Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Facebook parenting: For the Troubled Teen

You probably saw this video, “Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen,” that went viral on YouTube last week. It first appeared on a Facebook page, belonging to a teenage girl. Her dad saw her graphic complaints, full of swear words, about how awful her life was—she hadn’t receive a new iPod, a new computer, a new cell phone and she wasn’t getting paid to do chores around the house, etc. So, her dad decided to respond to her Facebook grumblings with a post of his own. Be warned: his comments are a little bit graphic, but thousands of kids and adults alike have seen his video.

Watch this video:



Continue Reading

In: Parenting

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Two Biggest Reasons for Troubled Athletes

Troubled athletes are an unfortunate reality of working with any team.

I spoke to both a football coach and a basketball coach recently who relayed similar stories from their last season. Both had to dismiss four players from their teams because the troubled athletes couldn’t play as teammates. The athletes didn’t have a talent problem. They had a problem with discipline and perspective. The coaches both admitted they just didn’t have the time to get those troubled athletes up to speed—so they let them go.

I think there’s a deeper problem in this predicament. During their childhood and adolescent years, kids often experience something traumatic. They encounter one extreme or the other: either abandonment or abundance. Some troubled athletes experience both. Continue Reading

In: Education, Leadership, Parenting

Monday, February 13, 2012

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

Do you remember the Dr. Seuss’ book entitled, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street?  You probably read it as a kid. It was about some amazing things that occurred in an ordinary neighborhood and a quite common street.

Several days ago, I blogged about an unusual opportunity that I and our team at Growing Leaders had to speak to the school superintendents from all over the state of Georgia. Because of the attendees, we called the event: The Super Summit. It was a grand day—and a very different day—for everyone. I found myself reminded of this: And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street! One hundred and fifty superintendents showed up for a day of inspiration, study and re-tooling for how to best equip the next generation of kids who will be leading our country in twenty years. We were so pleased to have the chance to invest in these unsung heroes who are attempting to lead and repair a difficult education system. Continue Reading

In: Education, Leadership

Friday, February 10, 2012

Passion and Leadership

Today’s post is a guest blog by Steve Moore. He is a long-time friend and someone I respect deeply. Steve serves as the President of Missio Nexus. He is a also a member of the Growing Leaders speakers team and is available to provide leadership training to organizations.  His most recent book, Who is My Neighbor? Being a Good Samaritan in a Connected World, was released in May, 2011.

The word passion is used to describe a powerful range of emotions, from love to anger, hatred to joy. It is somewhat ironic that in leadership literature, passion is often associated with what happens to leaders when they don’t have it: lack of energy, loss of creativity, diminished motivation and ultimately burnout. Take the opening few sentences of an article on passion in Entrepreneur magazine for example: “You’re trying hard not to show it–you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling for your business…It’s time to rekindle your passion and renew your commitment as an entrepreneur.”

Passion is important for leaders for at least two reasons. Continue Reading

In: Leadership

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Correcting mistakes adults make with students-4

This week, I have blogged about the changes adults have made in the way we lead, teach and parent kids, over the last thirty years. Kids are definitely growing up in a more controlled—yet more paranoid—environment than I did.

Social scientists agree that kids today are highly confident, and believe they can change the world. Unfortunately, there have been some unintended consequences to our new leadership style. Over a four-day period I am suggesting four of them, and what we must do to balance the negative impact they bring:

  1.  Adults often won’t let kids fail.
  2. Adults often won’t let kids fall.
  3. Adults often won’t let kids fear.
  4. Adults often won’t let kids fight.

Today, let’s take a look at the fourth item we must correct. Continue Reading

In: Culture, Education, Generation iY, Leadership, Parenting

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