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Kid President Asks "What Makes an Awesome Leader?"

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Hi, everyone. Welcome back. We're going to be talking about the trait theory today. So what better way to describe individual personalities than by using traits? Well, the trait theory is a very straightforward approach describe personality. We do it everyday. It basically defines personality in terms of identifiable patterns of behavior. So that is a key word. They are patterns of behavior. And I'll explain that in a little bit, into a little bit more depth. So it describes traits instead of explaining them as in many other personality theories. So this theory uses description versus explanation, versus other theories of personality tend to use explanation to describe patterns of behavior. So what exactly is a trait? Now, if someone asked you to describe your best friend, what kind of things would you say? Maybe that your best friend was funny, caring, loyal, even-tempered? Well, all of these words that I just called off represent traits. A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic. So that is another defining word. It is a stable characteristic. And what do I mean by stable? So it's a stable characteristic that causes individuals to consistently behave in certain ways. So it has to be consistent. I guess that's synonymous with stable. So the combination and interaction of various traits forms a personality. And that's what's unique to each individual. No two people have the exact same personality. We can even see that within our families. Even though we share many genes, we all have different personalities because we all possess these different traits. Well, let's get into what different theorists of the trait theory have to say in trying to describe traits. So, a little aside over here, I found these personality tests to be so fascinating, like the Myers-Briggs personality type test. I don't know if you've taken it before. But basically, it gives you a set of four letters that categorizes you into one of 16 personality types. And then within each one of those personality types, there's a set of traits and behaviors that you tend to dominate in your everyday life. So anyways, if you haven't checked those types of personality tests out, I highly recommend it. I know a lot of companies use them for employment. And it's just a fun way to get to know yourself and your tendencies a little better. I'm always curious. So individual trait theories differ in terms of whether or not they believe that all individuals possess the same traits. And I'll get into that in a little bit. And you'll see why I say that. So let's go through the first theorist. His name was Gordon Allport. So what Allport said is that all of us have different traits. He didn't believe that all individuals have the same traits. He said that they could differ amongst individuals. And he actually came up with a list of 4,500 different descriptive words to describe traits. And that wasn't the original list. Apparently, the original had over 10,000. That's crazy. So anyways, from those 4,500, he was able to come up with three basic categories of traits. And the first one are our cardinal traits. The second one are our central traits. And the last are our secondary traits. Now of these three, the cardinal traits are the characteristics that direct most of a person's activities. So these are the dominant traits, the ones that lie in the cardinal category. For example, one person may have a cardinal trait of selflessness, or power motivation, but Allport says that not all individuals have selflessness or power motivation. So that's the key right there. Individuals have some subset of traits from a universal possibility of traits. But not all individuals have the same traits. We mix and match. We all possess different ones. Now these cardinal traits influence all of our behaviors, including the central and the secondary traits, or dispositions, which influence behavior to a lesser degree. So these are dominant, and these are expressed at a lesser degree. So an example of a essential trait is honesty or sociability or shyness, which are less dominant than these cardinal traits. And a secondary trait is something like a love for modern art or a reluctance to eat meat. And these are more preferences, or attitudes. Let's go to the second theorist. And his name was Raymond Cattell. So now what Cattell did is that he proposed that we all have 16 essential personality traits. We all do. He said that they represent the basic dimensions of personality. And he turned this into the 16 personality factor questionnaire, or 16PF for short. That was his contribution. So he categorized all of our traits into 16 personality traits that we all possess. The third theorist was Hans Eysenck. and what Eysenck did, his theory is based on the assumption that we all have three major dimensions. And these three major dimensions of personality encompass all traits that we all possess. But the degree to which we individually express them are different. So this is different from Allport. Again, Allport said we have different unique subsets of traits. Eysenck is saying we all have these traits, but we express them at different degrees. So there's three major dimensions of his theory. The first is extroversion. So you know what that is. Extroversion versus introversion, and that is the degree of sociability. The second is neuroticism, and neuroticism is our emotional stability. And the third is psychoticism. Let me make sure I'm spelling this right. There we go. Psychoticism is the degree to which reality is distorted. OK, so I know I said Eysenck said that we all possess traits that lie in these three categories, but we display them, or express them to different degrees. Well, there's a little caveat here because Eysenck said that we all have varying degrees of extroversion and neuroticism, but not necessarily psychoticism. All right, moving on, the last major theory trait is called the big five. And the big five, again, is found in all people of all populations. So the first major personality trait in the big five is openness. Let me do this in a different color. So the first is openness. And what I mean by openness is that we ask the question, are you independent, or are you conforming? Are you imaginative, or are you practical? The second is conscientiousness. And that is a mouthful. So in conscientiousness, we're asking the questions, are you careful or careless? Are you disciplined or impulsive? Are you organized or disorganized? The third is extroversion. And in extroversion, we're asking the questions, are you talkative, or are you quiet? Are you fun loving, or are you sober? The fourth is agreeableness. And in agreeableness, we're asking the questions, are you kind, or you cold? Are you appreciative or unfriendly? And the last we've already seen from Eysenck, and that is neuroticism. So in neuroticism, we're asking the questions, are you stable or tense? Calm or anxious? Secure or insecure? So the best way I learned to memorize the big five is using the acronym O.C.E.A.N, O-C-E-A-N. Easy. OK, so Cattell, Eysenck, and the big five all over here used something called factor analysis to come up with this these categories of our traits. So factor analysis is a statistical method that categorizes and determines our major categories of traits. And Allport's theory did not use that. He relied on different procedures to determine traits. So basically, factor analysis reduces the number of variables and detects structure in the relationships between variables. And we do that because we want to classify variables. So in the past, probably at the time of Cattell and Eysenck, all of this was done out by hand. All the possible combinations in determining the number of categories of traits was done by hand. But now, we have fancy computer software that can do all the math for us. And it's what gives us these final sets of variables or classification of personality traits.

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Hi, everyone. Welcome back. We're going to be talking about the trait theory today. So what better way to describe individual personalities than by using traits? Well, the trait theory is a very straightforward approach describe personality. We do it everyday. It basically defines personality in terms of identifiable patterns of behavior.

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Career Guide Career Development A Guide To Trait Theory of Leadership Strong leadership is a vital component of the success of any organization. But are successful leaders a product of skills they've honed over time and through continuous education, or are these skills inherent?

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Have you ever been in a group where someone took control of the situation by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals, a marked passion for the work, and an ability to make the rest of the group feel recharged and energized? This person just might be what is called a transformational leader.

Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well.

Quick Background

The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced by leadership expert and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of moral and motivation."﻿﻿

Later, researcher Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns's original ideas to develop what is today referred to as Bass's Transformational Leadership Theory. According to Bass, transformational leadership can be defined based on the impact that it has on followers. Transformational leaders, Bass suggested, garner trust, respect, and admiration from their followers.﻿﻿

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Components

Bass also suggested that there were four different components of transformational leadership.

1. Intellectual Stimulation: Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.

2. Individualized Consideration: Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of the unique contributions of each follower.

3. Inspirational Motivation: Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.

4. Idealized Influence: The transformational leader serve as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate this individual and internalize his or her ideals.

So what are some typical signs of a transformational leader? Groups led by this type of leader tend to be both successful and loyal. They give a lot to the team and care deeply about the group's ability to accomplish its goals. Turnover tends to be quite low as transformational leaders are able to inspire a great deal of commitment in their followers.

In their classic text, Transformational Leadership, authors Bass and Riggio explained:

"Transformational leaders...are those who stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers' needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, and the larger organization."

"Research evidence clearly shows that groups led by transformational leaders have higher levels of performance and satisfaction than groups led by other types of leaders," explained psychologist and leadership expert Ronald E. Riggio in an article for Psychology Today.

The reason, he suggests, is that transformational leaders believe that their followers can do their best, leading members of the group to feel inspired and empowered.

What can you do to become a more transformational leader? Leadership experts suggest that having a strong, positive vision of the future plays a critical role. Not only is it important to believe in this vision yourself; you've also got to inspire others to buy into your vision as well.

Link to Well-Being

According to the results of one study, this style of leadership can also have a positive influence on employee well-being.﻿﻿

The study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine involved surveying workers at several different German information and communication technology companies. Researchers asked participants to answers questions about their employer's leadership style.

A score for transformational leadership was then determined based on qualities such as providing intellectual stimulation, giving positive feedback for good performance, leading by example, and helping employees feel like they were making a contribution toward the goals of the group.

The researchers discovered that employees who identified a higher level of transformational leadership in their employers also had higher reported levels of well-being. The effect stayed significant even after researchers controlled for factors that are linked to well-being such as job strain, education, and age.

"The results of this study suggest that a transformational leadership style, which both conveys a sense of trust and meaningfulness and individually challenges and develops employees, also has a positive effect on employee well-being," the authors summarized.

Real-World Applications

So what impact could such results have for managers and workers?

The study's authors suggest that the results are important and can help companies develop leadership training programs that can be used to teach transformational leadership skills. Acquiring communication skills such as resolving conflicts in the workplace and recognizing the needs of employees are an important part of transformational leadership.

"Such training programs can be seen as another essential component of workplace health promotion and prevention efforts and therefore should receive wide support," explained the study's authors.

A Word From Verywell

The transformational style of leadership can be highly effective when used appropriately, but it might not necessarily be the best choice for every situation. In some cases, groups may require a more managerial or autocratic style that involves closer control and greater direction, particularly in situations where group member are unskilled and need a lot of oversight.

One way to improve your own leadership skills is to assess your own current leadership style and think about ways in which your strengths can benefit the group you are leading. By evaluating your own skills, you will be better able to play to your strengths and work on improving your areas of weakness.

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How Do Transformational Leaders Inspire and Motivate Followers?

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Have you ever been in a group where someone took control of the situation by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals, a marked passion for the work, and an ability to make the rest of the group feel recharged and energized? This person just might be what is called a transformational leader.

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3. Servant Leadership:  Robert Greenleaf and Servant as Leader

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Research Summary | Created using Powtoon - The Visual Communication Platform

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Compare and Contrast Leadership- classmate presentation

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Whiteboard explainer: Leadership Styles | Created using Powtoon - The Visual Communication Platform

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Servant Leadership vs. Authentic Leadership

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Servant Leadership vs. Authentic Leadership

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Leadership and Management Training Courses UK | MTD Training

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Just what is a visionary leadership style? How does it differ to all of the other styles and what are the pros and cons of leading in this way.

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What is Path-Goal Theory?

The Path-Goal model is a theory based on specifying a leader's style or behavior that best fits the employee and work environment in order to achieve a goal. The path-goal theory can best be thought of as a process in which leaders select specific behaviors that are best suited to the employees' needs and their working environment so that they may best guide the employees through their path in the obtainment of their daily work activities (goals).

The Path-Goal theory, inspired by the work of Martin G. Evans (1970), can best be thought of as a process by which leaders select specific behaviors that are best suited to their employees' needs and their working environment, so that leaders may best guide their employees through their path in the obtainment of their daily work activities ( goals) (Northouse, 2013).

The theory argues that leaders will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending on the nature and the demands of a particular situation. It is the leader's role to assist employees in attaining goals and to provide the direction and support needed to ensure that their individual goals are in concert or compatible with the organization's goals.

The Path-Goal model is a theory based on specifying a leader's style or behavior that best fits the employee and work environment in order to achieve a goal. The goal is to increase an employee's motivation, empowerment, and satisfaction so they become a productive member of the organization. Employee satisfaction is contingent upon the leader's performance as both a facilitator and coach and rewards their employees for effective performance. The original Path-Goal theory identifies achievement-oriented, directive, participative, and supportive leader behaviors rooted in four (4 styles).
The Four Styles:

1. The directive path-goal clarifying leader behavior refers to situations where the leader lets employees know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks. The theory argues that this behavior has the most positive effect when the employees' role and task demands are ambiguous and intrinsically satisfying.

2. The achievement-oriented leader behavior refers to situations where the leader sets challenging goals for employees, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation. Occupations in which the achievement motive were most predominant were technical jobs, sales persons, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

3. The participative leader behavior involves leaders consulting with employees and asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This behavior is predominant when employees are highly personally involved in their work.

4. The supportive leader behavior is directed towards the satisfaction of employees' needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the employees' psychological well-being. This behavior is especially needed in situations in which tasks or relationships are psychologically or physically distressing.

How to use it:
If you have a good understanding of what the needs of the group are, then you can adapt to the styles as the situation demands:

Achievement oriented works best when the staff suffers from lack of challenge and boredom.

Directive leadership helps workers cope with otherwise vague and unclear job responsibilities.

Participative leadership is effective in situations where the follower is making poor decisions or improper procedure and the leader can take steps to help them improve.

Supportive leadership is useful with a team that is new, inexperienced, or otherwise lacking confidence.

Path-Goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and employee characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is outside the control of the follower-task structure, authority system, and work group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if the employee outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, experience, and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of employees determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their employees achieve goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Research demonstrates that employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced when the leader compensates for the shortcomings in either the employee or the work setting.

In conclusion The Path-Goal theory is useful because it reminds leaders that their central purpose as a leader is to help employees define and reach their goals in an efficient manner.

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The Path-Goal model is a theory based on specifying a leader's style or behavior that best fits the employee and work environment in order to achieve a goal.

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Kurt Lewin ( lə-VEEN ; 9 September 1890 - 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States. Exiled from the land of his birth, Lewin made a new life for himself, in which he defined himself and his contributions within three lenses of analysis: applied research, action research, and group communication were his major offerings to the field of communication.

Lewin is often recognized as the "founder of social psychology" and was one of the first to study group dynamics and organizational development. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Lewin as the 18th-most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

In 1890, Lewin was born into a Jewish family in Mogilno, County of Mogilno, Province of Posen, Prussia (modern Poland). It was a small village of about 5,000 people, about 150 of whom were Jewish. Lewin received an orthodox Jewish education at home. He was one of four children born into a middle-class family. His father owned a small general store, and the family lived in an apartment above the store. His father, Leopold, owned a farm jointly with his brother Max; however, the farm was legally owned by a Christian because Jews were unable to own farms at the time.

The family moved to Berlin in 1905, so Lewin and his brothers could receive a better education. From 1905 to 1908, Lewin studied at the Kaiserin Augusta Gymnasium, where he received a classical humanistic education. In 1909, he entered the University of Freiburg to study medicine, but transferred to the University of Munich to study biology. He became involved with the socialist movement and women's rights around this time. In April 1910, he transferred to the Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Berlin, where he was still a medical student. By the Easter semester of 1911, his interests had shifted toward philosophy. By the summer of 1911, the majority of his courses were in psychology. While at the University of Berlin, Lewin took 14 courses with Carl Stumpf (1848-1936).

He served in the German army when World War I began. Due to a war wound, he returned to the University of Berlin to complete his PhD. Lewin wrote a dissertation proposal asking Stumpf to be his supervisor, and Stumpf assented. Even though Lewin worked under Stumpf to complete his dissertation, their relationship did not involve much communication. Lewin studied associations, will, and intention for his dissertation, but he did not discuss it with Stumpf until his final doctoral examination.

In 1917, Lewin married Maria Landsberg. In 1919, the couple welcomed their daughter Esther Agnes, and in 1922, their son Fritz Reuven was born. They divorced around 1927, and Maria immigrated to Palestine with the children. In 1929, Lewin married Gertrud Weiss. Their daughter Miriam was born in 1931, and their son Daniel was born in 1933.

