As a leader of a learning organization, taking your own professional development is serious business. There are a number of ways to grow yourself as a leader: Read or listen to a book Take an online course Engage in a Twitter chat Network on social media, better yet network in…

The most valuable resource every leader has is their time. The problem is that most leaders believe they do not have enough time in the day. And when that is the case, activities that are incredibly important get cut in order to deal with the tyranny of the urgent. But…

As an “unorthodox” leadership coach I pride myself on telling you how it is. The point of today’s post is to share ten uncommon ideas that will help you be an effective school leader. YOU HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME. The norm is to complain about time. “There’s never enough time” your colleagues will say. Except…

Stop complaining about time. It doesn’t help. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” –Maya Angelou Here is something you need to understand immediately: Every. Principal. Is. Busy. So the fact that you are pressed for time doesn’t make you special, unique, or some kind of school…

Some of the most popular posts on my blog recommend the best books for principals and other school leaders. And if you are familiar with my work, you know that picking an edge is important in terms of standing out. Schools often don’t pick an edge. …

The other day I was sharing three of my productivity secrets. Secret #1 was talk about your goals in public. Secret #2 was you must keep score of your progress. Secret #3 was 1 + 1 = 3. You read that right. It was my cheeky way of saying delegation…

The power of simplicity “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.” -Leonardo da Vinci The simplicity of Wordle is sexy. No leader boards. No notifications. No app for your phone. No ads, pop ups, or any other annoying feature. Wordle is designed on a simple black backdrop. So what does this mean for school leaders? In business, we often thing about a…

Don’t try to be interesting to others. Instead, focus on being interested in others. “You can make more friends in two months by being interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” -Dale Carnegie Starting a business has been the most challenging project to date. Business doesn’t work like the Field of Dreams. There…

Who are your enemies in education? Here are 5 of mine. As a leader it is important that those you serve know two things about you: What you stand FOR. And what you stand AGAINST. This post focuses on the latter. When it comes to school leadership there are five…