Eric is an author, innovator, and speaker. He is a Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education and before that he was Principal at New Milford High School in NJ. Eric formed the Pillars of Digital Leadership, a framework for all educators to initiate sustainable change to transform school cultures.

 
Eric is making change happen. The book he co-authored with Tom Murray, Learning Transformed, really opened my eyes about changing culture with the 8 keys. I”ve read most of Eric’s books and attended many of his keynotes. I have looked forward to talking to Eric and was so honored when he said yes to our conversation. Below are a few excerpts from the podcast along with resources and links:
 
Share about you, your family, and your background
I was born and raised in New Jersey, lived in New York for 13 years, and was a principal New Milford High School in New Jersey where we did some pretty amazing things. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a dedicated staff and student body who was willing to embrace different and better to improve results. I played a small role to get everyone to see the part that they could play. I might have got the ball rolling in 2009, but the majority of my teachers didn’t change because they had to, they changed because they wanted to.When everyone in our community understood how we were changing, why were getting results along with the process and tools we used, it just became a celebratory culture of excellence.  Through that we had visitors from all over the world, and then I got asked to scale the work.
Right after moving to Houston
Now I am working with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) so my family and I moved from New York to Houston, Texas. We are now residing in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD), an amazing school district. My son, Nicholas, is in middle school and my daughter, Bella, is in 5th grade where they are doing some incredible things transforming their learning.

 
Houston had a rough go being hit by Hurricane Harvey. It was a challenge, but we saw the best of people. We saw empathy, selflessness, and people rising up. I saw people organizing relief efforts using social media and on local Facebook pages. We were using push-to-talk applications sharing where demolition crews needed to go and where help was needed the most. I’ve used social media for my professional practice, but I saw it as a means for humanity to rise. My home was threatened but not  damaged so social media gave me the avenue to give back and help people in need. If it wasn’t for social media, we wouldn’t know where the help was or who needed help. We’ve rebounded and rebuilt. Thank goodness for the human spirit and technology to support each other when we needed it most. In fact, the experience helped my children look beyond their privilege.
[I’m including this article by Eric, Humanity’s Gift, written during the relief efforts about his and his family experience. Powerful!]

“Life can’t always be about what we do for ourselves. It has to be equally about what we do for others.”   Eric Sheninger
 
Change Begins by Believing in Ourselves
In our book, Learning Transformed, we say that “you” are the solution. The only way we can transform teaching and leadership if we all believe in our own abilities to initiate and sustain change. When we think about motivation and mindset, change begins with us.