LEAP UPDATES
Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes. 
--Peter Drucker
Welcome to the archive of monthly Leap Updates from Mario Morino and Lowell Weiss. The final Leap Update was published in March of 2022.
Wish You Had this Much Passion?
Hamzah Latif, 44, received a nice holiday gift last week. Along with three other human-services workers, he won a Veronica Award, and its cash prize of $5,000, for his outstanding support of his clients and use of data to ensure his efforts lead to the intended outcomes. His score was the highest ever recorded…
From Shortchanging to Sea Changing
Perhaps it’s cliche to start off a newsletter at this time of year by talking about gratitude. But in a world whose axis is tilted too far toward tragedy right now, we’re more than willing to risk being trite.
Let’s Like Difficult
Last month, we shared our excitement about research into the “growth mindset” by the Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck. This month, we want to go a little deeper into the concept and show just how critical it is for inspiring and sustaining the journey toward high performance. Because busy leaders rarely click on links, here’s a quick synopsis of Dweck’s research.
This Mindset Fires Passion for Performance
A big, bright bulb just lit up over our heads. We’re convinced that this insight—courtesy of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck—is powerfully relevant for all of us who aspire to high performance.
We Can’t Measure
Some things just can’t be measured. Like the loss we and so many others are feeling following the shockingly out-of-the-blue passing of the psychologist Dr. Ethan Schafer, 39, who contributed an outstanding essay to Leap of Reason. He contributed far more to children with dyslexia and other learning differences…
Quotes From Leaders Like You
“Managing to outcomes is not about simply counting things or gathering information. And it is not about satisfying funders. It is an internal effort aimed at figuring out what works and what doesn’t, so that the organization can provide the best possible services to its clients”
“You have to have undying passion for the population you’re serving. We can spend time patting ourselves on the back for the 85 percent of the kids who are doing really well in our program. But we need to be as concerned about the 15 percent who aren’t succeeding and learn how we can improve for them.”
“Through a process of self-reflection, our board members asked themselves fundamental questions: How can we improve? How can we make a greater impact?”
“Every day, you have to say, ’How can we do this more efficiently and more effectively?’ It’s in our DNA.”
“Any school in the country can do this. And it breaks my heart that we’re not [all] doing this!”
“Stories substituting for facts is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me!”
“You’re taking someone else’s money to get into somebody else’s life to try to make a difference. You better be showing you can make a difference!”