Shifting

Kirsten Richert is an innovation expert who works with leaders on transformational efforts. Kirsten teaches design thinking, communication, and innovation at a number of colleges in the greater NYC area. Her teaching draws upon her experience in three core disciplines: business management, ideation methodology, and facilitation. She received her undergraduate degree in social science from Hampshire College, her master's degree in social studies education from Teachers College at Columbia University, and her training in innovation and facilitation methods from SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking) and ToP (Technology of Participation). Formerly vice president of product management and marketing at Pearson, the world's leading educational publisher, Kirsten oversaw the creation of breakthrough "digital-first" K-12 curriculum. Trained as a corporate on-call innovation coach, she's helped teams plan new efforts, generate ideas, and execute on strategies. Now, as an innovation catalyst, Kirsten guides change efforts for organizations, especially in the areas of education and human development. She is particularly interested in organizations that integrate the arts into their work towards social change, such as the Alliance for Arts and Health New Jersey, Real Beauty: Uncovered, and The Barat Foundation. Jeff Ikler is director of Quetico Career and Leadership Coaching, a firm dedicated to helping individuals overcome career issues and leaders develop sustained changes in their leadership practices and organizations. He received his certificate in coaching from the Coach Training Institute, a firm recognized as one of the leading coach-training organizations in the world. His approach blends data-driven coaching and consulting informed by working for more than thirty-five years in the corporate world. Jeff holds a master's in the teaching of history, along with a bachelor's in history, from the University of Illinois. He taught high school history in Maywood and Batavia, Illinois, for seven years. Like Kirsten, he is a certified innovation facilitator using the SIT (systematic inventive thinking) process. He is a former executive vice president at Pearson Learning where he directed the development of text- and technology-based products for all disciplines. He finished his career at Pearson by leading the development of its multidimensional Leadership Development program for school administrators, working closely with authors Lyle Kirtman and Michael Fullan. He currently works with Lyle Kirtman to support change in school districts and nonprofit organizations. Jeff and Kirsten also cohost Getting Unstuck-Shift for Impact, a podcast that helps individuals and organizations identify and overcome obstacles that stand in the way of implementing changes that lead toward achieving desired results and impact. Margaret Zacchei is an innovative educational leader and consultant with twenty-five years of experience as an elementary principal and teacher. Through Margaret's leadership and engagement of staff, the school where she was principal until 2017 received the highest recognition for achievement by the Connecticut Department of Education in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Margaret's leadership style can be summarized in three words: collaboration, communication, and community. Throughout her career, she has engaged teachers, students, parents, and fellow administrators to collaboratively define problems and implement practical solutions that achieve sustainable school improvement. Margaret is currently serving as a consultant and coach to school districts and administrations, sharing her experiences and perspective as a leader and change agent to help them achieve their goals. She is also coaching aspiring leaders enrolled in the University of Connecticut's administrator preparation program as they complete a two-year internship program in various districts in the state.

Foreword by Kimberly Davis

Knowing when and how to launch a change initiative is often as challenging as knowing when and how to hop onto a swinging jump rope. The process can be quite daunting. Shifting provides easy-to-manage examples of how leadership must enact change with intentionality and build guideposts that staff can utilize when navigating the complex variables of who, what, when, and why in organizational transformation. The authors lead the reader to understand that change is never simply a single initiative or series of events, rather it is a multifaceted process that involves shifting the mindset of the whole. The paradigm shift changes you from the inside out. Powerful... -- Gayle Stinson, Ed.D. Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change could be a breakthrough book on change management in education. The authors have done a masterful job of combining theory and practice for the reader. The special sauce is the quotes and stories of the practitioners throughout each chapter. The book comes alive to the point that it feels like you are in conversation and learning from the authors and the leaders that are sharing their knowledge. Every leader needs to read this book before they embark on change to choose the best strategies and to understand their role in the change process. -- Lyle Kirtman At last, a book on how to lead productive change that embodies the premise that educational leaders should model what we want to see in the classroom. We can trust Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change because it is filled with case studies about working educators from a variety of backgrounds. Reflective prompts guide teachers and administrators to adapt these insights to their unique school settings. Shifting speaks with an authentic voice and delivers the strategies that help us consider the changes we want so as to develop the schools we need. -- Peter Pappas Books on change tend to be either slickly glib and useless, or hopelessly complex and useless. Shifting offers a path that weaves together theory and stories from the front line, models and a practical call to action. It's an essential primer for change, whether you work in education or not. -- Michael Bungay Stanier As someone who knows first-hand how challenging it is to lead and sustain long-term, transformational change, I am especially grateful for this book. The authors condense insights from decades of research and dozens of frontline change leaders to extend a supportive hand to every educator who wants and needs to lead change, but doesn't don't know where to begin. My advice to every educator: keep this book close. If you don't have the answers now, this book gives you the right questions and invaluable "real world" gold nugget guidance - and that will be enough. -- April Armstrong A must-read for aspiring or current education practitioners, and highly recommended for leaders of organizations experiencing a culture of constant flux and change. In a time when "self" seems to eclipse "team," the authors remind us that people are at the center of any effective change, and leaders who demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, intentionality and mindfulness are far more likely to achieve organizational outcomes that have a lasting impact on all children. -- Lynne B. Pierson, Ed.D. We love Shifting because the authors are candid about what schools need to do to "shift" toward excellence. Too many change initiatives fail because of surface level actions and a focus on what we're doing instead of actually getting results. This book confronts that reality in an honest way, but also provides a call-to-action with exactly what leaders need to do next. The "Try This" sections are perfect--providing both a platform for reflection and the critical steps forward. -- Joseph Jones & T.J. Vari