KidLead Insights

Iconoclast : a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition. a breaker or destroyer of images I do not believe that everyone can become a leader, if you define leadership as the ability to accomplish together what you cannot as individuals.  I do not believe that leaders are all adults, meaning that people as young as 3 lead and as young as 10 can be taught to lead with sophistication.  I do not believe that people who understand youth, understand leadership and those who understand leadership, know how to identify and develop adolescent leaders.  I do not believe that teaching gifted and talented students how to lead is the same as identifying and training students gifted in leadership.  I do not believe that just calling something leadership is actually leadership, in that most school and adolescent "leadership" programs are actually about self-esteem, academics, confidence, character and any number of ot

In our upcoming e-news (Q2 2015), I introduce a 1-page brief on the differences between teachers and educators.  I don't mean to be disparaging, but some of the ills we've created in our educational systems, like all corporate, social and civic organizations, is that we've recruited the right people into the wrong places.  Most people I've met in schools, private and public, seem highly committed, motivated, and well-intended.  Certainly exceptions exist, but when we put savvy non-leaders into leadership roles, organizations eventually grow stale, if not implode.  The primary reason that so many schools languish is that they've elevated people with teacher-mindsets into roles of administration.  When you're not interested in learning yourself, hearing new ideas, and exploring with "what if" (educators) the organization will languish.  Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but great ones, the ones possessing the ability to create wonderful results, are ra