A few years ago, I sat in a room with my leadership team during a retreat. And there was a word that kept surfacing in different ways: Fatigue. Not the kind that comes from long hours—although we had those too. This was something different. It was initiative fatigue. We had too much on our plate. […]
I remember sitting in leadership team meetings early in my time working under a superintendent who, quite honestly, operated on a different level than the rest of us. At the time, I thought I was prepared. I had reviewed the agenda. I had thought through the issues. I had ideas ready to contribute. And then […]
This week in Orlando, I had the opportunity to work with school leaders on a challenge that almost every organization faces but few address intentionally: Leadership team alignment. Most leadership teams don’t struggle because people aren’t trying hard or lack skills. They struggle because everyone is busy. Everyone is carrying responsibility. Everyone is trying to […]
Later this week I’ll be speaking to a room full of school leaders about a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: leadership teams. Most organizations have one. Every school certainly does. Principals have assistant principals, instructional coaches, counselors, department chairs, and other key leaders who help move the work forward. But having a leadership […]
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was on the brink. It wasn’t that Apple lacked talent. It wasn’t that their people weren’t working hard. The problem was focus. The company had dozens of product lines. Engineers were spread thin. Marketing was diluted. Energy was scattered everywhere. Jobs walked into a room, […]
If I’m honest, overextension has been one of my most consistent leadership mistakes. As a principal, I took on too much because I cared deeply about my school, my staff, and my students. In my current work as a coach and speaker, I still sometimes catch myself saying yes when I should pause and ask […]
I was in Oklahoma this week, keynoting a conference for school principals. After the session, a leader pulled me aside to process something happening in his building. He shared that a group of teachers had decided to stop accepting late work altogether. Their reasoning? A handful of students were abusing the privilege. Assignments were coming […]
In the past few weeks, I’ve watched strong, capable leaders work tirelessly to fix individual issues in their schools. The problem isn’t effort.The problem isn’t commitment.The problem isn’t even leadership skill. The problem is that many of these fixes never stop to ask a bigger question: What is this doing to the system as a […]
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve walked out of a leadership team meeting feeling pretty good about the conversation—only to realize a week later that very little had actually changed. The meeting wasn’t bad. In fact, it felt productive. People were engaged. Notes were taken. Decisions were made. But then the week unfolded. […]
Over the years, I’ve noticed a leadership pattern that shows up far more often than most people are willing to admit. And the tricky part is this: it almost always comes from a good place. Just this week, I worked with a leader who genuinely cares about her people. She’s capable, hardworking, and deeply invested […]