Lewin had originally been involved with schools of behavioral psychology before changing directions in research and undertaking work with psychologists of the Gestalt school of psychology, including Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler. He also joined the Psychological Institute of the University of Berlin where he lectured and gave seminars on both philosophy and psychology. He served as a professor at the University of Berlin from 1926 to 1932, during which time he conducted experiments about tension states, needs, motivation, and learning. In 1933, Lewin had tried to negotiate a teaching position as the chair of psychology as well as the creation of a research institute at the Hebrew University. Lewin often associated with the early Frankfurt School, originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists at the Institute for Social Research in Germany. But when Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 the Institute members had to disband, moving to England and then to America. In that year, he met with Eric Trist, of the London Tavistock Clinic. Trist was impressed with his theories and went on to use them in his studies on soldiers during the Second World War.

Lewin immigrated to the United States in August 1933 and became a naturalized citizen in 1940. A few years after moving to America, Lewin began asking people to pronounce his name as "Lou-in" rather than "Le-veen" because the misspelling of his name by Americans had led to many missed phone calls. Earlier, he had spent six months as a visiting professor at Stanford in 1930, but on his immigration to the United States, Lewin worked at Cornell University and for the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station at the University of Iowa. Later, he became director of the Center for Group Dynamics at MIT. While working at MIT in 1946, Lewin received a phone call from the director of the Connecticut State Inter Racial Commission requesting help to find an effective way to combat religious and racial prejudices. He set up a workshop to conduct a "change" experiment, which laid the foundations for what is now known as sensitivity training. In 1947, this led to the establishment of the National Training Laboratories, at Bethel, Maine. Carl Rogers believed that sensitivity training is "perhaps the most significant social invention of this century."

Following World War II, Lewin was involved in the psychological rehabilitation of former occupants of displaced persons camps with Dr. Jacob Fine at Harvard Medical School. When Trist and A T M Wilson wrote to Lewin proposing a journal in partnership with their newly founded Tavistock Institute and his group at MIT, Lewin agreed. The Tavistock journal, Human Relations, was founded with two early papers by Lewin entitled "Frontiers in Group Dynamics". Lewin taught for a time at Duke University.

Lewin died in Newtonville, Massachusetts, of a heart attack in 1947. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His wife died in 1987.

Lewin coined the notion of genidentity, which has gained some importance in various theories of space-time and related fields. For instance, he introduced the concept of hodological space or the simplest route achieved through the resolution of different field of forces, oppositions, and tensions according to their goals.

Lewin also proposed Herbert Blumer's interactionist perspective of 1937 as an alternative to the nature versus nurture debate. Lewin suggested that neither nature (inborn tendencies) nor nurture (how experiences in life shape individuals) alone can account for individuals' behavior and personalities, but rather that both nature and nurture interact to shape each person. This idea was presented in the form of Lewin's equation for behavior, B = ƒ( P, E).

First and foremost, Kurt Lewin was an applied researcher and practical theorist. Most scholars of the time reveled in the fear that devoting oneself to applied research would distract the discipline from basic research on scholarly problems - thus creating this false binary regarding for whom knowledge is created, whether it was for the perpetuation of the discipline or for application. Despite this debate within the social sciences at the time, Lewin argued that "applied research could be conducted with rigor and that one could test theoretical propositions in applied research." The root of this particular binary seemed to stem from the epistemological norms present within the hard sciences - where the distinction was much more pronounced; Kurt Lewin argued that this was contrary to the nature of the social sciences. Furthermore, with the help of scholars like Paul Lazarsfeld, there was a method through which money could be acquired for research in a sustainable manner. Lewin has encouraged researchers to develop theories that can be used to address important social problems.

To demonstrate his dedication to applied research and to further prove that there was value in testing his theoretical propositions, Lewin became a "master at transposing an everyday problem into a psychological experiment". Lewin, in his beginnings, took a seemingly banal moment between himself and a waiter and turned it into the beginnings of his field research. In this particular incident, Lewin reasoned that the "intention to carry out a specific task builds a psychological tension, which is released when the intended task is completed" in tandem with when Sigmund Freud theorized that "wishes persist until they are satisfied." This happenstance observation started the demonstration of the "existence of psychic tensions", fundamental to Lewin's field theory.

While applied research helped develop Lewin into a practical theorist, what further defined him as an academic and a forerunner was his action research - a term he coined for himself. Lewin was increasingly interested in the concepts of Jewish migration and identity. He was confused by the concept of how while an individual distanced themselves from performing the Jewish identity in terms of religious expression and performance, they were still considered Jewish in the eyes of Nazis. This concept of denying one's identity and the promotion of self-loathing as a form of coping with a dominant group's oppression represented the crisis of Lewin's own migration to the United States. Lewin, as his student and colleague Ron Lippitt described, "had a deep sensitivity to social problems and a commitment to use his resources as a social scientist to do something about them. Thus in the early 1940s he drew a triangle to represent the interdependence of research, training, and action in producing social change." This diagramming of an academic's interests and actions within this triangulation yields an interesting part of accessing Lewin and his contributions. Rather than noting social justice as the beginning or the end, it was ingrained in every single academic action that Lewin took. It was this particular world view and paradigm that furthered his research and determined precisely how he was going to utilize the findings from his field research. Furthermore, it all reflected upon Lewin the man and his way of coping with the events of his time period. This devotion to action research was possibly a way of resolving a dissonance of his own passage to America and how he left his own back in present-day Poland.

Prominent psychologists mentored by Lewin included Leon Festinger (1919-1989), who became known for his cognitive dissonance theory (1956), environmental psychologist Roger Barker, Bluma Zeigarnik, and Morton Deutsch, the founder of modern conflict resolution theory and practice.

Force field analysis provides a framework for looking at the factors ( forces) that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving movement toward a goal (helping forces) or blocking movement toward a goal (hindering forces). Key to this approach was Lewin's interest in gestaltism, understanding the totality and assessing a situation as a whole and not focusing only on individual aspects. Further, the totality for an individual (their life space) derives from their perception of their reality, not an objective viewpoint. The approach, developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant contribution to the fields of social science, psychology, social psychology, organizational development, process management, and change management. His theory was expanded by John R. P. French who related it to organizational and industrial settings.

Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term action research in about 1944, and it appears in his 1946 paper "Action Research and Minority Problems". In that paper, he described action research as "a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action" that uses "a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action" (this is sometimes referred to as the Lewinian spiral).

Lewin often characterized organizational management styles and cultures in terms of leadership climates defined by (1) authoritarian, (2) democratic and (3) laissez-faire work environments. He is often mixed up with McGregor with his work environments, but McGregor adapted them directly to leadership-theory. Authoritarian environments are characterized where the leader determines policy with techniques and steps for work tasks dictated by the leader in the division of labor. The leader is not necessarily hostile but is aloof from participation in work and commonly offers personal praise and criticism for the work done. Democratic climates are characterized where policy is determined through collective processes with decisions assisted by the leader. Before accomplishing tasks, perspectives are gained from group discussion and technical advice from a leader. Members are given choices and collectively decide the division of labor. Praise and criticism in such an environment are objective, fact minded and given by a group member without necessarily having participated extensively in the actual work. Laissez-faire environments give freedom to the group for policy determination without any participation from the leader. The leader remains uninvolved in work decisions unless asked, does not participate in the division of labor, and very infrequently gives praise.

An early model of change developed by Lewin described change as a three-stage process. The first stage he called "unfreezing". It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing "mind set". It must be part of surviving. Defense mechanisms have to be bypassed. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition. We are aware that the old ways are being challenged but we do not have a clear picture as to what we are replacing them with yet. The third and final stage he called "freezing". The new mindset is crystallizing and one's comfort level is returning to previous levels. This is often misquoted as "refreezing" (see Lewin,1947). Lewin's three-step process is regarded as a foundational model for making change in organizations. There is now evidence, however, that Lewin never developed such a model and that it took form after his death in 1947.

Lewin's equation

Lewin's equation, B = ƒ( P, E), is a psychological equation of behavior developed by Kurt Lewin. It states that behavior is a function of the person in their environment.

The equation is the psychologist's most well known formula in social psychology, of which Lewin was a modern pioneer. When first presented in Lewin's book Principles of Topological Psychology, published in 1936, it contradicted most popular theories in that it gave importance to a person's momentary situation in understanding his or her behavior, rather than relying entirely on the past.

In a 1947 article, Lewin coined the term " group dynamics". He described this notion as the way that groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. This field emerged as a concept dedicated to the advancement of knowledge regarding the nature of groups, their laws, establishment, development, and interactions with other groups, individuals and institutions. During the early years of research on group processes, many psychologists rejected the reality of group phenomena. Critics shared the opinion that groups did not exist as scientifically valid entities. It had been said by skeptics that the actions of groups were nothing more than those of its members considered separately. Lewin applied his interactionism formula, B = ƒ( P, E), to explain group phenomena, where a member's personal characteristics ( P) interact with the environmental factors of the group, ( E) its members, and the situation to elicit behaviour ( B). Given his background in Gestalt psychology, Lewin justified group existence using the dictum "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". He theorized that when a group is established it becomes a unified system with supervening qualities that cannot be understood by evaluating members individually. This notion - that a group is composed of more than the sum of its individual members - quickly gained support from sociologists and psychologists who understood the significance of this emerging field. Many pioneers noted that the majority of group phenomena could be explained according to Lewin's equation and insight and opposing views were hushed. The study of group dynamics remains relevant in today's society where a vast number of professions (e.g., business and industry, clinical/counseling psychology, sports and recreation) rely on its mechanisms to thrive.

The most notable of Lewin's contributions was his development of group communication and group dynamics as major facets of the communication discipline. Lewin and his associated researchers shifted from the pre-existing trend of individualist psychology and then expanded their work to incorporate a macro lens where they focused on the "social psychology of small group communication" (Rogers 1994). Lewin is associated with "founding research and training in group dynamics and for establishing the participative management style in organizations". He carved out this niche for himself from his various experiments. In his Berlin research, Lewin utilized "group discussions to advance his theory in research." In doing so, there was certainly the complication of not knowing exactly whom to attribute epiphanies to as an idea collectively came into fruition. In addition to group discussions, he became increasingly interested in group membership. He was curious as to how perspectives of an individual in relation to the group were solidified or weakened. He tried to come up with the way identity was constructed from standpoint and perspectives. These were the beginnings of what ended up developing into "groupthink". Lewin started to become quite interested in how ideas were created and then perpetuated by the mentality of a group. Not included in this chapter is how important this became in looking at group dynamics across disciplines - including studying John F Kennedy and the way he tried to interact with his advisors in order to prevent groupthink from occurring.

Lewin, K. (1935). A dynamic theory of personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lewin, K. (1936). Principles of topological psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lewin, K. (1938). The conceptual representation and measurement of psychological forces. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Lewin, K., and Gertrude W. Lewin (Ed.) (1948). Resolving social conflicts: selected papers on group dynamics (1935-1946). New York: Harper and Brothers.

Lewin, K., and Dorwin Cartwright (Ed.) (1951). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper.

Lewin, K. (1997). Resolving social conflicts & Field theory in social science. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.

Lewin, K., and Martin Gold (Ed.). (1999). The complete social scientist: a Kurt Lewin reader. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Lewin, K., (1980). Kurt Lewin Werkausgabe in German (Kurt Lewin Collected Works) Ed. Karl Friedrich Graumann, Stuttgart, Klett; 4 Issues, contains several works, which were published from the estate or never translated into english

Lewin, K. (2009). Kurt Lewin Schriften zur angewandten Psychologie. Aufsätze, Vorträge, Rezensionen in German, Ed. Helmut E. Lück, Vienna, Verlag Wolfgang Krammer, ISBN 978-3-901811-46-3; contains several unpublished articles

1. Altrichter, H., & Gstettner, P. (1993). Action research: a closed chapter in the history of German social science?. ^ Educational Action Research 1 (3), 329-360.

2. In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, Lewin was found to be the 18th-most eminent ^ psychologist of the 20th century. Haggbloom, S.J. et al. (2002). The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century. Review of General Psychology. Vol. 6, No. 2, 139-152. Haggbloom et al. combined three quantitative variables: citations in professional journals, citations in textbooks, and nominations in a survey given to members of the Association for Psychological Science, with three qualitative variables (converted to quantitative scores): National Academy of Science (NAS) membership, American Psychological Association (APA) President and/or recipient of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. Then the list was rank ordered.

3. ^ Haggbloom, Steven J.; Warnick, Renee; Warnick, Jason E.; Jones, Vinessa K.; Yarbrough, Gary L.; Russell, Tenea M.; Borecky, Chris M.; McGahhey, Reagan; Powell, John L., III; Beavers, Jamie; Monte, Emmanuelle (2002). "The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century". Review of General Psychology. 6 (2): 139-52. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.586.1913. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139. S2CID 145668721.

4. ^ Lewin, Miriam (1992). "The Impact of Kurt Lewin's Life on the Place of Social Issues in His Work". Journal of Social Issues. 48 (2): 15-29. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb00880.x.

5. ^ Bargal, David (1998). "Kurt Lewin and the First Attempts to Establish a Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University". Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy. 36 (1): 49-68. doi:10.1023/a:1004334520382. PMID 11620064. S2CID 44966308.

6. ^ Smith, MK. "Kurt Lewin, groups, experiential learning and action research". The Encyclopedia of Informal Education.

7. ^ Lasch-Quinn, Elisabeth (27 May 2017). Race Experts: How Racial Etiquette, Sensitivity Training, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742527591 - via Google Books.

8. ^ Lasch-Quinn, E. (2001) Race Experts: How Racial Etiquette, Sensitivity Training, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution, New York, W. W. Norton.

9. King, W.^ "Refugee Scholars At Duke University" Archived 9 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 26 August 2012.

10. Lewin, K. (1922). ^ Der Begriff der Genese in Physik, Biologie und Entwicklungsgeschichte. (Lewin's Habilitationsschrift).

11. ^ Batcho, James (2018). Terrence Malick's Unseeing Cinema: Memory, Time and Audibility. Cham: Springer. p. 69. ISBN 9783319764207.

12. ^ Rogers, Everett (1994). A History of Communication Study: A Biological Approach. NY: The Free Press.

13. ^ Wheelan, Susan A. (2005). The Handbook of Group Research and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. p. 13. ISBN 0761929584.

14. Lewin K. (1943). Defining the "Field at a Given Time." ^ Psychological Review. 50: 292-310. Republished in Resolving Social Conflicts & Field Theory in Social Science, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997.

15. ^ Lewin, K. (1946) Action research and minority problems. J Soc. Issues 2(4): 34-46

16. ^ Lewin, K.; Lippitt, R.; White, R.K. (1938). "Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates". Journal of Social Psychology. 10 (2): 271-301. doi:10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366.

17. ^ Miner, J. B. (2005). Organizational Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe.

18. ^ Lewin, Kurt (June 1947). "Frontiers in Group Dynamics: Concept, Method and Reality in Social Science; Social Equilibria and Social Change". Human Relations. 1: 5-41. doi:10.1177/001872674700100103. S2CID 145335154.

19. ^ Cummings, S.; Bridgman, T; Brown, K. (2016). "Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin's legacy for change management". Human Relations. 69 (1): 33-60. doi:10.1177/0018726715577707. S2CID 147697886.

20. ^ Balkenius, C. (1995). Natural Intelligence in Artificial Creatures. Lund University Cognitive Studies, 37. ISBN 978-91-628-1599-8. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008.

Burnes B., "Kurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change: A Re-appraisal", Journal of Management Studies (41:6 September 2004), Manchester, 2004.

