Culture, Habitudes, Students

Icebergs and Ice Cubes An iceberg has been used over and over again by instructors to illustrate hidden realities. We often talk about the “tip of the iceberg” meaning there’s a larger amount of unseen substance than what’s visible. It’s an analogy. The iceberg is one of our most popular Habitudes® images when we teach leadership to students. It has everything to

Culture, Students

Best-selling author Simon Sinek was interviewed on Millennials and said something startling. According to Sinek, the use of social media has the same effect as drinking, smoking or gambling. It is addictive. The same chemical, dopamine, is released in us when we hear the ping of social media. The students we hosted in our focus groups last year agreed—they’re addicted.

Athletics, Culture, Habitudes, Students

Recently, I had the opportunity to share with the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) community the following thoughts. I wanted to share them with you as well… I made an observation some time ago that’s been confirmed over and over, among student athletes. Most want to be “seen” as leaders, but few want to “act” like one. By this

Parenting

Recently, I was interviewed by pediatrician Dr. Meg Meeker for her podcast. The theme was the topic of my book, Twelve Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid. During the course of our conversation, several concepts were discussed that I felt you’d benefit from in a blog post. I have included them here. 1. In your book: Twelve Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid,

Education, Parenting, Students

Now that we’re over a month into a new year, I felt it was appropriate to ask you a question. Are you approaching your work with students in the right frame of mind? Centuries ago, Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not necessarily the truth.” A typical teenage kid—whether

Culture

It’s always sad to go backwards. People love progress not regress. Some could argue that we’ve gone backwards in race relations over the last ten to fifteen years. I am not sure if that’s true, but one nationwide survey reported in 2004 that 3 out of every 4 white people felt that race relations were good or very good in America.

Education, Students

I was reading a number of studies recently about what enables students to perform better in school. I stumbled upon a finding that intuitively makes sense—but I had never considered its impact. Teachers often bemoan the fact that students’ writing and communication skills are poor. Perhaps it’s due to our current world of instant messaging and social media. It seems that

Culture, Leadership

This month is Black History Month across our nation. February is when we take time to remember and appreciate the African-Americans who’ve changed the course of our lives, including people like: George Washington Carver Sojourner Truth Frederick Douglas Harriet Tubman Hiram Revels Jesse Owens Rosa Parks Jackie Robinson The names on this list are intentional. Each of these people shaped the way I live. I’d like you to walk

Leadership

Many would say we live in troubled times. Perhaps, most of us would say so. This past year, 2016, was a crazy year, which included: Alarming terrorist attacks in several locations A volatile economy full of underemployed people Disturbing racial tension between police and minorities An unpredictable presidential election in November You might be surprised at where we can find simple but replicable action steps