ISJ Internation Schools Journal Envisioning the K-Graduate Education Paradigm
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ISJ November 2013: Book reviews – Mind your Head An Emotional Intelligence Guide for School Leaders

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By David Boddy

Reviewed by Terry Haywood

Abstract:

I have to begin this review with a confession – the educational leadership section of my personal library is extremely slim. As a young Head, many years ago, I did invest a certain amount of time, energy and money in books whose covers and titles seemed to offer the promise of a fast-track route to mastering the leadership and management challenges of my new role. Perhaps through laziness, or maybe because I put more trust in my own insights about the situations I had to face, the advice in those pages was rarely utilized.

Not surprisingly, my investment in the literature of leadership has deteriorated over time and the few books on my shelves today tend to be biographical accounts of how ‘great educators’ have striven to put their vision into practice rather than the quasi-scientific handbooks that pander to the latest trends in organizational theory. Contrasting with my literary experiences, I ought to add, I have gained a great deal from courses and workshops (and collaborating with colleagues and consultants) where the banter and dialectic of professional exchanges have always been immensely rewarding and inspirational.

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