Relentless Leadership with Yaw Obeng

Intro: As I prepared for this week’s episode, I traded in personal anecdotes with a traditional story, one about two farmers and their approach to change.

One always bought the latest tools for his farm, hoping they would solve his problems. Meanwhile, his neighbor focused on building relationships with other farmers, learning from their experiences, and sharing his own knowledge. 

When a drought hit, the first farmer struggled alone with his fancy equipment, while his neighbor’s network came together to devise solutions. 

In the end, it was the approach of building in instead of buying in, and harvesting the wisdom of his community that led to a thriving farm and a stronger, more resilient village. My guest today, Yaw Obeng, taught me that term, building in.

In Part 1, we talk about how he chose the word relentless for their theme and how it became a living word.

In Part 2, during his After-Action Review, Yaw describes the changing of attendance areas and what he learned from that experience. 

I am Peter Stiepleman and this is An Imperfect Leader.

 

Bio: Yaw Obeng holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, history, and health sciences from the University of New Brunswick, Canada and a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling Psychology from the University of Toronto. He also has a Master’s Certificate of Business Performance and Risk Management from York University.

 

 

PS: At one point, Yaw tells me about the creation of a Super Council. I decided to see what AI would create if I asked it to create a super council led by a relentless superintendent wearing a cape. I added the HM for Hickman Mills. 😊

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

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NEW EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

"What do we want to create together?" 

So proud to have co-written the foreword with Zach Taylor to this essential book on Human-Centered School Transformation. If you're a school leader looking to make sense of what you know to be true about schools, check it out. 

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My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available at Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com to order a copy.