Releasing Leadership Brilliance

Breaking Sound Barriers in Education

"The quest to find our best selves, live our best lives, and shine with our own brilliance is the heart’s desire of every human being. Two people compelled to help us find that pathway, and acknowledge our brilliance have been divinely called. NASSP supports Great Leaders in every school who are committed to the success of each student. Through this commitment we provide resources to school leaders as they journey to develop themselves, their teachers, and their students. NASSP enthusiastically endorses this book and readily shared the stories of the leaders of our BreakThrough Schools to move Simon T. Bailey and Marceta Reilly’s message of 'Brilliance' forward. This book is a brilliant light."

"I’m glad someone took the time to study the Breakthrough Schools and clarify their secrets to success. I encourage leaders everywhere to use the text to inspire new thinking and powerful actions. Love the organizer for addressing leadership as well as the case studies and exercises. "

"As a former small plane pilot I was excited to see Simon Bailey and Marceta Reilly use a flight metaphor and found it very accurate—for both flying and education! In their new book, Releasing Leadership Brilliance: Breaking Sound Barriers in Education, their  emphasis on culture building and bringing out each person’s brilliance responds perfectly to negative issues of compliance and complaints about new initiatives that educators insist will not work. As Bailey and Reilly point out, by not focusing on what drags you down and focusing instead on what lifts you up and thrusts you forward, the brilliance of each individual in an educational community may shine. Their book provides rich examples of school leaders who have focused on what they can do rather than on what they cannot and practical exercises that assist school teams along their glide slopes toward successful touchdowns with students."

"A fanciful query into concise actions that can be used to create change in impactful ways. This book is a valuable guide to helping educators focus change that has the promise to spark improvement."

"In their book, Releasing Leadership Brilliance, the authors first create an inspirational metaphor for supporting student-centered change in schools: Breaking the Sound Barrier.  Building on this metaphor, they provide explanation, examples, tools, and resources for implementation.  I encourage all educators to pick up a copy to see how you can help your students break the sound barrier."

"It’s unbelievable that this compact book could hold that much information and examples in only four chapters. Great read! Great examples! This book is a call to action. I’m unable to read this book and not want to try something new!"

"Releasing Leadership Brilliance: Breaking Sound Barriers in Education is about big change in our schools and how to make these changes across our country—regardless of the zip code of the school. It’s purpose is to help educational leaders SOAR, finding both personal and team BRILLIANCE! A driving question, 'Are you a boss with an agenda or a leader with a vision?' The stories shared are compelling and inspiring; highlighting the powerful role of building principals who have transformed schools into places of learning where EVERYONE THRIVES! Each of these principals focused on relationships, learning teams, and a culture of caring—hug children with your words. The authors challenge educators, asking, 'Are your limiting beliefs creating barriers to reach your brilliance?' Anchored in solid research, but written from the viewpoint of caring, courageous, uplifting educators, this book is a must read."

"Rarely are school leaders presented with a comprehensive leadership book that addresses all the players in the educational arena—the leader, community members, instructional staff and students.  The expertise shared by the authors—a business executive and a former superintendent/leadership coach—provide exercises, tools, and resources designed to break the sound barrier of limiting beliefs for each of these populations. The stories included from courageous school leaders offer hope to practicing practitioners intent on using the expertise inside their system to bring lasting instructional change for all the students they serve.  Bravo!"

"Releasing Leadership Brilliance brings together work from several major educational researchers and cohesively forms practical strategies, techniques, and tools for educational leaders."

"The language in the book speaks directly to educators. The book contains the right mix of fact, life, and guidance. The authors have authenticity by virtue of having lived the experiences."