Crosby, G. "Planned Change: Why Kurt Lewin's Social Science is Still Best Practice for Business Results, Change Management, and Human Progress." (2021) ISBN 978-0-367-53577-3 (Routledge

Foschi R., Lombardo G.P. (2006), Lewinian contribution to the study of personality as the alternative to the mainstream of personality psychology in the 20th century. In: Trempala, J., Pepitone, A. Raven, B. Lewinian Psychology. (vol. 1, pp. 86-98). Bydgoszcz: Kazimierz Wielki University Press. ISBN 83-7096-592-X

Kaufmann, Pierre, Kurt Lewin. Une théorie du champ dans les sciences de l'homme, Paris, Vrin, 1968.

Marrow, Alfred J.The Practical Theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin (1969, 1984) ISBN 0-934698-22-8 (Alfred J. Marrow studied as one of Lewin's students)

Trempala, J., Pepitone, A. Raven, B. Lewinian Psychology. Bydgoszcz: Kazimierz Wielki University Press. ISBN 83-7096-592-X

White, Ralph K., and Ronald O. Lippitt, Autocracy and Democracy (1960, 1972) ISBN 0-8371-5710-2 (White and Lippitt carried out the research described here under Lewin as their thesis-advisor; Marrow's book also briefly describes the same work in chapter 12.)

Weisbord, Marvin R., Productive Workplaces Revisited (2004) ISBN 0-7879-7117-0 (Chapters 4: Lewin: the Practical Theorist, Chapter 5: The pig Organization: Lewin's Legacy to Management.)

Lewin, K (1947). "Frontiers of Group Dynamics: Concept, method and reality in social science, social equilibria, and social change". Human Relations. 1: 5-41. doi:10.1177/001872674700100103. S2CID 145335154.

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Kurt Lewin ( lə-VEEN ; 9 September 1890 - 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States.

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Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership states that your effectiveness as a leader is determined by how well your leadership style matches the situation.

Fiedler's Contingency Theory

Fiedler's Contingency Theory, just like all contingency theories, states that there is no one best way to lead your team. The best way to lead your team will instead be determined by the situation.

It is important to realize that in Fiedler's Contingency Theory your leadership style is fixed. You cannot change your style to suit the situation. Instead, you must put leaders into situations that match their style.

This puts the theory at odds with more modern contingency theories such as situational leadership.

There are two important factors in Fiedler's Contingency Theory: leadership style and situational favorableness.

1. Leadership Style

The first step in using the model is to determine your natural leadership style. To do this, Fiedler developed a scale called the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC).

To score yourself on this scale you have to describe the coworker with whom you least prefer to work.

What do you think about those people you least prefer working with?

Well, according to the model, the more favorably you rated the person you least prefer to work with the more relationship oriented you are. The less favorably you rated the person you least like working with the more task-oriented you are. So, in a nutshell:

High LPC = Relationship-oriented leader.

Low LPC = Task-oriented leader.

Task-oriented leaders tend to be good at organizing teams and projects and gettings things done. Relationship-oriented leaders tend to be good at building good relationships and managing conflict to get things done.

2. Situational Favorableness

The next step is to understand the favorableness of the situation you face. This is determined by how much control over the situation you have as a leader (situational control).

Determining situational favorableness is done by examining the following three factors:

a. Leader-Member Relations

This factor measures how much your team trusts you. Greater trust increases the favorableness of the situation and less trust reduces it.

b. Task Structure

This factor measures the tasks that need to be performed. Are they clear and precise or vague?

Vague tasks decrease the favorableness of the situation and concrete and clear tasks increase it.

c. Position Power

This is determined by your authority, meaning the power you have to reward or punish your subordinates. As you might expect, having more power increases the situational favorableness.

Using the Model

To use Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership follow these steps.

Step 1. Identify your Leadership Style

The first step is to determine your preferred leadership style using the LPC scale.

You can use the following table to score yourself on the LPC scale. Fill in your answers keeping in mind the one person that you least like to work with.

You can now calculate your LPC score by totaling all the numbers you circled. You can interpret your score as follows:

73 and above: You are a relationship-oriented leader.

54 and below: You are a task-oriented leader.

Between 55 and 72: You are a mixture of both and it's up to you to determine which style suits you the best.

Step 2: Understand your Situation

To understand the situation you are facing answer the following questions:

Is trust with your team high or low (member relations)?

Are tasks vague or clear-cut and well understood (task structure)?

Is your authority low or high (position power)?

The easiest way to do this is to score each answer from 1 to 10, with 10 representing the highest value.

Step 3: Find the Right Leadership Style

Now that we understand how we like to lead, and we understand the situation we are facing, we're in a position to determine if we have the right style for the situation we're facing.

The table below allows you to determine your results:

This table is showing us what Fiedler found to be the best leadership style given different combinations of the situational factors. Note that the red line in this diagram represents task-oriented leaders, and the yellow line represents relationship-oriented leaders.

In general, you can see that when situations are highly favorable or highly unfavorable the task-oriented leader is most effective. It is only in the middle area, where situational factors are mixed, that the relationship-oriented leader is most effective.

From Fiedler's perspective, you would place leaders into situations that are most suited to their style. However, a more modern approach is to adapt your style according to the situation.

Contingency Theory Examples

Example 1: PizzaHut Restaurant Manager

In this example, we're going to imagine that you have been newly appointed the manager of a PizzaHut restaurant. In this scenario we might expect the following situational factors:

Trust will be low. This is because you are new to the job so your team won't trust you. Secondly, staff turnover is high so it's going to be difficult to build strong relationships.

Task structure is high. This is because there are extremely clear operating procedures to follow covering everything from how to make each pizza, to how to welcome customers to the restaurant.

Position power is high. You have the ability to hire and fire and reward and punish as is required.

According to Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership, and using our table above, a relationship-oriented leader is best suited to this type of role.

Example 2: Software Development Manager

In this example, we're going to imagine that you've just been promoted to be the manager of a software development team you've been working in for two years.

In this scenario, the situational factors might look something like this:

Trust will be high. You've already worked with the team for two years, know each of the team members well, and they trust you.

Task structure is high. Even though software development is complex, task structure is high as the team knows what they have to do each week.

Position power is low. Although you've been promoted to manage the team's day to day work, you are not responsible for line managing any of them. Thus, you don't hold much formal authority over any of them.

According to Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership, and using our table above, a task-oriented leader is best suited to this type of role.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership are:

It provides a simple rule of thumb for identifying which leaders are best for which situations.

Unlike many other leadership theories, it takes the situation into account in determining the effectiveness of a leader.

Both the LPC and the situational factors are easy to measure.

The disadvantages of Fiedler's Contingency of Leadership are:

It's not flexible at all. If your leadership style doesn't match the situation that's it. Game over. You need to be replaced. There is nothing you can do to change the situation.

The LPC scale is subjective and so its possible incorrectly assess your own leadership style.

If you happen to fall in the middle of the LPC scale then there is no guidance as to which kind of leader you might be.

Your assessment of the situation is subjective. This means you may incorrectly assess the situation and consequently, you may incorrectly determine what kind of leader is required.

Summary

Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership states that your effectiveness as a leader is determined by how well your leadership style matches the situation.

The theory is based on the premise that each of us has one and only one leadership style which can be scored on the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale. Using this LPC scale you are either a relationship-oriented leader or a task-oriented leader.

According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders get the best results when faced with strongly favorable or strongly unfavorable situations. In situations of mixed favorableness then relationship-oriented leaders get the best results.

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Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership - with Examples

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Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership states that your effectiveness as a leader is determined by how well your leadership style matches the situation. Note that Fiedler's Contingency Theory isn't the only contingency theory. Contingency theory is a general theory which says that there is no one singular best...

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Start with 1,435 good companies. Examine their performance over 40 years. Find the 11 companies that became great. Now here's how you can do it too. Lessons on eggs, flywheels, hedgehogs, buses, and other essentials of business that can help you transform your company.

I want to give you a lobotomy about change. I want you to forget everything you've ever learned about what it takes to create great results. I want you to realize that nearly all operating prescriptions for creating large-scale corporate change are nothing but myths.

The Myth of the Change Program: This approach comes with the launch event, the tag line, and the cascading activities.

The Myth of the Burning Platform: This one says that change starts only when there's a crisis that persuades "unmotivated" employees to accept the need for change.

The Myth of Stock Options: Stock options, high salaries, and bonuses are incentives that grease the wheels of change.

The Myth of Fear-Driven Change: The fear of being left behind, the fear of watching others win, the fear of presiding over monumental failure—all are drivers of change, we're told.

The Myth of Acquisitions: You can buy your way to growth, so it figures that you can buy your way to greatness.

The Myth of Technology-Driven Change: The breakthrough that you're looking for can be achieved by using technology to leapfrog the competition.

The Myth of Revolution: Big change has to be wrenching, extreme, painful—one big, discontinuous, shattering break.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Totally wrong.

Here are the facts of life about these and other change myths. Companies that make the change from good to great have no name for their transformation—and absolutely no program. They neither rant nor rave about a crisis—and they don't manufacture one where none exists. They don't "motivate" people—their people are self-motivated. There's no evidence of a connection between money and change mastery. And fear doesn't drive change—but it does perpetuate mediocrity. Nor can acquisitions provide a stimulus for greatness: Two mediocrities never make one great company. Technology is certainly important—but it comes into play only after change has already begun. And as for the final myth, dramatic results do not come from dramatic process—not if you want them to last, anyway. A serious revolution, one that feels like a revolution to those going through it, is highly unlikely to bring about a sustainable leap from being good to being great.

These myths became clear as my research team and I completed a five-year project to determine what it takes to change a good company into a great one. We systematically scoured a list of 1,435 established companies to find every extraordinary case that made a leap from no-better-than-average results to great results. How great? After the leap, a company had to generate cumulative stock returns that exceeded the general stock market by at least three times over 15 years—and it had to be a leap independent of its industry. In fact, the 11 good-to-great companies that we found averaged returns 6.9 times greater than the market's—more than twice the performance rate of General Electric under the legendary Jack Welch.

The surprising good-to-great list included such unheralded companies as Abbott Laboratories (3.98 times the market), Fannie Mae (7.56 times the market), Kimberly-Clark Corp.(3.42 times the market), Nucor Corp. (5.16 times the market), and Wells Fargo (3.99 times the market). One such surprise, the Kroger Co.—a grocery chain—bumped along as a totally average performer for 80 years and then somehow broke free of its mediocrity to beat the stock market by 4.16 times over the next 15 years. And it didn't stop there. From 1973 to 1998, Kroger outperformed the market by 10 times.

In each of these dramatic, remarkable, good-to-great corporate transformations, we found the same thing: There was no miracle moment. Instead, a down-to-earth, pragmatic, committed-to-excellence process—a framework—kept each company, its leaders, and its people on track for the long haul. In each case, it was the triumph of the Flywheel Effect over the Doom Loop, the victory of steadfast discipline over the quick fix. And the real kicker: The comparison companies in our study—firms with virtually identical opportunities during the pivotal years—did buy into the change myths described above—and failed to make the leap from good to great.

How change doesn't happen

Picture an egg. Day after day, it sits there. No one pays attention to it. No one notices it. Certainly no one takes a picture of it or puts it on the cover of a celebrity-focused business magazine. Then one day, the shell cracks and out jumps a chicken.

All of a sudden, the major magazines and newspapers jump on the story: "Stunning Turnaround at Egg!" and "The Chick Who Led the Breakthrough at Egg!" From the outside, the story always reads like an overnight sensation—as if the egg had suddenly and radically altered itself into a chicken.

Now picture the egg from the chicken's point of view.

While the outside world was ignoring this seemingly dormant egg, the chicken within was evolving, growing, developing—changing. From the chicken's point of view, the moment of breakthrough, of cracking the egg, was simply one more step in a long chain of steps that had led to that moment. Granted, it was a big step—but it was hardly the radical transformation that it looked like from the outside.

It's a silly analogy, but then our conventional way of looking at change is no less silly. Everyone looks for the "miracle moment" when "change happens." But ask the good-to-great executives when change happened. They cannot pinpoint a single key event that exemplified their successful transition.

Take Walgreens. For more than 40 years, Walgreens was no more than an average company, tracking the general market. Then in 1975 (out of the blue!) Walgreens began to climb. And climb. And climb. It just kept climbing. From December 31, 1975, to January 1, 2000, $1 invested in Walgreens beat $1 invested in Intel by nearly two times, General Electric by nearly five times, and Coca-Cola by nearly eight times. It beat the general stock market by more than 15 times.

I asked a key Walgreens executive to pinpoint when the good-to-great transformation happened. His answer: "Sometime between 1971 and 1980." (Well, that certainly narrows it down!)

Walgreens's experience is the norm for good-to-great performers. Leaders at Abbott said, "It wasn't a blinding flash or sudden revelation from above." From Kimberly-Clark: "These things don't happen overnight. They grow." From Wells Fargo: "It wasn't a single switch that was thrown at one time."

We keep looking for change in the wrong places, asking the wrong questions, and making the wrong assumptions. There's even a tendency to blame Wall Street for the "instant results" approach to change. But the companies that made the jump from good to great did so using Wall Street's own tough metric of success: a sustained leap in their stock-market performance. Wall Street turns out to be just another myth—an excuse for not doing what really works. The data doesn't lie.

How change does happen

Now picture a huge, heavy flywheel. It's a massive, metal disk mounted horizontally on an axle. It's about 100 feet in diameter, 10 feet thick, and it weighs about 25 tons. That flywheel is your company. Your job is to get that flywheel to move as fast as possible, because momentum—mass times velocity—is what will generate superior economic results over time.

Right now, the flywheel is at a standstill. To get it moving, you make a tremendous effort. You push with all your might, and finally you get the flywheel to inch forward. After two or three days of sustained effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster. It takes a lot of work, but at last the flywheel makes a second rotation. You keep pushing steadily. It makes three turns, four turns, five, six. With each turn, it moves faster, and then—at some point, you can''t say exactly when—you break through. The momentum of the heavy wheel kicks in your favor. It spins faster and faster, with its own weight propelling it. You aren't pushing any harder, but the flywheel is accelerating, its momentum building, its speed increasing.

This is the Flywheel Effect. It's what it feels like when you're inside a company that makes the transition from good to great. Take Kroger, for example. How do you get a company with more than 50,000 people to embrace a new strategy that will eventually change every aspect of every grocery store? You don't. At least not with one big change program.

Instead, you put your shoulder to the flywheel. That's what Jim Herring, the leader who initiated the transformation of Kroger, told us. He stayed away from change programs and motivational stunts. He and his team began turning the flywheel gradually, consistently—building tangible evidence that their plans made sense and would deliver results.

"We presented what we were doing in such a way that people saw our accomplishments,"Herring says. "We tried to bring our plans to successful conclusions step by step, so that the mass of people would gain confidence from the successes, not just the words."

Think about it for one minute. Why do most overhyped change programs ultimately fail? Because they lack accountability, they fail to achieve credibility, and they have no authenticity. It's the opposite of the Flywheel Effect; it's the Doom Loop.

Companies that fall into the Doom Loop genuinely want to effect change—but they lack the quiet discipline that produces the Flywheel Effect. Instead, they launch change programs with huge fanfare, hoping to "enlist the troops." They start down one path, only to change direction. After years of lurching back and forth, these companies discover that they've failed to build any sustained momentum. Instead of turning the flywheel, they've fallen into a Doom Loop: Disappointing results lead to reaction without understanding, which leads to a new direction—a new leader, a new program—which leads to no momentum, which leads to disappointing results. It's a steady, downward spiral. Those who have experienced a Doom Loop know how it drains the spirit right out of a company.

Consider the Warner-Lambert Co.—the company that we compared directly with Gillette—in the early 1980s. In 1979, Warner-Lambert told Business Week that it aimed to be a leading consumer-products company. One year later, it did an abrupt about-face and turned its sights on healthcare. In 1981, the company reversed course again and returned to diversification and consumer goods. Then in 1987, Warner-Lambert made another U-turn, away from consumer goods, and announced that it wanted to compete with Merck. Then in the early 1990s, the company responded to government announcements of pending healthcare reform and reembraced diversification and consumer brands.

