***SUCCESS STORY: From “Who are we really?” to “This is who we are” in just 5 months***
“We all have that one friend who says, ‘I had the idea for eBay. If only I had acted on it, I’d be a billionaire!’ That logic is pathetic and delusional. Having the idea for eBay has nothing to do with actually creating eBay. What you do is what matters, now what you think of say or plan”
-Fried & Hansson
I want to take a minute to give a HUGE shout out to a genuine RUCKUS MAKER and one of my mastermind members, Scott Long . . .
Scott is seriously awesome.
I serve a lot of A-Player principals…
- I was the drum major in high school (and my band director told me I shook my hips too much when I conducted!).
- I have been eating a mostly plant based diet for almost two years (I sneak off to have NY pizza and if someone serves me meat I don’t make a big stink about it).
- I have lived in 4 different states in the USA and 4 different countries.
- I know just enough of the Shona language to be dangerous and say something that I think means one thing, but actually means another — this can turn into…
Double down on yourself
“Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.” -Robin Sharma
The first major investment I made in myself was in 2015.
I joined John Lee Dumas’s “Podcasters Paradise.” I wanted to start a podcast that would grow my leadership skills and would serve my listeners. The problem was — I had no idea how to start.
All the information was out there for free online. This actually wasn’t helpful. It was overwhelming.
I heard over and over that investing in…
I have 5 enemies when it comes to school leadership . . .
These enemies keep me up at night because they block the progress that collectively needs to be made in education. Sure, great progress is being made in pockets around the world. But if we are honest with ourselves, the gap between where we are as a profession and where we need to go is incredibly wide.
My five enemies have a grip so tight on the lives of school leaders that dreaming about where we need to go can feel like a pipe dream . . …
Many principals need to change their approach to work
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
-James Clear
In “principal” school when you are working on your certification, they teach you a lot about running a school, but they don’t teach you about running your day.
And that’s a BIG mistake.
Because many principals have a haphazard approach to their workdays.
By haphazard I mean that instead of having a plan of action for each day, the day ends up running them.
And it runs them into the ground.
If you’ve ever left school feeling completely spent, but…
Seth Godin has deeply influenced my thinking, leadership, and creativity.
Today, I want to gift to you five Seth quotes that are inspirational.
They come from his book Footprints on the Moon which is not available for sale.
I’ll share an idea or two about why I picked these quotes to share. In the comments below (or reply to this email) I’d love to hear which quote resonated with you most?
“Every time we change something for the better, we’re doing our best work.”
I don’t know about you, but I have many aspirational goals. All that matters right now is the current change I’m creating and that is my best work at…
Earlier this week I talked about the 7 steps to a successful start to the school year.
STEP ONE: Is your 90-day plan.
The one big idea I gleaned from the book Michael Watkins’ The First 90 Days was to plan out that period with surgeon-like precision.
Watkins asks the reader: What did you want to accomplish by the end of your:
- First day?
- First week?
- First month?
- End of 60 days?
- End of 90 days?
These are great questions to ask. Even better to take action and jot down a plan for those same periods of time.
Whether you…
I just recorded an amazing conversation for the BLBS podcast with Richard Shell from the Wharton School of Business. He has a new book called The Conscience Code which is written to help you lead with your values and advance your career.
This conversation inspired me to consider the values that guide my work. I identified five that are important to me . . .
Turning Pro
“Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we’re thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don’t show up. Amateurs crap out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The…
I know, I know …
The school year *just* ended.
Okay, permission to breathe and take a vacation. And once your energy has been replenished, now it’s time to get to work on next year.
One thing I love to teach is a concept I call an “ideal week.”
Earlier in the year, I worked with 50+ principals on a half-day workshop on a variety of topics.
When I asked how many used their calendar to plan successful days, you know how many people raised their hands?
Maybe half???
Surely 25 principals planned their week out intentionally and used their…
I started putting out a weekly pulse survey at the beginning of the pandemic.
I lead a community of 60 school administrators. A year ago when the pandemic hit, I saw them over-extending themselves more than usual. My worry was that before long they would be exhausted with nothing left to give. The problem is that I knew we were in this for the long haul. Before there were any covid cases in the USA, I noticed that some leaders didn’t even think it would impact their community. I asked them to prepare for being remote for a year or…
Daniel Bauer
Host of the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast with over one million downloads 🚀
