Since the turn of the century, Steve Gilliland has become one of the most sought-after speakers in America. His background includes Major League Baseball, broadcasting, and eleven years of corporate management on three different levels. Steve has experienced what others merely talk about.

He is the President and CEO of Performance Plus Professional Development, Inc., a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as one of the top training companies in Western Pennsylvania. His recent audience includes the United States Marine Corps, Glaxo SmithKline, General Motors, CBS, Hilton Hotels, and was the keynote speaker at the 2003 Aerospace Conference in Orlando, Florida. He is a member of the International Speakers Network, the American Society of Training and Development, and the National Speakers Association, where he holds the designation of Certified Speaking Professional. He was also recognized by Who's Who for Speakers and Business Professionals. Steve is the author of 10 books, including Enjoy The Ride and Creaming The Crop, and has appeared on radio and television across the nation. He speaks to more than 250,000 people annually and influences the lives of millions through his seminars, books, and CD's.
Whether he is kicking off an event, training all day, or closing a convention, Steve Gilliland is not only a speaker who challenges people to change, he motivates them to do so. His audiences and clients are a who's who list in American business and not-for-profit organizations.

►Take This Job and Love It (Teaching with Purpose)
The burning desire to make a difference for students and persist and persevere with purpose defines your level of effectiveness. Passion means being able to take the frustration, the roadblocks, the disappointments, and the endless stress and still want to come to work each day determined to turn vision into reality. When you teach with purpose you are able to inspire and still hold people accountable. Without a passionate commitment, educators cannot last in a leadership role because the needs are often beyond the resources to meet them. Being a successful educator is not a thing you acquire or achieve. Rather, it is a journey you take your whole career. As an educator ask yourself these questions. Who am I as an educator? What motivates me to be an educator? Why have I taken up this profession? What fears and aspirations drive me? Can I make a difference? Answer these questions and you are well on your way to taking this job and loving it.

►Accept Life on Life’s Terms (Learning the Lessons)
Lessons learned. Wisdom earned. You can only teach people so much. You must be willing to let people make mistakes or they’ll never achieve their potential. One of the most desirable attitudes of a person is the ability to view problems as opportunities and setbacks as temporary inconveniences. This positive attitude also welcomes change as friendly and is not upset by surprises—even negative ones. How we approach challenges and problems is a crucial aspect of our decision-making process and will ultimately determine our ability to learn lessons
from our mistakes. All lasting success in life is laced with problems and misfortunes that require creativity and a whole new way of juggling personal and professional priorities and creating balance in your life. Coping with today and its pressures isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter. Everyone deserves to be healthier and happier, and learning to accept life on life’s terms will help you do just that.

►Foster Commitment and Orchestrate Alignment
(Redefining Your Focus)
Most educators spend their time making the inevitable happen instead of putting their energy into the exceptional things that create a school’s future. The key is to shift the primary focus from teaching to learning. High-quality teaching is of critical importance; however, a foundation must be laid that provides direction both for the school as an organization and the individuals within it. Staffs must develop a consensus regarding their mission, vision, values, and goals. Why you exist, what you hope to become, your behavior, and the steps you take to create the kind of school you hope to become are the essence of commitment and alignment. Each member
needs to clarify the fundamental purpose of the school, a desirable future, attitudes, and specific goals that will transform good intentions into specific targets. When schools are inattentive to mission, vision, values and goals, the core foundation of commitment and alignment will never withstand the inevitable stresses.

►Exchange Personal Autonomy for Collective Authority
(Achieving More Together)
The most important lesson to be learned is that teamwork is fundamental to your school’s success and that your goals will never be achieved by a loosely knit group of individuals working in isolation. If schools are to overcome their tradition of teacher isolation, teachers must learn to work in effective, high-performance teams. Everyone is a part of the team: administrators, teachers, food services, buildings and maintenance, bus drivers, and anyone who comes in contact with the students. And while everyone knows that teamwork is a good thing, you may not know how it really works. Team building is not an easy process to complete, and there
is no guaranteed recipe for success. Team building is a process that moves forward through diligent leadership and transforms itself only through experience. The goals of any school will only be met by teams of like minded individuals who are willing to exchange their personal autonomy for collective authority.

►Care Enough to Know and Know Enough to Care
(Leading with Heart)
When we think of the best teachers we ever had, we often describe them with adjectives such as “caring,” “encouraging,” “inspirational,” “challenging,” and “motivating.” It is interesting that these same adjectives are used to describe the characteristics we would hope to find in an effective leader. Leadership is about heart, the universal symbol for caring and compassion. In general, what educators do is plan for, train, and motivate students within the perspective of their school’s mission or vision of the future. What makes leaders effective is doing their job with competence, confidence, and caring. The entire staff must be servant-hearted, which means looking into a student’s eyes and being filled with a desire to help that student fulfill his or her potential.
When you care enough to know and know enough to care, you begin to realize that your job is to influence people every day by sharing, caring, and listening. Every student matters, and no one should be left behind, so before you ask for their minds, capture their hearts.