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The #ExecutiveFunction of Leading as a #SpecialEducator From the Front; #ManOnFire




Have you heard of the crab cage analogy? It's good. Basically when a crab enters a sea-floor cage laid by fishermen it may find some bait and it may see that it can easily get out still safely, but other crabs soon come to the scene and the cage quickly gets filled with crabs. Each time a crab tries to 'break out' instinctively, the other crabs try to claw it down. No crabs get out. They keep each other in check.

I am a Special Educator on a mission. I busted out of the crab cage and I am not going back. 

True leaders need to go through all kinds of failure first as they come closer and closer to success by their perseverance. I think and feel that this requires love. Love for what you do and why you are doing it. Currently, I am in an 'all-out' campaign for the heart of  parents with kids with autism, ADHD, and mild executive function skill deficits in Puerto Rico. The steam engine is pushing, the coal is being heaved into the fire, and the train horn is being blasted. The instructional concepts I bring onto the island are here to stay. Already, their is a horse ranch in Lajas, Puerto Rico servicing adults with special needs who has 'green lighted' a proposal for CoachBill.US taking over program and instructional direction.

I was at Hacienda Culminante yesterday (25 minutes from Aguadilla Airport that flies to JFK (NYC) and we are moving forward with CoachBill.US and Life Skills Corp. establishing an international center that provides natural executive function skills and hemispheric development for kids and adults with autism. ADHD, executive function skill deficits, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Mitochondrial deficit, and every special need under the sun. 

The Hacienda boasts a newly-built, Lego-themed residential house for children who can sleep over at the ranch. Modem, air-conditioned offices converted from horse stables, trained staff in Horse Therapy, Occupational and Physical therapists, fifty two acres of horse-back riding land, and a sleek home-style welcome center that would fit right in with an international crowd.  

My program overlaps with many skills taught through other island programs, but my concept and approach is nowhere to be found on the island. It is not taught at schools, it is not found in centers.  It is not being practiced in homes on the island, and yet it leads to rapid natural executive function skill development, hemispheric balancing, and a repetitive sense of accomplishment via my customizable frameworks.

I encourage athletic, passionate Special Educators to contact me, and Venture Capitalist to start a conversation with me. I am forming a small team on the island. This is independent contract work, which is performance-based. Special Educators with graduate degrees coveted. Team members who excel can eventually get contract work from CoachBill.US in other locations serviced (Connecticut, New York, Marhas Vineyard).

At the same time I am staging a rear stronghold to empower 'at risk' teenagers at the poverty line in Bridgeport, Connecticut with the first ever School of Executive Function Skills & Entrepreneurship at the Wakeman's Boys and Girs Club to run one week each academic month.

Nothing comes easy, though. 

Most of the time a leader has to work alone a long time before others join in. If I want to make things happen as a leader I have to put myself out their, anticipate success not JUST being the end result, but success being the relationships I make and nurture along the way, and the daily stick-to-it-iveness practiced as I keep to my daily routine. 

Failure is great also. If I have found failure then I know I have tried. I get up and keep moving because failure, plus failure, plus failure, plus failure, plus failure, plus failure, plus failure, equals success! (mental flexibility, goal-directed persistence, focus, sustaining attention, emotional control).

I keep adding the plus and I do land on success.  If I stop adding the plus, everything stops. My dream is to do what God commands. God commands people to love one another. So I put myself in a profession where success is measured closely to the love I demonstrate through my work. Leading from the front can be very tough, especially in Special Education. It can be burdensome. 

No one cared about what many great visionaries had to say, until they saw what they could do. 

1. The executive function skills required to lead from the front, and not the back integrate multiple EF skills simultaneously, with foresight (the ability to anticipate and predict) and goal-directed persistence leading the pack.

2. Leading from the front requires experience, vision, passion and the ability to not get bogged down as a routine by leading from the back.  (Prioritization, Self-Monitor, Goal-Directed persistence.)
Be it in a corporation, a coalition, a small group, a MARRIAGE, or a family, the leader has to have a clear understanding of his or her mission and daily purpose, more so than any other member because the whole operation rests on them to a great degree. (self-awareness, focus) 

4. Being clear in the values, mission and purpose literally shows up in your voice and physical actions, even by the pace and gait of your walk. (behavior modulation, focus)

5. Being clear in the values, mission and purpose enhances one's ability to get others to also identify with the values, mission and purpose.  (behavior modulation, focus)

6. True leaders are those that lead from the front and are wise enough to know they are not smart enough  always. They delegate responsibility to others and avoid forward-momentum of the endeavor from stopping. (foresight)

7. To be a leader, you need heart, you need to believe in what you are doing and why you are doing it, and you need to know what you are doing. (self-realization)


CoachBill.US operates in Connecticut, New York, Martha's Vineyard, Ma. and all of Puerto Rico as a Special Educator and Executive Function Skills Coach for individuals ages birth to thirty five years of age with autism, ADHD, or executive function skill deficits.

Executive function skill development in the context of your preference.



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