What systems do you need in place to be your efficient and effective version of a school leader? Where do you start? And how can you think about systems you create as a leader in a way that is forward-facing for all learners?

This week, I’m joined by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriguez to have an important conversation about how leveraging systems can help you become a better school leader. Katie is the founder and executive director of Novak Education: an organization renowned for designing and delivering professional development on UDL, MTSS, and leadership practices. Kristan is the founder of Commonwealth Consulting Agency LLC: an organization dedicated to providing professional development, training, and consulting services to educational organizations and agencies.

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This week, I’m sharing an exercise that I developed with one of my clients at the end of last year. In our conversation about her plans for the upcoming school year, she shared that one of the key aspects she wanted to learn, moving forward, was the skill of coaching her teachers the same way I coached her.

 

And with that goal in mind for all of you, we came together to create an exercise you can use with your staff at the beginning of the school year to set the tone for what’s to come. The purpose of this exercise is to bring your focus back on who you’re here to serve: your students. You have to consider what needs to be in place for them to be successful, and I’m breaking it all down for you on this episode.

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From micro to macro decisions, you make decisions all day long as a school leader. The truth is that your decisions determine your results 100% of the time. This makes paying close attention to and being intentional about your decision-making process a vital part of leading your school and community. 

No matter how big or small, you make every decision through what I call a ‘decision lens.’ Your decision lens is essentially composed of a set of values and priorities that you use to determine the decisions you’re going to make. It directly impacts whether or not you achieve the goals you’ve set, create the experiences you want to have, and offer the value you intend to contribute.

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We are about to kick off the 2023/2024 school year, and this week, we’re diving into the topic of embracing and announcing change. This is a subject that most of my clients have trouble with at one point or another, and it’s important to dissect exactly what’s going on so you don’t have to sit with the fear of embracing and announcing change as the new school year begins.

As the school principal, you are often the middle person between the district officials who make decisions and your staff, teachers, and students. There are times when you’ll be excited to announce changes being made at the district level because you can see the potential value or rationale behind them. But what do you do when you’re presented with changes you aren’t on board with?

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You’re entering a brand new school year, which means this is the perfect time to map out your school vision. Last week, I gave you a refresher on the concept of your school vision and why you need one, and on this Back to Basics episode, I’m guiding you through the next step: creating buy-in for your school vision.

The truth is, your staff wants a leader to follow, and this episode will teach you exactly how to become that person. Simply laying out a vision you have for the next year isn’t enough to get buy-in. You need a compelling vision that your school community is so excited by that it’s a no-brainer, which means learning to articulate it in a way that’s interesting, engaging, and enticing.

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