The Kind Leadership Challenge

You know that one project on your list? You know, the one down at the bottom, that's been gathering dust for longer than you care to admit, that you just can't seem to get started on. Today I'll show you how--and it's as easy as making a sandwich. ~~~ To listen to more episodes , head to kindleadershipchallenge.com ! Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to s...

Firing a team member--if you're a leader you've either already done it, or will do it some day. But is there a way to terminate someone and still be a kind leader? Of course there is--in fact, firing someone can be one of the kindest things you can do for all concerned. In today's episode, I'll teach you how to set yourself, your team, and even the person you're terminatin...

The Busier your life is as an educational leader, the more important it is to make sure you take breaks. And today I'll share some simple tactics to make it easier to step away and recharge.  ~~~ To listen to more episodes , head to kindleadershipchallenge.com ! Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where to start? Download the free Next Steps Checklist! Want a likeminded communi...

For obvious reasons, I talk a lot about the benefits of kind leadership and the ways implementing it can heal yourself, your organization, and the community you serve. But I've been pondering a slightly different question—what are the consequences of practicing unkind leadership?   ~~~ To listen to more episodes , head to kindleadershipchallenge.com ! Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but...

If you're listening to this, you have at some point been hurt (intentionally nor not) by a leader. And unless you are a tremendously wise and lucky leader, at some point you have almost certainly hurt someone you lead. So today, we're taking a deeper dive into how trauma happens to and is caused by leaders, the importance of facing trauma rather than repressing it, and how you can set up...

Today is the final episode in my little introduction to the Kind Leadership Guild , my monthly leadership development group for leaders who want to build a better world without burning out. Juanita James accepted my invitation to come on the podcast and share her experience in from the Guild, what she's learned, and how she's applied it in her work and life. And as you’re about to hear,...

Back in late May, as I prepared to facilitate the first meeting of the Kind Leadership Guild , I was kind of nervous.  How would I go about setting the values and rules of the Kind Leadership Guild, so that the group experience would be effective, humane, collaborative, and, well, Kind?  In today’s episode I’ll share how we worked together in the first meeting of the Kind Leadership Guild to deter...

Over the summer I and an intrepid few long-time followers of the Kind Leadership Challenge have been beta testing the new improved version of the Kind Leadership Guild!  The Guild is a support group and community of practice where educational and library leaders come together to heal themselves, their teams, and their organizations, so we can all effectively, humanely, and collaboratively build th...

I’ve been hitting reload a lot on my podcast host’s website this morning. Right when I got up, after my workout, before I logged in at the office, and during my coffee break. Then…it happened. With 14 hours to spare, July 2023 became the first 1000 download month of the Kind Leadership Challenge. This is by far the best performing podcast not related to a 60s boy band that I’ve ever been involved...

There's a pivot point that occurs any time an organization grows beyond a certain scale, be that the size of the staff, the budget, or the community served. It’s a shift that I call feeding the beast, where doing cool things becomes a lower priority than sustaining what’s already been built. In today’s episode I’ll share some lessons I learned from organizations on both sides of that spectrum...

One of the roughest moments of my early days as a library dean was the realization that to be the best leader I could be and the leader my team needed me to be, I couldn't be a librarian anymore--or at least I couldn't primarily be a librarian.  That shift was necessary, but it was hard. Today I'll give you a roadmap to navigate your own leadership transition. ~~~ To listen to more...

All Work and No Play can make a leader go a bit stale. I've been struggling with this a bit lately myself. But then I picked up a good fiction book for the first time in I can't remember how long, and whipped through it in about a day. And as I closed it I realized what I--and a lot of other leaders--have been missing. FUN! ~~~ Related Episode Are You in the Groove-- or Stuck in a Rut? (...

The great thing about summer for many library and educational leaders is that we finally have some time to think. That’s also the worst thing about Summer.  We finally have some time to think about all the struggles that come with our jobs these days, and the question that follows-- How do I live with this?  And if that’s what it takes, do I even still want to? We'll figure out how to answer...

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like every leadership influencer and researcher I follow is talking about how we all need to know our “why” and our organization’s “why”. However, one’s personal and professional “why” can change from month to month, and even minute to minute! So today, I’m going to talk about how we can get more clear on our why, and use that clarity to keep our work relevant and...

Recently a question popped up in a social media group i follow that stopped me scrolling cold. The anonymous poster asked: How do we handle a library director who has shiny object syndrome and keeps proposing new projects before more quickly than they can even determine whether the previous great ideas are worth doing, much less handle the boring stuff that has to be done to keep things running da...

I've always been a little dubious about the abundance mindset thing. Yes, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. But that doesn't mean you have to accomplish everything. And it definitely doesn't mean that if you don’t accomplish your goals, then you're weak or a failure. The impossibility of simply wishing away scarcity with the right mindset is something I&a...

I’ve been thinking a lot about routines this week, because changes have made my routines a bit wacky. We moved house a little over a week ago. and we’re still figuring out things like the best drawer for the rolling pins and which light switch controls what. In addition, between burning off some vacation days and some post-semester doctor appointments, I’ve also barely been in the office this week...

Today I'm discussing one of the top vote-getters in my recent listener poll: Workplace Drama! Specifically, I'll explore toxic workplace drama, healthy workplace conflict, and how a kind leader can guide team members--and themselves--to shift from the former to the latter. ~~~ Related Resources: The Origins of Justice Stewart's "I Know It When I See It" :  Peter Lattman, W...

This is a weird episode for me, as I try to keep things pretty evergreen on this show. However, a recent university closure hit a little close to home for me, and got me thinking about the precarious balance of mission and sustainability in all the institutions we lead. So, since I don’t think this challenge is going away anytime soon, let’s talk about it. Resources Mentioned: Mr. Micawber teaches...

There’s a bit of conventional wisdom that floats around, especially in mission-driven fields, that the best leaders are the reluctant ones. The ones who never sought power, but accepted the mantle when it was thrust on them, and who rose to the challenge because of, not in spite of, their lack of interest in leadership. And I have seen over the years that people who took that path to leadership of...

So back in Episode 60, I mentioned the bonkers life I was expecting during April and May, between working on TWO different universities’ re-accreditations, moving house, multiple hiring processes, the end of the school and fiscal years at my place of work, and just the sundry ups and downs of life as an educational leader in late spring. In episode 60 I also laid out my roadmap of how I (and by ex...

 When you are a leader, what you think does not matter.  Well, OK, it’s not the ONLY thing that matters. You do need to have a vision and goals of your own. But if you don’t have a critical mass of team members and stakeholders that think more or less the same way, then what you think doesn’t matter, because you will not be able to make your vision an enduring reality. So today I’m gonna share thi...

Once upon a time I was the person who would check my email one last time before bed, or come in early on short notice to prep for an event. These days my work is a lot less urgent and a lot less visible to our patrons and faculty. And in my weaker moments, my work feels a little less important too. However, if I’ve learned nothing else in my 5 years of Deaning, I’ve learned that the more hands off...

You may remember that back in episode 48, I announced my word of the year is clarity. And as I reach the 1/3 mark of 2023, I am feeling a good bit clearer on who I am as a leader and leadership coach, how I want my work to flow, and on my vision for the better world I wish to see. I also realized that a lot of you probably could use more clarity about what leadership coaching is, and what leadersh...

Because many educational leaders find the first half of the spring semester the most stressful time of year, I’ve been talking a lot about the squishy side of kind leadership lately: self care and avoiding burnout and what-not. That said, there comes a time each year when we need to set aside the vision boards and meditation apps and open up our spreadsheets. Because budgeting season is upon most...