• Home
  • About
  • Contact

The Book Chamber

~ J Clay Norton, Ed.D.

The Book Chamber

Category Archives: Observation

Challenges… They tell a story of who we are…

28 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by The Book Chamber in Change, Consistency, COVID-19, Culture, Decisions, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Purpose, Value

≈ Leave a comment

Challenges… Like them or not, our comfort zone rises to the occasion with them. Challenges are the one constant that cannot be avoided, and there is not a manual that even touches the surface of how to handle it all. What is important is learning how to handle those challenges. We either do that by trial and error or by learning from others. One key thought here is who are we learning from or should be learning from?

Every challenge we face is a pitfall or an opportunity. We either look like a genius or a goat (which does not mean “greatest of all time” in this context). Challenges make leaders make decisions. The one thing we cannot do is not make a decision when faced with a challenge.

challenges-scaled

We are living in a time of society where “self-preservation” is up close and sometimes personal. Now, that does not go against the idea that we must do what is right by ourselves (we have to take care of ourselves), but… What are leaders doing to do right by others? Too often, we see leaders who are putting their own success before the success of others. The social and emotional effects within organizations are at a point that many leaders do not want to acknowledge. They see it, while at the same time hoping it is a mirage.

We are hit with challenges every day, and they come in all forms and fashions. How will you handle them? One aspect of this 3+ years of the COVID pandemic challenge I have seen thus far is that many leaders do not know how to lead. The flip side of that statement is very true also. Many leaders have shown what leadership should look like. As true as they are, the realization of both views can be seen by and in the organization’s people. It does not take long to see what “moods” people are in as it reflects the culture established by the leadership.

Great leaders have a gravitational pull. They are consistent and always keep their feet on the ground with gravity. You are either pulling others toward you or pushing them away regarding leadership. Challenges are a way of showing others how strong your pull is. No one likes leaders who float themselves around and allow others to do the same.

It will be interesting to see where leadership goes in the next few months. As much unknown that lies ahead, challenges will certainly be there. Let’s make sure our feet are where we want them when challenges are staring us in the face before we decide to stand firm on our leadership.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Lead with Your Eyes Wide Open…

10 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Clarity, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Purpose, Vision

≈ Leave a comment

Have you ever tried walking a reasonable distance with your eyes closed? Obviously, you end up stumbling, but for some reason, you lower your head, thinking that you can “see” your steps and ways better.

Think for a moment with me on this… instead of thinking about walking with your eyes closed, how many leaders do you know who lead with their eyes closed? Just like walking, they lead with their head lowered, thinking they can “see.” Yes, they are short-sighted and closed-minded. Do not be this way.

99f6a6f5fa55b6524579df471c585258_original

When you lead with your eyes closed, it is nothing more than dead leadership walking. Leaders who lead this way think they have the only option for whatever the issue is. They are unwilling to flip the switch and see what is going on around them.

We live a unique, ever-changing world. However, we can only define our leadership by knowing what the variables are and being able to see all around us. If we continue to lead small and narrow, we will always lead cramped up.

Knowing our surroundings, knowing the people around you enables you to lead more efficiently, and once you begin to lead that way, your leadership world, for some reason, begins to breathe. No more uptight, stuffy, cramped… I need a leadership humidifier.

Those who lead with their eyes closed, lead a lie only they believe. Closed-eyed leaders hide their faces, afraid to see past their eyelids and stay mentally locked up. Their leadership always cast a shadow, “throwing shade.” Please prove to others that there is more to you.

For those leaders who do lead with their eyes open, thank you. Your “openness” allows others to thrive and shine. Reality is no longer a wanting fantasy. Others become more than they are because you lead with your eyes wide open.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others

©2019 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts?  Follow me on…

Image result for small facebook icon

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

It’s Dark In Here… Can Someone Turn On The Leadership Light?

25 Friday May 2018

Posted by The Book Chamber in Choice, Clarity, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Understanding

≈ 2 Comments

In the Greek… phos. That is what light is. It is the action of making visible things that are not seen. That is what light does, and it carries a leadership theme.

Turn-the-light-on-resized-1

How? Let’s contrast the two and see.

I like the thought of a sunbeam shining through a window in your house early in the morning. While dark, we do not know what all is there or around us. Even if we turn the light on, we still cannot see everything. But when that sunbeam shines through a window, we see every bit of “stuff” in its path, the dust, the muck, the filth. Dark leadership hides things. Leadership light brings everything in the open.

Do you remember the GE light bulb commercial slogan? “We bring good things to life.” Well, that is what leadership light does. It shows what type of leader you are exactly. When the leadership light is turned on, it brings to life (or out in the open) what a person’s dark leadership is, dead leadership.

Those are the things that dark leadership tries to hide and for the most part that is why those things are done in secret and behind people’s back. There is scheming, conniving, and anything/everything else that is done under handed, all done in dark leadership.

Dark leadership, dead leadership is repressing the core of what leadership should be today. Too many leaders are using it to advance themselves instead of helping others advance, which in turn, would help all advance. When we all are better, we are all better. That is what leadership light is about, helping others shine.

Remeber this… mold, stench, and slime grows in the dark. Don’t let your leadership be like this. Be the leader that shows and carries a leadership light. Turn it on. Let your leadership light diminish the darkness of dead leadership.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Is Your Leadership Useful?

20 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by The Book Chamber in Attitude, Choice, Communication, Decisions, Expectations, Humility, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Observation, Opportunity, Purpose, Servant, Useful

≈ Leave a comment

Walking through a store the other day, I saw something and thought, “I need that.” Then I thought, “Need that for what?, Would I use it?” And then, the inner struggle started and wore me out mentally. I was trying to justify something that I thought I needed, and it would be useful, but how often would I use it. It made me start thinking about “stuff” that I have, and the notion of its usefulness. Then I thought, “There has to be a hidden meaning behind this and probably a good leadership blog to go along.” And… Here we are…

If you are in a leadership role, you lead; sounds about right. But, do you lead in a useful manner? Are you making the most of every opportunity available to you and for others? The better question might be, “Do others see your leadership as being useful?”

