Vernon Wright (@TheWrightLeader, TheWrightLeader.com, ZeroApologyZone.com Founder) is a speaker, author, consultant, and leader. He has over 18 years of experience in education working in large, urban school districts and has previously served in the roles of teacher, teacher leader, campus leadership team member, and district-level support.
Vernon has shared his experiences as a speaker numerous times over the years at the campus, district, regional, state levels, and beyond garnering acclaim and accolades from recognized industry leaders and colleagues. Vernon has brought his unique style and combination of insight, storytelling, experience, humor, authenticity, and epiphanies to audiences for years.
Vernon has an established presence on social media (@TheWrightLeader across all platforms), and he unabashedly stands as a voice for the people with zero apologies (ZeroApologyZone.com). You can connect with Vernon’s previous speaking and podcast appearances at TheWrightLeader.com. He is committed to a life of inspiring and elevating others.
(His website includes podcast episodes & articles).
Trenches story: Reflection is a key piece. Is critical, essential piece. Don’t forget where you’ve come from. 1 is professional, other is more personal nature, 1 satisfies both. What’s the vision, mission, was coming out of grad school, had no plans to stay in education, was working for a leader who was broken. Sometimes others see more in us than we see in ourselves. He shares the perspective he gained. Even in situations when it’s “professional”, we may be dealing with someone who has unresolved trauma & hurt. Was living in a crime-infested apt complex in Dallas. He was able to increase the impact he was making. Each day he gets up & goes to bed- “Have I added value to 1 person’s life?” Started to see education as impact. Improving the lives of others. Enlightenment. Twitter followers went up-now about 10K had to overcome him understand what he is living isn’t just regular or normal. He likes simplicity. If something is complex, it lessens probability everyone will be able to do it. If actions don’t change, data doesn’t change. We transition from being content consumers to content creators, it’s selfless. Zig Ziegler quote he shares.
articles he’s written- He did one for Teach Better (he was a one-time guest blogger). He was on the Daily Drop in. He wrote the blog post after the show. Also co-authored articles w/ EduMatch with Nicole Biscotti, having the right lens. Working on a solo book project w/ EduMatch, may be out by end of year. Is fan of Rick & Becky Du Four- how PLC questionss can be applied to your life. When you’re in the midst of a situation you don’t have the right perspective, next step. Situations in life where we don’t have the understanding of that. Step is to re-center. Get back on track.
Speak about the Global Ed Tech Academy w. Microsoft EDU and CUE Inc, did virtual sessions with them 2 years ago. Intl. reach. Was a “god move”. Cue decided to partner up with them. Watershed moment in his career.
Out of the roles you’ve had, where have you’ve had the most impact? Started out as a HS t in Dallas. Considered leaving edu. Was approached year 3 about going into leadership. Ran from that. People were persistent. Became t leader/dept. chair. Got ed leader M.A. Handled operations, safety, security, HVAC. Learned about how a large physical space works. Has been in district-level leadership 7-8 yrs. Move to central office, learned what happens w/in a campus doesn’t necessarily happen in other campuses. Solid about messaging. Theme of how do we add value? Make it easy for others to do great work. Have to learn how to work better with adults. SEL approach for adults. Talks about what he does really truly matters and wants to point out what truly matters in adults. Drecker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. When he helps schools, he reflects on what the current state of the culture is. What’s the level of awareness. There is no substitute for SEL for adults. Wants to be in a place where he is making a difference. What are promises you’ve made to yourself? Feels like he’s made an impact in each of those roles. Doors opened where he was at to
100 No-nonsense Things that all Teachers should STOP doing book His chapter was “Stop studying to be an administrator to make more $”, ch. 93. Be mindful of what your motivation is to go to the next level. What happens when role is beyond what you’re compensated for. Approach in an altruistic way. He committed to taking the talents & gifts he has to think about how ppl can come together to do their best work.
Professional speaking He talks about his work with schools. Worked with TCEA, CUE edu, this summer he spoke at Learn Forward Texas. Part of larger Learn Forward national affiliate. Doors opened up for him to expand his reach. Ppl come from all over the world to TCEA. He talks about 2 things: 10 steps to becoming a game-changer & branding for educators. He asks ppl what their user handle looks like-how important is it that your work is great work if no one can find it? Value piece & connection piece come together. He has a pattern on purpose. You should unify social media handles to website URL. Make it easy for ppl to connect w/ your work.
Out of everything? If you’re adding value to someone’s life every day, there is a compounding effect. Take an inventory. Ask yourself what your talents & gifts are. Click To TweetDecide you’ll use them to help others. Use them to pour into others for their benefit. What is the altruistic motive? He mentors collegiate athletes. We’re farmers, we’re always planting.
Where can ppl find you online? @thewrightleader www.thewrightleader.com ZeroApologyZone.com with apparel, playlist of his podcast guest spots. View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qddtz3zenso
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