AFTERWORD
Former Superintendent of Cypress-Fairbanks (Cy-Fair) Independent School District (ISD)
Former CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas
When Jordan originally invited me to review an 802-page manuscript of a previous version of the SAL Life Leadership textbook, I balked a bit, wondering when I would possibly have time to review such a tome. It is interesting to note how some of life's most important, rewarding, and ultimately enjoyable tasks initially appear so uninviting.
In the end, I opted to set myself to the task, and I am so glad that I did.
As I poured through the pages, my mind soon became flooded with memories, thoughts, and experiences from my 40-plus year career as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and CEO. From then on, there was no way to put the work aside. As I reflected further on Jordan's Pedagogy of Personal Leadership and Character Development, I found myself wishing I had enjoyed access to the book when I was a 21-year-old teacher working with high school seniors, and when I was a 25-year-old principal working with teachers and students.
As I continued to read, clichés like, Leaders are born, not made, were removed from my gray matter and discarded. Instead, I thought of Shakespeare's To thine own self be true and discretion is the greater part of valor.
Shakespeare got it.
Furthermore, my mother's admonition of: How do you ever expect to be loved by others if you don't love yourself, could just have easily been: How can you expect to lead others if you can't even lead yourself?
In short, Jordan has eloquently articulated the need for, and importance of, leadership, character, and life-skill education in schools, businesses, and homes. More importantly, he has outlined an explicit theory, model, and pedagogy to provide leaders, educators, parents, and individuals with a realistic roadmap and tangible toolbox for immediate application.
As I delved deeper into Jordan's book, the passages called up a memory of an interview where I was asked, "What are the most important things you hope your students learn?" I was Principal of a school at the time, and I said: "My hope is that all of our students are highly literate and numerate and understand the importance of self-discipline, responsibilities, and consequences. Then, no matter what goals they set, they will have the recipe for success."
I was under 30 years of age at the time and my comments were crude compared to Dr. Jensen's polished presentation, but not considerably off target.
If Jordan's career had preceded mine and I could have used this textbook as a teacher, principal, and superintendent, I would have positively impacted more students and teachers during my 37-year career in education by providing them with a key to potential success and significance.
It is highly encouraging to see that this book has now been written for a new generation of leaders, educators, professionals, parents, and students to use as a guide to their personal leadership and character development. It is even more encouraging to know that its author exemplifies the principles he promotes.
I thank Jordan for inviting me to read this work. He has earned my endorsement. Reading this textbook may be the most worthwhile thing you do this year. I hope the message of Self-Action Leadership makes its way into the minds and hearts of students, parents, and business professionals everywhere.
Its presence in the literature is a service to our country—and world.
—Dr. David G. Anthony
About David G. Anthony, Ed.D.
David Anthony grew up in rural Louisiana (Florien) USA. He graduated from high school in 1970 and then attended college at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, where he played on the basketball team. He later completed a bachelor's degree in English and history at East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, Texas. In 1977, he earned a master's degree in secondary education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
From there, Anthony got his first job as a Principal of a K-12 school in Converse, Louisiana, where he began a 9-year journey that included leading his school from "worst-to-first" in a variety of metrics. Along the way, Anthony earned his Doctorate of Education in Administration, also from Northwestern State, in 1986, prior to landing his first job as a Superintendent.
His initial stops as Superintendent included smaller districts in High Island, Texas; Mount Pleasant, Texas; and Texas City, Texas. From there, he was hired to lead McKinney ISD (suburban Dallas), where he headed up a period of significant growth (nearly doubling the student body from 9,800 to 18,000) during his five-and-a-half years of service.
Anthony's successes in McKinney caught the attention of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in northwest Houston, where he was hired in 2004. With over 110,000 students, Cy-Fair ISD was (and still is) the third largest school district in the State of Texas and ranks among the top 25 largest school districts in the United States.
Anthony served at the helm of Cy-Fair ISD for seven (7) years before stepping down to accept a new position as the CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas, a non-profit educational advocacy organization working to strengthen public education by training public school leaders to lead transformational campus-level changes. It also advocates for public policies aimed at improving the education of all Texas students.
Anthony served in this position from 2011-2016.
After leaving Raise Your Hand Texas, Anthony served as a consultant for FutureSpark, where he was involved in leadership development, coaching, and school improvement. He then served as the Director of the East Texas Center for School Based Research and Instruction at the University of Texas at Tyler.
Anthony is a graduate of the Aspen Institute and Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. A husband, father, and grandfather, Anthony resides in Tyler, Texas.
—Dr. JJ
Author's Note: This is the 513th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 297th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
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