Lessons Learned: Shaping Relationships and the Culture of the Workplace [Paperback]

Roland S. Barth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0761938435 | ISBN-13: 978-0761938439 | Edition: 2

Barth shares his often whimsical, but always thoughtful reflections on relationships at sea and in the workplace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Few topics are more important than how school leaders can shape relationships and improve the culture of the workplace. In Lessons Learned, Roland Barth distills a lifetime of craft knowledge acquired both on the sea and in schools to provide readers with the guidance and wisdom that only such a reflective and insightful mind can provide. Barth advocates truth telling, and this wonderful book offers that rare and significant gift to its readers."

(Dennis Sparks, Executive Director )

"School leaders will find treasures of wisdom in this profound, yet entertaining, easy to read, and witty account of Roland Barth's life as an educator and sailor, and his ability to connect the two experiences. The importance of creating a productive work culture through positive relationships remains Roland Barth's main message to educators. In Lessons Learned, he skillfully uses the navigation metaphor to draw simple, yet profound lessons rooted in his experience as a teacher, principal, and sailor."

(Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director )

"Lessons Learned is an insightful, funny, moving look at commonalties between life at sea and life in the schoolhouse. Using his head and heart, Roland Barth applies the many lessons learned from sailing (Cruising Rules) to the work of school leadership (Working Rules). Combining the two challenging practices makes for much shared wisdom and serious fun."

(Milli Pierce, Director, The Principals' Center )

"If you’re curious about how to strengthen and sustain relationships in life, you’ll relish Lessons Learned. If you are a school leader who wants to build strong organizational culture, you’ll find it essential."

(Jon Saphier, President )

"Barth reminds us that relationship building is still key to creating and sustaining high performing schools. In this way, he walks the reader through the many practical strategies educators can-and must-use to grapple with the continuous adaptive challenges inherent in learning communities."

(Linda Phillips Hollomon, Executive Director )

"Whether a sailor or a school administrator, on a boat or in a boardroom, out to sea or ashore, Barth’s Lessons Learned is a powerful guide for defining the types of interpersonal relationships needed to bring about success."

(Karen M. Dyer, Manager, Education Sector )

"Barth has mined his own experiences for a wonderful collection of tales that use open-water sailing as a powerful metaphor for work and life. By turns witty, entertaining, instructive and poignant, Barth’s stories will get you thinking, and the 'working rules' salted throughout the book will help you navigate the deceptive shoals and powerful tides we all have to deal with at work."

(Lee G. Bolman, Marion Bloch/Missouri Chair in Leadership )

"This charming, humorous, and wise book teaches important lessons about relationships at work and at play. Once again, Barth has written a useful and invaluable book for teachers and principals alike."

(Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Lillian Radford Professor of Education )

"I found myself wanting to steal all his quotes and rules, and fill them in with my own stories. He left me making New Year’s resolutions and then laughing at myself. Roland Barth turns reflective craftsmanship into a revealing and wonderful venture, as he scans deeply over and under troubled waters, and comes up each time with a new way to see an old dilemma."

(Deborah Meier, Co-principal )

"Roland Barth’s Lessons Learned is a revelation about 'school' and those who practice it. To read it, every cruising rule, working rule and scene, is to be inspired, heartened, startled, delighted. Barth talks to us with astounding candor and humor and astuteness."

(David Mallery, Director of Professional Development )

"These marvelous saying from Barth about schooling, living, and sailing, all here happy bundled together, are as familiar and apt as they are so often forgotten in the pressureful work of schools. Read theses and live by them."

(Theodore R. Sizer, Visiting Professor )

"Roland Barth goes to sea to present us with a delightful series of life’s lessons equally applicable to the high seas and to the daily workplace of landlubbers. Twenty-three 'Cruising Rules' matched with twenty-three 'Working Rules' represent the distilled wisdom from a master who has spent forty years leading and learning his way through life to the benefit of others. An invaluable guide to personal and organizational effectiveness."

(Michael Fullan, Dean )

"With Lessons Learned, Barth unites his passion for sailing with his love for schooling. The result is a new kind of wisdom, one born from the integration of experiences with and reflections about life in all of it manifestations. This wisdom pulls us back to think anew about relationships, forgiveness, and responsibilities."

(Linda Lambert, Professor Emeritus )

"Another great book by Roland Barth! This time bringing together his two passions--sailing and education. It's not only a great compilation of stories, but each one has meaning for our lives as educators. He's given us simple rules to lead us in our complex work to make schools better."

(Dennis Littky )

"Elegant and wise; and authentic navigational chart for leaders on the high seas of organizational life."

(Brendan Croskery, Chief Superintendent )

"Lessons Learned provides lighthearted, pleasurable insight to the collection of rules that guide the development of wisdom from an experienced administrator, professor, and sailor." (The School Administrator, June 2004 )

About the Author

Founding Director, Harvard Principals' Center.

Roland S. Barth is a consultant to schools, school systems, state departments of education, universities, foundations, and businesses in the United States and abroad. After receiving his AB degree from Princeton University and master’s and doctoral degrees in Education from Harvard University, he served as a public school teacher and principal for fifteen years in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California. Barth received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1976, and joined the faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for thirteen years. He serves as a trustee of Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, a member of the board of Micro-Society Inc., chairman of the Board of the Principal Residency Network, and a member of the Board of Editorial Advisors of the Phi Delta Kappan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Corwin Press; 2 edition (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761938435
• ISBN-13: 978-0761938439
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #956,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sail into effective leadership with this book!, August 20, 2003

By 

Thomas K. Kind (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lessons Learned: Shaping Relationships and the Culture of the Workplace (Paperback)

This book is a must read for all educational or business leaders. Barth's wit and stories make this book an enjoyable quick read. Personable and telling, his timeless wisdom and experience combine to create a book you'll want to consult time and again.

In an age when educational success is measured solely by "high-stakes testing", Roland Barth helps leaders keep centered on what really matters-people. Written primarily for educational leaders, business leaders will find this book helpful too.

This is a book about transforming and maintaining a nurturing and productive workplace, be it the classroom or boardroom. Much of the hype in leadership literature today hinges on acquiring new strategies or adopting new methodology. Lessons Learned is different. The advice offered to leaders in this book is practical and unchanging-focusing on developing quality relationships in the workplace.

Barth's use of anecdotes and his command of language is riveting. The book's twenty-four short chapters can easily be read in several hours, but you'll spend a lifetime practicing the wisdom offered by this sailor and educator. If you only read one book this year, make it this one!