Between 1979 and 1998, Warner-Lambert underwent three major restructurings—one per CEO. Each new CEO arrived with his own program; each CEO halted the momentum of his predecessor. With each turn of the Doom Loop, the company spiraled further downward, until it was swallowed by Pfizer in 2000.

In contrast, why does the Flywheel Effect work? Because more than anything else, real people in real companies want to be part of a winning team. They want to contribute to producing real results. They want to feel the excitement and the satisfaction of being part of something that just flat-out works. When people begin to feel the magic of momentum—when they begin to see tangible results and can feel the flywheel start to build speed—that's when they line up, throw their shoulders to the wheel, and push.

And that's how change really happens.

Disciplined people: "Who" before "what"

You are a bus driver. The bus, your company, is at a standstill, and it's your job to get it going. You have to decide where you're going, how you're going to get there, and who's going with you.

Most people assume that great bus drivers (read: business leaders) immediately start the journey by announcing to the people on the bus where they're going—by setting a new direction or by articulating a fresh corporate vision.

In fact, leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with "where" but with "who." They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances. Take David Maxwell's bus ride. When he became CEO of Fannie Mae in 1981, the company was losing $1 million every business day, with $56 billion worth of mortgage loans underwater. The board desperately wanted to know what Maxwell was going to do to rescue the company.

Maxwell responded to the "what" question the same way that all good-to-great leaders do: He told them, That's the wrong first question. To decide where to drive the bus before you have the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus, is absolutely the wrong approach.

Maxwell told his management team that there would only be seats on the bus for A-level people who were willing to put out A-plus effort. He interviewed every member of the team. He told them all the same thing: It was going to be a tough ride, a very demanding trip. If they didn't want to go, fine; just say so. Now's the time to get off the bus, he said. No questions asked, no recriminations. In all, 14 of 26 executives got off the bus. They were replaced by some of the best, smartest, and hardest-working executives in the world of finance.

With the right people on the bus, in the right seats, Maxwell then turned his full attention to the "what" question. He and his team took Fannie Mae from losing $1 million a day at the start of his tenure to earning $4 million a day at the end. Even after Maxwell left in 1991, his great team continued to drive the flywheel—turn upon turn—and Fannie Mae generated cumulative stock returns nearly eight times better than the general market from 1984 to 1999.

When it comes to getting started, good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with "who," you can more easily adapt to a fast-changing world. If people get on your bus because of where they think it's going, you'll be in trouble when you get 10 miles down the road and discover that you need to change direction because the world has changed. But if people board the bus principally because of all the other great people on the bus, you'll be much faster and smarter in responding to changing conditions. Second, if you have the right people on your bus, you don't need to worry about motivating them. The right people are self-motivated: Nothing beats being part of a team that is expected to produce great results. And third, if you have the wrong people on the bus, nothing else matters. You may be headed in the right direction, but you still won't achieve greatness. Great vision with mediocre people still produces mediocre results.

Disciplined thought: Fox or hedgehog?

Picture two animals: a fox and a hedgehog. Which are you? An ancient Greek parable distinguishes between foxes, which know many small things, and hedgehogs, which know one big thing. All good-to-great leaders, it turns out, are hedgehogs. They know how to simplify a complex world into a single, organizing idea—the kind of basic principle that unifies, organizes, and guides all decisions. That's not to say hedgehogs are simplistic. Like great thinkers, who take complexities and boil them down into simple, yet profound, ideas (Adam Smith and the invisible hand, Darwin and evolution), leaders of good-to-great companies develop a Hedgehog Concept that is simple but that reflects penetrating insight and deep understanding.

What does it take to come up with a Hedgehog Concept for your company? Start by confronting the brutal facts. One good-to-great CEO began by asking, "Why have we sucked for 100 years?" That's brutal—and it's precisely the type of disciplined question necessary to ignite a transformation. The management climate during a leap from good to great is like a searing scientific debate—with smart, tough-minded people examining hard facts and debating what those facts mean. The point isn't to win the debate, but rather to come up with the best answers—and, ultimately, to lock onto a Hedgehog Concept that works.

You'll know that you're getting closer to your Hedgehog Concept when you align three intersecting circles that represent three pivotal questions: What can we be the best in the world at? (And equally important—what can we not be the best at?) What is the economic denominator that best drives our economic engine (profit or cash flow per "x")? And what are our core people deeply passionate about? Answer those three questions honestly, facing the brutal facts without blinking, and you'll begin to see your Hedgehog Concept emerge.

For example, before Wells Fargo understood its Hedgehog Concept, its leaders had tried to make it a global bank: It operated like a mini-Citicorp—and a mediocre one at that.

Then the Wells Fargo team asked itself, "What can we potentially do better than any other company?" The brutal fact was that Wells Fargo would never be the best global bank in the world—and so the leadership team pulled the plug on the vast majority of the bank's international operations. When the team asked the question about the bank's economic engine, Wells Fargo's leaders confronted a second brutal fact: In a deregulated world, commercial banking would be a commodity. The essential economic driver would no longer be profit per loan, but profit per employee. The bank switched its operations to become a pioneering leader in electronic banking and to open utilitarian branches run by small crews of superb people. Profit per employee skyrocketed. Finally, when it came to passion, members of the Wells Fargo team all agreed: The mindless waste and self-awarded perks of traditional banking culture were revolting. They proudly saw themselves as stoic Spartans in an industry that had been dominated by the wasteful, elitist culture of banking. The Wells Fargo team eventually translated the three circles into a simple, crystalline Hedgehog Concept: Run a bank like a business, with a focus on the western United States, and consistently increase profit per employee. "Run it like a business" and "run it like you own it" became mantras; simplicity and focus made all the difference. With fanatical adherence to that simple idea, Wells Fargo made the leap from good results to superior results.

In the journey from good to great, defining your Hedgehog Concept is an essential element. But insight and understanding don't happen overnight—or after one off-site. On average, it took four years for the good-to-great companies to crystallize their Hedgehog Concepts. It was an inherently iterative process—consisting of piercing questions, vigorous debate, resolute action, and autopsies without blame—a cycle repeated over and over by the right people, infused with the brutal facts, and guided by the three circles. This is the chicken inside the egg.

Disciplined action: The "stop doing" list

Take a look at your desk. If you're like most hard-charging leaders, you've got a well-articulated to-do list. Now take another look: Where's your stop-doing list? We've all been told that leaders make things happen—and that's true: Pushing that flywheel takes a lot of concerted effort. But it's also true that good-to-great leaders distinguish themselves by their unyielding discipline to stop doing anything and everything that doesn't fit tightly within their Hedgehog Concept.

When Darwin Smith and his management team crystallized the Hedgehog Concept for Kimberly-Clark, they faced a dilemma. On one hand, they understood that the best path to greatness lay in the consumer business, where the company had demonstrated a best-in-the-world capability in its building of the Kleenex brand. On the other hand, the vast majority of Kimberly-Clark's revenue lay in traditional coated-paper mills, turning out paper for magazines and writing pads—which had been the core business of the company for 100 years. Even the company's namesake town—Kimberly, Wisconsin—was built around a Kimberly-Clark paper mill.

Yet the brutal truth remained: The consumer business was the one arena that best met the three-circle test. If Kimberly-Clark remained principally a paper-mill business, it would retain a secure position as a good company. But its only shot at becoming a great company was to become the best paper-based consumer company—if it could take on such companies as Procter & Gamble and Scott Paper Co. and beat them. That meant it would have to "stop doing" paper mills.

So, in what one director called "the gutsiest decision I've ever seen a CEO make," Darwin Smith sold the mills. He even sold the mill in Kimberly, Wisconsin. Then he threw all the money into a war chest for an epic battle with Procter & Gamble and Scott Paper. Wall Street analysts derided the move, and the business press called it stupid. But Smith did not waver.

Twenty-five years later, Kimberly-Clark emerged from the fray as the number-one paper-based consumer-products company in the world, beating P&G in six of eight categories and owning its former archrival Scott Paper outright. For the shareholder, Kimberly-Clark under Darwin Smith beat the market by four times, easily outperforming such great companies as Coca-Cola, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, and 3M.

In deciding what not to do, Smith gave the flywheel a gigantic push—but it was only one push. After selling the mills, Kimberly-Clark's full transformation required thousands of additional pushes, big and small, accumulated one after another. It took years to gain enough momentum for the press to herald Kimberly-Clark's shift from good to great. One magazine wrote, "When ... Kimberly-Clark decided to go head to head against P&G ... this magazine predicted disaster. What a dumb idea. As it turns out, it wasn't a dumb idea. It was a smart idea." The amount of time between the two articles: 21 years.

Now it begins

Our study of what it takes to turn good into great required five years—and 10.5 person-years—and amounted to our own flywheel effort. Looking back on our research, what's most striking to me about our findings is the absence of a magic moment in any of the good-to-great companies—or in our own journey to understanding. The real path to greatness, it turns out, requires simplicity and diligence. It requires clarity, not instant illumination. It demands each of us to focus on what is vital—and to eliminate all of the extraneous distractions.

After five years of research, I'm absolutely convinced that if we just focus our attention on the right things—and stop doing the senseless things that consume so much time and energy—we can create a powerful Flywheel Effect without increasing the number of hours we work.

I'm also convinced that the good-to-great findings apply broadly—not just to CEOs but also to you and me in whatever work we're engaged in, including the work of our own lives. For many people, the first question that occurs is, "But how do I persuade my CEO to get it?" My answer: Don't worry about that. Focus instead on results—on subverting mediocrity by creating a Flywheel Effect within your own span of responsibility. So long as we can choose the people we want to put on our own minibus, each of us can create a pocket of greatness. Each of us can take our own area of work and influence and can concentrate on moving it from good to great. It doesn't really matter whether all the CEOs get it. It only matters that you and I do. Now, it's time to get to work.

Jim Collins wrote the essay "Built to Flip" in the March 2000 issue of Fast Company. His new book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... And Others Don't, will be available in October.

Sidebar: Separating the good from the great

Can a good company become a great company? How? It took Jim Collins and his team of researchers five years to come up with the answers: 11 companies made the leap from good to great and then sustained those results for at least 15 years. How great was great? The good-to-great companies averaged cumulative stock returns 6.9 times the general market in the 15 years after their transition points. The actual screening-and-selection process was a rigorous one. The criteria were:

1. The company had to show a pattern of good performance, punctuated by a transition point, after which it shifted to great performance. "Great performance" was defined as a cumulative total stock return of at least three times the general market for the period from the transition point through 15 years.

2. The transition from good to great had to be company specific, not an industrywide event.

3. The company had to be an established and ongoing enterprise—not a startup. It had to have been in business for at least 25 years prior to its transition, and it had to have been publicly traded with stock-return data available for at least 10 years prior to its transition.

4. The transition point had to occur before 1985 to give the team enough data to assess the sustainability of the transition.

5. Whatever the year of transition, the company had to be a significant, ongoing, stand-alone company.

6. At the time of its selection, the company still had to show an upward trend.

The study began with a field of 1,435 companies and emerged with a list of 11 good-to-great companies: Abbott Laboratories, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., the Kroger Co., Nucor Corp., Philip Morris Cos. Inc., Pitney Bowes Inc., Walgreens, and Wells Fargo.

The next step in the study was to isolate what it took to make the change. At this point, each of the 11 good-to-great companies was paired with a comparison company—a company with similar attributes that could have made the transition, but didn't.

Then the research began. Collins and his team reviewed books, articles, case studies, and annual reports covering each company; examined financial analyses for each company, totaling 980 combined years of data; conducted 84 interviews with senior managers and board members of the companies; scrutinized the personal and professional records of 56 CEOs; analyzed compensation plans for the companies; and reviewed layoffs, corporate ownership, "media hype," and the role of technology for the companies. The findings are contained in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... And Others Don't (HarperBusiness, 2001).

Sidebar: Great answers to good questions

Fast Company:

The CEOs who took their companies from good to great were largely anonymous. Is that an accident?

Jim Collins: There is a direct relationship between the absence of celebrity and the presence of good-to-great results. Why? First, when you have a celebrity, the company turns into "the one genius with 1,000 helpers." It creates a sense that the whole thing is really about the CEO. At a deeper level, we found that for leaders to make something great, their ambition has to be for the greatness of the work and the company, rather than for themselves. That doesn't mean that they don't have an ego. It means that at each decision point—at each of the critical junctures when Choice A would favor their ego and Choice B would favor the company and the work—time and again the good-to-great leaders pick Choice B. Celebrity CEOs, at those same decision points, are more likely to favor self and ego over company and work.

FC: Like the anonymous CEOs, most of the good-to-great companies are unheralded. What does that tell us?

JC: The truth is, few people are working on the most glamorous things in the world. Most of them are doing real work—which means that most of the time they're doing a heck of a lot of drudgery with only a few moments of excitement. The real work of the economy gets done by people who make cars, who sell real estate, and who run grocery stores or banks. One of the great findings of this study is that you can be in a great company and be doing it in steel, in drug stores, or in grocery stores. No one has the right to whine about their company, their industry, or the kind of business that they're in—ever again.

FC: Let's say that I'm not running a company. How do the good-to-great lessons apply to me?

JC: The basic message is this: Build your own flywheel. You can do it. You can start to build momentum in something for which you've got responsibility. You can build a great department. You can build a great church community. You can take every one of these ideas and apply them to your own work or your own life.

FC: What does your research suggest about the best way to respond to the current economic slowdown?

JC: If I were running a company today, I would have one priority above all others: to acquire as many of the best people as I could. I'd put off everything else to fill my bus. Because things are going to come back. My flywheel is going to start to turn. And the single biggest constraint on the success of my organization is the ability to get and to hang on to enough of the right people.

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Start with 1,435 good companies. Examine their performance over 40 years. Find the 11 companies that became great. Now here's how you can do it too. Lessons on eggs, flywheels, hedgehogs, buses, and other essentials of business that can help you transform your company. I want to give you a lobotomy about change.

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The book was inspired by the author (a McKinsey partner) turning 50 and looking for the spark of meaning and passion she had observed in many successful and fulfilled women leaders. She took on the task of creating Centered Leadership Project. Based on hundreds of interviews and quantitative research, it lays out the 5 components for success and fulfillment at work and life: Meaning, Framing, Connecting, Engaging, Energizing. I resonated with this book as it confirms how women are energized by different motivators than men and created a useful framework for engaging women leaders in the workplace. A must read for women and any leader who wants to unleash potential in their women leaders.

Here is a link to a summary of the concepts in the book in the McKinsey Quarterly.

Here's another link to some of the latest thinking by the author "Changing Companies' Minds About Women".

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How Remarkable Women Lead (by Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston)

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The book was inspired by the author (a McKinsey partner) turning 50 and looking for the spark of meaning and passion she had observed in many successful and fulfilled women leaders. She took on the task of creating Centered Leadership Project. Based on hundreds of interviews and quantitative researc

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leaders make the future ten new leadership skills for an uncertain world

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Leadership Now is a leading source for leadership development and analysis. We believe that anyone can make a difference by leading from where they are.

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Edited by Don Frick and Larry C. Spears, with a Foreword by Peter F. Drucker, this collection of essays is organized around the general themes of power, management, organizations, and ethics. This book starts off with an unpublished book manuscript which Greenleaf had titled The Ethic of Strength. Part Two, "Essays on Power, Management, and Organizations," explores the quandary of how to exercise power without violating the rights of others. Part Three, "Leadership and the Individual," was Greenleaf's last major essay before writing "The Servant as Leader." Part Four concludes the book with "In Person with Robert K. Greenleaf" - a treat for all who wish they could sit down and chat with this remarkable man. Dr. Joseph DiStefano had the privilege of doing just that in December, 1986. On Becoming a Servant-Leader includes a Foreword by Peter F. Drucker.

