One Secret Parents Can Use to Send the Best Versions of Their Kids to School
By: Tim Elmore I spoke to a clinical psychologist recently, after an arduous day with clients. Helen is a counselor who sees families for therapy every day. She…
Seven Ideas to Overcoming the Cinderella Syndrome
By: Tim Elmore Seven Ideas to Overcoming the Cinderella Syndrome In 1989, I first heard the term Cinderella Syndrome. This complex refers to a psychological condition in which a woman…
Changing the Way We See Our Students
By: Tim Elmore Like so many other districts, the Northwest School District in Missouri faced a shortage of employees. It’s actually happening all over the country in almost every industry.…
Striking a Balance Between Boundaries and Sacrifice
By: Tim Elmore I see a problem today more often than I’ve seen it in the past. It is a collision between mindsets, both of which are essential. They‘re…
The Top Ten Leadership Movies of 2021
By: Tim Elmore In the past, I’ve posted blogs on great leadership movies and the conversations they can start with colleagues and students. Below, I offer you my list of…
Four Messages Your Freshmen Need To Hear This Year
By: Tim Elmore Brianna Rivera is an articulate high school student who wrapped her arms around a challenge that teens face today. Finding herself thrust back into society after…
A Commitment for Educators: Being Fully Present in the Moment
By: Tim Elmore We all imagine a perfect life from time to time. What would it be like if we had no worries, all the pleasures life could…
The One Thing I Do at the Beginning of Each Year
By: Tim Elmore Last week, I posted a ritual I perform at the end of each year. A second ritual I do is a natural follow-up. It enables me…
The One Thing I Do at the End of Each Year
By: Tim Elmore For 36 years now, I have performed a ritual at the end of December. It’s the way I wrap up each year and gain some perspective…
One Secret to Take Full Advantage of Your Holiday Break
By: Tim Elmore Several years ago, in a remote area of a country in Africa, local villagers discovered that some young elephants wandered from the herd. They…
How to Help Students Beat Stress and Welcome Pressure
By: Tim Elmore Jana Davidson teaches seventh-grade science and tenth-grade biology. Every day, she observes students entering her classroom feeling stressed out. Many of them feel overwhelmed.…
Why Millennials and Generation Z Students Are Choosing Control Over Caution
By: Tim Elmore I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but teens and young adults today have been in a funk for the last several years. Mental health continues…
The Inverse Relationship Between Gratitude and Entitlement
By: Tim Elmore I’ll never forget the day a university professor told me a student approached him after making a poor grade on an exam. The student reasoned…
What We Learn About Generation Z From the Top Netflix Show: Squid Game
By: Tim Elmore I’m not talking about The Crown. Nor am I talking about Game of Thrones. I am not even talking about Bridgerton. There is a new show…
Ten Interesting Facts About Generation Z and How They Affect Us All
Tim Elmore The Millennials are a generation who experienced an up-economy during their childhood but a declining one as they came of age. Generation Z is a population that endured…
How Masks Can Deepen Social and Emotional Learning
By: Tim Elmore I don’t know about you, but I am seeing more and more face masks on the ground these days. Whether it’s in a parking lot or restroom…
Advice to Teachers and Parents When Guiding Teens on Instagram
By: Tim Elmore Anyone who cares about young people should see the data just revealed on Instagram and its parent company Facebook. Millions of teenagers, mostly girls, have spiraled into…
Ever Heard of the Blackout Challenge? How Social Media Is Changing Peer Pressure and What to Do About It
By: Tim Elmore I remember feeling tangible peer pressure in high school. Friends pushed me to smoke cigarettes and marijuana, drink beer, and be sexually active. This was not uncommon…
Practicing the Paradox of Confidence and Humility
By: Tim Elmore Bob Iger replaced Michael Eisner as the Chief Executive Officer of Walt Disney Enterprises in 2005. These two leaders are polar opposites and a picture of a…
Leading When You’d Rather Be Leaving
By: Tim Elmore There is a new term describing the challenge many organizations face today. It’s called absentee leadership. A leader or manager may be physically present but psychologically and…
The Need for Paradoxical Leadership
By: Tim Elmore I had an epiphany a few years ago while sitting in the green room right before I spoke at a conference. There were sixteen CEOs in the…
One Magical Idea to Increase Student Engagement This Fall
By: Tim Elmore Building off of an earlier patent by John Duff, General Mills’ created its first Betty Crocker instant cake mix in 1947. Since the Great Depression and World…
Four Lessons on Leading Young People From the Tokyo Olympics
By: Tim Elmore The postponed Olympics Games held in Tokyo are now history. As always, there were highs and lows for competing athletes, but I’d like to focus on some…
Read Before You Lead: Why Every Thermostat Has a Thermometer
By: Tim Elmore In 1990, I began using a metaphor to teach students how they could earn the right to influence others. This metaphor has now become common language among…
Helping Students Strike a Balance Between Inclusion and Diversity
By: Tim Elmore Did you hear how Columbia University handled their graduation ceremonies? No, I’m not referring to mask-wearing or social distancing. I’m talking about the administration’s decision to host…
How to Help Students Become Objective Rather than Obsessive
