I've been reflecting on my personal slogan for this campaign about what effective trustees do--We know how to listen; we know how to lead. In approaching two individuals to consider running in this election--Stan Petersen and Freddy Latham--my discussion with them amounted to unpacking that slogan. It is because of my satisfaction with their answers in these two vital areas that I am confident to recommend them to you, along with my good friend and colleague, Preet Rai (see the John"s Picks section of this website).

My concern with these two areas--listening and leading--comes out of my many years as a leader myself, and as a student of management theory and practice. I have concluded that there are three things more than any other that can make or break an organization.

One of them, the effective management of change, is an area where Abbotsford boards of education over my 24 years as a trustee have distinguished themselves. We have been provincial leaders in a number of areas of educational delivery, and have seen steady improvements in student outcomes as a result.

The second is listening. There are those who would say that the current Board of Education has not excelled in this area, as I indicated in an earlier post regarding the Spring Break controversy. In the final analysis, that is for the voters to decide. But listening problems, and communication problems generally, are virtually always at the top of employee complaints in surveys that are done of organizational life. Empathetic listening does not come naturally to all people. It is hard work, but absolutely vital to organizational success.

And the third, of course, is leadership. Theories of leadership have evolved over the centuries, and even in the last forty years, with servant-leadership being a popular modern view. I have my own idea of what that means in practice, and would like to share it with you in my next post.