Posted on September 26, 2008 by Israel Galindo

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Bringing about organizational change

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Israel Galindo

Bringing about organizational change isn’t rocket science, but it’s not easy either. Those who step into a leadership position that requires engaging in institutional and organizational development in effect and by default will need to bring about changes on several levels: administrative, cultural, organizational, relational, and in processes and structures. In other words, institutional development is systemic. It requires addressing change in everything all together at the same time. Continue reading →

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Teaching philosophy

Posted on September 23, 2008 by Israel Galindo

I’m just beginning to gear up to teach the educational philosophy course during J-term. It’s a course I enjoy teaching and one I think of critical importance in the training of “real educators” for the church. There is some frustration in holding the conviction that philosophy is critical to one’s effectiveness as an educator, and living into the pragmatic limitation of being able to teach only one educational philosophy course during a three week J-term. But sometimes one does the best one can with what one has (how’s that for a philosophy?). Continue reading →

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Five concepts of leadership

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Israel Galindo

I’m delivering another presentation on leadership this week. Sometimes an invitation to speak comes with the requirement to follow the theme of the conference or event. That’s a hit-or-miss prospect. I thought we were gratefully past the millennial-themed emphasis (leadership in the new millennium, etc.), but apparently not. The invitation was to speak on “leadership in the 21st century.” The dilemma for this speaker is that I don’t think the “new century” is a factor of significance in thinking about leadership. The point being that it misses the point. Continue reading →

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Posted on September 19, 2008 by Israel Galindo

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Trachtenberg on Leadership

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Israel Galindo

I’m becoming a fan of Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University. In a recent entry in The Chronicle Review (of the Chronicle of Higher Education) he talks about vision and the predilection of leaders to (over)use metaphor.

Here are a couple of excerpts: Continue reading →

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Posted on September 12, 2008 by Israel Galindo

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Playing ball, playing nice

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Israel Galindo

I’m not a big fan of sports analogies or metaphors, especially from the pulpit and in reference to matters spiritual. I find them at least irksome and at times insufferable. When in seminary a local church pastor (whose church we visited often only because of proximity to the seminary) used sports analogies as a staple in his sermons. After a while it was evident that he probably spent more time consulting ESPN than the ISBE.* However, it seems that sports analogies have a long history. Continue reading →

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Online literacy

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Israel Galindo

I used to find it difficult to correct student papers on the computer screen, preferring to print out dozens of pages to correct then with red pen in hand. Over the years my predilection has switched: I’ve come to prefer editing on the computer screen. I rarely print out student work submitted via computer (e-mail or via our seminary online learning system). I correct papers and projects on the computer screen, make annotations, add links to appropriate internet help sites, and then e-mail it back to the student. I’m saving a lot of red ink and paper these days. Continue reading →

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Posted on September 5, 2008 by Israel Galindo

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