As a school leader, how often do you start your day with the best of intentions, only to find yourself consumed by urgent crises and unexpected interruptions? If this feels familiar, you’re not alone. Far too many leaders find themselves trapped in reactive mode, dealing with what author Stephen Covey famously termed the ‘urgent but […]
In less than two days my new book (co-authored with Katie Kinder), Culture First Classrooms: Leadership, Relationships, and Practices that Transform Schools will officially launch. This moment has been months in the making—filled with early morning writing sessions, late-night revisions, deep conversations with educators across the country, and a powerful collaboration with 24 incredible contributors […]
Leadership is about choices—the daily decisions we make that shape the culture of our schools and the experiences of our teams. Too often, however, leaders get bogged down in the reasons why something won’t work or why it’s too risky to try. This tendency to lean on caution can stifle innovation, frustrate staff, and ultimately […]
TL;DR: Why Every Leader Needs to Lead Like a Coach Leading like a coach means developing and empowering your team instead of just directing and evaluating them. Coaching leadership builds trust, ownership, and continuous growth by focusing on listening, asking better questions, and recognizing progress—not just results. Simple shifts like asking more than telling, celebrating […]
A few days ago, I was facilitating a leadership workshop with a group of school leaders when the conversation turned to what makes leadership teams truly effective. Very quickly, the discussion landed on trust. It wasn’t surprising—when a team is struggling, trust (or the lack of it) is often at the core of the issue. […]
“I’m Just Trying to Be a Servant Leader…” I hear this all the time from early career leaders. They pour their energy into supporting their staff, making sure everyone has what they need, solving problems, and putting out fires. On the surface, this sounds noble—what leader doesn’t want to be known as someone who serves […]
As school leaders, we are often caught in the whirlwind of daily responsibilities, urgent decisions, and the constant demand to be present for our students, staff, and communities. But in the midst of all of this, I want to challenge you to lean into one word this week: peace. Recently, I was working on a […]
Focus on What Matters: Cutting Through the Noise in Education I’ve had an incredibly busy stretch of travel and speaking engagements over the past couple of weeks—connecting with school leaders, educators, and district teams in multiple states. From the Thrive Conference to keynoting in Columbus, Nebraska, to speaking at the Montana Principals Conference, and then […]
When I first stepped into the role of principal, I inherited a leadership team that lacked trust and a shared vision. Team members operated in silos, decisions often felt forced or contentious, and collaboration was nonexistent. At the time, I thought I could fix it all by working harder, but what I didn’t realize was […]
Leadership is rarely as straightforward as we imagine it to be. Among the countless decisions we make, some weigh far heavier than others. These are the decisions that define not only our leadership but also the culture and direction of our schools. One such moment in my own journey continues to resonate with me. I […]
