Thomas R. Hoerr, PhD retired after leading the New City School in St. Louis, Missouri for 34 years and is now the Emeritus Head of School. He is currently a Scholar In Residence at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and teaches in the Educational Leadership program, preparing prospective principals. He also led the ISACS New Heads Network and founded the Non-Profit Management Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Hoerr has written seven books, and his newest, The Principal As Chief Empathy Officer: Creating A Culture Where Everyone Grows, was published in December of 2022. He has written more than 170 articles, including “The Principal Connection” column in Educational Leadership Magazine from 2004 to 2017.
Tom Hoerr’s new book stems from his premise that leadership is based on relationships, and he uses empathy as the tool to help everyone grow. He shows how we can each grow our empathy. Hoerr devotes chapters to empathy and personnel, instructional leadership, DEI, and so on. The book is filled with specific examples, tables, and strategies to help everyone lead in an empathic manner. He also relates leading by empathy to the other Formative Five success skills – self-control, integrity, embracing diversity, and grit – and offers many interesting anecdotes.
"Tom is such wise and personable presenter. I valued his honesty when he shared not only his successes but those times when he made mistakes, or reflected openly how he could have handled something differently, and was open enough to share these with us. This is such an important value in any leader and the way he shared his reflections showing this humility."
Maree Bathurst, Principal, Albany Primary, Auckland, New Zealand
April 7, 2025
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January 7, 2025
Published in Educational Leadership® Magazine, The Principal Connection
Published in Educational Leadership® Magazine, The Principal Connection
Published in Educational Leadership® Magazine, The Principal Connection
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