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Latest Articles

Diversity and Unity

1st November 2021

As a leader, you must understand the distinct difference between feeling different and feeling like you belong to a diverse group. One breaks down trust and the other builds it.

So long as the environment you create as a leader is safe, the most important thing you can bring to any team is competence. Ultimately, within the context of an organisation – a team with a specific, shared goal – being good at the thing you’re supposed to be good at is the most important part you can play.

As such, a productive leader will preference the right person for the job above all else. That person’s gender, sexual orientation, race, age or anything else shouldn’t matter when it comes to their position on the team. This, frankly, is easier said than done.

Be Strategic with Your Time

14th September 2021

You need to avoid “lost causes” at all costs. There’s no way around this fact.

A “lost cause” is any relationship or endeavour that will not, under any circumstances, lead to productive outcomes. A lost cause is different to something that simply doesn’t work out.

You may negotiate for a deal and end up needing to walk away. You may have to let go of an employee who can’t keep up with their work or leave your own job because it’s no longer fulfilling. These are cases where you try, and things don’t pan out the way you’d like. That’s the price of doing difficult things.

A lost cause is one where you have no hope of a positive outcome, even by compromise, no matter how hard you try. These instances are crippling to yours and your organisation’s wellbeing and productivity.

So how do you identify one, and what do you do about it?

The Badge of Busy-ness

31st August 2021

Are you busy?

I would be very surprised to hear that you’re not. We’re all busy. It seems that now more than ever before we are a culture defined by just how much we need to do. We work incredibly long hours, and are expected to work overtime if we’re to move up the ladder, or move the needle in any meaningful way.

Never Underestimate Our Nation's Young Minds

28th July 2021

Even as children, we seem to innately understand that there is such a thing as strong leadership, and recognise it when we see it, even if we don’t yet have the language for it.

The next step, then, is to give our young people that language, and more importantly, it must be a language that they share with the adults in their lives. We as adults, and especially those who teach leadership, must respect our future leaders. For many of us, that extends to trusting them quite a bit more than we currently do.

Why it is Leadership that Matters, Not the Leader

1st July 2021

A great leader must be many great things:

Strong.
Humble.
Intelligent.
Open-minded.
And so on.

But if these were enough, we wouldn’t still be having the constant, ever-evolving conversations crucial to the pursuit of great leadership.

Entitlement is Toxic to Culture

14th June 2021

A culture of responsibility is one of learned aptitude. When leaders and their employees take responsibility, they prove to others and to themselves that they are capable; that obstacles can be overcome, and that actions lead to results.

Conversely, a culture of entitlement is one of learned helplessness. Entitlement is the belief that you are owed something, and that when you do not receive what you are supposedly owed, it is a failing of your leaders. A culture of entitlement is a toxic one, because it teaches its members that complaining is the extent of their available responses to challenge and adversity.

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Interviews

Developing Productive Leaders with Stephen Scott

hosted by Shari Armistead at Independent Schools Queensland

Leadership consultant and author Steve Scott joins The School Bell to discuss the importance of developing capacity, self-reflection and social capital within independent school leaders. Steve’s candid interview gives listeners invaluable leadership tips, lessons from real life experiences and an overview of what to expect from the ISQ New Principals and Aspiring Principals Programs.

Future Thinkers Series – Great Ideas: The 15 Disciplines by Stephen Scott

hosted by Karen Beattie + Growth Faculty

When Stephen Scott was coming to the end of his career in the RAAF (a senior executive in a fighter squadron), he mapped out how he would leave a worthy legacy. He focused on three results he would need to achieve: 1. The productivity and quality of work achieved while he was responsible for leading others; 2. The capacity of that group to work well without him; and, 3. The improvement he made to the quality of life of those he led. This culminated in The 15 Disciplines, a checklist (now in book form) of necessary actions he would need to achieve his leadership legacy.

Do Life Better Podcast – Becoming an Influential and Productive Leader with Stephen Scott

hosted by Dave Jorna

Stephen Scott is quickly becoming the pre-eminent source for leadership inspiration within the Australian independent schools’ sector. He is well known as being a leader with an innate ability to change the way people think in a single conversation. Steve’s challenge: when you are faced with a challenge ask yourself, “what does this situation require of me?”, not “what do I require from this situation.”

Leadership Conversations

Podcast Series Hosted By Stephen Scott

Episode 15: Leading on the Currency of Passion

A Conversation with Catherine Clark, CEO Netball Queensland Cath Clark is the CEO of Netball Queensland and shares her insights into leadership in a world where ego is vital for success, but so too is … Episode 15: Leading on...