“There is no better way to learn about leadership than to study great leaders, looking for the habits of mind and heart that enable them to make a difference. That’s just what Robert Palestini does in his new book, A Common Sense Approach to Educational Leadership, taking readers on a journey through the lives of some of the greatest educational leaders in history including such diverse, fascinating and instructive leaders as Booker T. Washington, Marie Montessori, John Dewey and Theodore Hesburgh. Dr. Palestini’s book takes a commonsense approach to the issue of leadership by offering a clear connection between theory and practice that will inform, inspire, and encourage leaders to examine and make the changes necessary to improve their own leadership behavior.”

Daniel Curran, president, University of Dayton

This helpful book offers leaders and aspiring leaders ways to assimilate important theoretical constructs as well as to incorporate practical suggestions that will inform and enhance their leadership behavior. Incorporating his own experiences in leadership with a study of ten legendary educational leaders, Dr. Palestini offers a useful template for leadership. Using Bolman and Deals’ Four Frames of Leadership (structural, human resource, political and symbolic), as well as his own moral frame (rooted in the principles of Ignatian leadership), Palestini offers a study that has depth as well as breadth.. The contemporary leader will benefit from the definitions, distinctions and descriptions that illuminate the variables that surround situational leadership.

Kevin Gillespie, president, Saint Joseph's University

Dr. Robert Palestini’s A Common sense Approach to Educational Leadership explores the need for leaders to develop a leadership framework on both practical and theoretical levels. By examining the leadership behavior of ten legendary educational leaders, one can easily trace the success or failure of the leader in relation to whether he or she adhered to Bolman and Deal’s Four Frames of Leadership, as well as Palestini’s moral frame. This is both fascinating and reflective reading for today’s leaders, as well as a springboard for discussion in leadership groups.

Jeanne Brady, associate dean, Saint Joseph's University