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On Becoming a Servant Leader - Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

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Edited by Don Frick and Larry C. Spears, with a Foreword by Peter F. Drucker, this collection of essays is organized around the general themes of power, management, organizations, and ethics. This book starts off with an unpublished book manuscript which Greenleaf had titledThe Ethic of Strength.

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With God on All Sides:  Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America 

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With God on All Sides:  Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America 

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Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.

Douglas A. Hicks

Abstract

Perhaps no other nation is as religiously diverse as the United States. For elected officials, school principals, and corporate leaders, this diversity poses challenges. How should leaders deal with menorahs and crosses, veils and turbans, prayers and holidays? How can they honor the religious convictions of all Americans? Although the devout possess moral and spiritual resources that can enrich civic life, leaders must also be prepared to cope with the inevitable conflicts that come with pluralism. This book considers six visions of American leadership for navigating the post-9/11 religious l ... More

Keywords: citizenship, convivencia, crossroads, leadership, pluralism, religion and civil society, religion and politics, religious diversity

Bibliographic Information

Print publication date: 2009

Print ISBN-13: 9780195337174

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2009

DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195337174.001.0001

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Perhaps no other nation is as religiously diverse as the United States. For elected officials, school principals, and corporate leaders, this diversity poses challenges. How should leaders deal with menorahs and crosses, veils and turbans, prayers and holidays? How can they honor the religious convictions of all Americans?

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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Anyone trying to come up to speed on emotional intelligence would have a pretty easy time of it since the concept is remarkably recent, and its application to business newer still. The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Some years later, Mayer defined it in HBR this way:

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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A reading list to bring you up to speed.

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5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership

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5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership

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Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles.

But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions. Known as emotional intelligence, this trait is often overlooked, yet crucial for success as a business leader.

Here's what having emotional intelligence provides you with:
Acute Awareness
One of the defining features of emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend the effects of your feelings. This is crucial for making sound, objective decisions when your pride and self-esteem are at stake. All leaders must face situations where their emotions make a decision seem better than it is.

If you previously expressed support for a certain strategy, for example, your pride will be tied up with that strategy, making it harder to recognize if it isn't working. Leaders who have emotional intelligence are more likely to realize when pride and other emotions are influencing their thinking, allowing them to make more rational, impartial choices.
Impact Interpretation
In addition to reigning in your own feelings, emotional intelligence makes it easier to anticipate and respond to others' sentiments. As much as we may want for it to be objective, business is an emotional experience.

Bad news from work can shock or dismay your employees, while good news may make them unreasonably optimistic. Emotional intelligence means you can tell ahead of time how others will react and develop a strategy to keep them grounded.
Mental Health Management
Those with emotional intelligence have an easier time assessing the emotional and psychological state of their employees. This makes it easier to determine if someone is suffering from:

* Anxiety

* Depression

* Grief

* Trauma

* Eating disorders

By recognizing threats to your employees' mental health, you can provide them with the support and professional resources they need to recover. Not only is this good for their health but it promotes a more harmonious, productive workplace.
Cultivated Communication
Leaders with emotional intelligence have an improved ability to gauge others' responses to their words and actions. This makes it easier for you to tell if your employees really understand what you are saying or are confused but unwilling to say so. You can then refine your messages accordingly, developing reliable ways of communicating with everyone who works for you.

Emotional intelligence also makes it easier for you to listen to what other people are saying clearly and without judgment, ensuring that others can always give you the information you need.
Helpful Humor
Never underestimate the value of humor in business. A good joke or clever play on words can cheer up dismayed employees, win over skeptical customers and draw positive attention to your brand. If you have emotional intelligence, it will be easier to tell what people will find funny. You can also determine in which situations humor will be appropriate, finding the proper balance between serious work and lightheartedness.

While intelligence is important, emotional intelligence is a key to success in leadership and in being able to relate to others. When dealing with others, truly try to place yourself in their situation. It will help you choose the best method to solve problems and achieve your goals.

How has emotional intelligence helped you to make sound and informed decisions?

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Council Post: Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles. But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions.

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Why Emotionally Intelligent People are More Successful

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Why Emotionally Intelligent People are More Successful

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. It says the three main reasons for failure are difficulty in handling change, inability to work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.

International search firm Egon Zehnder International analyzed 515 senior executives and discovered that those who were strongest in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those strongest in either IQ or relevant previous experience. Research that has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EQ) and IQ has shown only a weak correlation between the two.

The Carnegie Institute of Technology carried out research that showed that 85% of our financial success was due to skills in "human engineering", personality, and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. They found that only 15% was due to technical ability. In other words people skills or skills highly related to emotional intelligence were crucial skills. Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

People would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

To test out his findings, think of the last time you purchased a major item, a home, automobile, or large appliance where you had to dealings with a salesperson. Was the person someone who you liked and trusted? In my talks, I have found that whenever I asked that question, inevitably the entire audience answered that, yes, the person they bought a large item from was someone they liked and trusted. This theory about why salespeople with the right people skills do better than those who lack them is borne out by a study carried out by the Hay/McBer Research and Innovation Group in 1997. In a study carried out in a large national insurance company in 1997, they found that sales agents weak in emotional areas such as self-confidence, initiative, and empathy sold policies with an average premium of $54,000, while those strong in 5 of 8 emotional competencies sold policies on the average worth $114,000.

Much of the research that has been done on emotional intelligence has been at the executive leadership level. The higher up the organization, the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization. There have been some studies, however, that show impacts at all levels.

The higher up the organization the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization.

For example, a study by McClelland in 1999 showed that after supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies such as how to listen better, lost-time accidents decreased by 50% and grievances went down from 15 per year to three. The plant itself exceeded productivity goals by $250,000.

The same principles apply in all areas of life, whether at work or in relationships. Everyone wants to work with people who are easy to get along with, supportive, likeable, and can be trusted. We want to be beside people that do not get upset easily and can keep their composure when things do not work out according to plan.

Self-awareness. The first thing that is essential for any degree of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. People with a high degree of self-awareness have a solid understanding of their own emotions, their strengths, weaknesses, and what drives them. Neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful, these people are honest with themselves and others. These people recognize how their feelings impact them, other people around them, and their performance at work. They have a good understanding of their values and goals and where they are going in life. They are confident as well as aware of their limitations and less likely to set themselves up for failure.

We can recognize self-aware people by their willingness to talk about themselves in a frank, non-defensive manner. A good interview question is to ask about a time that the interviewee got carried away by their emotions and did something they later regretted. The self-aware person will be open and frank with their answers. Self-deprecating humor is a good indicator of someone who has good self-awareness. Red flags are people who stall or try to avoid the question, seem irritated, or frustrated by the question.

Ability To Self-Regulate Emotions. We all have emotions which drive us and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. People who are good at self-regulation, however, are able to manage their emotions so that they do not control their words and actions. While they feel bad moods and impulses as much as anyone else, they do not act upon them. People who act upon their negative feelings create havoc, disruptions, and lasting bad feelings all around them. We feel before we think and people who constantly react from an emotional state never wait long enough to allow their thoughts to override their emotions.

People who self-regulate have the ability to wait until their emotions pass, allowing them to respond from a place of reason, rather than simply reacting to feelings. The signs of someone who is good at self-regulation are reflection, thoughtfulness, comfort with ambiguity, change, and not having all the answers. In an interview, look for people who take a little time to reflect and think before they answer.

Empathy. Empathy is another important aspect to look for when hiring. Someone who has empathy will have an awareness of the feelings of others and consider those feelings in their words and actions. This does not mean that they will tiptoe around or be unwilling to make tough decisions for fear of hurting someone's feelings. It simply means that they are aware of, and take into consideration the impact on others. They are willing to share their own worries and concerns and openly acknowledge other's emotions. A good way to look for empathy in an interview is to ask a candidate about a situation where a co-worker was angry with them and how they dealt with it. Look for a willingness to understand the source of the co-workers anger, even though they may not agree with the reasons for it.

Social skills. Social skill is another area of emotional intelligence that is highly important in the workplace. To have good social skills requires a high level of the other skills aforementioned as well as the ability to relate and find common ground with a wide range of people. It goes beyond just friendliness and the ability to get along with others.

People with social skills are excellent team players as they have the ability to move an agenda along and keep focus while at the same time remaining aware of the emotional climate of the group and possess the ability to respond to it. These people are excellent at making connections, networking, and bringing people together to work on projects. They are able to bring their emotional intelligence skills into play in a larger arena. To look for social skills in an interview, ask questions related to projects and difficulties encountered around varying agendas, temperaments, and getting people to buy in.

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Why Emotionally Intelligent People Are More Successful

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.

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In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil.

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. "Instead of honoring this sacred obligation" to liberty, King thundered, "America has given the Negro people a bad check." He promised that a land "sweltering with the heat of oppression" could be "transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice," and envisioned a future in which "on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Delivering this electrifying message required emotional intelligence-the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions. Dr. King demonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and in sparking emotions that moved his audience to action. As his speechwriter Clarence Jones reflected, King delivered "a perfectly balanced outcry of reason and emotion, of anger and hope. His tone of pained indignation matched that note for note."
Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side.
Recognizing the power of emotions, another one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century spent years studying the emotional effects of his body language. Practicing his hand gestures and analyzing images of his movements allowed him to become "an absolutely spellbinding public speaker," says the historian Roger Moorhouse-"it was something he worked very hard on." His name was Adolf Hitler.

Since the 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman's bestseller, emotional intelligence has been touted by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to manage emotions, the argument goes, we'll have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence among leaders and doctors, we'll have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare. As a result, emotional intelligence is now taught widely in secondary schools, business schools, and medical schools.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side. New evidence shows that when people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When you're good at controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In emerging research led by University of Cambridge professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was less likely to scrutinize the message and remembered less of the content. Ironically, audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler's persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions-he would "tear open his heart"-and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would "stop thinking critically and just emote."
"Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts."
Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be devastating. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives, emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stéphane Côté, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian tendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cote's team assessed how often the employees deliberately undermined their colleagues. The employees who engaged in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to demean and embarrass their peers for personal gain. In one computer company studied by Tel-Aviv University professor Gideon Kunda, a manager admitted to telling a colleague "how excited we all are with what he is doing," but at the same time, "distancing my organization from the project," so "when it blows up," the company's founder would blame the colleague.

Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Emotionally intelligent people "intentionally shape their emotions to fabricate favorable impressions of themselves," Professor Kilduff's team writes. "The strategic disguise of one's own emotions and the manipulation of others' emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare's stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded."

Of course, people aren't always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. In a study of emotions at the Body Shop, a research team led by Stanford professor Joanne Martin discovered that founder Anita Roddick leveraged emotions to inspire her employees to fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, "Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts." However, Roddick also encouraged employees to be strategic in the timing of their emotion expressions. In one case, after noticing that an employee often "breaks down in tears with frustration," Roddick said it was acceptable to cry, but "I told her it has to be used. I said, 'Here, cry at this point in the ... meeting." When viewing Roddick as an exemplar of an emotionally intelligent leader, it becomes clear that there's a fine line between motivation and manipulation. Walking that tightrope is no easy task.
In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better performance. In jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed.
In settings where emotions aren't running high, emotional intelligence may have hidden costs. Recently, psychologists Dana Joseph of the University of Central Florida and Daniel Newman of the University of Illinois comprehensively analyzed every study that has ever examined the link between emotional intelligence and job performance. Across hundreds of studies of thousands of employees in 191 different jobs, emotional intelligence wasn't consistently linked with better performance. In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better performance. Salespeople, real-estate agents, call-center representatives, and counselors all excelled at their jobs when they knew how to read and regulate emotions-they were able to deal more effectively with stressful situations and provide service with a smile.

However, in jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed. The more emotionally intelligent employees were, the lower their job performance. For mechanics, scientists, and accountants, emotional intelligence was a liability rather than an asset. Although more research is needed to unpack these results, one promising explanation is that these employees were paying attention to emotions when they should have been focusing on their tasks. If your job is to analyze data or repair cars, it can be quite distracting to read the facial expressions, vocal tones, and body languages of the people around you. In suggesting that emotional intelligence is critical in the workplace, perhaps we've put the cart before the horse.

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where and when it matters. In a recent study at a healthcare company, I asked employees to complete a test about managing and regulating emotions, and then asked managers to evaluate how much time employees spent helping their colleagues and customers. There was no relationship whatsoever between emotional intelligence and helping: Helping is driven by our motivations and values, not by our abilities to understand and manage emotions. However, emotional intelligence was consequential when examining a different behavior: challenging the status quo by speaking up with ideas and suggestions for improvement.

Emotionally intelligent employees spoke up more often and more effectively. When colleagues were treated unjustly, they felt the righteous indignation to speak up, but were able to keep their anger in check and reason with their colleagues. When they went out on a limb to advocate for gender equity, emotional intelligence helped them keep their fear at bay. When they brought ideas for innovation to senior leaders, their ability to express enthusiasm helped them avoid threatening leaders. On a much smaller scale, they were able to follow Martin Luther King Jr.'s lead in rocking the boat while keeping it steady.

More than two decades have passed since psychologists Peter Salovey at Yale and John Mayer at the University of New Hampshire introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in 1990. Why has it taken us so long to develop a more nuanced view? After Daniel Goleman popularized the idea in 1995, many researchers-perhaps awestruck themselves by enthusiasm for the concept of emotional intelligence-proceeded to conduct studies that were fatally flawed. As University of Lausanne professor John Antonakis observed, "practice and voodoo science is running way ahead of rigorous research."

One of the most persistent problems was the use of self-report measures, which asked employees to rate their own emotional abilities on items like "I can tell how people are feeling even if they never tell me" and "I am generally very good at calming someone down when he or she is upset." Abilities cannot be accurately measured with self-reports. As emotion experts Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of Fairfield University lament, "One might compare this approach to assessing mathematical skills by asking respondents, 'How good are you at solving algebraic equations?' rather than asking the person to actually solve an algebraic equation."

Thanks to more rigorous research methods, there is growing recognition that emotional intelligence-like any skill-can be used for good or evil. So if we're going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where it's actually useful. As Professor Kilduff and colleagues put it, it is high time that emotional intelligence is "pried away from its association with desirable moral qualities."

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In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil. Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Emotional Intelligence - A Minute with John Maxwell

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Emotional Intelligence - A Minute with John Maxwell

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Emotional Inteligence - A Minute With John Maxwell, Free Coaching Video

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The Emotional Intelligence Channel focuses on helping you learn more about Emotional Intelligence and how to use emotional intelligence skills, tools, and techniques within your organisation to boost personal and team effectiveness. Hosted by two of the UK's most popular Emotional Intelligence presenters, Scott Watson and Dirk Bansch, the content avoids psychobabble and theory and focuses on helping you develop skills you can implement and use immediately.

Find out even more at www DOT TheEmotionalIntelligenceChannel DOT co DOT uk .

The Emotional Intelligence Channel focuses on helping you learn more about Emotional Intelligence and how to use emotional intelligence skills, tools, and techniques within your organisation to boost personal and team effectiveness. Hosted by two of the UK's most popular Emotional Intelligence presenters, Scott Watson and Dirk Bansch, the content avoids psychobabble and theory and focuses on helping you develop skills you can implement and use immediately.

Find out even more at www DOT TheEmotionalIntelligenceChannel DOT co DOT uk .

EI

Emotional intelligence is the most powerful tool as a leader!

