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Santa Fe Leadership Center
Monthly Newsletter 
January, 2010
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Greetings!
Welcome to a new year and a new decade!
Whether to call the year "twenty-ten" or "two thousand and ten" may be the first, but certainly not the last or the most challenging, decision you make this decade. Leaders in schools are faced with momentous decisions every day, and the process and the strategies behind those decisions may be more complex than you realize. Read Gary Gruber's piece in this newsletter on Executive Decisions and whet your appetite for a great session at the Santa Fe Seminar in April.
Also included in this month's newsletter is Tim's revisiting of Jim Collins' book Good to Great. It is still a seminal work. And finally, this month's media review explores two sets of Billboards "selling" a positive outlook in bleak times. Is this leadership?
To make your reading easier, we have linked the opening paragraphs of these articles to our new blog where you can read the full text when you have more time, where you can comment (and we hope you will), and where you can always go back and re-read or refer to something that has struck you as noteworthy.
Welcome to 2010 - however you decide to pronounce it. And we look forward to seeing you April 15-18 of this glorious year in Santa Fe!
Sincerely,
Gary R. Gruber Timothy R. McIntire Carla Robbins Silver
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Register Now
for our April Seminar
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April 15-18 Exercising leadership in schools is not easy. Leaders in school today face a number of challenges including tough economic conditions, unrealistically high expectations from parents, a rapidly changing youth culture influenced by the media and technology, and the nearly impossible task of communicating with a multitude of constituents with different, and often conflicting, needs. Will you decide to lead? Click here to learn more and register.
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SFLC Discourse on Leadership: Revisiting One of Five Seminal Works
by Timothy R. McIntire
Across the universe of school leaders with our many shades, stripes, and conditions, the basic tenets of Jim Collins' work have perennially rung true -- both experientially and expectationally. While on the one hand, Mr. Collins has framed our work in language we have appreciated - for example, the importance of building a clock, not telling time - on the other hand, wise practitioners discern the dissonance that vibrates still between his work as a student of the Social Sectors including schools, and our boots-on-the-ground experiences encountering ever new levels of expertise, of understanding, and of intention . . . (Click here to read the full article.)
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Seminar Spotlight
Making Decisions, the Dynamics of Executive Decisions
by Gary Gruber
Deciding to be a leader requires a conscious commitment, and the courage and confidence to take it all on, to accept the mantle of an awesome responsibility for making decisions that affect the lives of others. Experience along the way helps as does study, reflection and renewal. Talking with others who are experienced leaders helps too, as does taking time out to gain additional insights that make leadership easier and more joyful. That is the purpose of the Santa Fe Leadership Seminar, to assist and support those who wish to move up the leadership ladder (and those who want to be more effective on that top rung) .
In a recent, early morning conversation with a relatively new head of school, he related that one of the first challenges he faced was to mediate a conflict between two administrative colleagues. Each had a perception that the other was the obstacle to getting certain things done, accomplishing stated goals and achieving a positive, productive working relationship. . .(Click Here to read the full text of this article)
How do executives make good decisions and avoid the dangers of making bad ones? What are some strategies that you can employ when you have big decisions in front of you? What is foresight and can it be developed? Explore these and other questions about executive decisions making (among many other topics) at The Santa Fe Leadership Seminar.
Join us for:
Deciding to Lead
April 15-18, 2010
La Fonda on The Plaza
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Transforming the American Psyche
One Billboard at a Time
by Carla Silver
During the mid 1990s and early 2000s, the freeway from San Jose to San
Francisco was one of the busiest commuter arteries in the country.
Anyone making that commute during those years will remember Alfred.
Each day on the marquee of the Clarion Hotel, Alfred would post a
phrase, quotation, thought, or question of the day. Come rain or
shine, through boom and bust, Alfred's work was as reliable as the
postal service. With the exception of a major hotel event, the marquee
was devoted to Alfred's messages. Traffic noticeably slowed at the
approach to his billboard, as drivers paused at the sign, smiled,
laughed, or pondered. Alfred's messages were mostly optimistic or
humorous, but sometimes poignant or profound. Looking back, I can't
help but wonder how these ruminations affected the daily productivity
or mood of the commuters who passed by his sign. Was Alfred
singlehandedly transforming the mindset of an entire population of
Silicon Valley commuters?(Click here to read the full article.)
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About Us
We are excited to meet you. We are the Santa Fe Leadership Center team, Gary Gruber, Timothy McIntire and Carla Silver. Click here to read more about our careers and leadership experiences.
Please visit the Santa Fe Leadership Center to learn more about our programs and our other leadership services and opportunities.
Santa Fe Leadership Center
17 Camino Redondo, Placitas, NM 87043
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