Author: glscott

Having arrived home from South Africa on April 11, I have taken some time to try to process our experiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town.  One of the most difficult, distressing, and uplifting museums that we visited in Johannesburg was the Apartheid Museum.  When you enter you are given a ticket that randomly classifies you…

Soweto.  What can I tell you about Soweto?  Soweto refers to the Southwestern Townships in Johannesburg, and it’s made up of 34 separate townships where approximately 4 million people live.   Soweto is a symbol of racism and apartheid and the post-apartheid world of South Africa.  Soweto is where Mandela and Tutu lived. Soweto is where…

On Monday, March 30, 2026 19 Austin Community College faculty and staff will leave on a remarkable leadership development opportunity.  We will be spending ten days in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa to learn from our brethren there and bring that learning back to ACC to inform our leadership and daily work in our…

As I continue to dwell in the land of cancer, I continue to learn life lessons that are also leadership lessons.  Here are the latest things I’ve learned, either for the first time or for the umpteenth time. There may be more lessons for me, especially since my chemo won’t end until June of 2026. …

As I continue to dwell in the land of cancer and its treatment, I am learning lessons that can be applied to leadership (and to life).  This is the second post in a series offering some of the lessons I’m (re)learning. I find joy in my work.   I find cancer to be a bother…

I have been sojourning in the land of cancer since November 2024.  I’ve moved through surgery/recovery and radiation/recovery.  I’m now four weeks into a year of chemotherapy.  And I am learning a lot of lessons that I could apply to my leadership.  Here are a few. I expect that my cancer journey will continue to…

“Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.” Wendell Berry We live in challenging times.  We look around us and we see change (expected and unexpected), unpredictability, trauma, distress, malaise, tribalism, nativism, jingoism, confusion.  How do we respond?  How should we respond?  How could we respond? Here at ACC we have four values to…

Here in the executive suite, we have several doors with long vertical handles.  Some doors open by pushing.  Some doors open by pulling.  And one will go either way.  (Which is my favorite door.) One day last week I wanted to pop in and say hello to some folks in the conference room.  I pushed…

I believe in being kind.  I have a little card on the wall of my office that says “always choose kindness”, and I try to live that out every day.  Does that mean I’m always kind?  No, because I am a flawed human being who makes mistakes, gets frustrated, and can unintentionally be unkind.  But…

I am on a year-long health journey in 2025.  In the early stages of this journey I’ve found myself being asked to “rate my pain” on a scale of one to ten.  Have you ever had to do that?  I find the question hard to answer. What, after all, constitutes a 2 on the pain…