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‎The Emotional Intelligence Channel on Apple Podcasts

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‎The Emotional Intelligence Channel focuses on helping you learn more about Emotional Intelligence and how to use emotional intelligence skills, tools, and techniques within your organisation to boost personal and team effectiveness. Hosted by two of the UK's most popular Emotional Intelligence prese...

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Transformative Principal with Jethro Jones | Most principals are running from one emergency to the next. I help principals find the actions needed to transform their schools so each student has an amazing experience.

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Where instructional leaders come to learn, grow, and lead their schools to future.

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Leader of Learning - Inspiring Growth and Transformation in Education and Beyond

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Inspiring Growth and Transformation in Education and Beyond

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Mission

My mission is to build better leaders

My name is Daniel Bauer and I help school leaders fight isolation and frustration via a leadership community in order to gain clarity and find solutions to their greatest challenges.

If you're anything like me you might feel under-prepared for your current leadership role and most likely you feel isolated - but it doesn't have to be that way.

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Better Leaders Better Schools - Where School Leaders Go To Level Up

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My name is Daniel Bauer and I help school leaders fight isolation and frustration via a leadership community in order to gain clarity and find solutions to their greatest challenges. If you're anything like me you might feel under-prepared for your current leadership role and most likely you feel isolated - but it doesn't have to be that way.

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Be the Water Bottle

Standards Met: McREL Life Skills/Self-Regulation Standard 6 (Restrains impulsivity); Standard 2 (Performs self-appraisal)

What You Need: The Leader in Me curriculum, can of soda, water bottle

What to Do: Beth Vavrousek, a fifth-grade teacher at Grove Elementary School in Marysville, Washington, uses The Leader in Me, a curriculum based on Stephen R. Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to instill leadership values. Students review the seven habits extensively, and then set goals for embodying them.

To teach the habit "Be Proactive," Vavrousek passes around a can of soda and invites students to shake it, asking them what would happen if they opened it. (It would explode.) Passing it around again, she asks them to tap the top; when she opens it, it fizzes but doesn't explode. She relates this to getting shaken up and then calming down. Students brainstorm events that might shake them up and strategies that could calm them down.

Next, Vavrousek has students shake a bottle of water and asks what would happen if they opened it. (Nothing.) She explains that while it's helpful to have calming strategies, it's even better to stay calm. The water bottle becomes a metaphor the class refers to: Be the water bottle. "Kids have become more in charge of their own lives," she says. "And I'm free to focus on teaching!"

Techies at Work

Standard Met: McREL Life Skills/Thinking and Reasoning Standard 5 (Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving techniques)

What You Need: Computers, computer programs (e.g., iMovie)

What to Do: At Pilot Knob STEM Magnet School in Eagan, Minnesota, fourth-grade tech whizzes support their classmates. In a program created by technology integration specialist Michele Haigh, three students per class are selected to serve on the "Tech Squad." These students teach tech mini-lessons and support peers during class, enabling the teacher to lead small-group instruction.

Assign small groups to become experts on different computer programs and teach mini-lessons when you want to use a program in class. To prepare, ask pairs of students to complete different tasks using the same program and identify a technology skill that may be difficult for other students. Then, each small group develops and rehearses a mini-lesson teaching the skill and delivers it to the larger group for feedback.

Leadership Lessons
Standard Met: McREL Life Skills/Working With Others Standard 5 (Demonstrates leadership skills)
What You Need: Books about historical leaders, e.g., The Hero Two Doors Down: Based on the True Story of Friendship Between a Boy and a Baseball Legend, by Sharon Robinson

What to Do: Historical figures can serve as leadership case studies. In small groups, invite students to read excerpts from books about historical leaders, such as The Hero Two Doors Down, which tells the story of Jackie Robinson, the African-American player who broke down racial barriers in Major League Baseball, through the eyes of his young neighbor Steve. (The groups could either all read about the same leader or about different leaders.)

Once they've finished the story, have each group write a summary of the events of the person's life and what they think his or her motivations were. Then, ask students to discuss what made that person a leader. Encourage them to consider both explicit acts of leadership (e.g., becoming a powerful voice in the civil rights movement) and implicit ones (modeling respect for different cultures).

Finally, ask students to consider how the leader would react to school situations such as bullying or getting a bad grade, and have them write a fictional interview between their historical figure and a reporter. For example, a news reporter at the school playground might interview Robinson about how a fourth-grade girl should respond to a group of boys who will not let her join their kickball game. Use these examples to model how students can be leaders in their own lives.

Keep the End in Mind

Standards Met: McREL Life Skills/Self-Regulation Standard 1 (Sets and manages goals); Standard 2

What You Need: SMAARTER goals worksheet

What to Do: Kids are responsible for setting goals for themselves and their classmates in Paul Solarz's student-led classroom.

At the end of every day at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, one fifth grader leads the group in evaluating the behavior of everyone in the classroom that day. Students decide on a goal for the next day, such as "Listen to directions in music class," and they are responsible for reminding one another if they are not following through on their goal.

As the year goes on, each child sets individual goals. Solarz asks students to set at least five goals for themselves. They fill out a goals worksheet to ensure that each goal is SMAARTER (specific, measurable, achievable, ambitious, relevant, timely, everlasting, rewarding) and has a specific action plan attached to it. Then, once a week, students review their goals and record evidence that supports their progress.

By setting and monitoring their own goals, students take responsibility for their behavior and achievements, says Solarz, who shares more ideas for student-led classrooms in his book, Learn Like a Pirate: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Learn, and Succeed, and on his blog, Learn Like a Pirate.

Books and Bullying

Standard Met: McREL Life Skills/Working With Others Standard 5

What You Need: Erin Frankel's three-part series: Weird! A Story About Dealing With Bullying in Schools; Dare! A Story About Standing Up to Bullying in Schools; and Tough! A Story About How to Stop Bullying in Schools; chart paper; marker

What to Do: In Erin Frankel's series of picture books, the same bullying situation is presented from three different perspectives: that of the bully, that of the bullied, and that of the bystander.

Begin by reading all three books aloud to the class, or assign a different book to each of three groups to read and report on. Then, lead a discussion about each character's role in causing, sustaining, and/or ending the bullying. In particular, students should note the power of words.
Click Here to Subscribe to Scholastic Teacher Magazine Photo: vgajic/Getty Images
Ask kids to brainstorm bullying situations they've witnessed or experienced. Record the scenarios on chart paper before assigning small groups to rewrite one situation as a skit involving a successful bystander interaction. After watching the performances, discuss the power of the bystander and encourage kids to act like leaders if they encounter bullying.

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Grades 4-5: Learning to Lead | Scholastic

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Standards Met: McREL Life Skills/Self-Regulation Standard 6 (Restrains impulsivity); Standard 2 (Performs self-appraisal) What You Need: The Leader in Me curriculum, can of soda, water bottle What to Do: Beth Vavrousek, a fifth-grade teacher at Grove Elementary School in Marysville, Washington, uses The Leader in Me, a curriculum based on Stephen R.

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15 Easy Ways To Develop Leadership Skills In Your Kids

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15 Easy Ways To Develop Leadership Skills In Your Kids

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Dr. Stephanie Azri
Women, couples, and family Therapist; Translating almost anything into concrete steps towards success and happiness. Read full profile

They say we are the average of the five persons we spend the most time with. For a minute, consider the people around you. Are they truly who your "tribe" should be or who you aspire to become in the future? Are they really genuine people who want to see you succeed? Or are they fake people who don't really want to see you happy?

In this article, I'll review why it is important to surround yourself with genuine individuals-the ones who care, bring something to our table, and first and foremost, who leave all fakeness behind.

How to Spot Fake People?

When you've been working in the helping professions for a while, spotting fake people gets a bit easier. There are some very clear signs that the person you are looking at is hiding something, acting somehow, or simply wanting to get somewhere. Most often, there is a secondary gain-perhaps attention, sympathy, or even a promotion.

Whatever it is, you're better off working their true agenda and staying the hell away. Here are some things you should look out for to help spot fake people.

1. Full of Themselves

Fake people like to show off. They love looking at themselves in the mirror. They collect photos and videos of every single achievement they had and every part of their body and claim to be the "best at what they do."

Most of these people are actually not that good in real life. But they act like they are and ensure that they appear better than the next person. The issue for you is that you may find yourself always feeling "beneath" them and irritated at their constant need to be in the spotlight.

2. Murky in Expressing Their Emotions

Have you ever tried having a deep and meaningful conversation with a fake person? It's almost impossible. It's because they have limited emotional intelligence and don't know how they truly feel deep down-and partly because they don't want to have their true emotions exposed, no matter how normal these might be.

It's much harder to say "I'm the best at what I do" while simultaneously sharing "average" emotions with "equal" people.

3. Zero Self-Reflection

To grow, we must accept feedback from others. We must be open to our strengths and to our weaknesses. We must accept that we all come in different shapes and can always improve.

Self-reflection requires us to think, forgive, admit fault, and learn from our mistakes. But to do that, we have to be able to adopt a level of genuineness and depth that fake people don't routinely have. A fake person generally never apologizes, but when they do, it is often followed with a "but" in the next breath.

4. Unrealistic Perceptions

Fake people most often have an unrealistic perception of the world-things that they want to portray to others (pseudo achievements, materialistic gains, or a made-up sense of happiness) or simply how they genuinely regard life outside themselves.

A lot of fake people hide pain, shame, and other underlying reasons in their behavior. This could explain why they can't be authentic and/or have difficulties seeing their environment for the way it objectively is (both good and bad).

5. Love Attention

As I mentioned earlier, the biggest sign that something isn't quite right with someone's behavior can be established by how much they love attention. Are you being interrupted every time you speak by someone who wants to make sure that the spotlight gets reverted back to them? Is the focus always on them, no matter the topic? If yes, you're probably dealing with a fake person.

6. People Pleaser

Appreciation feels nice but having everyone like you is even better. While it is completely unrealistic for most people to please everyone all the time, fake people seem to always say yes in pursuit of constant approval.

Now, this is a problem for two reasons. Firstly, these people are simply saying yes to things for their own satisfaction. Secondly, they often end up changing their minds or retracting their offer for one reason or another ("I would have loved to, but my grandmother suddenly fell ill."), leaving you in the lurch for the 100th time this year.

7. Sarcasm and Cynicism

Behind the chronic pasted smile, fake people are well known for brewing resentment, jealousy, or anger. This is because, behind the postcard life, they are often unhappy. Sarcasm and cynicism are well known to act as a defense mechanism, sometimes even a diversion-anything so they can remain feeling on top of the world, whether it is through boosting themselves or bringing people down.

8. Crappy friend

Fake people are bad friends. They don't listen to you, your feelings, and whatever news you might have to share. In fact, you might find yourself migrating away from them when you have exciting or bad news to share, knowing that it will always end up one way-their way. In addition, you might find that they're not available when you truly need them or worse, cancel plans at the last minute.

It's not unusual to hear that a fake person talks constantly behind people's backs. Let's be honest, if they do it to others, they're doing it to you too. If your "friend" makes you feel bad constantly, trust me, they're not achieving their purpose, and they're simply not a good person to have around.

The sooner you learn to spot these fake people, the sooner you can meet meaningful individuals again.

How to Cope With Fake People Moving Forward?

It is important to remind yourself that you deserve more than what you're getting. You are worthy, valuable, precious, and just as important as the next person.

There are many ways to manage fake people. Here are some tips on how to deal with them.

1. Boundaries

Keep your boundaries very clear. As explained in the book Unlock Your Resilience, boundaries are what keep you sane when the world tries to suffocate you. When fake people become emotional vampires, make sure to keep your distances, limit contact, and simply replace them with more valuable interactions.

2. Don't Take Their Behavior Personally

Sadly, they most likely have behaved this way before they knew you and will continue much longer after you have moved on. It isn't about you. It is about their inner need to meet a void that you are not responsible for. And in all honesty, unless you are a trained professional, you are unlikely to improve it anyway.

3. Be Upfront and Honest About How You Feel

If your "friend" has been hurtful or engaged in behaviors you struggle with, let them know-nicely, firmly, however you want, but let them know that they are affecting you. If it works, great. If it doesn't, you'll feel better and when you're ready to move on, you'll know you tried to reach out. Your conscience is clear.

4. Ask for Advice

If you're unsure about what you're seeing or feeling, ask for advice. Perhaps a relative, a good friend, or a colleague might have some input as to whether you are overreacting or seeing some genuine concerns.

Now, don't confuse asking for advice with gossiping behind the fake person's back because, in the end, you don't want to stoop down to their level. However, a little reminder as to how to stay on your own wellness track can never hurt.

5. Dig Deeper

Now, this one, I offer with caution. If you are emotionally strong, up to it, guaranteed you won't get sucked into it, and have the skills to manage, perhaps you could dig into the reasons a fake person is acting the way they do.

Have they suffered recent trauma? Have they been rejected all their lives? Is their self-esteem so low that they must resort to making themselves feel good in any way they can? Sometimes, having an understanding of a person's behavior can help in processing it.

6. Practice Self-Care!

Clearly, putting some distance between the fake person and yourself is probably the way to go. However, sometimes, it takes time to get there. In the meantime, make sure to practice self-care, be gentle with yourself, and compensate with lots of positives!

Self-care can be as simple as taking a hot shower after talking to them or declining an invitation when you're not feeling up to the challenge.

Spotting fake people isn't too hard. They generally glow with wanna-be vibes. However, most often, there are reasons as to why they are like this. Calling their behavior might be the first step. Providing them with support might be the second. But if these don't work, it's time to stay away and surround yourself with the positivity that you deserve.

Final Thoughts

Remember that life is a rollercoaster. It has good moments, tough moments, and moments you wouldn't change for the world. So, look around and make sure that you take the time to choose the right people to share it all with.

We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with, so take a good look around and choose wisely!

More Tips on Dealing With Fake People

Featured photo credit: Priscilla Du Preez via unsplash.com

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15 Easy Ways to Develop Leadership Skills In Your Kids

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Dr. Stephanie Azri Women, couples, and family Therapist; Translating almost anything into concrete steps towards success and happiness. Read full profile They say we are the average of the five persons we spend the most time with. For a minute, consider the people around you.

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Early Learning Professionals (Better Kid Care)

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Why leadership?

Leadership skills allow children to have control of their lives and the ability to make things happen. Leadership instills confidence, and helps children solve problems creatively, work in a team, and work collaboratively with others. Leadership gives children many opportunities to develop responsibility.

While you may not find the word leadership in the early learning standards, many states have statements related to leadership in their standards in the social-emotional section. Key phrases that relate to leadership are "self-confidence", "problem solving", "pro-social," and "makes independent decisions and choices." For example, in Pennsylvania's Pre-Kindergarten Early Learning Standards for social and emotional development skills for children include "Know and state independent thoughts and feelings" (25.1.1 Self Awareness) and "Participate in new experiences with confidence and independence" (25.1.3 Competence).

Are leaders born or made?

There is some debate whether some children are "born leaders" or they "learn to be" leaders. All children have the potential to develop leadership skills. Leadership development can be a lifelong process. As adults, we can teach the skills necessary for children to take on leadership roles now and in the future. Here are some ways that you can help children develop leadership skills:

Model leadership behavior to children. Children learn from seeing what others do. Tell the child what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Teach children how to see things from another's point of view. Good communication is a key component to being an effective leader. Teach children how to listen carefully and how to respond to others in a calm and respectful way.

Help children build self-confidence. Give children opportunities to do a good job and offer praise when appropriate. You might say, "I am so proud of you that you volunteered to be the leader of the 'toy clean up' team in your classroom. It is a big job to make sure all your classmates are doing their part."

