Episode 187 – Navigating the hidden power dynamics of being an administrator

EPISODE 187Navigating the hidden power dynamics of being an administratorBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:There is a real power dynamic that exists once you become an administrator. There’s not use hiding from it. But, if you understand it, you can find ways to keep it from ruining your relationships with your staff.When you are […]

Episode 186 – Is your school “on mission?”

EPISODE 186Is your school “on mission?”Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:If your vision isn’t powered by a compelling “why” (your mission), it loses its impact.Your mission modifies your vision. It’s what gives your vision meaning and purpose.Although your vision is the sexy part of your school purpose, your mission is what helps you pursue […]

Episode 185 – How to Handle Criticism from Your Staff

EPISODE 185How to Handle Criticism from Your StaffBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:Whenever you challenge the status quo, you will face attacks. Some people would rather try to keep you small than grow themselves.Shrinking your vision to satisfy your critics will never appease them. Give a mouse a cookie and he’ll want a glass […]

Episode 184 – 5 Things you should be thinking about now to set yourself up for a strong second half of the school year

EPISODE 1845 Things you should be thinking about now to set yourself up for a strong second half of the school yearBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:Instead of waiting for the same challenges you deal with every year, why not take steps now to eliminate them before they arrive?Instead of coasting into the new […]

Episode 183 – Finding the Hidden Opportunities in Your School

EPISODE 183Finding the Hidden Opportunities in Your SchoolBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:We need to spend more time building upon our successes than wallowing in our failures.We spend a lot of time studying what isn’t working in our schools when we should be spending more time learning from what IS working.If we understood what […]

Episode 182 – Stop Juggling

EPISODE 182Stop JugglingBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:Feeling overwhelmed? What are the things you could stop doing tomorrow and nobody would even notice you’re no longer doing them?As educators, we’re really good at addition and terrible at subtraction. We add more and more to our plates and rarely ever remove those things that no […]

Episode 180 – How Builders are Defying the Odds

EPISODE 180How Builders are Defying the OddsBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:While everyone else is preoccupied with the bad news in education, Builders are quietly defying the national narrative and building success stories in their school.Just because everyone else seems to be struggling doesn’t mean that you have to. When you are a Builder, […]

Episode 179 – Could your school survive without you?

EPISODE 179Could your school survive without you?Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:Leaders create a cult of personality around their leadership style. Builders build a legacy that will last long after they leave.If your school cannot survive without you at the helm, then when you finally leave, it will be worse off than it was […]

Episode 178 – Common pitfalls to avoid when crafting your vision

EPISODE 178Common pitfalls to avoid when crafting your visionBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:If your vision statement sounds great, but no one can remember it, is it really moving the work of your school forward?When you create a vision statement by committee, you end up with a vision statement that everyone had a part […]

Episode 177 – Stop trying to “Improve” your school

EPISODE 177Stop trying to “Improve” your schoolBiggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:The reason that so many school improvement efforts don’t work is that people are focused on improving a broken system rather than building a better one.School Improvement often means duct-taping together a system that is irredeemably broken. Buildership means building a better system […]