From Outrageous to Inspired: How to Build a Community of Leaders in Our Schools

“‘Honor the people—it’s the leader’s work.’ Those simple but powerful words run like a red thread through the pages of this lovely and important book. They name the kind of leadership we need if our schools are to reclaim their vital educational mission. And they are utterly true to the author’s life: I have never known anyone who honors others more deeply than David Hagstrom. So, read this book with confidence that its author knows what he is talking about, and walks his talk as well. Here is no mere theory, but a model of integrity in leadership that can help us renew our schools, support our teachers, and serve our children well.”
—Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach and Let Your Life Speak

“It’s not ‘another’ feel good story about a remarkable school. It’s one instead that made this reader rediscover what her work is all about, from the big picture to the little details that drive each day. It’s a story worth telling, and thus worth reading about how respect, honor and passion join together t o create a democratic community—without intending that as the end at all. It wasn’t a finished vision that drove this school’s work, but rather what flowed from the work. And it’s what David has given me—some new questions, not answers, to drive the work of my school.”
—Deborah Meier, co-principal, Mission Hill School, a Boston public school, and author, The Power of Their Ideas and In School We Trust

“Using stories as his medium, Hagstrom argues compellingly for a new definition of leadership and shares his remarkable experience in building an inclusive and bubbling up community of learners. This inviting book will warm your heart, stir your mind, and inform your practice.”
—Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Lillian Radford Professor of Education and Administration, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

“David has been courageous enough to know what we all know instinctively; if we are to encourage growth in schools, we must ‘honor the people’ who are to make the change. As simple as this seems, it takes real courage to live by it, even greater courage to be able to bring it to life in print, and the greatest courage to be willing to share it with the world.”
—Rebecca van der Bogert, superintendent of schools, Winnetka, Illinois and co-director, International Network of Principal’s Centers at Harvard University