The very first item we must talk about is “What does it mean for something to be useful?” A few thoughts come to mind; something with a purpose, something that can be used over and over for good. It should be something that you are not ashamed of using.

Now the opposite question is also true, “What does it mean for something to be useless?” Take the opposite of every statement above, and you have your answer.

Be-useful

Photo Credit: sportstvratings.com

What does it mean for your leadership to be useful?

  • It means that you set your leadership apart from the world’s definition of leadership.
  • It means that you are intentional about your leadership being for good purposes.
  • It means that your leadership is prepared to lead for the right reasons.

With leadership today, there are many “hypes” being promoted. What we must do is have a discerning mind to help us weed out the bad leadership that comes in many different forms and fashions; more exact, the useless leadership.

We must have a useful leadership mentality. The usefulness that goes against the norm and allows others to have a stake in the leadership game while finding usefulness in the leadership that we provide.

Be useful in your leadership.  Everyone around you will be better for it.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts
Follow The Book Chamber on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • January 2023 (3)
  • December 2022 (4)
  • November 2022 (3)
  • October 2022 (4)
  • September 2022 (5)
  • August 2022 (3)
  • May 2022 (4)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (3)
  • February 2022 (4)
  • January 2022 (4)
  • December 2021 (3)
  • November 2021 (3)
  • October 2021 (5)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (3)
  • May 2021 (3)
  • April 2021 (5)
  • March 2021 (3)
  • February 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (3)
  • November 2020 (3)
  • October 2020 (5)
  • September 2020 (4)
  • August 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (4)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (4)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (4)
  • October 2019 (4)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (3)
  • April 2019 (4)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (3)
  • November 2018 (4)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (4)
  • August 2018 (4)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (1)
  • May 2018 (4)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (4)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (3)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (3)
  • October 2017 (4)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (3)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (4)
  • May 2017 (19)
  • April 2017 (9)

Categories

  • A Christmas Story
  • Achieve
  • Actions
  • Advantage
  • Adventure
  • Advocate
  • Affection
  • Agenda
  • Align
  • Amazing
  • Amnesia
  • Anchored
  • Andy Griffith
  • Annoying
  • Appreciation
  • Assist
  • Attention
  • Attitude
  • Authentic
  • Balance
  • Banning Books
  • Bitterness
  • Brand
  • Camaraderie
  • Captive
  • Change
  • Character
  • Charlie Brown
  • Choice
  • Christmas
  • Circumstances
  • Clarity
  • Classroom Leadership
  • Classroom Management
  • Clear
  • Communication
  • Company
  • Compassion
  • confidence
  • Conflict
  • Connections
  • Conscience
  • Consistency
  • Contentment
  • Conversations
  • coronavirus
  • Counseling
  • Courage
  • COVID-19
  • covid19
  • Craft
  • Crisis
  • Culture
  • Deciding
  • Decisions
  • Decline
  • Desire
  • Detox
  • Dignity
  • Distance
  • Distance Learning
  • Distractions
  • Dr. Seuss
  • Drift
  • Easter
  • Echo Chamber
  • Education
  • Educational Leadership
  • Effective
  • Embrace
  • Emotion
  • Encouragement
  • Engagement
  • Entertainment
  • Essence
  • Expectations
  • Experience
  • Expertise
  • Expiration dates
  • Facade
  • Family
  • Focus
  • Foundation
  • Freedom
  • Friendship
  • Future
  • Gift
  • Giving
  • God
  • Grace
  • Grading
  • Gratitude
  • Grit
  • Heart
  • Heroes
  • History
  • Honest
  • Hope
  • Hope Stealer
  • Humility
  • Idealist
  • Ideals
  • Illusions
  • Importance
  • Influence
  • Insecurity
  • Inspiration
  • Integrity
  • Intentional
  • Intentions
  • Intolerance
  • Jesus
  • Joy
  • Kindness
  • Know Your Why
  • Leader
  • Leadership
  • Legacy
  • Legislators
  • Lesson Plans
  • Light
  • Listening
  • Looney Tunes
  • Love
  • Mandates
  • Manipulation
  • Mask
  • Math
  • Maturity
  • Meetings
  • Memories
  • Message
  • Misery
  • Momentum
  • Motivation
  • NERDLE
  • New School Year
  • Obedience
  • Observation
  • Opinions
  • Opportunity
  • Passion
  • Passive-Agressive
  • Patience
  • Peculiar
  • Perception
  • Perceptions
  • Perseverance
  • Pet Peeves
  • Pitfalls
  • Power
  • Preparation
  • Presence
  • Present
  • Pride
  • Promotion
  • Purpose
  • Reading
  • Reality
  • Reflection
  • Relationships
  • Rest
  • Sacrifice
  • Sensitive
  • Servant
  • Sincerity
  • Sinkholes
  • Spring Break
  • Standard
  • Students
  • Teacher Appreciation
  • Teacher Shortage
  • Teachers
  • Team
  • Technology
  • Thankful
  • Thanksgiving
  • Time
  • Tolerance
  • Transactional
  • Transfer Portal
  • Transformational
  • Transparent
  • Trust
  • Uncategorized
  • Understanding
  • Unity
  • Useful
  • Value
  • Vision
  • Whole
  • Word
  • WORDLE

Blog Stats

  • 24,221 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Book Chamber
    • Join 161 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Book Chamber
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: