Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

What are true leaders? Do we covet fame? Do we covet the people's acknowledgement of our effort, our work, our success in our endeavors?  What is true leadership? Is our passion and conviction beholden to polls? No. That is vanity. A true leader moves silently, does the work and moves out without letting you know he was there. A true leader does not seek the spotlight and gives credit to the team putting the least first. This is servant leadership. How large can a true leader become when she does not seek adulation? How powerful does their influence become across the land when they do not stop to be praised in the parades? What understanding can be gleamed from this kind of leader? What is true power? How does the servant leader retain power over the ordinary political leader?  How does the servant leader exercise coup de etats left and right without physical armies? How does he retain power and bring his opponents to heal? :) Faster than a speeding bullet...

The beginning of us starts inside, deep inside. The resolve to 'go forth' must be stronger than the tendency to leave it all to rot. My father was by no means a perfect man.. who is? Yet from an early age, he taught my sisters and I the value of resolve. He would say over and over again to us, "you were born to lead, you were born to lead." This, of course, ruined us. It made us tougher than tough in all the right places, as if we were invincible to failing because no matter what, we were primed to just keep getting back up. That is the growth mindset as it is called these days. Back then, Dad called it perseverance, toughness and 'firing out.' When I played football, Dad was on the lines always giving me his eye which I would catch for extra resolve. As I got older and moved through the divisions I got tougher and tougher until I thought of myself as 'all steel.' When I was at the line of scrimmage, my father told me to act meaner than a junkyar...

The concept of servant leadership is an ideal. It trumps selflessness and sands down profit-seeking motives to the degree that the concept is exercised in our unique heart and minds. An inspiring way to act is certainly done by putting others first before oneself, yet in actuality this reality is not rampant across the land.  How can we make it an ever increasing reality in our country? What short and long-term value can people find in being of great service to others?  How does our culture help or disregard raising kids with a focus on serving the community creatively? The cultures in which we are brought up and eventually help sustain sees it as a foreign concept. Many of us live in a reality where we must work five to six days a week to make ends meet. There is no time for idealistic dreams when we are struggling to pay the rent or put food on the table. It would be quite a luxury it seems to have a lifestyle of service. Even people who are committed to se...

updated 1.9.15 8:30 pm  set For the effective educator, knowledge is not absolute power. It is the ability to apply that knowledge that is of greater value. While in Florida, I was introduced by my sister to a friend of hers who is a U.S. Marine veteran. He did two tours in Iraq and fought in the battle of Fallujah. He is an all-American hero and grizzly bear of a man standing close to six and a half feet tall with ‘Wolverine’s’ (Marvel Comics) sideburns. He is and looks like a mighty warrior. His name is Chris and he is the single father to a princess with severe special needs. Her name is Chloe. One of her arms and one of her legs is atrophied. She is five and a half years old. Her current physical challenges prevent her from standing up and walking like most of us. I visited the family home for three hours during my recent family visit to Daytona Beach after the new year. Chloe took my heart. I coached by yielding to her in our first session together. She was not...

As a performance-based Special Educator and Executive Function Skills Coach it is imperative to have a healthy understanding of the best instructional practices, methods and strategies in relation to the students one coaches. Consequently, identifying and implementing practical, novel approaches that can be easily incorporated by students and their support system is a must. Not only that, being able to convey these in an understandable effective and efficient manner so that they are carried out successfully in the coaches absence is a priority. In light of these points of frame, the search, experimentation, practice and polishing off of contextual activities buttressing the development of cranial connectivity between right and left hemispheres and the prefrontal cortex where our executive function skill abilities fire off is paramount to my work. To this end, the use of the below activities create a ‘back-door approach’ to distill the strenuous development of our cognitive sk...

When I was a young boy, my Uncle Guillo, a consummate sailor’s sailor took me under his wing.  Off we would go on sailing adventures, sometimes through storm, sometimes by night, but always to paradise. It was clear that he was the ‘Capitan’ of the ship, I was one of his mates, happy as a fly on apple pie. Out at sea, everything is restricted and unleashed at the same time. The constant motion of the bobbing sailboat, the tacking and the jiving, the occasional command by Guillo..Hour after hour, wave after wave, making slight course directions here and there, Guillo brought the boat safely to its destination expertly every time. Confident and spilling grit by the way side, ‘Tio’ mastered the depths of the sea like a seasoned poet with vision and purpose drops words on a page. My heart and his heart are intertwined. A part of him lives in me a part of me lives in him. He knows this…Young at heart and always with a quick reassuring phrase to make you smile. That is my Uncle Gu...

Today is Tuesday, November 3, 2015 Yesterday at 7 pm est, I joined a weekly special #tweetchat on Twitter for the first time, #LeadWithGiants. It was a lot of fun. Felt like I was back in school! Being the newbie I thought I would just be a listener and occasionally chime in…well, at least that was my intention:) I found it hard to keep quiet, especially after Dan Forbes (as in Mr. #LeadWithGiants), reached out to me in such a welcoming fashion, as he does to all. His humble, outgoing attitude is replicated by the other leaders in the chat and this adds to an open, dare I say, nurturing atmosphere (teacher speak, bear with me). The topic at hand was ‘consensus,’ and everything that goes with it: finding common ground, the traits of effective leaders, the size of  teams being led, orchestrating through differing politics, titles, departments, challenges, participation by all, solution-focused mindsets and last but not least, sustaining an environment where individual tho...

"In any given moment we have two options: to move forward into growth or to step back into safety." -Abraham Maslow To the unexperienced mind, it may seem impossible to sustain the will and conviction to make a positive life change. I find that by getting technical about my thinking,  I (we) can do something everyday to realize the goals that are in our mind and heart, and thus, live life on a whole new level. For example,  because I am sticking to my goals, I am no longer the same person I was two years ago. Transforming oneself does not require we change our values, if those values are worthwhile and healthy. Hold onto solid values and principles that support the genuine well-being of others and you'll find that your non-tangible values sustain your attitude and drive. My exterior, what others see, is in transition as it gallops to catch-up and mirror how I feel and am on the interior.   Being clear on why I pursue my goals retrofits my mind to think and act acc...

Coping when the facts say you have a deficit somewhere. . . . Does your child not have the best goal-directed persistence in the world? Does your child have an issue with sticking to the task at hand? How does this show up in long term goals? Feel like your not seeing that "stick-to-it-iveness?' Do not fret. For this child can learn to ask for help, work with others, and develop social skills necessary to get things accomplished. There is usually a silver-lining in all grey clouds. We just have to train our minds to look for it. It may be hard to find. Take the lotus flower for example. It comes straight out of the wet, swampy mud in its natural environment. When you look at its immediate nearby surroundings, it is not hard to marvel at how something so pleasant is born into what appears bleak, and forsaken-looking circumstances, yet the lotus thrives in the swampy land. The bottom line, forecasts and assumptions can be incorrect, no time to fret, or wallow in the mir...

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha The decisions you make every moment tend to lead to action and non-action. Regardless, of what decisions or choices you are typically known to make. Regardless of how long you have done things a certain way, it is possible to come to terms with the understanding that right here, right now, you are free to make different decisions, thereby possibly embarking on the new you? Are you feeling like a victim? Maybe you are. I am not here to talk about why you may/ may not be a victim. Maybe you are being teased, bullied, slandered. Maybe your being shunned, excluded, purposefully unappreciated. That can definitely get anyone 'down,' and feeling kind of 'dark gray.' If you are such a person, or if you are the parent, older family member, or teacher,  of someone in this situation, please experiment with these guidelines. Make a daily goals checklist identi...