Edutopia published my latest article this week about being a Time-Starved School Leader!  https://www.edutopia.org/article/time-management-school-leaders I am grateful to Edutopia and also to Tom Berger and Brittany Collins for their help with the article.  I’ve been mentioning this idea for a while now, and this article only scratches the surface. I’ve submitted some conference proposals, so NAESP and others, I would love to expand this into a breakout session in the summer conference!  A Time-Starved Leader is based on two main ideas: Getting a Better Return on Your Time Addre ..read more

School Leadership Matters!:I met with Jack Arend, Deputy Director at AWSP. Every conversation with Jack is incredible! I’ve been fortunate enough to attend many of his trainings, and this time I got to ask my specific leadership questions. Be sure to check out the great work that is going on at AWSP! We talked about many things, but I always narrow it down to three key takeaways.  Culture is What You Allow  It Can Wait Until Tomorrow… …but There Are Seasons of Life When You Have to Suck It Up ..read more

It’s Never About You: Joseph McQueen is a 6-12 principal and author of Calming Young Minds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW2HRF61/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_7ZY7CBFE29ZGDJBT5XV7 We had a great conversation and I encourage you to check out his book! We talked about many things, but I always narrow it down to three key takeaways.  Be Compassionate  It’s All About Relationships with Kids  Prioritize and Stay Organized ..read more

This week I am highlighting the top 7 blog posts/podcast episodes from 2023! These posts either had the most number of people read the article, react to the post, or listen to the episode. Given all of the awesome people I met with, I didn’t want to limit it to the top 2 or 3. Today’s post will be my top takeaways from looking at all 7 of these interviews together. Now, most people do things like this at the end of the year, but I was taking some time off and I am pairing it with some announcements. Let’s start with announcements before moving on to the takeaways!  It has taken me long ..read more

You Are the Example: I have been committed to posting articles every week for over a year. Based on what I’ve learned from leaders, I am going to start posting less than I have been. I will still post almost every week, but I will take time off to recharge and ‘turn off.’ I want to commit to doing this for the long run and not get burned out along the way ..read more

Don’t Do More, Be More: I met with Dr. Corissa Mazurkiewicz for a fantastic conversation. We talked about many things, but there was a theme of being present in your work and life. I appreciated how she connected my questions on leadership to both education and being a parent. Here are my three key takeaways.  Have a Mentor in This Work  Must Sustain Yourself  Does Your Work Align with What You Want ..read more

The Work Will Be There Tomorrow: I met with Mark Shellinger, the Director of the National SAM Inovation Project https://www.samprocess.com/. Will Parker and Kerensa Wing encouraged me to look into his work, and they were right! Mark and I had a great conversation about the SAM process and how systems are so important to leaders. I encourage you to check out what the website and see how it could positively impact you! I always narrow it down to three key takeaways.  Be An Instructional Leader  Need To Be Your Best Self  How Do You Handle 2 Minute Hallway Conversations ..read more

Who Wants to be a Great Superintendent and a Miserable Father?: Over the past year I met with 7 leaders from the US and UK who, for one reason or another, asked me to not post about the individual conversations. Over the next two weeks I will be posting about my ‘unreleased interviews.’ What follows are the main themes after synthesizing those 7 interviews!  Part 2: 1. Find Your Drive 2. Get Clear about your values  3. Get in alignment ..read more

Take the Roast out of the Oven: Over the past year I met with 7 leaders from the US and UK who, for one reason or another, asked me to not post about the individual conversations. Over the next two weeks I will be posting about my ‘unreleased interviews.’ What follows are the main themes after synthesizing those 7 interviews!  Part 1: Consistently Take Action  Build Relationships  Take Control ..read more

Every Child Should Attend a High Performing School: I met with Jayne Ellspermann, the 2015 National Principal of the Year, past NASSP President, Tedx speaker, and the list goes on! She now works for herself as a school leadership development expert. Make sure to reach out to her if you need an excellent consultant to work with! We had a great early morning (for me) conversation. We talked about many things, but I always narrow it down to three key takeaways.  People over paper  If you weren’t here, who would do this task?  Be intentional with your time ..read more