Deliberate Excellence

Three Fundamental Strategies That Drive Educational Leadership
First Edition
S. Dallas Dance - President & CEO, The DDance Group; former Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools
Deliberate Excellence
December 2017 | 160 pages | Corwin
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eBook
ISBN: 9781506392004
Available from January 0001
Paperback
ISBN: 9781506392011
Available from January 0001

Description

Leadership isn’t just a title

What could you do with a $1 billion budget if you had 100,000+ students and one of the largest school systems in America?  Imagining is his reality. Learn along from Dallas Dance as he shares the successful change efforts he employed to transform Baltimore Public Schools.  

Deliberate Excellence is a true story of success in a challenging school environment that delivers great insight and inspiration. Readers will be moved and changed by three key success principles:

  • Establishing equity over equality by providing exactly what individuals need to be successful
  • Understanding change, how it happens, and what one needs to make it so
  • Knowing people deeply and how that leads to accomplishment and organizational change  

Be inspired by this passion for progress and the drive to maximize latent potential in all people.

"For 20 years, Dr. Dallas Dance has been an inspiration to me as a leader. He understands that true leaders inspire others to lead, galvanize their audience, and provide practical applications to difficult situations. Regardless of the political climate, Dr. Dance has always kept students first. After reading Deliberate Excellence, educators will take away successful strategies to increase student achievement."
Dr. John B. Gordon III, Chief of Schools
Chesterfield County Public Schools, Chesterfield, VA

"Leaders are desperate for books that offer techniques from educational leaders who still practice and hone their craft from the trenches and a proven record of success. Dallas Dance offers educational leaders a unique, candid, and welcome perspective."
LaQuita Outlaw, Principal – Grades 6-8
Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY

 

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Success Principle 1

  • LEADING FOR EQUITY: FOCUSING ON EACH CHILD, EVERY DAY
  • Know What Your Values Are
  • Demonstrate a Strong Appreciation for People
  • Addressing Equity Takes Leadership
  • Addressing Equity Will Guarantee Resistance
  • Equity Is the Work, Not an “Add-on” to the Work
  • Students Want Us to Focus on Equity, Not Equality

Success Principle 2

  • LEADING THE CHANGE: IMPLEMENTING SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVES
  • Understand the History of the Organization
  • Acknowledge the Current State of the Organization
  • Understand the “Players” Within the Organization
  • Ensure People Understand What Change Means
  • Have an Effective Strategy to Implement Change
  • Success Principle 3
  • LEADING THROUGH COMMUNICATION: TELLING YOUR OWN STORY
  • Communicate Openly, Honestly, and in a Timely Manner
  • Communicate Your Story, or Someone Else Will!
  • Organize Your Communication Efforts
  • Individualize Your Communications
  • Use Every Available Resource to Communicate
  • View Communication as a Two-Way Street
  • Have an Open-Door Policy

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

Avoiding Pitfalls

  • Mistake 1: Knowing All the Answers
  • Mistake 2: Bashing the Previous Leadership
  • Mistake 3: Speaking Before You Think

Index

Index

Description

Leadership isn’t just a title

What could you do with a $1 billion budget if you had 100,000+ students and one of the largest school systems in America?  Imagining is his reality. Learn along from Dallas Dance as he shares the successful change efforts he employed to transform Baltimore Public Schools.  

Deliberate Excellence is a true story of success in a challenging school environment that delivers great insight and inspiration. Readers will be moved and changed by three key success principles:

  • Establishing equity over equality by providing exactly what individuals need to be successful
  • Understanding change, how it happens, and what one needs to make it so
  • Knowing people deeply and how that leads to accomplishment and organizational change  

Be inspired by this passion for progress and the drive to maximize latent potential in all people.

"For 20 years, Dr. Dallas Dance has been an inspiration to me as a leader. He understands that true leaders inspire others to lead, galvanize their audience, and provide practical applications to difficult situations. Regardless of the political climate, Dr. Dance has always kept students first. After reading Deliberate Excellence, educators will take away successful strategies to increase student achievement."
Dr. John B. Gordon III, Chief of Schools
Chesterfield County Public Schools, Chesterfield, VA

"Leaders are desperate for books that offer techniques from educational leaders who still practice and hone their craft from the trenches and a proven record of success. Dallas Dance offers educational leaders a unique, candid, and welcome perspective."
LaQuita Outlaw, Principal – Grades 6-8
Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY

 

Contents

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Success Principle 1

  • LEADING FOR EQUITY: FOCUSING ON EACH CHILD, EVERY DAY
  • Know What Your Values Are
  • Demonstrate a Strong Appreciation for People
  • Addressing Equity Takes Leadership
  • Addressing Equity Will Guarantee Resistance
  • Equity Is the Work, Not an “Add-on” to the Work
  • Students Want Us to Focus on Equity, Not Equality

