Nov. 1 marks that time of year when highly ambitious, slightly delusional folks like me take on the self-imposed quest of writing a 50,000-word novel in one month’s time. The challenge is called National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. As arduous a task as it is, there are many strategies designed to help… Read More Management from the Road: National Novel Writing Month

Amid this time of chaos and questions about social injustice and inequitable treatment, it remains important for our emerging leaders to acknowledge the evolving demographics of the workforce, and recognize the benefits of hiring and nurturing a diverse team of employees. The research seems to agree that the variety of backgrounds, experiences and expertise of… Read More Hope and Justice

For those of us in academia, this is the time our attention turns to the many new students we are about to greet and how to help them have the best semester possible. Like you, I spend days thinking about the ways I can facilitate their learning in the subject area as well in the… Read More A New (Academic) Year

Students, teachers and some nonprofit executives are on a different calendar than most other folks I know. Our years end in June and nothing much of great consequence happens until it starts over in September. It’s therefore a very good time for organizations such as mine to venture into strategic planning. If your nonprofit is… Read More “DIY” Strategic Planning

I occasionally come across students who, to the judgmental eye, seem to strive for mediocrity. They admittedly put in minimal effort, study infrequently, calculate what they MUST do to pass and almost exclusively show up when they have to and not one time more. As a new faculty member (and closet perfectionist), this behavior used… Read More The Definition of Success

A new wrestling superstar tag team is coming up the ranks, Enzo and Big Cass. The one called Enzo is a fast talking, fast-moving character whose gift of gab seems to make up for his lack of height. Big Cass is over 7 feet tall. Watching them wrestle, one can see while they might not… Read More Management from the Road: You Can’t Teach That

One evening earlier this week, a friend and I went to a luxurious dinner at a local resort. We don’t indulge that often, so we really indulged: mixed drinks, appetizers, entrees, desserts and coffee. Because we’re fairly slow eaters, plates of all sizes stacked up on our table. As we wondered how we were going… Read More Management from the Road: Planning and Organizing

I am fortunate to view public administration from two perspectives—I teach in higher education and I run a nonprofit organization that provides an array of human services. Over the years, I have had interactions with students, employees and former employees that have given me pause. Here are three examples, all variations on the same theme.… Read More Management Lessons from the Road: They Hear You

Over the holiday (and thanks to good weather), I had the opportunity to travel on some of the back roads of the northeast. I came across a relic that is sure to show up in the history books: a gas station without a convenience store, doughnut shop or “pay at the pump” service. Before you… Read More Management from the Road: Change Is Gonna Come

My teaching philosophy is rather simple: Help students learn by any means. Consequently, I use a variety of instructional strategies such as lecture, small group activities, elements of the flipped classroom (the activities, not the videos), friendly competitive games and case analysis to name a few. One controversial part of my teaching is the “open… Read More Learning by Any (and all) Means