How Leaders Execute Change Well: Podcast #51
Today I’m excited to share with you a conversation with Andrew McPeak. Andrew is a next gen researcher, speaker, and writer for Growing Leaders. He also is the coauthor of our newest book, Marching Off the Map. Here are some highlights from our conversation. Tim Elmore: Our topic for the day is change. How do we manage change and handle change when
Six Terms that Summarize Generation Z’s Mindset
In 2016, Growing Leaders hosted five focus groups, made up of high school and middle school teens, from various states across the U.S. Our purpose was to uncover the mindset of these students and how it has shifted from that of the Millennials. Today, I offer you six commonly used terms that seem to summarize Gen Z (kids growing up in
One Secret to Help Kids Control Emotions
I’d like to review some case studies with you. So far, this fall, I’ve been in front of 4,000 students and faculty at various universities and high schools. In two of the events, I spoke to mature and respectful students who paid attention to my words. In two others, the students seemed to be unable to concentrate at all. They
The Science Behind Increasing Mental Toughness & Reducing Stress
During my years working with Dr. John C. Maxwell, he told me a story from his boyhood. He recalls wrestling his older brother, Larry, in the living room. Larry was bigger and more experienced, which meant he beat John every single time. Over time, the defeats came quicker and quicker, as John became conditioned to lose. One day, his dad
Why Kids Behave Poorly
Recently, Growing Leaders teamed up with Harris Poll to discover some important insights about life in today’s culture. We surveyed 2,264 adults, ages 18 and older in June 2017. One particular insight deserves some interpretation. In the survey, young adults said they learn more from technology than from people. Nearly 3 in 5 U.S. adults (58%) say they learn more information
Seven Mistakes Hindering Kids from Becoming Great Leaders
So many who read our blog posts work with students, and many of you develop student leaders. Our goal is to help you in that process. After consulting with both high schools and universities this past year, I noticed several common traps that ambushed young leaders (student leaders and young professionals) during their first year of leading. Several students who fell
How to Inspire Students to Do What’s Right
Every teacher, coach, employer and parent wants to influence their young people to do what they know is right. Far too often, however, we merely emulate what our parents did with us, as we grew up. We tell them they “ought to” do the right thing. The problem is, ideas like “ought to” and “should” often feel negative. For centuries,
Four Changes That Will Win the Heart of Generation Z Students
Ours is a world where students are savvy and aware—and very difficult to “wow.” Many are well-informed, well-entertained and have already traveled to places we never traveled until we were well into our adult lives. They scroll through their phones looking for something that will capture their interest. Due to over-exposure to information some have become jaded. Teachers today compete
12 Things That Are in Your Control and Require No Talent
These days, it’s easy for students to become consumed with gaining a competitive advantage over their peers in college or in their career. They belabor their GPA or their SAT score, their IQ and whether they took an AP course, all the while missing some fundamentals that can completely differentiate them from others. The good news is, I am speaking
The Fastest Trick to Develop Student Leaders
Last March, a university dean faced a shortage of resident advisors for the following school year. He needed to recruit students to offer oversight to hall floors, each having about fifty-eight fellow students. It’s no small feat, but R.A.’s usually get a healthy stipend for doing it, and sometimes their entire tuition is covered for having committed to the position. The
Why Daily Silence Makes Students Smarter
Hear ye, hear ye! All educators, coaches, parents—and certainly students—need to ponder and digest the latest research on the topic of silence. Silence can grow your brain. I am not kidding. A 2013 study monitored the effect of “sound” versus “silence” on mice. What researchers discovered was profound. When exposed to two hours of silence every day, the mice developed new cells
In Ten Years, Will We Be Smart Enough for Our Smart World?
The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article reminding Americans how fast change is coming over the next ten years. The article was written following an interview with the executives at Apple, who whet our appetites for future technology by saying the iPhone may not even be a phone anymore in ten years. Did you catch that? Yep. In 2027, you might be