On the podcast this month we’ve been discussing the organization of your physical and mental space, and today I have a slightly different approach for you guys. This work is great for creating an organized work environment, but also provides an incredible level of mental clarity which will make every area of your job that little bit easier.

Essentialism and minimalism are an absolute must as a school leader. It’s so easy to get caught up in the belief that you need to be everywhere, doing everything for everybody, and have everything to hand that you might need on a day-to-day basis. However helpful you think that may make you as a principal, you’re never going to be as effective if you spread yourself too thin.

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With the start of the new school year looming, you are in one of my favorite times as a principal. You’re preparing the school for the students and teachers, making everything perfect before school is officially back in session. Now, I love this, but it can be a stressful time for some people, especially when it comes to organizing your office space.

Early on, in this podcast’s infancy, I brought you an episode – one of my most downloaded to date – around the subject of organizing your workspace. Well, a year has passed since that episode and I have the honor of interviewing the woman who inspired everything I shared on that podcast!

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We are into August now and that means that you’re getting back into the office and you’re starting to be consumed by work again. Now, there seem to be two types of people in this situation – those who are full of enthusiasm and energy, and those who are a little bit more resentful that their vacation time is over and they’re back to the grind.

Luckily for you listeners, I have been both of these characters in the past, and I’m thrilled to tell you that even if you’re feeling down about the school year starting up again, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to having a stressful year. I can’t wait for you to learn how to start the year with an empowered mindset, instead of dreading what’s to come.

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A client made a special request of me for an episode about dealing with crises as a school leader. Now, I’m not an expert on managing a crisis occurring in your school, however, I do have plenty of tools and insights that make the emotions that arise after a crisis has occurred much easier to handle.

We do our best to make our school the safest environment possible for the kids, teachers, and parents, but sometimes things happen that are totally beyond our most chilling dreams. Not seeing a crisis coming and being powerless to do anything while it’s occurring brings up a lot of negative emotion. We can feel like we’ve failed our school. But there are things you can do to help as a principal.

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How much thought have you given to your legacy as a school leader? What do you really want people to remember you for? Do you want to be remembered as an inspiring leader who brings spirits up? Maybe you see yourself contributing something to your school, like raising money for a new playground.

Whatever your legacy looks like to you, the people around you are already making up their mind about how they will remember your work as their principal. The beauty is, we have the opportunity to choose our legacy with intention, through the actions we take every single day. Nobody is going to help you with this one – it’s all on you!

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Today, I’m diving into the tool that is at the very heart of all of my work as a coach. This tool is the most powerful device I know for bringing awareness to your thoughts and emotions and the effect they have on your life. Once you’ve experienced the magic of the STEAR Cycle, you will want to use it to solve problems in every area of your life.

The STEAR Cycle is something you may have heard me talk about before, but don’t tune out just because you think you’ve heard it all already. I’m going deeper than I ever have before with this method of awareness and what I’m sharing today will change how you approach your job forever.

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Especially when we’re starting out as a school leader or we have new members join our team, we want to present ourselves as the person with all the answers. It makes sense. When people come to us with a problem, we want to give clear direction, not have them leaving our conversation thinking “She just doesn’t understand.”

I call this leadership fraud. I have experienced it and I’m sure you have too. We get told that if in doubt, we have to fake it until we make it. However, that does not serve you and it certainly doesn’t help your teachers. Contrary to what we might think, we don’t actually need to have all the answers.

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We’re into July now, which means we’re switching up the theme for the podcast for the next few weeks. This month’s theme follows on from the last theme of influence and is vital in applying the work we have done over the last few podcasts.

We’re focusing on the aspects of school leadership that come up regularly, and in this episode, I have a Q&A that is geared towards all you brand new principals out there. Believe me, I understand, it’s one thing to get the job (and congratulations) but making a success of it is a whole different ballgame.

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I’ve got a bit of a treat on the podcast today. I’m bringing you an interview with somebody whose work I’ve become very familiar with lately, and it’s been truly wonderful to find somebody exploring the same path that I am.

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath is a neuroscientist and educator who specializes in human learning, memory, and brain stimulation. There is literally no one better to undertake the mission of improving our schools than Jared. As well as conducting research and lecturing at Harvard, he has worked at over 50 international schools, and I can’t wait for you to experience the value he has to offer all you educational leaders.

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I was in New York recently for a networking event with some amazing people. They were the kind of people that when you are speaking to them, they really care and they want to know absolutely everything about you. Just the way these people were was so eye-opening to me and I came back with a ton of realizations around influence to share with you guys.

This experience really got me thinking about one of the tools available to us as school leaders which, to be honest, underserves the needs of our schools. Professional development could be incredibly useful to our schools, but the system is broken. I can’t tell you how many times I was told to attend PD courses that simply were not inspiring as a teacher – and nothing has changed.

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