My twenty-third key to an “A” is achievement. In the end, you must achieve results;…
John A. White, Jr.July 9, 2025
My nineteenth key to an “A” is association. How often have you heard, “Don’t judge…
John A. White, Jr.June 11, 2025
As noted in Chapter 13 of Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, the seventeenth…
John A. White, Jr.May 28, 2025
Assertiveness is my fourteenth Key to an “A” in leadership. Leadership is highly situational and…
John A. White, Jr.May 14, 2025
My twelfth Key to an “A” is attentiveness. As described in Why It Matters, while…
John A. White, Jr.April 30, 2025
The eleventh Key to an “A” is awareness. In addition to being aware of the…
John A. White, Jr.April 16, 2025
My tenth Key to an “A” is anticipation. In speaking to my leadership class. Schneider…
John A. White, Jr.April 3, 2025
My ninth Key to an “A” is affirmation. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with saying, “Nobody…
John A. White, Jr.March 19, 2025
My eighth Key to an “A” is allocation, specifically the allocation of a leader’s most…
John A. White, Jr.March 5, 2025
My sixth Key to an “A” is availability. I chose it, instead of accessibility, because…
John A. White, Jr.February 19, 2025
My fourth Key to an “A” is aspiration. It’s been with me for many years.…
John A. White, Jr.February 5, 2025
My second Key to an “A” is alignment. If a leader is unable to align…
John A. White, Jr.January 22, 2025
Chapter 13 in Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership is titled Keys to As.…
John A. White, Jr.January 8, 2025
The death of Kenneth E. Case on December 4, 2024, motivated me to address the…
John A. White, Jr.December 26, 2024
It would be easy to blame the law of unintended consequences for many decisions being…
John A. White, Jr.December 11, 2024
Although you’ve probably heard: “Behind every successful husband is a stunned mother-in-law,” I doubt that…
John A. White, Jr.November 27, 2024
Lest you believe I advocated using analytical processes in making all decisions during my leadership…
John A. White, Jr.November 13, 2024
Steven B. Sample, in The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, shares two rules for making decisions:…
John A. White, Jr.October 30, 2024
In Chapter 11 of Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, I emphasize the need…
John A. White, Jr.October 16, 2024
Several months ago, when voting in primary elections was occurring, I asked a waiter if…
John A. White, Jr.October 2, 2024
Concluding consideration of the seven basic virtues and drawing on Kolp and Rea’s Leading with…
John A. White, Jr.September 18, 2024
Continuing our consideration of Kolp and Rea’s Leading with Integrity: Character-Based Leadership, in this blog…
John A. White, Jr.September 4, 2024
Leading with Integrity: Character-Based Leadership by Alan Kolp and Peter Rea addresses leadership from the…
John A. White, Jr.August 21, 2024
While I don’t agree with everything Woody Allen has said, I do agree with his…
John A. White, Jr.August 13, 2024
This blog post could be titled, Let Me Tell You a Story—Part IX. The story…
John A. White, Jr.July 24, 2024
As I noted in previous blog posts, a sense of humor is a desirable attribute…
John A. White, Jr.July 10, 2024
At the bottom of page 72 in Why It Matters, I share a story I…
John A. White, Jr.June 26, 2024
While serving as UA’s chancellor, I was invited to participate in the M&M Augustine Foundation’s…
John A. White, Jr.June 12, 2024
As I’ve said, Stories served me well. Here’s a story of an international student who…
John A. White, Jr.May 29, 2024
In Chapter 13 of Why It Matters, I share an example in which I had…
John A. White, Jr.May 15, 2024
Several of the leaders who met with students in my leadership class emphasized the importance…
John A. White, Jr.May 1, 2024
One of the nation’s most effective leaders is Abraham Lincoln. Known for his effectiveness in…
John A. White, Jr.April 17, 2024
Continuing from last week, I’ll share additional stories that served me well over my career.…
John A. White, Jr.April 3, 2024
If you’ve read Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, then you know that I’m…
John A. White, Jr.March 20, 2024
During my leadership journey, I’ve observed many exemplary leaders in academe, business, government, and nonprofit…
John A. White, Jr.March 6, 2024
Chapter 3 in Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership is titled, “Leadership Values and…
John A. White, Jr.February 21, 2024
In every sphere of life, from business to politics, education to sports, the presence of…
John A. White, Jr.February 7, 2024
As noted in Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, I asked students in the…
John A. White, Jr.January 31, 2024
After learning of my time at the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC and my…
John A. White, Jr.January 24, 2024
The final blog on leadership transitions addresses two bullet points from Part I of the…
John A. White, Jr.January 17, 2024
Perhaps a better title for the blog is “One-Trick Ponies.” Alternately, “Make the Organization Fit…
John A. White, Jr.January 10, 2024
Last week, I said that the answer to nearly every question regarding a leadership transition…
John A. White, Jr.January 3, 2024
When a change in the leadership of an organization occurs, the new leader faces several…
John A. White, Jr.December 27, 2023
This week I complete this series of blogs by sharing the remaining steps we took…
John A. White, Jr.December 20, 2023
Last week I shared recommendations provided by John P. Kotter and James L. Heskett in…
John A. White, Jr.December 13, 2023
After becoming UA’s chancellor, as Mary Lib and I traveled the state, we heard that…
John A. White, Jr.December 6, 2023
In Chapter 6 of Why It Matters: Reflections on Practical Leadership, I addressed a number…
John A. White, Jr.November 29, 2023
To conclude challenges that governing board members of nonprofit organizations face, let’s consider religious organizations…
John A. White, Jr.November 22, 2023
Continuing our consideration of challenges governing board members of professional associations face, with the exception…
