“What happens when we actually celebrate play, instead of pushing it to the weekends?” asked Kevin Carroll, creative catalyst for businesses and best-selling author, at the 2019 NBOA Annual Meeting’s Business Officers Breakfast in March.
Abandoned by his mother at age six and raised by his grandparents in Philadelphia, Carroll spent countless hours at his local playground, where he discovered a community around games using a red rubber ball. This sense of belonging acted as a catalyst for him to rise above his circumstances and launch him on a career path that included joining the U.S. Air Force, serving as head athletic trainer in for the Philadelphia 76ers and as a change agent for Nike. Today, he travels the world as a speaker, author and consultant.
By making time for engagement and embracing big ideas, business officers can elevate the next generation of leaders and inspire change at their schools.
Carroll recounted his own story to demonstrate a larger point about the importance of productive play. Asking attendees to share with each other what games they loved as children, Carroll emphasized how play brings out energy and excitement in everyone, including adults. He underscored the importance of play when considering organizational growth and sustainable change. Rather than falling back on a transactional model and aiming for maximum efficiency, he advised business officers to take time to get to know their colleagues and open up to new perspectives. By making time for engagement and embracing big ideas, business officers can elevate the next generation of leaders and inspire change at their schools.
All NBOA members can now watch a video of Carroll’s speech and view and download all 2019 NBOA Annual Meeting materials, including recordings, slides and executive summaries of selected sessions.
Also presenting at the Breakfast was NBOA Board Chair Tracey Fudge, CFO at Holton-Arms School, who outlined the goals of the 2018-2019 NBOA Strategic Plan and provided a demonstration of NBOA’s BIIS data-collection platform. NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields followed Fudge by delivering an update about NBOA’s 2019 fiscal “Year in Review.”
Mark your calendar for the 2020 NBOA Annual Meeting February 23-26, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida.
