Yaw Obeng
Yaw Obeng

2025 NASS Excellence Awards Nomination

Yaw Obeng About

Books

Calculated Risk: Leadership Lessons and Stories Paperback – May 13, 2025

 

This book is not designed to be a how-to exercise. It is designed to bring out your leadership and decision-making based on your own realities. Each chapter has a personal story along my career/life journey that exemplifies calculated decisions that have had an impact in my life. Hopefully the stories will provide a backdrop for individuals to examine their own journey in decision making. The book Calculated Risk is constructed to provide elements of decision-making while posing questions to assist one’s reflection on how you have made decisions in life, career and leadership. The reflective questions will prompt a metacognitive analysis of how you view situations; your environment, and experiences thus allowing for better decision-making in high-stakes contexts going forward. The frame that will assist in your analysis I call “CRISP” Decisions. A CRISP decision is not a process, but rather the elements that make up a calculated decision. A CRISP decision can happen quickly and instinctively or thoughtfully and strategically. I have found characteristics that enhance a CRISP decision. Each chapter highlights a characteristic to support the attitude needed in goal-oriented decisions. Your key takeaways from this book will be:
 
Yaw Obeng BookPersonalized Leadership Insights
  • By sharing intimate stories from the author’s life and career, this book invites you to reflect deeply on your unique path.
  • Metacognitive Approach to Decision-Making
Calculated Risk introduces a metacognitive framework that pushes you to analyze and understand your thought processes, environments, and experiences. Unlike rigid processes, CRISP Decisions adapt to the situation, whether they need to be made quickly and instinctively or thoughtfully and strategically.

About the author

Yaw Obeng is an accomplished educational leader, currently serving as CEO of an historic school district. With over two decades of experience, Obeng has held leadership roles across the U.S. and Canada, honored with awards like the “Excellence in Leadership”. His career is marked by significant improvements in student achievement, innovative program strategies, and a global commitment to education. Obeng holds advanced degrees in education, business, and leadership, and is a sought-after speaker internationally.