By: Tim Elmore If you met Kayla, you wouldn’t know she was distraught. She smiles a lot. She dresses sharp. She makes A’s and B’s in school, and she’s got…
How One Group of Student Leaders Found a Way to Manage Mental Health at Their School
By: Tim Elmore I recently spoke at the 2021 Cobb County Student Leadership Academy awards event. Students were present, often with their parents and teachers, to learn about leadership and…
Digital Citizenship: Having The Right Conversation With Students
By: Tim Elmore The Supreme Court seems close to issuing a ruling in the case of a student who was kicked off her high school cheerleading team due to an…
How SEL Can Accelerate Maturity in Students
By: Tim Elmore One decade ago, I began to hypothesize about a trait I observed in high school and college students. I continued to be baffled by how much they…
The Case For Why A Broader Perspective Is A Crucial Skill Your Students Need
By: Tim Elmore Last week, a dear friend of mine swore to me that anyone who celebrates Easter is cursed. Three weeks ago, I met someone who believes the world…
Quaranteens: Three Ideas to Help Students Grow in the Pandemic
By: Tim Elmore It’s been over a year since students all over the world were sent home from school and instantly had to learn how to learn from home. Teachers…
The Importance of Laughter for Your Student’s Stress Management
By: Tim Elmore Whenever I meet with students, it seems something hilarious is bound to happen. It’s part of adolescence—to seek out the bizarre, to poke fun, and to laugh…
Ten Terms That Define Generation Z Today
By: Tim Elmore Some are now calling Generation Z by a new name. They are known by many as Generation Covid, or Generation C. I have heard others call them,…
Five Practices to Help Students Make Stress Work For Them
By: Tim Elmore Gretchen Goldman is a scientist, a mom, and the research director at a nonprofit in Washington. Her job involves conducting television interviews and briefing lawmakers. Now, however,…
Seven Ideas to Employ if Remote or Hybrid Learning Doesn’t Go Away
By: Tim Elmore Although millions of teachers, students, and parents would say the abrupt transition to remote learning a year ago was problematic, many are now preparing for more of…
Three Helpful Secrets for Putting Empathy to Work
By: Tim Elmore One fascinating study on the subject of compassion was conducted at Princeton Seminary in 1973. Graduate students who studied theology were asked if they were entering the…
Four Ways to Expand Your Student’s Social Awareness
By: Tim Elmore Last fall, a group of high school freshmen sat in health class discussing personal hygiene. The subject was already deeply personal, but it became awkward when Erica…
Overcoming the Most Common Mistake Educators Make Leading Generation Z
By: Tim Elmore In 2010, Christopher Havens was sure he’d hit rock bottom. That year, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder. Soon after, a fight earned…
How to Teach Your Students To Be Responsible Decision Makers
By: Tim Elmore I remember it like it was yesterday. I met with three high school students following a major brawl after a Friday night football game. A group of…
Ban Facebook or Build Leaders: How Education Can Bridge the Gap Between Social Media & Social-Emotional Learning
By: Tim Elmore I never thought I’d see this day. The government of the Solomon Islands, a nation of hundreds of individual islands in the South Pacific, is planning to…
What the GameStop Market Surge Teaches Us About Generation Z & Millennials
By: Tim Elmore For years, younger generations have been the brunt of jokes by older generations who felt they were immature, lazy slackers who moved back home after college. A…
Snow Globes and Training Wheels: How to Begin a New Year
By: Tim Elmore Following the holiday break, I wanted to offer you a word of encouragement. Every person I met in 2020 could hardly wait for the new year to…
Who Wins When Social and Emotional Learning Meets Real Life?
By: Tim Elmore In times like these, we can all use some good news. This past year, 2020, was quite a year, complete with a pandemic, protests, political polarization, pay…
Why Leaders Miss New Opportunities and How to Fix That in 2021
By: Tim Elmore Tony Piloseno, an Ohio State University senior, took a part-time job working at a local Sherwin-Williams store a few years ago. Unlike many employed college students, he…
The One Thing I Do at the Beginning of Each Year
By: Tim Elmore Last week, I posted a ritual I perform at the end of each year. A second ritual I do is a natural follow-up. It…
If It Weren’t 2020
By: Tim Elmore The year started well, with our work and our money Our weather was warming, and our spring became sunny. Our life was quite normal, and resources were…
Three Words of Encouragement For You This Holiday Season
By: Tim Elmore Don’t tell me. I’ve already heard it — you are ready for 2020 to be over, to turn a new page and start a new chapter for…
Six Warning Signs Your Students Are Struggling with the Pandemic
By: Tim Elmore I wonder if adults fully comprehend what’s going on inside the minds of kids today. Mental health issues were already mounting among those in Generation Z, but…
Four Secrets to Virtually Approach Social and Emotional Learning
By: Tim Elmore Have you ever heard of BeauTubers? This is a term describing beauty-YouTubers. A beauty YouTuber, commonly referred to as a beauty vlogger, beauty guru, beauty influencer, or…
What Kind of Leadership Do We Need?
As the founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, I look at the world through a leadership lens. I believe leadership matters. Moments of crisis amplify the need for good leadership.…