Find ways to create problem solving situations. Children can learn how to solve their own problems. Allow children to start making small decisions such as which activity they want to participate in and then give them more opportunities to make decisions as they learn the concepts of responsibility and consequences of making a decision.

Give children the opportunity to take leadership roles in the
classroom. Create leadership situations in the form of classroom jobs.Children can lead by becoming the classroom "greeter", "paper/supply
manager", "line leader," or "attendance taker". Teachers should inform
children of the responsibilities of each classroom job and guide them as they take on that leadership role. Children should have the opportunity to try various leadership jobs within the classroom.

Teach children how to work with others in a team situation. Group projects or sports activities are ways for children to work on a team.

Assist children to develop a plan or strategy to address a problem or situation. Children, as well as adults, shy away from leadership tasks because they feel overwhelmed. Show children how to break tasks into workable ways to get the job done.

Encourage children to pursue things that interest them. They may develop a passion for it and feel comfortable and later take on a leadership role.

Encourage parents to look for leadership opportunities for children. Leadership opportunities can be in your child care program or another program at a school, church, community or club. Children can also take a leadership role in a family event.

Encourage communication and action. Leadership involves speaking up or taking action. You can encourage children's leadership abilities by suggesting projects or identifying problems that may be important to them and helping them to come up with suggestions for actions and possible solutions.

Examples:

During the holiday season, many organizations hold canned food or coat drives. Ask children in your care to think about what they would like to do to help. Have them choose another group to work with, such as the local elementary school, and decide how they would like to help.

Some children might become concerned about a little puppy or other another animal in a story you are reading. They wonder what can be done to help animals. Ask them for ideas about what they would do for the puppy if they were in the story. The teacher can write down or have the children draw pictures of their ideas and have a discussion about caring for animals.

"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate."- Anonymous

Teaching children how to be a leader at a young age will help children deal with peer pressure in the teenage years. Being a leader is not an exact science, but teaching children the skills needed to be leaders are important to help prepare the next generation to take the lead and become responsible adults.

Resources to use to help build skills related to leadership development.

Pennsylvania's Promise for Children - Pennsylvania's Promise for Children is a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of providing Pennsylvania's young children with access to quality early learning opportunities. This source gives ideas on how to include children and their families to take the lead in promoting community early learning events in their community. http://paprom.convio.net

National Association for the Education of Young Children - NAEYC's mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources. NAYEC has many online journal articles and position statements related to leadership and early learning and education. http://www.naeyc.org

Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards - The Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Standards are research-based standards that identify key learning areas of development for children and are reflected in the Core Body of Knowledge competencies. The standards guide practitioners to intentionally integrate developmental knowledge with the attitudes, skills, and concepts children need to make progress in all learning areas. http://www.pakeys.org/page/get.aspx?page=career_standards

Week of the Young Child - is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The purpose of the Week of the Young Child™ is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. This source gives ideas about how to include children and their families to take the lead in community events related to the Week of the Young Child. http://www.naeyc.org/woyc

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Leadership and children (Early Learning Professionals)

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Leadership instills confidence, and helps children solve problems creatively, work in a team, and work collaboratively with others.

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View guidelines for writers
March 2017

Getting Personalization Right

"Have it your way" may be a catchy slogan, but how does it work in education? This issue will delve into the various ways educators define student-centered learning and what it looks like in schools. Articles will explore differentiation, project-based learning, "school of one," and customized learning using computers. To what extent is personalization possible in a standards-oriented education environment? How can technology best aid student-centered learning? Tell us how you've seen personalization done well-and not so well. We're interested in what the research says about the benefits of student-centered learning as well as stories of schools that have reimagined their instruction, schedules, and structures to give students more choice.
Deadline: CLOSED
April 2017

Differences, Not Disabilities

All too often students are defined by their disability-a label affixed to their IEP, student records, and, over time, their identity. A growing movement seeks to shift the paradigm from "learning disabilities" to "learning differences." This small semantic change signals a shift in acknowledging that no two brains are the same, so no two students learn in the same fashion. We're interested in research into the science of various learning differences as well as articles on skills-based strategies that help students learn. Instead of labeling ADHD, autism, or dyslexia as deficits, how can we use all students' strengths to help them learn? How can approaches like Universal Design for Learning meet the unique needs of all? Tell us how you have embraced learning differences and the effect it has had on student achievement and school climate.
Deadline: CLOSED
May 2017

Lifting School Leaders

A great school depends on great leadership-from administrators and from teacher leaders. This issue will look at what it takes to develop and support outstanding leaders throughout a school. Articles will address such topics as the qualities and skills today's school leaders need; strengths and weaknesses of current leadership preparation programs; and how practices like internships, coaching, and teams can support new leaders. How can we reduce principal turnover? Help new principals hit the ground running? Evaluate school leaders in ways that support growth? How are teacher leaders taking on various roles, such as peer evaluator, coach, advocate, PLC facilitator, and curriculum developer? What kinds of job-embedded supports benefit leaders?
Deadline: CLOSED
Summer 2017 (Digital Only)

Gearing Up for Change

To some degree, change is a constant in K-12 education-but it seems particularly prevalent right now. Rapid advances in technology, evolving instructional and assessment priorities, expanding options for curriculum resources, shifting student demographics, a new federal education law, and a new presidential administration-all of these are putting tremendous pressure on educators to prepare for and adapt to change. So how do you do it? As our readers take time to think ahead to the coming school year, this special online-only issue of Educational Leadership will feature best practices and personal reflections on how educators can both gear up for and proactively lead change in their schools. How can school leaders successfully implement new policies or instructional requirements? How can they bolster staff morale amid organizational change or outside pressure? How do teachers prepare to take advantage of new technology resources? What specific innovations, whether in the curriculum or in your approach to instruction, are you or your school planning for the next school year? What's next in education, and how are you or your staff getting ready for it? Share your stories and advice.
Deadline: CLOSED
September 2017

In Sync with Families

When it comes to helping students succeed, schools can't do it alone. But gaining family support and involvement can present challenges in today's busy and often partitioned world. This issue will explore successful partnerships between schools and families and other initiatives to strengthen the role of families, especially families who have traditionally felt estranged from schools. As families become more diverse, what can schools do to help all members feel welcome and empowered? What kinds of family supports and guidance are most useful? What new kinds of communication, including revamped report cards, interactive conferences, and online tools, are schools developing to build ties with families? And when conflicts occur, how can educators defuse tensions and make sure all sides feel their voices are heard and respected? Articles will focus on specific challenges and the solutions developed to address them.
Deadline: April 3, 2017
October 2017

Unleashing Problem Solvers

Talk about a life skill! When schools foster students' ability to analyze key features of a problem, envision various approaches, marshal resources, and shape a solution, they give them competencies that feed achievement in many disciplines and areas of life. Whether it involves designing a new product or process, inquiring into environmental problems, applying mathematical concepts to real-world issues, or using technology to wrestle with a community challenge, problem solving is considered a key 21st-century skill. This issue will look at how educators can support and develop problem solving in learning-and what challenges they face in attempting to do so. How can activities that encourage innovation and design thinking be integrated into the curriculum? What does it look like when students apply learning to real problems in the school or community? Articles on STEM-related initiatives are especially encouraged.
Deadline: May 1, 2017
November 2017

Citizens in the Making

Are U.S. schools falling short in preparing young people to participate in democracy? The question has deep resonance today. This issue will look at why civic literacy matters and how some educators are working to upgrade curriculum and instruction in this traditional but crucial area. How can schools help young people acquire the knowledge, dispositions, and skills that are essential for responsible citizenship in areas such as history and government, scientific literacy, and communication? How can educators meet the challenges created by information overload and the echo chamber of the Internet? How can schools teach students to apply critical thinking and background knowledge to analyze information about current events? How are schools promoting values like curiosity, empathy, and respect for diverse perspectives? We welcome articles on making civics education engaging; teaching students to reflect on their own values and beliefs; and using service learning, place-based learning, and other approaches to empower students.
Deadline: June 1, 2017
December 2017/January 2018

Mental Health in Schools

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five youths ages 13-18 experiences a serious mental health condition, and of chronic cases of mental illness, 50 percent begin by age 14. Yet, on average, it takes 8-10 years from the onset of symptoms until intervention. How can schools play a stronger frontline role in identifying potential issues and helping affected students thrive both academically and socially? This issue will look at conditions affecting children and teens, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, and addiction. It will also explore the effects of trauma and stress on students. What staffing and training challenges do schools face in supporting students with mental illnesses? How can educators help students succeed in school despite adverse childhood experiences? Articles will explore specific solutions for schools, including screening, training for teachers, working with parents and families, and partnerships with local hospitals and health clinics.
Deadline: July 5, 2017
February 2018

Measuring What Matters

How can schools move beyond conventional assessment approaches and develop more expansive methods that gauge both deep understanding of content and whole-child development? The question is particularly pressing in light of new criteria for student-progress measures under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. This issue will explore how educators are rethinking "assessment." What key skills and dispositions-like persistence, critical thinking, self-regulation, and the ability to empathize and communicate with others-should schools be measuring? How can educators do a better job of measuring the skills and capabilities that employers say students will need? We welcome articles on international assessment models and alternative methods like performance-based assessments, digital portfolios, computer-adapted testing, and authentic presentations. Submissions looking at research on the potential of new assessment approaches, as well as implementation challenges, are also encouraged.
Deadline: September 1, 2017
March 2018

Leading the Energized School

You can tell as soon as you enter the school building-and even more when you go into the classrooms. Certain schools exhibit a positive energy that is instantly recognizable: Students are actively engaged, teachers are enthusiastic, administrators are making things happen, and parents are happily lingering. The mood is bright and welcoming. But how do schools get this way, and what effect does it have on student learning? This issue will explore how school leaders cultivate vibrant school cultures that combat initiative fatigue and maintain high staff morale despite the many, often conflicting, demands on schools today. Articles will examine critical aspects of school climate like communication, teacher hiring and support, collaboration, trust, community engagement, diversity, facilities, and curriculum-focusing on what levers leaders have to drive change, what resources they can turn to, and what common barriers exist. We welcome case studies on school-climate transformations, as well articles that delve into recent research on the relationship between school culture and academic progress.
Deadline: October 2, 2017
April 2018

Learning to Write, Writing to Learn

According to NAEP results, only 27 percent of students perform at or above proficient levels in writing. And anecdotally, many teachers report that their students are weak in writing. This issue will explore strategies for effective writing instruction, focusing on the connections between writing, reading, and thinking. How can schools integrate meaningful writing opportunities across the curriculum? What are the most effective ways to motivate reluctant writers and support students who struggle with writing, including English language learners and students with disabilities? What are the promises and pitfalls of leveraging technology in the writing process? How can writing in different content areas and across genres enhance students' skills and academic growth? We're also seeking new strategies that help teachers assess student writing.
Deadline: November 1, 2017
May 2018

Bolstering the Teacher Pipeline

As Baby Boomers retire, the teacher workforce is changing dramatically-as are the instructional and professional demands on educators. This issue will look at how teacher-preparation initiatives are evolving to train the next generation of teachers. It will also explore how schools leaders are leveraging and adapting to new models of teacher development and support. Key questions will include: What new approaches are teacher-preparation programs using to attract candidates and better prepare them for the realities of the classroom? What is the role of technology in changing how teacher training is delivered and organized? Are residency models viable alternatives to more traditional programs? What strategies attract diverse and academically select candidates? What roles can career-changer and grow-your-own programs play in school and district staffing strategies? And how can districts partner with teacher-prep programs to address shortages, particularly in high-need subjects and schools?
Deadline: December 1, 2017

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View guidelines for writers Getting Personalization Right "Have it your way" may be a catchy slogan, but how does it work in education? This issue will delve into the various ways educators define student-centered learning and what it looks like in schools. Articles will explore differentiation, project-based learning, "school of one," and customized learning using computers.

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LEAD Like a PIRATE

Are You a Treasure Seeker?
Pirates are on a constant quest for riches, but PIRATE leaders seek even greater rewards: amazing schools, engaged students, and empowered educators who know they are making a difference. I
What does it take to be a PIRATE Leader?

Passion-both professional and personal

A willingness to Immerse yourself in your work

Good Rapport with your staff, students and community

The courage to Ask questions and Analyze what is and isn't working

The determination to seek positive Transformation

And the kind of Enthusiasm that gets others excited about education

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So many have asked me how our school year has started.

Those first few days, I responded with enthusiasm and positivity. We truly have had an amazing start. But as we concluded our first full week of school, I had to work a little harder to bring my normal excitement. We have some students that have needs that I wasn't sure how we were going to meet. The daily grind of going from intense situation to an equally intense situation was taking a toll. Not only on me but our assistant principal and counselors. The following Wednesday, we all sat after school at 6:00 pm and kind of hit what we thought at the time was rock bottom. We laughed, we cried and we knew that tomorrow was going to be better. We were ready to dig a little deeper. We acknowledged it was okay to not be okay, but that we had to support each other.

Thursday morning started off with a glimmer of hope. I had extra support and the morning seemed to start smoothly. For the first moment in a long time, I felt as though we were getting our bearings. And then the call that completely changed the trajectory of the lives of so many...the death of a student. The following days were a blur. We rallied around our students, our families and each other. We developed a cocoon of safety and love. I went silent on social media. I couldn't find the will to post. It felt wrong to celebrate and share. I tried so hard to make sure everyone was okay. The weekend came and I completely unplugged and embraced my own grief. I have unfortunately now lost three students. There has been nothing harder than this.

I've learned though, that as leaders we have to take time to take care of our own emotions. It's okay to grieve. It's okay to be angry. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to be enthusiastic. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to be a model that so many need on how to handle our emotions appropriately instead of wearing a badge of inhuman strength. As educators, we tend to power through the hard times to be strong for everyone else. We try to "fake it til we make it" and smile through the pain. When I do this though, the effects are always worse. I tend to get cynical. I tend to lash out at those that are closest to me. I tend to isolate myself. I tend to be miserable on the inside while outside appearances look anything but positive and happy. I've learned that it is okay to accept help and it is okay to ask for help. It doesn't make you weak when you need others, it actually brings you strength. I am so incredibly grateful to those that reached out to help and offer support.

I was in a workshop this past week and someone asked me for advice on how I was able to stay energetic and positive in the midst of hard situations. I was completely honest with the participant and said, sometimes I truly can't. I've learned to take the time to rest when I get it. I've learned that positivity doesn't mean ignoring the negative things, it just means I can control how I handle my reactions. Like that popular quote, I'll take the cactus, but there's no sense sitting on it. I've learned that it is okay to not be okay all of the time.

So to my fellow educators, don't be so hard on yourself. Give yourself permission to feel. Give yourself permission to be okay with not being okay all the time. Remember you have a PLN behind you ready to support you...just reach out.

In #LeadLAP style, I end this point in a challenge and reflection for you.

Reach out to a trusted colleague or PLN member and ask for support on something that is currently challenging you.

Send a note of appreciation to someone in your PLN. Let them know how much you value their support.

Look at your daily schedule. Do you have time built in for you to decompress from the day? If not, how could you do this, even just 5 minutes?

Finally, who might you offer support to that could be struggling at the moment. Take a minute to send someone a note to check in and see if they need anything.

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Copyright 2018 by Lead Like a PIRATE

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Creating schools where students are running to get in and not out!

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Purposeful leadership is a river that is continually moving courageously through the terrain, growing, providing for the needs and environment around it, breaking through barriers to develop future generations, and inspiring onlookers with its strength and devotion to its purpose.-- Sarah Crouch

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Confronting Challenges as a Leader Resource Guide

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The ASAP® course catalog has been published and includes information on all our standards-based ASAP® course modules, as well as the ASAP® assessments, workbooks, case studies and academies. Download the ASAP Catalog today!

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The ASAP® course catalog has been published and includes information on all our standards-based ASAP® course modules, as well as the ASAP® assessments, workbooks, case studies and academies. Download the ASAP Catalog today!

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Brian Coleman 2019 National School Counselor of the Year

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Brian Coleman 2019 National School Counselor of the Year

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The following blog is reprinted with permission from the ACT Center for Equity in Learning. The blog first appeared here.

What are some of the challenges in school counseling today?

The most persistent challenges I see are: Imbalanced counselor-to-student ratios. The absence of school counselors in school environments. School stakeholders' confusion/misunderstanding as relates to the school counselor's role and potential in school communities. Gaps in the educational outcomes for marginalized student populations. Inconsistent buy-in for social and emotional learning and holistic student development in schools. Limited pre-professional training as relates to diverse learning supports, career and post-secondary advising. Real and perceived divestment in public education at the local, state, and national levels.

What impact can school counselors make on students today?

School counselors can impact students in a variety of ways across the academic, person/social, and college/career areas of students' lives. Impact can include everything from increased self-esteem and self-advocacy to improved attendance and access to a viable post-secondary program. More than anything, I think school counselors can give students opportunities to be seen, heard, and affirmed in ways that may be difficult for students to find in other areas of their lives.

What life lessons have you learned being a school counselor?

Be yourself. Failure is a wonderful teacher. Vulnerability is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Invest in activities and people that contribute to your happiness! Therapy and counseling support isn't just for the students that you serve - commit to your own work, too! Find the fun and joy in each day. Laugh often. Self-care doesn't just happen, it requires intention, patience, and action!

What ONE thing do you want your students to know?

You are worth love, dignity, empathy, and compassion JUST as you are. (So, why not be yourself?)

If you could change one thing about school counseling, what would it be?

All school counselors would receive at least two years of ongoing supervision/consultation after transitioning into the profession. Unfortunately, the expectations placed on a school counselor can vary so wildly from school to school. So, I think it would be helpful for new school counselors to have more structured support around the cultivation of a strong professional school counselor identity and appropriate expectations for the work (as supported by the American School Counselor Association!).

What did it mean to you to be chosen as the 2019 School Counselor of the Year?

Representation matters! I am the first Black winner of this prestigious award, and that means so much to me (especially on the tail-end of Black History Month)! I hope to show school counselors near and far that they can do this work in a variety of ways while staying true to themselves... and having fun! Be different! Through our words and actions, we can show students how to be different and celebrate their uniqueness! Let's model authenticity and bravery and love for our students so that they can then pay it forward!

Brian Coleman is the School Counseling Department Chair at Jones College Prep High School in the Chicago Public Schools district and is in his fifth year there. He was named the 2019 School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association. He also received the Upstander Award from the Human Rights Campaign in early 2019. His professional interests include comprehensive sexual health education, peer mentorship, gender and sexual identity development, counselor consultation and supervision, and comprehensive counseling programming at the high school level. Coleman is a graduate of Northwestern University and DePaul University.

Learn more about Brian.

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The following blog is reprinted with permission from the ACT Center for Equity in Learning. The blog first appeared here. What are some of the challenges in school counseling today? The most persistent challenges I see are: Imbalanced counselor-to-student ratios. The absence of school counselors in school environments.

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Megen Stair 2018 Florida School Counselor of the Year 

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Megen Stair 2018 Florida School Counselor of the Year 

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An Interview with Megen Stair, 2018 FSCA School Counselor of the Year

By: Lauren Malone, 2018-2019 FSCA Emerging Leader
Since you first started working as a school counselor, how have you evolved personally in your role? I learned so much! I'm so blessed to work in a fantastic department and with other counselors who have shown me the way. I get more excited every day when I see kids achieve and I love thinking of new ways to help. How has your role as a school counselor changed since you first started? There is just more and more support of student's mental health needs! Anxiety and lack of coping skills are on the rise. It is nice to see staff/ faculty more aware of these issues as well. Now that you have attained RAMP, what are your goals for your school counseling program? Keep working! We are really proud of the program and want to keep improving it. We want more information out and to get more kids into the program. What encouragement can you offer to school counselors thinking about pursuing RAMP? RAMP is a great way to evaluate their program with a clear rubric and national model. RAMP gives clear guidelines of what a comprehensive plan should look like; you have the backing of the national program to significant stakeholders, teachers, and parents. What advice would you offer to new school counselors? Keep an open mind; you will be learning every day! And think about the whole child How can school counselors advocate their role in their schools and district? Data, data, data! Having clear, SMART goals and a system for collecting data coupled with having a way that you share that data with stakeholders is critical. What excites you about school counseling today? We need someone that kids can go to and trust in our society today, they need a resource and advocate, and that is the best thing!
Megen Stair is the 2018 School Counselor of the Year. The purpose of this award is to recognize a professional school counselor who has demonstrated evidence of implementing a comprehensive data-driven school counseling program and has further developed a program that supports students' academic, social-emotional, and career development. The FSCA School Counselor of the Year must demonstrate leadership and collaboration in their work with colleagues to promote equity and access to opportunities and rigorous educational experiences for all students to maximize student achievement within the past five years.

Megen is a school counselor at Park Vista Community High School, Lake Worth, FL. She is also the 2017-2018 School Counselor of the Year for Palm Beach County. Megen's leadership was instrumental in ASCA RAMP designation for school counseling program while managing a caseload of over 600 students each year. She is responsible for hosting monthly Coffee Talks, coordinating 502 Plans, CHOICES programs, the department website, and creating video report cards for their stakeholders and throughout the school district.

Congratulations to Megen Stair the 2018 FSCA School Counselor of the Year.

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2018 FSCA School Counselor of the Year Interview

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An Interview with Megen Stair, 2018 FSCA School Counselor of the Year By: Lauren Malone, 2018-2019 FSCA Emerging Leader Since you first started working as a school counselor, how have you evolved personally in your role? I learned so much! I'm so blessed to work in a fantastic department and with other counselors who have shown me the way.

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Robin Zorn 2014 ASCA School Counselor of the Year

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Robin Zorn 2014 ASCA School Counselor of the Year

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Robin Zorn is the American School Counselor Association's 2014 School Counselor of the Year. Ms. Zorn works at Mason Elementary School in Gwinnett County. She's tireless in her efforts to help some of our youngest students gain a strong foundation to build on for the rest of their academic career. By emphasizing both social-emotional well-being and college-and-career readiness, Ms.Zorn and her team at Mason Elementary empower children to dream and plan for their future while providing them the necessary supports to succeed. We're thrilled to highlight Ms.Zorn on our site as a representative for the great work being done by school counselors across the country. Question: How long have you been a school counselor?
I started in 1994, so this is my 20 th year.
Question: At what levels have you worked (elementary school, middle school, high school)?
I did my internship in the middle school, but I have been in elementary the entire 20 years.

Question: What led you to become a school counselor?

My undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University was in Foreign Languages and International Trade with a minor in marketing. After graduation, I became an area sales manager for a corporate charge card; however, during that time I was also a Youth Director at my church. I had not even thought about education as a career, but I found that I really enjoyed working with the high school students at my church. I was more excited about creating lessons, talking with the youth about their problems and guiding them with the choices they were making in their lives than I was about going to work in the corporate world. Furthermore, I didn't even know that school counselors existed in the middle schools, let alone in the elementary schools.

It was my husband who actually found out that they had counselors in the middle schools first. I can clearly remember saying to him, "Really? What do they do in the middle schools?" My only knowledge of school counselors were in the H.S. where they made sure I had enough credits to graduate. He said that middle school counselors do a lot of the same things we were doing with the youth (lessons, programs, service learning projects, talking with them about their problems, etc.). So I looked into school counseling programs in the metro area and decided upon Georgia State University for my masters in school counseling.

While I was in the program I also learned more about what elementary school counselors do in the schools. Once I found out that they get to draw, play with playdough and puppets, create fun service projects and programs and spend a lot of time teaching, I was sold! My first school was at Minor ES in Gwinnett County, and I have been in elementary ever since.
Question: What is your favorite part of the job?
I love the creative part of being a school counselor! Even after 20 years, I still wake up excited at 2:00am because a new idea has popped into my head. And I would rather try that new idea and say "Oh well" instead of "What if!"

Sometimes it can be as simple as creating an activity with a book I heard about that might help a student struggling in a certain area, or maybe an art activity I can do with a "changing families" small group. It can also be an idea such as a social networking pledge or a no-note passing policy to support our bullying prevention program. Or a county wide idea such as implementing an elementary school peer leadership conference.

I also love teaching the core curriculum. This is where I can get the most creative! Where else can I deliver the standard and competencies dressed up in clown shoes and big glasses when I talk about test anxiety, or like a doctor when I teach a conflict resolution unit called Dr. GIB? The learning environment should be engaging, and I just love to have fun!
Question: What is the most challenging part of the job?
The biggest challenge of being a school counselor is the feeling that I can only do so much because of the counselor to student ratios. Often I would like to follow up with a student or spend more time with that student, but I am forced to make a decision to see that student or another that needs attention. It is constantly like a card game of trump, prioritizing the day with crises, conferences, programs and core curriculum lessons. However, when I lay my head down at the end of the day, I know that what I did was best for children.
Question: How would you describe your philosophy of school counseling?
My philosophy of school counseling is always putting children first. I believe that if children feel connected at school, that they belong, you will see achievement. I believe if they feel significant and know that they can make a difference, you will see achievement. And I believe if they feel capable and competent, you will see achievement. Ultimately, I believe if they have the courage to handle what comes their way, whether it is a friendship problem, a tough math assignment, or their parents divorcing, you will see achievement.

Sometimes putting children first may or may not include data. Sometimes it may be working on organizational skills where I can see if there's improvement. Sometimes it may be asking about a baseball game from the weekend. Sometimes it may be trying new strategies to avoid getting a discipline referral. And sometimes it may be taking kids to Six Flags because they have never been and that memory will remind them there others out there who care about them.

As a counselor, my ultimate goal is to decrease barriers to learning and to maximize the potential of all students. I believe with the right support all children can learn, thus leading them to becoming successful, responsible, and contributing members of society. I also recognize that it takes a village to raise a child; therefore, it is important as a school counselor that I partner with parents, teachers and the community to confront the barriers to learning and promote student success.
Question: As ASCA School Counselor of the Year, you exemplify best practice for the profession. What does this look like for you?
Best practices involve the implementation of a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program that is proactive and preventive. It also, through collaboration, advocacy and leadership, promotes systemic change and student achievement. Therefore, I must collaborate with parents, teachers, administrators, the county office, the community and other counselors to ultimately create results. I must advocate for equity and access to education for all students. And I must lead programs that increase student achievement, improve attendance, and reduce discipline referrals. It is following the ASCA Model.
Question: Tell us about the intervention that you are most proud of/feel was most successful/best example of "best practices"? Girl PRIDE Mentoring Program:
Mason Elementary School implemented school wide Responsibility Improvement Plans in 2008 to support our school's discipline referrals. When students do not follow our PRIDE expectations, they may receive a responsibility plan instead of a discipline referral. We think of these plans as an "ooops" where students have two chances before receiving a discipline referral. Students fill these out with the assistant principal by writing what they did and how they can make a better choice next time. This form must be signed by the student and the parent, but it does not remain part of the student's permanent record. A discipline referral, however, does remain in their permanent record. And depending on the offence, students may go straight to a discipline referral.

There was a 68% increase in the number of 5 th grade discipline responsibility improvement plans from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012. And 5 th grade girls had 19% more responsibility plans in 2011-2012 than the 5 th grade boys. Based upon this discipline data, I created a program called Girl-PRIDE to address friendship and relational aggression issues with 5 th grade girls.

For years counselors have dealt with girl drama. At Mason ES, especially in the spring, it would escalate to where the teachers would ask me for help. I have run successful small groups for girls in the past; however, having a peer mentor who is closer in age can make a bigger difference when it comes to relational aggression issues. With the collaboration of the middle school 8 th grade counselor, ten M.S. peer leader girls taught four friendship lessons (after I trained them) on topics such as healthy friendship behaviors, self-esteem, problem-solving strategies, and cliques. I chose these topics based on the issues that kept coming up in my office with the 5 th grade girls.

Furthermore, I felt strongly that Girl-PRIDE should be open to not only the girls having issues, but to all 5 th grade girls. As a mother of a middle school girl, I would want my daughter to participate in these various friendship lessons; especially ones that would help her as she heads to middle school. And having these lessons delivered by the 8 th grade girls; ones who have experienced these problems, can make even more of an impact. Overall, I felt that Girl-PRIDE was a great success!

Some student survey comments were:

"Don't try to be different. You are unique and special in every way."

"I learned different strategies for handling drama."

"I liked that the 8 th grade girls knew their stuff and that they actually helped."

"Thank you! This was the BEST!"
Question: How did you evaluate this particular intervention to determine that it was successful? What were the results/outcome?
The Girl PRIDE perception data focused on skills, knowledge, and attitudes. For skills, there was a 60% increase from the pre to post-test for knowing how to solve a friendship conflict. There was a 61% increase in knowledge from the pre to post-test for identifying ways to get along with others. And for attitude, there was a 28% increase in the pre to post-test for feeling good about oneself. Furthermore, 98% of the girls recommended Girl-PRIDE to the rising 5 th grade girls for next year and 80% of the teachers felt their girls learned new friendship skills in Girl-PRIDE.

Outcome data showed a 55% decrease in discipline responsibility improvement plans for 5 th grade girls from 2011-2012 to 2012-2013. And there was an 18% overall decrease for 5 th grade students from the previous year to 2012-2013. The impact on discipline referrals was also significant for 5 th grade. There was a 57% decrease in 5 th grade girls receiving discipline referrals from 2011-2012 to 2012-2013 and a 15% overall decrease for 5 th grade boys and girls combined.
Question: What advice would you give to counselors at the beginning stages of developing comprehensive programs?
It is important to start small. Don't try to implement a comprehensive school counseling program in one year. In Gwinnett County we have the 21C3 (21 st Century Comprehensive Counseling) program. It is the ASCA Model broken down into four years. In year one schools achieve the "Blue Star" level by creating three Program Goals, a Closing the Gap Action Plan and Results Report, a Partnership Agreement, a yearlong Master Calendar, a Weekly Calendar, and a Program Audit. In years two through four, the schools can achieve the "Red, Silver, or Gold Star" level by adding additional components of the ASCA National Model, thus achieving that "Star" level. By the end of year four, schools have implemented all the components of a comprehensive program and should be ready to apply for the National RAMP Award if they so choose.

For certain areas of interest, I would recommend choosing a topic that you are passionate about and learn as much as you can on that subject. If relational aggression, bullying, career development, or study habits is something you feel strongly about, then research that topic, attend breakout sessions on that topic, and present on that topic. And finally, don't ever be afraid to ask for help. Even after 20 years, I still consult with other colleagues about situations and lesson plan ideas.
*The full-length interview originally appeared in the Georgia School Counselors Association Journal and was authored by Nicole Weber. Portions of it are republished with permission.

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Robin Zorn Interview: 2014 ASCA School Counselor of the Year

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Robin Zorn is the American School Counselor Association's 2014 School Counselor of the Year. Ms. Zorn works at Mason Elementary School in Gwinnett County. She's tireless in her efforts to help some of our youngest students gain a strong foundation to build on for the rest of their academic career.

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Olivia Carter 2021 ASCA School Counselor of the Year

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Olivia Carter 2021 ASCA School Counselor of the Year

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Get to know Oliva Carter, 2021 School Counselor of the Year and a school counselor at Jefferson...

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