Author Archive

Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication by Andrew Brodsky

Tuesday, May 27th, 2025

Ping
Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication by Andrew Brodsky will help you understand which mode of communication to use, when, and why. Be sure to get a copy for your professional development library.

1. The PING Approach

  • In addition to in-person, face-to-face communication, there are a variety of virtual methods that you can use to communicate. While face-to-face is usually considered superior, Andrew makes the case that it’s not always the best, depending on the context. This book gives the blueprint that will allow you to leverage technology to improve the quality of your communication. This is important as we are all virtual communicators.

Using Virtual Communication to Get Ahead: 2. To Meet or Not to Meet…That is the Question

  • Organizations have a lot of meetings and they are expensive when you consider the total time of the attendees. Meetings need clear goals, agendas, only the people necessary, and time limits. Some are not even necessary. Brainstorming should not start as a group activity. Start by having everyone come up with ideas independently and then share them anonymously with the team. Then get together to discuss, prioritize, and decide what to do.
  • Emails are asynchronous communication and should be answered in a day or so. If you need an urgent reply, don’t use email. Don’t have your email app open all day as you will be constantly interrupted. Andrew suggests that you check your email about three times a day.

3. Seeing is Believing. Or Is It?

  • Eye contact is just as important in video meetings as it in in face-to-face meetings. Make sure that you have good lighting. (Doug: This is a common mistake.) Avoid back lighting, which can come from lamps or windows when the sun is up. Keep your camera on as no one is impressed by a black screen with a person’s name on it. Don’t use novelty backgrounds, look professional. Bookcases are good. Appearance matters. If you know how others will be dressed, match them. If you don’t know, err on the side of being more formal. Be honest when touting your capabilities. Be sure that you can walk the talk.
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

A Parent’s Guide to Cultivating Deeper, Lasting Self-Confidence in Their Children by Emily Graham

Friday, May 23rd, 2025

Children

A Parent’s Guide to Cultivating Deeper, Lasting Self-Confidence in Their Children by Emily Graham

Every parent wants to see their child walk through the world with their head held high, resilient and proud of who they are. But confidence isn’t something you can wrap in a box and hand over—it’s a process, a relationship, a set of experiences that shape how your child sees themselves. Confidence is built slowly, through trials and triumphs, and most of all, through the messages your child receives about their own worth. If you’re serious about raising confident kids who become confident adults, you need more than pep talks. You need to be intentional, consistent, and open to evolving alongside them.

Praise the Process, Not Just the Prize

It’s tempting to cheer only when your child brings home the trophy or aces the test, but if you want to nurture genuine self-confidence, focus your praise on their effort, not just the end result. Kids internalize what gets noticed, so when you consistently acknowledge their persistence, creativity, or courage to try, they start to value those traits in themselves. This teaches them that success isn’t about natural talent or being better than others—it’s about showing up, again and again, even when things get tough. Confidence grows from knowing that they have what it takes to keep going, even when the scoreboard doesn’t show it.

Smartphones: The Confidence Killer in Their Pocket

The impact of smartphones on your child’s self-confidence is subtle but persistent. While they provide entertainment and connection, they also introduce a nonstop flood of comparison, filtered perfection, and social validation through likes and comments. Kids begin to outsource their self-worth to an algorithm that’s designed to keep them scrolling, not growing. Instead of learning to validate themselves from within, they chase approval in the form of emojis and follow counts. As a parent, you need to have honest conversations about what they’re seeing, create screen-free time, and remind them that real confidence isn’t built online—it’s built offline, in the messiness of real life.

Entrepreneurship as a Confidence Catalyst

If you’re raising a teen who’s curious, ambitious, or eager to break the mold, introducing them to entrepreneurship might be the best thing you can do for their confidence. Running a small business gives teens hands-on experience with solving problems, making tough decisions, and managing real responsibilities. They’ll learn quickly that mistakes are just part of the journey, and that with enough perseverance, they can turn an idea into something real. Whether they’re selling art prints or mowing lawns, this experience shows them they can shape their own future. For those just starting out, using an all-in-one business platform like ZenBusiness can offer practical tools like website building, logo design, and business registration, making the leap into entrepreneurship less intimidating and more empowering.

Let Them Make Real Choices

One of the fastest ways to chip away at a child’s confidence is to constantly make decisions for them, even with the best intentions. You’re not just managing their schedule—you’re teaching them whether their voice matters. Empower your child by letting them choose what clothes to wear, what hobbies to pursue, or how to decorate their room. These aren’t small things. They’re practice rounds for bigger decisions later in life. Kids who are allowed to make choices—and experience the consequences—learn to trust their judgment and develop an internal compass, which is the foundation of true confidence.

