Are You Heading in the Right Direction?
Ever see the movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy?
I love the scene where they are heading down the highway and everyone is beeping at them and yelling...you're going the wrong way...
It's more funny to see it (watch it here) 2 minutes
The sad part is...this just happened to me the other day.
I have a lot going on right now...my mind is cluttered with emotions and tasks at hand.
I was trying to get back to my school when suddenly I realized, I was going the wrong way. Not the wrong way on a road (like the classic scene). The opposite direction of my school.
This is probably why I constantly use my GPS on my phone. 
In order to get from one point to another I need to know:
1. Where I am.
2. Where I am going.
If I get off track, the GPS will adjust my route.
Wouldn't that be great to have as a school leader?
Do you ever wonder.....
How to build a GPS for your school leadership.
How to measure where you are and...
From Here to There: A School Leadership Success Story (Piedmont Community Charter)
I believe that when it comes to improvement (personal or school) consistency is more important than intensity.
One school that exemplifies this principle is Piedmont Community Charter School in Gaston County North Carolina.
In 2015, Piedmont was in the middle of a leadership transition and was underperforming in the areas of academics and student enrollment. It did not have a reputation for being a school or rigorous academics, especially in high school.
The new Head of School at the time, Jennifer Killen, had an incredible challenge ahead of her. She knew that she would have to work diligently not just on her own leadership capacity, but the skills and the quality of her team.
Fast forward to this past year and Piedmont Community Charter School was recognized as one of the “Best High Schools” by U.S. News & World Report. They also moved into a state of the art new facility. Piedmont Charter’s new campus...
What Have You Learned the Hard Way?
There's only one thing more painful than learning from an experience, and that is NOT learning from an experience.
A couple of years ago my family and I were at a friends house for a 4th of July barbecue and someone brought fireworks. The list of goods included bottle rockets, Roman Candles and sparklers (which are more my speed).
Out of the corner of my eye I happened to notice that the teen was attempting to light a Roman Candle in the street. He was struggling to get the lighter lit and was lighting the candle with the fuse pointing towards him and the crowd. See where this is going?
When the fuse finally lit he held the candle towards the sky, like he saw everyone else, however he had the lit fuse facing towards him. It was like watching a movie as I thought, is that right?
I yelled for him to turn it around. At this point others noticed what was going on and yelled as well. He looked at us and dropped his hands, luckily pointing the rocket away now....
