I’ll never forget my first day as a superintendent. It was July 2nd, 2007. I walked into the office, sat down at the desk, and looked around like I was waiting for someone to give me instructions. No one did. I checked the time. 8:00 a.m. sharp. Then I thought to myself: “What the hell do I do now?” I had…
Creating a leadership vision has two main benefits. First, it grounds you in your actions. In our hurly-burly world, we can slip into “management decision-making mode” very easily. When this happens, we sometimes slip, and a decision that should be made in a thoughtful, careful way is made in haste. A leadership vision (especially when it is posted in your…
I came across the Hawaiian prayer Ho’oponopono last week. There are variations of the prayer for different circumstances, and it is very powerful. Consider using ho’oponopono as a mantra when facing a confrontational conversation or grief. The variation that I can’t get out of my brain is this version: “I love you” “Forgive me” “I forgive you” “Thank you” How can…
We are approaching that time of year when some of us will have to write “improvement plans” for some of our subordinates. Sitting down with an employee and having a conversation about improvement is never an easy conversation. You should read the next article in the newsletter to help prepare yourself for these conversations. Before getting into the meat of…
Before writing this blog post, I spent two hours writing an update for the IU8 Board of Directors. Those two hours were followed by another hour of planning what I wanted to say. As I write this, I am unsure how the update “went over” with the Board, but I hope it was insightful. The update took so long to…
The best school leaders don’t do everything themselves; they build a leadership culture where decision-making, problem-solving, and innovation are shared. That’s the essence of Distributed Leadership—and if you haven’t embraced it yet, you’re burning yourself (and probably your staff) out. The Power of Letting GoDistributed Leadership is more than just delegating tasks—it’s about empowering your people. It’s about trusting that…
This week’s blog is an “intellectual dump” of things that I have been thinking about that I believe will help you as you navigate your world. From how to have better conversations, to the current framework of the world we live in, the articles will help place your job in the context of today’s world. The word of the week…
Ok, this title is 100% stolen from one of my favorite leadership bloggers, Dan Rockwell. You can read his post, and I know you will gain something from it! There is something about his title that stopped me and made me think. My take on “the persecution of joy” is more specific to school leaders and probably not as insightful! One…
Before writing this newsletter, I spent two hours writing an update for the IU8 Board of Directors. That two hours preceded another hour of planning what I wanted to say. As I write this, I am unsure how the update “went over” with the Board, but I hope it was insightful. The update took so long to write because the…
Okay, I went down a rabbit hole over the past few days. As is always with me, these ideas are not well-formed, and I want to share them with you as they percolate in my brain. I do believe this discussion is relevant to the future of public education, so please keep on reading! All of these thoughts come from Redeeming…