Real Educational Leadership and Change is Needed

I would love to see this quote proved wrong but I will not hold my breath because nine years later this hasn't changed much...: ""The mistake of most traditional campus-based institutions was to see the potential if online learning in terms of access and serving more students instead of serving current students better" (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008)"

Omission in the day and age of instant communication is dangerous

Let us look at this sentence: “I don’t like because of color”. If inserted into the wrong conversation in the right way, all of sudden you have an argument about racism. The whole sentence was really: “I don’t like this couch because the of the color”, a significant difference.

When people alter, or omit words from sentences, it can have a profound effect on a conversation, when leaders do this, it can have a devastating effect in general. Leaders who consistently keep their employees in the dark are fostering a culture that thrives on rumors because we all know that information gap will be filled by something. It is even more sad when the information that was withheld was not even vital!

If you want “buy-in" from your employees than you need to give them something to buy; if you want to have civil conversations then you need to check your sources before you quote. The standards of using references that are peer reviewed and reliable is not just for academia.

A lesson from a communication course. #communication #leadership #education

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

A Professional’s Credentials Deserve a Proper Look

I have been seeing a lot of resume posts recently on whether a resume “passes the 6 second test”, and it disturbs me. Do you mean to stay that my vast professional experience and education is only worth six seconds of your time? You mean to tell me you are not interested in a potentially excellent candidate?

A professional’s experience cannot be nor should it be summed up in mere seconds. If you are serious about recruiting the best than you need to act like it; the best deserves more of your time.

We all understand that there are many more applications today for a single job, but you owe it to your company and to future employees to do your due diligence and treat them as more than a number.

This also extends to returning emails and phone calls by the way, especially if you asked the person to do just that. There are far too many rude employers out there who feel they can just ignore a legitimate communication from someone.

How you recruit is what you get, and how you try and retain is what stays.

Lessons from an MBA course.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

Th ETeam

PS, Employers, for Pete’s sake keep communication formal as well. Use proper titles, tense, and tone. 

Are we even attempting to learn from our mistakes: An Educator’s plea?

Insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. This a common occurrence in educational leadership and it does not look it is going to change anytime soon.

·         A school talks about the need for radical change, and their solution is to promote a long-time insider to head that department because they have not yet held that position.

·         A school is constantly in financial trouble, and instead of looking at the accounting structure, they hire a consultant (for a hefty price) to study the issue; even though you know someone is stealing

·         Your students complain that they are not learning anything new, and the school does not look at the fact most of the faculty and staff are graduates of the school they are working at

·         You advertise a job that you have already filled, and then months later you send generic form letters to the candidates letting them know how qualified they were but you are going with someone else: and you never even read their resume plus you spelled their names wrong on the form letter

·         Etc.

These are real situations, and there are real and easy solutions to them; but in education, sometimes we do not take the real solution. Why is that?

Why do leaders in education consistently make the same mistake over and over, why has there been no real significant, non-political change in education over the last few years. Technology is just a tool, not a solution.

You are a leader in education, but are you trained to lead? Do you know how to lead? What have you done make yourself ready to lead?

Leadership certifications makes sense! http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/our-work.html

Dr Flavius A B Akerele

The ETeam

You must serve with honor: an educator’s thoughts

Due to the nature of politics, education is once again thrown in the political mix. It is a pity that, every 2,4,6, or 8 years, the noble profession of education must be subjected to the political whims: but we must be prepared for it because we are public servants.

Innovation is great, change can be good, dedication is necessary but sometimes difficult when eggs are being thrown at you. As educators, we need to always be striving to serve with honor.

Serving our students honorably means we are giving them our best no matter what the circumstance, it means we are rising above chatter, it means we are trying to do what is right in the face of all that is wrong, it means being a professional.

Educators, keep serving with honor because in the end, honor is everything.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam