Gravity and Levity: Five Things Schools Must Do To Avoid Extinction

These 5 ideas range from allowing use of iPods & cellphones to giving
teachers more power to get rid of other teachers. Interesting but in
need of some refinement.

http://gravityandlevity.blogspot.com/2009/03/five-things-schools-must-do-to-avoid.html

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A Legacy of Excellence

There are people we meet, people we come to know, that inspire us through their commitment to excellence. Some organizations are able to design their entire culture around that simple concept... excellence in all endeavors, from personal to professional. You can feel it when you're around people like that; feel an energy, enthusiasm, optimism. They are people and organizations that not only respond well to challenges but more importantly seek out challenges in order to better themselves and those they serve. A commitment to excellence requires an ability to take risks - to risk failure, ridicule, and judgement. A commitment to excellence requires the wisdom to make the right choices - to choose long-term gains over short-term rewards.

Questions:

What tangible steps need to be taken to move a group towards a legacy of excellence?

How do leaders support risk? creativity? 

Will efforts to make institutional decision making more transparent to the group, allow for more effective personal decision making?