Some books don’t just age well—they grow with us. What feels like a simple story in adolescence can become something far more layered when revisited with experience.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why Jonathan Livingston Seagull felt like an odd—perhaps overly ambitious—choice for an 8th grade honors entrance exam, and why he now appreciates that decision decades later. Revisiting the book after years of lived experience, Corey reflects on how the story shifts from a meditation on identity and nonconformity to something deeper: the pursuit of mastery, the loneliness of excellence, and the cost of moving to the next stage of growth.

This episode considers how certain texts scale with the reader—revealing new insights as we change. What once felt aspirational now feels honest. What once centered on standing out now centers on discipline, humility, and the quiet work of becoming better. Ultimately, Corey asks a powerful question for students, educators, and leaders alike: What are you willing to leave behind in order to grow?

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leadership doesn’t end when the account runs dry—it continues through the returns others generate from your investment.

In this final installment of the trilogy, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores The Leadership Dividend, the enduring impact of choices, values, and relationships that keep paying out long after a leader steps away. He reflects on how wise leaders move from spending capital to cultivating culture, from managing balance sheets to compounding trust, and how the truest measure of success lies not in control, but in continuity.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

When students walk out of class in protest, it can look simple from the outside: young people raising their voices in a democracy. Inside a school, however, those moments are layered with legal guardrails, legislative constraints, and the obligation to treat every viewpoint the same.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the recent student walkouts in Pulaski, Garland, and other Arkansas counties related to ICE actions and uses them as a lens to unpack the complexity school leaders face in responding. Grounded in the Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v. Des Moines and Arkansas’s 2025 ACCESS Act, he reflects on one of the most difficult weeks of his own leadership during the 2018 national walkouts following the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Marshall County High School, and Heath High School — events that were deeply personal to him.

This episode invites students and parents to better understand the constraints public institutions operate within, offers practical guidance for civic engagement inside school systems, and argues that while outcomes will often be misunderstood, fairness and consistent process must remain the goal.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.