The indispensable leadership companion—updated and more relevant than ever!

Part leadership manual, part short novel, this unique best-seller uses dialogues between a novice and a master teacher and between a new and a seasoned principal to illuminate how the simple act of viewing a problem through different lenses—political, human resources, structural, or symbolic—can reveal better options and solutions.

Featuring reflective questions and solid strategies for meeting real-life challenges, the third edition also includes

• New views on building morale in challenging times
• A revamped discussion of mandates, standards, and rubrics
• A celebration of educators as skilled professionals
• Expanded conversations about hope, faith, and parental involvement

Sometimes all it takes to solve a problem is to reframe it by listening to wise advice from a trusted mentor.

• Uses storytelling to illustrate the mental tools necessary for decoding the confusing and messy terrain of everyday life in schools
• Provides an optimistic view of what can go right in schools, i.e., positive potential for classroom and school leadership—even within the context of today's climate of heightened accountability
• Covers the challenges faced by new and seasoned teachers and principals in achieving a balance between their personal and professional lives
• Includes stories that look at schools through four key frames: a political frame, to consider how individuals and groups jockey for power and work with limited resources; a human resource frame, to highlight the importance of individual needs and motives; a structural frame, to examine the importance of clear goals and roles; and a symbolic frame, to explore the importance of culture, meaning, belief, and faith within the school.
• Provides Leadership Lessons, Reflections, and Applications at the end of each chapter to encourage further thought and action on the lessons within each interwoven story