Support Their Curiosity Without Micromanaging

Every child is wired to explore. Whether it’s learning a musical instrument, joining a coding club, or getting dirty in the garden, trying something new opens the door to unexpected talents and passions. But stepping into new territory can feel risky for kids, and that’s where you come in. Your role isn’t to push or pressure—it’s to stand beside them, offering encouragement and helping them find joy in the journey rather than fearing failure. When kids see that their worth isn’t tied to perfection, they feel free to experiment and discover who they really are.

Normalize Setbacks as Part of Growth

Failure isn’t the opposite of success—it’s part of the same path. Kids who believe they need to get everything right the first time are often paralyzed by fear, avoiding challenges and shrinking from opportunity. The antidote? Teach them that stumbles are just part of learning. Talk about your own mistakes. Ask questions like, “What did you learn from that?” instead of “Why didn’t that work?” Help them reframe setbacks as clues, not judgments. When kids stop fearing failure, they start taking ownership of their growth, which builds an unshakeable kind of confidence rooted in resilience.

Celebrate Their Differences

No child thrives when they’re constantly being measured against someone else. Whether your kid is introverted, wildly creative, neurodivergent, or marches to a beat all their own, make sure they know those traits are assets, not liabilities. Confidence doesn’t come from fitting in—it comes from standing out and being proud of it. Encourage your child to lean into what makes them unique. Tell them the world needs more original thinkers, more dreamers, more honest voices. When they believe their authenticity is valuable, they’re less likely to seek validation from external sources and more likely to trust themselves.
The world will eventually test your child’s self-worth, but your voice will always be their first mirror. When you focus on effort instead of results, create space for choice, nurture their curiosity, and frame setbacks as growth, you’re planting seeds of confidence that will take root and flourish. By celebrating what makes them different and offering love that doesn’t falter, you’re helping them build an identity that’s not dependent on trends or trophies. And when you counter the noise of social media and introduce real-world experiences like entrepreneurship, you’re showing them what real confidence looks like in action.

Emily Graham
Emily is the creator of MightyMoms.net. She believes being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around and wanted to create a support system for moms from all walks of life. On her site, she offers a wide range of info tailored for busy moms — from how to reduce stress to creative ways to spend time together as a family. You can email her at emilygraham@mightymoms.net. She lives in Arizona.

Explore a world of innovative educational insights and practical strategies with Dr. Doug Green to help make math relevant, manage school anxiety, and much more!

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working by Dan Heath

Tuesday, March 25th, 2025

Reset
Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working by Dan Heath shows how you identify leverage points that can improve any organization. He encourages you to look for bright spots, reallocate your resources, start with a burst, recycle waste, tap motivation, and let people be more autonomous. These principles apply to any organization so school leaders should take note and get a copy.

Introduction

  • Dan starts with a story about a hospital mail room that went from taking three days to deliver packages to delivering all packages the day they arrived. They went from dysfunction as the natural state of affairs to resetting and getting unstuck. Sometimes it takes more resources to sustain a bad system. The key thing is to look for and find a leverage point to transform the way you work. Part one will help with this. Learn how to shake off bad habits so you can go from spinning your wheels to rolling forward.

Section I – Find Leverage Points: 1. Go and See the Work.

  • If you are a manager of others, or a school administrator, you need to go see what people and students are doing in person. Sitting around a table and talking about something is not the same as seeing it up close. (Doug: As a principal, I prided myself on managing by walking around, which allowed me to see what students and teachers were doing.
  • In some cases, the work people are doing may not be visible. This is when you have to get creative and make it visible. Be sure to check out the links in this book at Reset-Links.

2. Consider the Goal of the Goal

  • Before you sink effort into a difficult task, make sure it’s the right task. If you lock into a goal too quickly, you may be blind to the bigger picture and alternate routes. Dan introduces the concept of the miracle question, which helps you identify the first productive steps to take. Be skeptical about the goals you select. Asking what’s the goal of the goal helps identify your destination and why it is important.

3. Study the Bright Spots

  • Bright spots are your most engaged employees. You need to analyze them and do what you can to replicate them.

4. Target the Constraint

  • Constraints are limiting factors or bottlenecks. They are standing in the way of greater success. As you deal with one constraint, the constraint will shift to somewhere else. Dan tells the story of Chick-fil-A and how their constraint shifted from ordering to food prep as they worked to maximize their drive through business. If you don’t direct investments at your constraint, they may be wasted. If you change your goal, your constraint may also change.

