Blending Leadership Six Simple Beliefs for Leading Online and Off

An organizational approach to more effective school leadership, online and off

?Leadership, especially in a school setting, is too important to be merely intuitive. In this generous book, Steve and Reshan outline a new way of thinking for a new kind of leader. Recommended.?

Seth Godin, author of What to Do When it?s Your Turn (and it?s Always Your Turn)

"If you're a school leader, Blending Leadership is the book you need to guide your thinking in today's increasingly networked educational environment. Your students and staff may have varying degrees of comfort with technology, but this book will give you solid guidance on how to lead them both online and offline and chart a path to the future.?

Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive

Blending Leadership provides all school leaders with a unique approach to utilizing technology for more effective learning and leadership. As the online aspects of schools become just as important as their brick-and-mortar counterparts, leaders must be as effective screen-to-screen as they are face-to-face. Drawing from research, experience, and real-world examples, this book explores and unpacks six core beliefs necessary for the blended leader to succeed.

Between email, websites, apps, updates, tweets, attachments, infographics, YouTube, and unceasing notifications, most people are inundated with digital detritus, and they either grow to ignore it or get swept under it. Effective blended leaders see these distractions as spurs to action, models, test cases, remixable commodities, and learning opportunities. Blending Leadership gives you the perspective you need to excel and the knowledge to leverage the tools at your disposal.

Acknowledgments xv

About the Authors & the Artist xvii

Introduction 1

Belief #1 Blended Leaders Engage with Thought Leaders and Engage as Thought Leaders 19

Belief #2 Blended Leaders Design Spaces and Care for Spaces 37

Belief #3 Blended Leaders Reject Insularity and Embrace Sharing 58

Belief #4 Blended Leaders Challenge Meeting Structures and Change Meeting Structures 90

Belief #5 Blended Leaders Articulate a Mission and Advance a Mission 113

Belief #6 Blended Leaders Keep the Off-Ramp Open and Use It Frequently 136

Conclusion 161

References 178

Index 183

STEPHEN J. VALENTINE is an educator, school leader, writer, and serial collaborator. He serves as the assistant head, Upper School, and director of Academic Leadership at Montclair Kimberley Academy.

DR. RESHAN RICHARDS is an educator, researcher, and entrepreneur. An adjunct assistant professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, Reshan is also the chief learning officer and cofounder of Explain Everything.