Success Principle 2

  • LEADING THE CHANGE: IMPLEMENTING SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVES
  • Understand the History of the Organization
  • Acknowledge the Current State of the Organization
  • Understand the “Players” Within the Organization
  • Ensure People Understand What Change Means
  • Have an Effective Strategy to Implement Change
  • Success Principle 3
  • LEADING THROUGH COMMUNICATION: TELLING YOUR OWN STORY
  • Communicate Openly, Honestly, and in a Timely Manner
  • Communicate Your Story, or Someone Else Will!
  • Organize Your Communication Efforts
  • Individualize Your Communications
  • Use Every Available Resource to Communicate
  • View Communication as a Two-Way Street
  • Have an Open-Door Policy

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

Avoiding Pitfalls

  • Mistake 1: Knowing All the Answers
  • Mistake 2: Bashing the Previous Leadership
  • Mistake 3: Speaking Before You Think

Index

Index

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Deliberate Excellence

Three Fundamental Strategies That Drive Educational Leadership


December 2017 | 160 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781506392011 $37.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781506392004 $35.00

Leadership isn’t just a title

What could you do with a $1 billion budget if you had 100,000+ students and one of the largest school systems in America?  Imagining is his reality. Learn along from Dallas Dance as he shares the successful change efforts he employed to transform Baltimore Public Schools.  

Deliberate Excellence is a true story of success in a challenging school environment that delivers great insight and inspiration. Readers will be moved and changed by three key success principles:

  • Establishing equity over equality by providing exactly what individuals need to be successful
  • Understanding change, how it happens, and what one needs to make it so
  • Knowing people deeply and how that leads to accomplishment and organizational change  

Be inspired by this passion for progress and the drive to maximize latent potential in all people.

"For 20 years, Dr. Dallas Dance has been an inspiration to me as a leader. He understands that true leaders inspire others to lead, galvanize their audience, and provide practical applications to difficult situations. Regardless of the political climate, Dr. Dance has always kept students first. After reading Deliberate Excellence, educators will take away successful strategies to increase student achievement."
Dr. John B. Gordon III, Chief of Schools
Chesterfield County Public Schools, Chesterfield, VA

"Leaders are desperate for books that offer techniques from educational leaders who still practice and hone their craft from the trenches and a proven record of success. Dallas Dance offers educational leaders a unique, candid, and welcome perspective."
LaQuita Outlaw, Principal – Grades 6-8
Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY

 


Table Of Contents:

  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • INTRODUCTION
  • Success Principle 1
  • LEADING FOR EQUITY: FOCUSING ON EACH CHILD, EVERY DAY
  • Know What Your Values Are
  • Demonstrate a Strong Appreciation for People
  • Addressing Equity Takes Leadership
  • Addressing Equity Will Guarantee Resistance
  • Equity Is the Work, Not an “Add-on” to the Work
  • Students Want Us to Focus on Equity, Not Equality
  • Success Principle 2
  • LEADING THE CHANGE: IMPLEMENTING SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVES
  • Understand the History of the Organization
  • Acknowledge the Current State of the Organization
  • Understand the “Players” Within the Organization
  • Ensure People Understand What Change Means
  • Have an Effective Strategy to Implement Change
  • Success Principle 3
  • LEADING THROUGH COMMUNICATION: TELLING YOUR OWN STORY
  • Communicate Openly, Honestly, and in a Timely Manner
  • Communicate Your Story, or Someone Else Will!
  • Organize Your Communication Efforts
  • Individualize Your Communications
  • Use Every Available Resource to Communicate
  • View Communication as a Two-Way Street
  • Have an Open-Door Policy
  • CONCLUSION
  • Avoiding Pitfalls
  • Mistake 1: Knowing All the Answers
  • Mistake 2: Bashing the Previous Leadership
  • Mistake 3: Speaking Before You Think
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"Deliberate Excellence captures the essence of why successful leaders grow people and organizations: it’s all about relationships."
Tanna Nicely, Principal, South Knoxville Elementary, Knoxville, TN
This book is a must-read for leaders and future leaders who want to avoid the pitfalls that can derail success. Through the story of his rise as a successful leader, Dallas Dance provides invaluable principles for successfully leading and implementing change. He also exemplifies a growth-minded perspective to stakeholders who are not quite ready for change by encouraging them to remember that 'no' really means, 'not yet.'"
Kathy Rhodes, Principal, Hinton Elementary, Hinton, IA
"Leaders are desperate for books that offer techniques from educational leaders who still practice and hone their craft from the trenches and a proven record of success. Dallas Dance offers educational leaders a unique, candid, and welcome perspective."
LaQuita Outlaw, Principal – Grades 6-8, Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY
"Deliberate Excellence is a thoroughly enjoyable personal account about affecting change by being committed and engaged in the institution you presently serve . . . The author makes it clear that caring for the work opens up opportunities for advancement that allow the individual to affect change in more meaningful ways. It should also be required reading for all principals, assistant principals, and CEOs."
Veronica Rodriguez, Special Education Coordinator, Chester W. Nimitz Middle School, Huntington Park, CA
"Dynamic leadership matters! Dr. Dance’s remarkable journey has inspired him to develop a blueprint for educational leadership excellence. Fighting for equitable practices and outcomes for all children is clearly his passion. Every administrator or aspiring leader will flourish if these principles are put into action!"
Cheryl R. Brooks, Principal, Berkshire Elementary School, Baltimore, MD

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