaging, meaningful—and even joyful—experience. Houston offers an enlightening perspective on global competition, the widening gulf between those who have and those who don't, the explosion of information, and a landscape of competing expectations. This provocative book on the "soul work" of education covers: Building Blocks of Leadership Transforming Public Education: Challenges and Solutions Superintendent of Learning and Education Lessons From the Road

"This resource brings together an incredible blend of leading educational thinkers. Their diverse experiences, perspectives, and wisdom will stimulate in leaders the 'deep work' of the heart, mind, and soul essential for creating schools that continuously improve teaching, learning, and relationships in ways that benefit all members of the school community."—Dennis Sparks, Emeritus Executive DirectorNational Staff Development CouncilA concise volume packed with research and innovative ideas from today's key thinkers! Professional learning communities have become a significant factor in improving instructional effectiveness and student achievement. In the third volume of The Soul of Educational Leadership series, educators and leaders will discover key concepts and strategies for sustaining the critically important work of these communities. Contributions from Shirley M. Hord, Maurice J. Elias, Karen Seashore Louis, Andy Hargreaves, Stephanie A. Hirsh, and other nationally known educators highlight:Leadership teams and a collaborative culture The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Multiple approaches for supporting social-emotional learning in schools Leadership, real-world challenges, and moral choices A thought-provoking collection from educational visionaries, Sustaining Professional Learning Communities is essential reading for all school leaders committed to strengthening learning environments.

"This resource brings together an incredible blend of leading educational thinkers. Their diverse experiences, perspectives, and wisdom will stimulate in leaders the 'deep work' of the heart, mind, and soul essential for creating schools that continuously improve teaching, learning, and relationships in ways that benefit all members of the school community."—Dennis Sparks, Emeritus Executive DirectorNational Staff Development CouncilA concise volume packed with research and innovative ideas from today's key thinkers! Professional learning communities have become a significant factor in improving instructional effectiveness and student achievement. In the third volume of The Soul of Educational Leadership series, educators and leaders will discover key concepts and strategies for sustaining the critically important work of these communities. Contributions from Shirley M. Hord, Maurice J. Elias, Karen Seashore Louis, Andy Hargreaves, Stephanie A. Hirsh, and other nationally known educators highlight:Leadership teams and a collaborative culture The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Multiple approaches for supporting social-emotional learning in schools Leadership, real-world challenges, and moral choices A thought-provoking collection from educational visionaries, Sustaining Professional Learning Communities is essential reading for all school leaders committed to strengthening learning environments.

"A useful book for those who want to find balance in their lives and add a dimension of spirituality to their leadership." —Kenneth Killian, Assistant Professor Vanguard University of Southern California "The information is approachable, nonthreatening, and personal. The authors discuss their own past roles as educational leaders, providing instant credibility."—Jennifer Baadsgaard, Assistant Principal Roosevelt High School, San Antonio, TX Revitalize your leadership and help shape a better future for the students you serve! This fourth volume of The Soul of Educational Leadership series offers key strategies for identifying the moral and ethical dimensions of school leadership practice. With thought-provoking contributions from top leadership figures like Terrence E. Deal, Dawna Markova, and Scott Thompson, this enlightening resource combines research with innovative ideas for practice and emphasizes: Spirituality within a life-sustaining context The role of spirituality in empowering leaders as agents for transformative change A moral obligation to create safe and supportive learning spaces for students Spirituality in Educational Leadership helps educators align everyday practice with core values in ways that will make a significant difference in their professional and personal lives.

"A useful book for those who want to find balance in their lives and add a dimension of spirituality to their leadership." —Kenneth Killian, Assistant Professor Vanguard University of Southern California "The information is approachable, nonthreatening, and personal. The authors discuss their own past roles as educational leaders, providing instant credibility."—Jennifer Baadsgaard, Assistant Principal Roosevelt High School, San Antonio, TX Revitalize your leadership and help shape a better future for the students you serve! This fourth volume of The Soul of Educational Leadership series offers key strategies for identifying the moral and ethical dimensions of school leadership practice. With thought-provoking contributions from top leadership figures like Terrence E. Deal, Dawna Markova, and Scott Thompson, this enlightening resource combines research with innovative ideas for practice and emphasizes: Spirituality within a life-sustaining context The role of spirituality in empowering leaders as agents for transformative change A moral obligation to create safe and supportive learning spaces for students Spirituality in Educational Leadership helps educators align everyday practice with core values in ways that will make a significant difference in their professional and personal lives.

Drawing upon his life and professional experiences, AASA Executive Director Paul Houston reflects upon important issues in education. Having first appeared as columns within School Administrator magazine, Houston's insights are organized around six chapters: "On Being a Leader", "Putting Kids First", "The Value of Public Education", "Transforming School Reform", "Seeing America Through a Distant Mirror", and "At the Movies". Steeped in his passions, theories, and extensive travels through the heart and soul of American education as we've moved from the last millennium into this one, Houston's philosophical and practical advice on how educators might improve their work and make the world a better place for our children will interest and inspire educators everywhere.

The Board-Savvy Superintendent's hard-hitting, no-nonsense, advice on school board leadership capitalizes on Houston and Eadie's hands-on experience working with hundreds of boards and superintendents over the past quarter-century. It is a practical, survive-and-thrive book that will help school district leaders—board members, superintendents, and senior administrators—learn to work together successfully in leading their districts in these extraordinarily challenging times. Filled with detailed, thoroughly tested guidance on how to acquire the skills and knowledge that make up board savvyness, it also addresses how to develop the school board's capacity to produce truly high-impact governance, and how to build a strong, enduring, productive board-superintendent working partnership. The authors take a fresh look at the process of governing, going well beyond the old-fashioned, control-focused "policy governance" approach. Rather than being preoccupied with developing a static structure of policies to distinguish the board's role from the superintendent's, the book describes how the board and superintendent can creatively work together in making decisions about such critical governing "products" as values, vision, mission, and strategic change initiatives. School district leaders will appreciate The Board-Savvy Superintendent's close look at the "gold standard" for board involvement in school affairs: leading strategic change. The authors go well beyond the conventional long-range planning approach of merely projecting everything a school district is doing for some arbitrary period of 3 or 5 years, which has generated tons of paper and little important change to provide the reader with detailed, practical guidance on engaging school boards creatively and proactively in a much more selective, vision-driven process that actually results in the implementation of strategic change: the Strategic Change Portfolio.