Gene Bedley

About Gene Bedley

Dad, Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather—what he calls his greatest legacy.

VALUES IN ACTION! • AUTHOR • CREATIVE DESIGNER • LEARNING BEHAVIOR STRATEGIST • INVITATIONAL LEADER • ADVOCATE FOR ENABLING BEHAVIOR • SUCCULENT ARRANGEMENT DESIGNER

After eight decades of watching humanity behave nobly, stumble badly, and occasionally unravel in spectacular fashion, Gene Bedley remains a devoted student of people—still chasing truth, still asking questions, and still amazed civilization has survived without emotional warning labels printed on our foreheads.

Somehow, Gene grew up to spend his life teaching the rest of us how to talk to one another without throwing chairs.

Along the way, he accidentally became something of an expert—a title he accepts cautiously. After all, ex is an unknown quantity and a spurt is a big drip. So technically, an expert may simply be an unknown drip with experience.

Gene’s education in human behavior began early.

As a boy selling newspapers, he once had an iron newspaper rack brought down on his head by a competitive newspaper-sales kid. Most people would have interpreted that as a good reason to lie down.

Gene apparently interpreted it as evidence that humanity was going to need help.

And he has been trying to provide some ever since.

The boy who traveled across America with his family in trailers eventually became a teacher, principal, author, national speaker, and Learning Behavior Strategist. He served twenty years as principal of El Camino Real Elementary School in Irvine, California, and was selected by the National PTA as National Outstanding Educator of the Year.

He has written more than twenty books and educational resources, often a page at a time, while spending a lifetime helping educators, parents, students, and leaders understand something remarkably simple:

Anchor your behavior in integrity.
Anchor your words in truth.
Anchor your relationships in loyalty.
Anchor your treatment of others in respect.

Long before Character Education posters covered classroom walls, Gene was teaching Respect, Responsibility, and Resiliency and helping young people discover that character isn’t something we merely talk about—it is something we demonstrate through our choices.

Faith has been the foundation beneath it all.

Gene has probably written enough truth axioms about faith to keep a monastery library busy. Yet he has never been particularly interested in rule-driven religion. His lifelong pursuit has been more personal: discovering who God is, what truth means, and how the life and teachings of Jesus can actually shape the way we treat one another.

At the heart of Gene’s work is a conviction that has only grown stronger with age:

Truth anchors us.
Values guide us.
Relationships give life meaning.
And compassion keeps us from turning disagreement into disrespect.

Gene believes civil discourse is still possible—even among people who strongly disagree. He believes we can challenge ideas without demeaning people, pursue truth without surrendering humility, and listen without preparing our rebuttal before the other person finishes the sentence.

One of his enduring principles says it simply:

“Language is the mediator of all behavior.”

And after more than eight decades of living, teaching, leading, writing, succeeding, stumbling, laughing, believing, and observing the fascinating behavior of his fellow human beings, Gene is still searching for what he calls:

“The difference that makes a difference.”

He hasn’t stopped learning.
He hasn’t stopped asking questions.
He hasn’t stopped pursuing truth.

And fortunately for the rest of us, he hasn’t stopped laughing at the human condition—including his own part in it.

Gene Bedley, L.B.S.
Author • Educator • Learning Behavior Strategist