You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The issue is, you are not always sure when that first impression is going to happen. 

Over a 30 day span, pretty much every public and private school will open. Over a million students and families will enter a new school. Everyone will be meeting their new teacher. 

So when will that first impression occur? 

I believe that when you are standing in the frame, it is hard to see the full picture. 

Here is what I mean. When you are immersed IN the school business every day, you can sometimes become less aware of the "little things". The little things are what matter most to your guest, and they quickly become BIG things. 

Just a few years ago, I was consulting for a charter school. I had been there multiple times but never really felt welcome. 

I asked the head of school if they had ver walked into the building through the eyes and ears of a guest? Someone who is looking to enroll their child or drop off a job application? 

This month marks a significant milestone for us at Leaders Building Leaders as we kick off our tenth year in business. Established in April 2014, I led the company's first retreat around the second week of July that year. We are proud of the impact we've made over the past decade and remain dedicated to empowering leaders and fostering excellence.

To celebrate, each week I am going to highlight one of our school's in our Empowered Executives: Inner Circle. The Inner Circle is a weekly virtual mastermind made up of public charter school principals, directors, and other administrators. They come together to share breakthroughs, gain advice, strategy and new perspectives from leaders in their positions. 

The first school I desire to highlight is The Expedition School (TES) in Hillsborough, North Carolina. When I wrote my book on high performing charter schools, the chapter on a Healthy School Culture Conducive for Learning, it was a school like TES that I modeled it after. 

The Expedit...

I hope you are having a productive and restorative summer. 

As I…we ALL prepare for the upcoming school year, my teammate Lauren and I have been keeping track of where my focus goes in planning and preparation for the upcoming year. 

We wanted to share the top 10 from my list with you. 

If you have yet to get with yourself and your team and ask…

1. What went well this year?
2. What needs more focus next year?
3. What do we need to STOP doing to move forward? (Critical list!)
4. To accomplish our goals for the 2024-2025 year…what needs to be true about our behavior and actions as a team? As a staff?
5. Most import: Where do I need to grow as a leader to ensure one year from today we are in a much stronger position?

One of the BEST tools we have and I utilize often is our principal quarterly checklist.I look at it each month, and definitely each quarter to stay responsive to bigger issues. This checklist can be personalized to your school and shared as a team. My teammate Lauren organized ...

I’ve got two amazing kids!

I am extremely blessed as they are good human beings and are way more advanced than I was at 11 or 16. Maybe even at 30!

Sometimes they do stuff, like leave their dirty dishes around, the lights on, argue, say a word out loud they shouldn’t, give attitude, bad mouth others, whatever…anything that gets my wife or I on a different emotion.

I've realized that all of the nagging to get them to do something different is pointless.

Because people don’t do what people say. People do what people see. 

That is the Law of the Picture from John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. 

I wish I had read a book or had a mentor like John Maxwell in my life in my twenties when I was a young teacher and baseball coach. I had a giant ego, a character that lacked integrity and humility, and a mouth to match. 

I recall making my JV Baseball team run and run and run when I heard them cursing or throwing equipment. Not 20 minutes later I’d be yelling at the umpire, ki...

This question as a principal, Am I sure the students are all learning? Use to keep me up at night. 

However, then I learned that the best way to ensure students are learning is through daily classroom walkthroughs.

These walkthrough must be intentional and focused on making sure that students are not just learning but mastering the curriculum taught. 

That the atmosphere is affirming. 

That the students are engaged in the process.

That the teacher is aware of everything that is happening between the four walls of the classroom. 

While you are walking through each classroom, the validity of the information you receive through assessments and benchmarks will be affirmed. 

The first step in effective leadership is making a choice that is in harmony with our goals and desires.

I personally believe that the academic growth your students make, and the development of the teachers that lead them, will directly correlate to the effectiveness and the diligence of my daily walkthrough rou...

Just because there are not strong applicants does not mean you allow negative behavior to exist in your school. 

Here is an example.

Just recently I was on a coaching call with a leadership team when they began to describe the behavior of a staff member as being toxic to their culture. Just being mean, not following school expectations, making their teammates feel uncomfortable. 

When I asked them why are they still working there they shared, “well, there are not too many good candidates right now.” Then they justified it with, “Their scores are really good and We won’t be recommending them for renewal.”

I asked if they had ever had a toothache, a bad cavity or infection? 

“Oh yes,” they replied. 

“And when you went to the dentist did they say, well, it still chews just fine, let’s give it another six months and see how it’s doing then.” Or did he say, "This needs to be repaired immediately or the infection will spread, you may lose the tooth and need a root canal.”

You may not...

Recently I was in a conversation with a group of  school leaders and they were sharing how expensive a professional development quote was for their staff.

I shared, well, If you think the price for training is expensive, just wait until you get the bill for incompetence. 

This is a common problem in the field of education. Schools will not invest in their people. They succumb to the “position” trap.

They assume by having the position they don’t need more training. Or worse, they don’t have the position but once they do THEN they will sign up.

What they don’t realize is that leadership evolves daily, not just in a day. Not in an event. 

Even if we are avid readers or listen to podcasts, read blogs and articles, this doesn’t mean we will be better leaders. It just means we are more informed. 

We pour ourselves into work, family, mentoring co-workers, and are involved in community groups or activities.

Being involved with these things is good, but it doesn’t always lead to personal...

I believe that when a leader puts their family first, the community benefits. When the leader puts the community first, both they and their family suffer.

Starting at home is always the key to affecting others in a positive way.

Being positive models at home is critical for your legacy. Remember, people (especially your children) don’t do what people say, people do what people see.

I grew up in a broken home. My parents divorced before I was a year old. Both my mother and father were married multiple times. We didn’t speak much about values or relationships (except the bad stuff!)

When I married my wife (twenty years this June!) I honestly never thought it would last. Divorce is all I experienced.

It’s hard to grow and improve when the only model you have is your own.

It wasn’t until I started to pay closer attention to other couples, couples who had lasted decades and their children, did I begin to learn what it truly meant to be a leader in your home.

Here are some of the mode...

I believe between every stimulus and its response, every piece of information and our decision, there is space. A brief pause. 

It is brief, but always enough time and room for our philosophy or interpretation to be inserted. 

Within that space creates choice.

• Will we use it to think?
• Will we use it to examine?
• Will we use it to wait for more information?
• Will we use it to insert our own story, give into first impressions, harmful instincts, and old patterns?

 The pause is everything.

The pause before…

…jumping to conclusions.

…prejudging.

…assuming the worst.

…rushing to solve your child’s problems for them.

…forcing a problem into some kind of policy

…assigning blame

…taking offense

…turning away in fear

As a younger leader I struggled with my emotions. I would not say I am cured but 15 years of evaluative experience, yoga, better exercise and self care. Learning to create better relationship with myself and loved ones. I have participated in mastermind groups an...