Sometimes You Win…Sometimes You Learn
I believe that we as leaders can help today’s young adults to grow up effectively if we teach them to take responsibility and become habitual learners. I’m excited about this new book because I believe it will provide young people with the tools to do just that.
A Coach Who Stuck to His Guns
Yesterday a story broke, that I just had to comment on. A football coach at Union High School in Utah took bold action to get the attention of his players after Friday night’s loss. Coach Matt Labrum suspended his entire team. Yup. After discovering several of his players were cyber-bullying another student, and that nearly all of his team members were acting disrespectful
Boomers and Millennials on the Job: How Do You Compare?
Growing Leaders is now engaging workplaces to help them bridge the gap between generations and these youngest team members from Generation iY. If you’d like help, email Ted Weyn: [email protected]
Five Upsides of Generation iY
Pew Research tells us that teens would rather give up their “pinky finger” than their cell phone. They put technology in the same category as “air and water.” It’s like an appendage to their body. In the Land of Tomorrow, we are the “immigrant” and they are the “native.”
Is Cheating Normal Now?
Do we need to adjust our expectations? Are students entering a world where cheating in some form will be normal and therefore, we must simply help them limit it or use it to their advantage?
How to SOAR as You Lead
I believe we must harness people’s aspirations if we have any hope of progress. If we teach students, we must help them harness their aspirations. If they don’t know “why” they are learning something they may never engage in the “what.” By looking at aspirations and results, both leaders and followers “soar.”
The Clash Between Our Values and What We Value
I overheard an interesting conversation in a restaurant. It was about Alex Rodriguez and what he should do about the accusations he's appealing.
A Leader’s Hard Conversations
I’ve lost count of the number of occasions where I had to confront a person who I was leading or mentoring. Although it’s a natural part of leading a family, team or organization, I would often try to talk myself out of doing it, thinking that if I just ignored the problem it would go away. That, of course, is
Why Teens Delay Getting a License…and What It Tells Us
Over a year ago, I wrote about how more and more teenagers were in “no hurry” to get a driver’s license these days. This stands in stark contrast to teens when I was growing up. I could hardly wait to get mine. It was a sort of “rite of passage.” Getting my license meant one more step toward becoming a
Does Your Teaching Need a Tune Up?
We live in a day when faculty, coaches, youth workers and speakers of all kinds are re-thinking their pedagogy. We all believe in our “content” but we can see that the “context” of our students has changed. And many of us are learning the hard way that “context” must inform the delivery of our “content.” Conditioned by thirty-second sounds bites,
What Do You Say to Your Kids When Their Idol Goes Astray?
I just spent time with some middle school students, after an assembly. I’d spoken on the topic of how we must develop character to be trusted by others in life. The young teens I spoke with afterward were visibly confused. I could see it in their faces. I had given them a new “compass” and it didn’t fit their worldview. The
Podcast #15: How to Stop Stealing a Kid’s Ambition
It is apparent that we, as adults have developed a culture of consumerism. We want a return on investment for our kids’ efforts. By rewarding our kids with trophies and prizes, we are stealing their ambition to get up and try. While we may think that rewards help to build self-esteem, it actually leads to narcissism. Self-esteem is formed by
Six Leadership Lessons From Diana Nyad
Did you hear? A new record was just set off the coast of Florida. Diana Nyad just climbed out of the water after swimming more than 100 miles form Cuba to the U.S. Diana arrived on U.S. soil, at Key West, 53 hours after she slipped into the water at Havana’s Hemingway Marina. It was an amazing swim, and one
Inseparable: The Sobering Truth About Tomorrow’s Leaders
It seems everyone is talking about leadership these days. Everyone’s an expert and everyone wants to write a book. While there’s nothing wrong with that in itself, the more folks jump into the pond, the more muddy it becomes. Leadership now has a thousand definitions. I’m convinced there are certain issues that cannot be separated from the practice of healthy leadership.
Four Ways to Increase Student Engagement
Recently, I asked a faculty focus group what they hear students “say” in class. The top answers didn’t surprise me, but they did reveal a pattern in kids today: “I’m bored.” “This is too hard.” “Will this be on the test?” “What does this have to do with my life?” Granted, these are honest statements made by teenagers. They reveal a “Touch Screen Generation” who
What To Do with a Generation of “Firsts” (Part Two)
Yesterday, I blogged about how young people today are part of a generation of “firsts.” Just like the Boomers were the first generation to grow up with TV, high school and college students today are among a generation who are the first to experience several realities. In fact, because they’re initiating these realities, they may present a challenge to you
A Generation of “Firsts” (Part One)
History is full of people who’ve gone first, especially during the last century. There is something about being first that tugs at the human spirit, and pushes it forward. Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon. Howard Perry was the first black man to enlist in the Marines. Second Lieutenant Kristin Bass was the first female F-16 fighter pilot. Roger
What Really Cultivates Self Esteem in Students?
Believe it or not, genuine self-esteem is built from achievement not just affirmation. Kids need to feel they can accomplish something with their own skill set. When adults do things for their kids, it eventually sends the message: “You are unable. I must do this.” Eventually, even good kids will begin to feel poorly about themselves.
Advice to a Would-Be Intern
An internship is a twelve-week interview. It’s a simulation of the job you’ll have one day. For us, this is a game changer. Suddenly, they realize every day is a time to observe and be observed. A time to both labor and learn.
A Labor Day Parable
It’s Labor Day…a day to commemorate the work ethic and prosperity of American workers. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City.