Educational Leadership

In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that in order to foster children who will thrive in today’s constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, he demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient.

The Listening Leader is a practical guide that will inspire school, district, and teacher leaders to make substantive change and increase equitable student outcomes. Rooted in the values of equity, relationships, and listening, this luminous book helps reimagine what is possible in education today. Drawing from more than 20 years of experience in public schools, Shane Safir incorporates hands-on strategies and powerful stories to show us how to leverage one of the most vital tools of leadership: listening.

What happens when a young Wall Street investment banker spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a real value investor. In this fascinating inside story, Guy Spier details his career from Harvard MBA to hedge fund manager. But the path was not so straightforward. Spier reveals his transformation from a Gordon Gekko wannabe, driven by greed, to a sophisticated investor who enjoys success without selling his soul to the highest bidder.

Average schools don't inspire greatness - and greatness is what our world needs if we are going to produce world-changing learners. In Culturize, author and education leader Jimmy Casas shares insights into what it takes to cultivate a community of learners who embody the innately human traits our world desperately needs, such as kindness, honesty, and compassion. His stories reveal how these "soft skills" can be honed while meeting and exceeding academic standards of 21st-century learning.

Efforts to address inequities within our schools tend to ignore the underlying beliefs that sustain injustices, and focus instead on short-lived policies and practices. This book takes a different approach to eradicating educational disparities. Drawing on more than 40 interviews with teachers, principals, and district leaders, Manya C. Whitaker offers educators guidance for leading a school or district grounded in social justice that centers teachers - not just teaching practices - and that focuses on the belief systems that shape decision-making.

In Hacking Leadership, award-winning school administrators Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis demonstrate how to increase learning by leaving the office and engaging directly with all teachers and learners. They identify 10 problems with school leadership and provide dynamic, right-now solutions.

Hamish Brewer (aka the Tattooed Skateboarding Principal) grew up in a home disrupted by poverty, addiction, and family dysfunction. He understands the feelings of fear, lostness, and desperation that overwhelm too many children today - because that was his life. That experience is what drives him to work relentlessly to empower people living in the toughest areas to envision and create a better future for themselves. Disrupt the norm. That is the challenge Hamish, a Nationally Distinguished Principal, calls educators, students, families, and communities to accept.

In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?" and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign.

Distinguished academic and leadership coach Dr. Jon Singletary walks you through how to use the ancient wisdom of the Enneagram of Personality with modern contemplative practices to transform how you lead your department, school, college, or university. You'll learn to effectively balance the conflicting demands of your role with greater patience, skill, and peace-of-mind by changing how you think, act, and feel every day.

Studies in neuroscience reveal that the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. To stay competitive - academically, economically, and technologically - we need to apply the proven principles of disruptive innovation to our educational system. Disrupting Class will make you rethink your understanding of intelligence, reevaluate your current school program, and reinvigorate your commitment to learning.

From the bestselling authors of The Leadership Challenge and over a dozen award-winning leadership books comes a new book that examines a question of fundamental importance: How do people learn to become leaders? Learning Leadership is a comprehensive guide to unleashing the inner leader in us all and to building a solid foundation for a lifetime of leadership growth and mastery. The book offers a concrete framework to help individuals of all levels, functions, and backgrounds take charge of their own leadership development and become the best leaders they can be.

In Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, leadership coach Katie Anderson and Toyota leader Isao Yoshino bring you a remarkable book about what it means to learn, to lead, and to care. With a career that spanned nearly four decades at Toyota Motor Corporation, Isao Yoshino’s stories help us understand how Toyota intentionally developed the culture of excellence for which it is renowned today, and how one person learned to lead so that he could lead to learn.

From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen R. Covey illustrates how his principles of leadership can be applied to children of all ages. In today’s world, we are inundated with information about who to be, what to do, and how to live...

In Navigating Social Justice, Martin Scanlan introduces a comprehensive social justice schema that melds organizational learning with leading for equity. Scanlan distills wisdom gleaned from the experiences of a variety of educational professionals as well as from his own more than three decades of work in equity-focused partnership with elementary schools.

Built to Deliver distills 30 years of hands-on school system transformation into an eight-step execution framework. Whether you're leading a public school district, charter or private school network, community college, university, or education nonprofit, this framework helps turn bold strategy into measurable, daily action—so plans aren’t just made, they’re fulfilled. Most plans don’t fail from lack of effort. They fail in the gap between vision and execution. Built to Deliver helps close that gap.

Teaching, leading and learning are at the heart of every school and classroom. Our ability to grow and adapt to the ever-changing landscapes of education is what keeps our profession and ourselves moving forward. In Buddy, Bully & Beacon, we see how different personalities are drawn to various styles of teaching and leading. We examine archetypes and examples from pop culture to better understand how we can and must evolve.

In response to educators who are already fans of her best seller Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, Marilee Adams, the originator of Question Thinking, presents a compelling model for creating a classroom environment infused with curiosity, creativity, and caring. Through a moving story of a teacher on the verge of burnout, Adams demonstrates the powerful influence our mind-sets have on how we interact with our students, our colleagues, and ourselves.

Through candid storytelling and self-disclosure, Mistakes, Missteps, Missed Opportunities offers a refreshing departure from the idealized narratives of leadership, providing an unfiltered examination of the impact, context and lessons learned through errors made by real educational leaders. For new administrators, this book is intended to serve as a GPS, minimizing missteps and offering guidance through the treacherous early years.

Today’s learners face a complex future, where multilayered technological and societal issues will require new ways of problem-solving. This inspirational yet practical guide helps educators, counselors, and youth-development leaders build on students’ talents and interests to develop their desire for a better world, entrepreneurial mindset and personal leadership skills—so they can make a difference to their families, their communities, and society.

What if you could unlock the secret to creating an inclusive school culture where every student feels seen and heard? Find out how intersectionality holds the key! The cumulative effects of systemic marginalization as a result of disability, race, gender, and other identity-based labels can be emotionally exhausting for educational leaders and students. Addressing this bias in your school community could have yielded little to no results. But it’s not impossible to achieve. Every student in your school deserves to belong, and you can make that happen.