The Complaint Box Versus The Ballot Box

by | Apr 26, 2012 | Blog, Guest Blog

I’m excited to introduce our  first guest blogger at Learn[ed]Leadership.  Patrick Love is a upper school counselor at Brent International School in the Philippines.  In addition to college guidance and counseling services, Patrick has a real passion on the role of school counselors as leaders, and has been embodying that through designing a school wide social and emotional counseling  program and championing data driven change.  Outside of school Patrick is a talented and accomplished travel  photographer who’s been published in various national and international publications (view his work at patricklovephotography.com). The Complaint Box Versus The Ballot Box By Patrick Love Teaching our students to solve problems and find solutions is one of the overarching goals of education.  However, most individuals and schools out there have room to improve in this category.  What can leaders in education do to improve their problem solving skills?  Surprisingly, the answer may lie with our students. Solving problems and working towards school improvement is always a challenge.  As a school counselor, I believe that advocating for others is a key part of my job.  Much of what I do tries to forward the academic, social and emotional development and well being of my students.  Simply put, I want my school to be a great place for students to learn and develop. Of course, I am not alone in this, I work as part of an amazing team.  We have found that almost anything can be fixed or improved upon.  However, success often hinges upon whether the people working together are willing to join together to work on the issue at hand.  This should be...

TLP: Dr. Harlan Lyso

by | Apr 18, 2012 | The Leadership Project

“Give your people responsibility, mentor them…and oversee their work so you can see that they’ve been successful.”   This simple philosophy has shaped the careers and education of countless students, faculty and staff at the schools where Dr. Harlan Lyso has worked.  It’s this uncomplicated and principle-based leadership style that has guided Dr. Lyso through nearly 40 years of international ED experience throughout the world.  Most notably, Dr. Lyso oversaw Seoul Foreign School as Head of School for 16 years as well as principal for the four years prior.  In 2008 he was award International Superintendent of the Year by AAIE, the Association for the Advancement of International Education. Now partially retired Dr. Lyso consults for ISS and represents EARCOS on the WASC Commission, which allows him to keep his hands in the part of the world where he raised his family and built a career.  He was kind enough to meet with me and discuss his observations on international education, qualities of effective leadership and the challenges that lay ahead for the industry. What changes have you noticed in international education over the last 10 years? For teachers and administrators?  Overall “parental expectations” have changed drastically over the last decade.  Just a few years ago parents moving abroad were satisfied if an international school even existed, but now the expectation is that the school will be at least as good as the one they left and should be better. In addition to higher expectations, the greatest change has come simply from the explosion of schools.  It’s believed that there are currently 5000 international schools worldwide and this will...

Failures of Leadership

by | Apr 13, 2012 | Blog

Despite a tsunami of books, classes and ‘experts’ on leadership, countless school leaders struggle to do their jobs effectively…they fail to lead.  Why is this?  Why do some of us continually fail to reach the high expectations we hoped to achieve as we watched others lead, promising we wouldn’t make the same mistakes? As I’ve spoken to different school leaders in international ED, I continue to hear a few major themes needed in order to be an effective leader.  One of these themes is that effective leaders only become great leaders through experience and reflection.  Like most things in life, experience is the key to mastery, after all you wouldn’t let a surgeon operate on you who only had textbook knowledge (at least I wouldn’t).  Since it’s impossible to really learn without this experience, we should be gracious to those who are willing to step out and up into leadership roles. On the other hand, as leaders we must honor those we work for and reflect on our experiences, so we don’t make the same mistakes over and over.  I believe it’s this time of reflection that will produce the best results in our development. As I’ve been thinking more about failures of leadership, I came across an article by Patrick O’Niell, President of Extraordinary Conversations.  He observes from over 30 years of leadership experience that of all the major reasons leaders fail, there are four common themes: ” lack of vision, poor communication, tolerance for organizational fragmentation and character flaws.” Although he is primarily speaking to a audience of business people, I argue that his four themes are...

TLP: David Toze, Superintendent at International School Manila

by | Apr 7, 2012 | The Leadership Project

Mr. David Toze is the Superintendent at the International School Manila.  Wait a minute did I misspeak?  Certainly I must have meant Dr. David Toze, right?  If one looks at the School Head Welcome Message on most international school’s website, they’ll notice a similarity between most heads, three letters…PhD.  During my conversation with Mr. Toze, he explained why he chose not to pursue a PhD and how he and other leaders have developed independently. Since starting the process of interviewing different International ED Leaders, David Toze had been recommended numerous times by his peers as a bright, innovative, and unique leader in international education.  Admittedly, Mr. Toze has his own style, which influences the way he leads ISM, but his decisions are always based on core experiences and values. He was kind enough to share with me how he established these values, and how they integrate into his leadership style during an interview last week. (If not specifically quoted I’ve paraphrased his responses to these questions) How have you developed from place to place?  Did the big development happen as you took on new roles, or as you matured in a role? The majority of my development came from maturing in a position.  “The longer you can stay in a particular place, the more you experience.”  It’s the daily challenges and “confrontation that comes from a wide variety of experiences that is the key to growth.”  I believe it’s the opportunity to learn from experience that has benefited me the most.  This is why I chose not to get a PhD, because I’m not convinced that it’s worth the...

Retreating!

by | Mar 27, 2012 | Blog

Do you have an iPhone?  I don’t, although I’ve often wished I did.  In fact I’ve never had a smart or smarter phone.  I missed the wave that propelled the average lay person into ultra high tech gadgety-phones back in approximately 2007.  I was living in Korea at the time, and got by on a borrowed phone, which probably cost me about $10 a month to operate.  When I moved back to the US for a year and half, iPhones had just hit the market, but were out of my price range.  So even though I have an iPad now, I’ve never been exposed too heavily to apps. That’s why I was surprised to find out the other day that the average American spends 81minutes per day using apps, and another 74 minutes per day mindlessly surfing the internet.  If you add it up, that’s 77.5 hours a month doing almost nothing.  I once heard Jeff Utecht, the tech guy at International School Bangkok, say that our current students are a part of the “mobile generation.”  These students, not only don’t remember a time when there was no internet, they don’t remember a time when there was no internet on their phones.  Crazy…but no doubt true.  It’s understandable that some believe that we can’t possibly expect these students to disconnect, since they were practically born connected. On the other hand, I’ve been hearing more and more a similar message from some who argue that some of their clearest thoughts came not when they were plugged in, but when they retreated.  This last week I had the chance to to...