5. Map the System

  • Sometimes you have to take a big picture view of a situation to improve things. One approach is to look at multiple silos at the same time to see if a change in one can help the other. There is a story here that shows how this can work. There is another story about how a methane monitoring satellite launched in 2024 is helping the industry find and plug leaks of this greenhouse gas. Be sure to ask questions like why do we do that and can we do it better?
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Tony Blair on Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century

Monday, February 17th, 2025

Boook
Tony Blair on Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century summarizes what Tony has learned as prime minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007 and consulting with leaders in many other countries as head of the Tony Blair Institute. Although this book is written for aspiring politicians, I believe that each short chapter contains timeless lessons for leaders and potential leaders in any field.

Introduction

  • When leaders take over, most listen carefully as they know they have a lot to learn. The second stage occurs when they have become acclimated and start to think they know everything. In the final stage, they realize that what they know is not the sum total of the necessary knowledge associated with their leadership scope.
  • Tony has concluded that the key attributes of leadership are the same whatever the leadership position. While politics has its place, it isn’t the same as leadership. Giving people what they want is not always what they need. Leaders need to do what is in the best interests of the lives they touch.

Part I: Taking Power – 1. Be the Leader with the Plan

  • You must have a plan. It needs to contain your destination, milestones, and priorities and accurately describe the essentials of what you want to achieve. Priorities are essential as if you try to do everything, you just might do nothing. Change takes time and you will need to consider mid-course corrections as you move along. Not all of what you plan is likely to work as intended.

2. Make the Center Strong

  • The skill set you need as a leader is not the same as the skill set that gets you the job. A strong center is needed to initiate and carry though on a change. The most important person is the one who runs your schedule. Leaders are constantly being asked for their time and if they can’t say no, they need someone who can. Meetings and events can be real time suckers. Leave them as soon as you can. Be sure to make time for yourself to recharge and time for your family.

3. Prioritization: Try to Do Everything and You Will Likely Do Nothing

  • Once you get your leadership position, ask what you would like to accomplish the most. You can work back from these items to set your priorities. Tony sees five as a good number. Your followers will all have their pet projects. While they may not be at the top of your list, they don’t need to know that. Priorities have to be doable. Be sure to perform a feasibility check on each one. This process may not be easy, but it deserves your attention along with all of the uplifting rhetoric of hope you can summon.

4. Good Policy Is (Nearly) Always Good Politics

  • Always put policy first and politics second. Avoid maters of ideology and convenience when crafting policy. Policy should be evidence-based. Work hard to do research so you know what you are talking about. Always think about a topic as if you were the person most impacted. Good policy strives to make change that will last rather than a quick splash. Be sure to look outside of your organization (country/school) for bright ideas and be sure to think ahead.

5. It’s All About the People

  • The people Tony refers to here are the people who directly report to you. They need to be smart, hard working, loyal to you and to each other, and able to handle stress. Internal debate is healthy, not disruptive. Don’t reject someone just because they are smarter than you. Be sure to promote your most talented people. They are more likely to challenge you if you don’t. Effort you put in to finding the right people may be the most important thing you do..

6. Curb Your Bureaucracy by Cultivating It

  • As a leader, you will have a bureaucracy to deal with so you need to get to know what it does and doesn’t do. bureaucracies tend to be permanent while the leader tends to be temporary. They are not known for creativity or innovation. Be clear about results, delivery, and on getting things done and the system will adjust. Look for opportunities to re-skill and retrain it. Don’t expect it to be a substitute for a leader and a team.

Part II: Delivery – 7. Democracy or Not, It’s All About Delivery

  • As a leader, your success will be judged by what you deliver. The real test of government is making change that works, which is delivery. If you can deliver a higher quality of life with improved health care, education, and security, you should be reelected. Governments turnover due to instability, which is caused by the failure to deliver. People sometimes accept a strong man because the know that something will get done. Corruption is the enemy of delivery.

8. The Supreme Importance of Strategy

  • Strategy assists in the long-term fulfillment of your overall plan. Without a strategy, failure is likely. Tactics are the smaller decisions that you make on a daily basis. It’s important that they align with your long-term strategy. You have to reconcile your day-to-day tactics to your core strategy. When fundamental facts change, but sure to see if you need to adjust your strategy. You should seldom discard it altogether.

9. Be a Change-Maker, Not a Place-Holder

  • The world is changing fast. If you are standing still, you get left behind. If you are an elected leader, you probably got elected by promising to make some changes. Appointed leaders may have the same expectations. You need to create a constituency for your change so you have some support. Consider how you can break big changes into a series of smaller ones and take them incrementally. Consider how changes will benefit the consumers rather than the providers.

10. Le Suivi: Delivering

  • Two things are necessary here. The priorities you choose must be measurable and you must be able to harvest reliable data so you can show that you accomplished your priority. When it comes to delivery, the leader needs to be actively involved. The leader need not do all of the work, but the leader must know what’s happening.
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Practical Strategies to Manage Stress in Daily Life by Emily Graham

Friday, January 10th, 2025

Graham
Image: Freepik

Practical Strategies to Manage Stress in Daily Life by Emily Graham

offers great advice for teachers, parents, and kids. Please share.

In an era where demands on our time and energy are relentless, managing stress is not just beneficial but essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The pressures of modern life can lead to overwhelming stress, affecting both mental and physical health. However, by adopting practical strategies, individuals can mitigate these effects and foster a more balanced existence.

Limit Exposure to Social Media

Social media often amplifies the pressures people feel to meet unrealistic expectations, fueling self-doubt and anxiety. The constant comparison to curated snapshots of others’ lives can distort perceptions of personal success and happiness. Overexposure to idealized images and narratives may also contribute to feelings of inadequacy or fear of missing out. These platforms can blur boundaries between reality and projection, leaving individuals vulnerable to heightened stress or diminished self-worth.

Find Stress Relief Through Hobbies and Recreation

Engaging in hobbies and recreational activities can be a powerful way to manage stress, offering both mental and physical benefits. Activities like painting, jogging, or even gardening can release endorphins, your body’s natural mood enhancers, which help reduce anxiety and elevate your mood. These pursuits also provide a mental break from daily responsibilities, allowing you to focus on the present moment and enjoy a sense of accomplishment. By incorporating hobbies into your routine, you not only improve your physical health but also foster a more positive mental state.

Try Holistic Approaches to Stress Management

Alternative therapies offer a natural approach to managing stress and fostering relaxation in everyday life. Magnesium is a vital mineral that helps relax muscles and calm the nervous system, making it a popular choice for stress relief. Ashwagandha, an adaptogen, supports the body’s stress response by balancing cortisol levels and promoting a sense of calm. CBD and THCa diamonds interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system to reduce tension and enhance relaxation without causing a high.

Leverage Technology for Effective Stress Management

In our fast-paced world, utilizing technology can be a powerful ally in managing stress. Wearable devices with biofeedback sensors, such as those that track heart rate, offer insights into your stress patterns. By pairing these devices with meditation apps, you can enhance relaxation and maintain a consistent sleep schedule, both crucial for reducing stress. Additionally, stress relief apps provide immediate interventions during high-stress situations, potentially improving your quality of life.

Try Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy taps into the powerful connection between scent and emotion, using essential oils to promote relaxation and balance. Certain fragrances, like lavender or chamomile, are known for their calming effects, while citrus or peppermint can uplift and energize. These oils are often diffused, applied topically, or added to baths, offering a simple way to create a soothing environment. Engaging the senses through these natural scents can ease tension and encourage a sense of well-being.

Integrate More Exercise into Your Routine

Exercise provides a natural outlet for stress, channeling physical energy into movements that promote mental clarity and calm. Activities like walking, swimming, or strength training stimulate the release of endorphins, which elevate mood and reduce tension. Beyond these immediate benefits, consistent physical activity helps regulate sleep patterns and build resilience to everyday challenges. The rhythmic nature of many exercises also creates a meditative state, offering a mental break from worries.

Seek Help from Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare professionals are essential in managing stress-related health conditions, offering a comprehensive approach that addresses both physical and psychological aspects. By collaborating with specialists like endocrinologists, they can tackle underlying metabolic issues that may worsen stress. This holistic strategy is crucial because stress can lead to significant physiological changes, such as altered hormone levels, potentially resulting in chronic health problems. Addressing these issues early can prevent the escalation of stress-related disorders, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes.
Stress management thrives on consistency and intentionality, weaving small but meaningful habits into daily life. By fostering mindful awareness and embracing supportive practices, it becomes easier to navigate challenges with greater ease. These approaches empower a stronger sense of control and emotional balance in the face of life’s demands.

Emily Graham
Emily is the creator of MightyMoms.net. She believes being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around and wanted to create a support system for moms from all walks of life. On her site, she offers a wide range of info tailored for busy moms — from how to reduce stress to creative ways to spend time together as a family. You can email her at emilygraham@mightymoms.net. She lives in Arizona.

Visit DrDougGreen.Com to explore curated book summaries and educational resources to enhance your professional development.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus