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Reaching the Heart of Leadership
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Reaching the Heart of Leadership
Lessons Learned, Insights Gained, Actions Taken

  • Avis Glaze - Edu-quest International Inc., Former Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario, Founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat

Co Publication with OPC


Other Titles in:
Leadership

October 2017 | 160 pages | Corwin

Refine your leadership effectiveness and expand your leadership legacy!

 

Whether you’re an aspiring leader, or you consider yourself a veteran searching for a fresh perspective, leadership in an age of disruption, high expectations, and exploding demands is challenging.

 

In addition to wise applications of power, this small, yet robust, book focuses on the duty leaders face to forge and strengthen bonds of trust and further the school improvement agenda. Designed to ignite your intellectual curiosity, the author coaches leaders on:

  • Honing the dispositions and interpersonal competencies necessary for leadership effectiveness
  • Strengthening self-regard and attitudes toward others
  • Developing a strong human rights orientation
  • Ensuring that equity and excellence go hand in hand  
  • Defining what it takes to inspire and motivate others to act
  • Implementing an inside-out approach that empowers them to be agile and flexible leaders

Well suited for any organizational setting, the ideas and action steps offered in Reaching the Heart of Leadership aim to re-ignite the passion and determination in individuals who continue to make a difference in the lives of those they serve.

"Avis Glaze’s views on leadership are unique and powerful for one main reason. She puts things together that people don’t usually think are compatible, thereby reaching new heights and depths of insight and efficacy. She combines empathy and determination; respect and candor; high expectations and persistent patience. The bottom line is as close to 100% success as possible, with every percentage point below 100 unacceptable. Accordingly, Reaching the Heart of Leadership is chock full of unusual insights. For each chapter there are lessons learned, and action steps to be taken, but understand that none of this is about slogans, and all of it has been tested and learned through hard practice. Avis does wear her heart on her sleeve; but also she wears it in every action relationship she encounters. For Avis, every value is a competency and every competency is a value. Read this book and be inspired to be the best leader you can ever be."

Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus

OISE/University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
1. Reaching the Heart of Leadership
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for Reaching the Heart of Leadership

 
 
2. Leadership Then . . . and Now
Reflections on Leadership

 
Questions for Self-Analysis and Reflection

 
What Motivates Employees the Most?

 
Empathy: A Quintessential Leadership Competence

 
How to Take Action for Developing Empathy

 
Leadership: A Brief Historical Overview

 
What Is Leadership Today?

 
Reaching the Heart of Leadership: Key Requirements

 
Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for Developing Empathy

 
 
3. Self-Knowledge and Awareness
Know Thyself!

 
Peripheral Vision and Recognition of Future Trends

 
Future Trends in Education

 
Moral and Ethical Decision Making

 
Biases, Stereotypes, and Prejudices

 
Leadership Is Political!

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for Leading Ethically

 
 
4. High Expectations for Learning and Achievement
How to Perpetuate a Culture of High Expectations

 
Equitable and Inclusive Schools for All Learners

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for Being More Inclusive and Improving Achievement

 
 
5. Holistic Education: Character, Career, the Arts, and Entrepreneurship
Character Development

 
Career Development

 
The Importance of the Arts in the Curriculum

 
The Entrepreneurial Spirit and Mind-Set

 
A Strong Commitment to Advocacy

 
Working with Diversity: Community Outreach, Engagement, and Development

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps to Enhance Student Success

 
 
6. Capacity Building for System, School, and Professional Improvement
Capacity Building: The Essence of District and School Improvement

 
Improving Ontario Schools: A Strategy That Works

 
Strategies for Capacity Building and System Improvement

 
Challenges Facing Our Students

 
Options and Opportunities That Our Students Benefit From

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for District and School Improvement

 
 
7. Achieving Results, Determining Impact, Recognizing Responsibilities
Achieving Results

 
Determining Impact

 
Recognizing Responsibilities

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
Action Steps for Making an Impact

 
 
Conclusion: Reaching the Heart of Leadership—A Few Takeaways
What Do We Hold in Trust for Future Leaders?

 
Leadership Lessons Learned

 
 
References
For Further Reading and Reflection

 
 
Index

"Avis Glaze’s views on leadership are unique and powerful for one main reason. She puts things together that people don’t usually think are compatible, thereby reaching new heights and depths of insight and efficacy. She combines empathy and determination; respect and candour; high expectations and persistent patience. The bottom line is as close to 100% success as possible, with every percentage point below 100 unacceptable. Accordingly, Reaching the Heart of Leadership is chock full of unusual insights. For each chapter there are lessons learned, and action steps to be taken, but understand that none of this is about slogans, and all of it has been tested and learned through hard practice. Avis does wear her heart on her sleeve; but also she wears it in every action relationship she encounters. For Avis, every value is a competency and every competency is a value. Read this book and be inspired to be the best leader you can ever be."

Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus
OISE/University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"If we truly want leaders who can foster a supportive and inclusive school climates that focus on learning, we should start by having them reflect on their moral compass. In Reaching the Heart of Leadership: Lessons Learned, Insights Gained, Actions Taken, Avis Glaze leans on her deeply rich experience and offers, not only a call for moral purpose, but actions at each level to get leaders there. It is a wonderfully insightful and important read."

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D., Corwin Author/Consultant
Finding Common Ground blog (Education Week), Albany, NY

"Glaze’s Reaching the Heart of Leadership speaks to an array of leaders—principals, teachers, community partners, families, and students, who, she insists, are at the epicenter of educational leadership. This book provides solid rationales, guidance and concrete actions on how educators can achieve and rise above the cacophony of demands for improved outcomes, higher standards, and increased accountability.  Educators are encouraged to draw upon the competencies of empathy, advocacy, a strong human rights and social justice orientation, and a commitment to further action – with a sense of urgency. Glaze outlines an education that enhances students’ critical and analytic stances on the world around them; develops their identities as empathetic local and global citizens; and animates and strengthens their multicultural, multilingual, and multi-literacy competencies in all curricular areas to deepen and broaden their learning and aspirations for their futures. This is an essential book for current and aspiring teachers and administrators."

Allison Skerrett, Ph.D., Associate Professor
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

"Reaching the Heart of Leadership strikes a chord with each of us as it is practical, clear and concise. Dr. Avis Glaze speaks from experience, expertise, and her heart in this succinct action-guide for leaders at every level. Truly a must-read for all aspiring, inquiring educational leaders who want to make a difference for every learner in their care."

Dr. Lyn Sharratt, International Consultant and Author
OISE, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"Dr. Avis Glaze shares the deep wisdom gained from her celebrated career in education. In Reaching the Heart of Leadership, she reflects on "what she knows for sure" about the human condition and school leadership, and she reminds us all of the importance of putting people first, practicing empathy, and developing positive relationships as the tools to impact school improvement. A master teacher always leaves us learning and reflecting. In this book, Dr. Glaze does just that. It's a "must have" for your professional library."

Deirdre Kinsella Biss, Editor
Principal Connection Magazine, Ontario, Canada

"Reaching the Heart of Leadership deftly weaves together history, reflection, insights gained from lived experience, practical advice and inspiration.  The mantra of ‘leading from the heart” is both timely and timeless.  Transcending education and educational leadership, the values espoused in this book easily extend across jurisdictions and to other scenarios that involve relationships of power."

Claudette Williams, Ph.D., Professor Emerita
University of the West Indies, Jamaica, West Indies, Jamaica

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1


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ISBN: 9781506325323
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