* Native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Go Steelers!) * 17 years experience as a classroom teacher * Founding director of the Summer Center for Gifted Students * Education director of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh * Author of six books, including the ASCD/CorwinPress bestseller Schools of Quality * Guest lecturer at Harvard, Princeton, Waseda (Japan), City University of London, and other leading universities around the world * Twice keynote speaker for Brazil’s National Quality Education Conference * Keynote speaker for India’s Quality conference for school administrators * Keynote speaker for the Taiwan National Principals Conference * Keynote speaker for the Singapore ASCD Conference * Advisor to ministries of education worldwide * Advisor to the Johns Hopkins medical systems * Visiting professor of education at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary’s leading teacher-training institution * National judge for the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools Program * National examiner in Education and Healthcare for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, created by an Act of Congress in 1988. * AASA executive coach * Co-creator and host of annual International Virtual Youth Leadership Summit for Peace in cooperation with the Peace Education Network—Nepal (PENN) on September 21st, International Peace Day * Creator of the international student voice and youth leadership development program Bonstingl Leaders for the Future — We are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year!
How can I make Quality a daily way of life for myself, both professionally and personally?
Try putting my Seven Personal Practices of Quality to work in your life and see what a difference they can make in your relationships at home, at work, and in your internal satisfaction.
Check out my Seven Practices bookmark in the PHOTO GALLERY above, where you will find an affirmation for each of these Personal Practices based on the Quality Philosophy in my book Schools of Quality:
1. Personal Leadership
2. True Partnership
3. Systems Thinking
4. Process Orientation
5. Deeper Understanding
6. Love and Appreciation, No Matter What
7. Ongoing Learning and Improvement
Copyright John Jay Bonstingl 1997, 2023. All rights reserved worldwide.
How can I get the results I want?
If you are not yet getting the results you want, take a close look at the way things are done inside your circles of influence.
By improving your systems, processes, and protocols, you will see much improved results.
One of my mentors was Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an early pioneer of the philosophy and practice of Quality. He once told me this: “Dumb systems make smart people look dumb. This is unnecessary. More than 90% of all results are a direct reflection of how things are set up in your organization.”
I advise my clients to sample their own systems. Phone your organization from an unrecognizable number. What kind of experience do you think you will have?
Sit with your community members as they try to navigate your website without guidance. Take notes. You will be amazed!
Ask your people what they need, in order to do their work at the highest levels of achievement and job satisfaction.
What organizational obstacles do you and your leadership team need to be aware of, and how can your team best address those roadblocks?
Take time to talk with the students. See what their perspectives are. What do they think of the way things are going in their school?
In my student voice and leadership development program, students from 3rd grade through high school are invited to do a strength analysis of their school. Parent and faculty groups do the same exercise. We typically find 85 to 90% correspondence between all groups, proving that we are all on the same page! Powerful stuff!
On a personal level, what stands in your way of a Quality life in your most significant relationships? What roadblocks are you encountering again and again? Stephen Covey advises that you take time to “sharpen your saw” before you attempt to cut down the tree. Good advice from his classic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Finally, a word from one of the world’s greatest thinkers. Aristotle is credited with this sage advice, well worth remembering:
“Quality is not a single act. It is a constant habit — a dedicated daily practice, a way of living one’s day-to-day life.”
How can I get in touch with you?
Easy! Just send me your contact info on the next page and I will get right back to you.