TC Honors Jim Collins
TC's Klingenstein Center for Independent School Education has presented its 2007 Klingenstein Leadership Award to the organizational guru Jim Collins, author of Built to Last, Good to Great and other global best-sellers that have identified the signature of qualities and practices of exceptional leaders and managers.
TC faculty member Pearl Kane, Klingenstein Center chair, presented the award to Collins at the annual meeting of the National Association for Independent Schools, held this year in Boulder, Colorado.
Kane praised Collins' 2005 book, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, for identifying and grappling with critical questions that many in the non-profit world ponder, including "how to define and assess greatness without business metrics? How to think about leadership in arenas where typically no single person has the concentrated power of decision making? How to think about an economic engine in the absence of a profit motive?" These are significant challenges, Kane said, "but as Jim aptly notes, the extra dimension of non-profits that businesses may learn from is a - 'purity of mission' that - 'has the power to ignite passion and commitment.'"
The Klingenstein Award is given annually to an individual who has influenced the lives of independent school administrators, teachers, parents or students in enduring ways. Past recipients have included TC's Maxine Greene; education journalist Diane Ravitch; and the educators and authors Theodore and Nancy Sizer. The honor includes a $2,000 award, which Collins, who praised TC and all school leaders for their work in "shaping the future of the nation," donated to the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.
Published Wednesday, May. 9, 2007