John A. White, Jr.November 15, 2023
Many aspects of a governor’s role depends on the size and maturity of the…
John A. White, Jr.November 8, 2023
As noted last week, for many “cause” nonprofits, a principal role of governing boards is…
John A. White, Jr.November 1, 2023
Because numerous sources of information regarding governing boards for nonprofit organizations are available online, in…
John A. White, Jr.October 27, 2023
In concluding my coverage of challenges governing board members face in higher education organizations, I…
John A. White, Jr.October 18, 2023
Continuing our consideration of challenges facing higher education trustees, this week we deal with challenges…
John A. White, Jr.October 10, 2023
SELECTING TRUSTEES In previous blogs on challenges faced by members of higher education and nonprofit…
John A. White, Jr.October 4, 2023
COMMUNICATION Last week, we considered challenges trustees face when selecting the CEO for a higher…
John A. White, Jr.September 27, 2023
Continuing our focus on governing boards for higher education organizations, let’s consider challenges trustees face.…
John A. White, Jr.September 20, 2023
The governing board challenges and responsibilities described in several of the previous blogs apply to…
John A. White, Jr.September 13, 2023
In the previous blog, I described my selection for membership on the governing boards…
John A. White, Jr.September 6, 2023
Having addressed numerous challenges corporate board members face, I now turn to a question I’ve…
John A. White, Jr.August 30, 2023
Having addressed in previous blogs challenges corporate boards face in selecting the board chair, succession…
John A. White, Jr.August 23, 2023
In previous blogs on corporate boards, I addressed selecting the board chair, succession planning, and…
John A. White, Jr.August 16, 2023
Last week, in considering tough decisions corporate boards make, I described the changes the board…
John A. White, Jr.August 9, 2023
Last week, I considered the requirements of corporate boards in selecting the board chair and…
John A. White, Jr.August 2, 2023
In previous blogs, I considered generic responsibilities and challenges for governing boards for corporations, nonprofit…
John A. White, Jr.July 26, 2023
Bringing to closure our consideration of challenges governing board members face, in this post I…
John A. White, Jr.July 19, 2023
Continuing our consideration of challenges governing board members face, in this post we address the…
John A. White, Jr.July 12, 2023
Continuing our consideration of challenges governing board members face, in this post we address preparation,…
John A. White, Jr.July 5, 2023
Although few leadership books focus on them, governing boards have a great influence on the…
John A. White, Jr.July 5, 2023
Governing boards face many challenges including but not limited to qualifications, conflicts of interest, undue…
John A. White, Jr.June 28, 2023
While serving on the boards of directors for Motorola and Motorola Solutions, I chaired their…
John A. White, Jr.June 23, 2023
As UA’s chancellor I was involved in recruiting Blake Strode. I remember meeting with him…
John A. White, Jr.June 14, 2023
While serving as President and CEO of Walmart, Inc., as well as after he retired,…
John A. White, Jr.June 7, 2023
After retiring as Walmart’s Executive Vice President for People, Cole Peterson’s service on J. B.…
John A. White, Jr.June 1, 2023
I met Adriana Lopez Graham when she was on the University of Arkansas women’s tennis…
John A. White, Jr.May 25, 2023
Judith McKenna, Walmart International’s President and CEO, is quoted often and cited frequently in Why…
John A. White, Jr.May 17, 2023
Last week, I introduced you to U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Martin R. “Marty” Steele.…
John A. White, Jr.May 9, 2023
Featured in The Boys of '67 by Andrew Weist, Marty’s career in the Marine Corps…
John A. White, Jr.May 3, 2023
Shelley Simpson, President of J. B. Hunt Transport Services, is cited often and quoted frequently…
John A. White, Jr.April 24, 2023
John Roberts, CEO for J. B. Hunt Transport Services, met frequently with my leadership class.…
John A. White, Jr.April 18, 2023
Here is more advice from Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO, Greg Brown, that isn’t in…
John A. White, Jr.April 11, 2023
Gregory Q. Brown, Chairman and CEO, Motorola Solutions, Inc., met with my leadership class each…
John A. White, Jr.April 4, 2023
Donald J. “Donnie” Smith, while serving as President and CEO of Tyson Foods, Inc., met…
John A. White, Jr.March 29, 2023
Christopher B. Lofgren, former President and CEO of Schneider National and former Chairman of the…
John A. White, Jr.March 24, 2023
Although Aristotle is considered the Father of Political Science, Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince,…
John A. White, Jr.March 16, 2023
Although uncertainties exist regarding the origins of The Art of War by Sun Tzu, what…
John A. White, Jr.March 7, 2023
Peter F. Drucker believed the best writings on leadership were those of Xenophon. I have…
John A. White, Jr.February 22, 2023
As you might have deduced from reading Why It Matters, I’m a fan of the…
John A. White, Jr.February 15, 2023
My sister and I won the lottery when it came to parents. Name a quality…
John A. White, Jr.February 9, 2023
In the interview for the How to Become the Best Engineering Leader in Your Field…
John A. White, Jr.January 24, 2023
A few weeks ago, in a conversation with an engineering dean at a university in…
John A. White, Jr.January 12, 2023
The University of Oklahoma Press recently published Confessions of a Chancellor: The Politics of Higher…
John A. White, Jr.January 9, 2023
Notice, I didn’t title the blog, “My Mistakes.” There are too many for me to…
John A. White, Jr.December 9, 2022
Acknowledging Miles Law (where you stand depends on where you sit), I believe engineers face…
John A. White, Jr.December 6, 2022
Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion are well known, but if you don’t recognize how…
John A. White, Jr.December 2, 2022
Today of all days, I realized I failed to share a reflection on politics in…
John A. White, Jr.November 11, 2022