Lessons Learned
Strategies for Leading Co-Owned Work
Strategies for Leading Co-Owned Work Co-owned work improves outcomes and ownership. Collaborative cultures unlock teams’ full potential and drive meaningful change. Consider these strategies for creating a collaborative co-owned culture. Listen – Get on the balcony … and the dance floor Read the context; measure the energy; consider what else is going on Listen between…
Read MoreGrowing a culture of learning and love
An Interview with the 2023 Washington State Superintendent of the Year – Dr. Adam Swinyard, Superintendent, Spokane Public Schools (SPS). Congratulations, Adam, on being named Washington State 2023 Superintendent of the Year! WASA highlighted your work as a champion of equity in announcing your well-deserved recognition as superintendent of the year. Q. How do you…
Read MoreChief Equity Advocate
1-minute summary; 6-minute read Core Question: How do we touch hearts and minds for good? “Everything hangs on one’s thinking …” – Seneca “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford Core Idea: What we aim at … we eventually achieve. Words matter. Values matter. Start by defining our north star…
Read MoreDistrict Goals – Key to Success
District Goals – Key to Success 4-minute read Four years + four goals = student success. Focused goals, well monitored, improve learning Reeves reports that: Focus is a prerequisite for school improvement. Focus had the highest relationship with student achievement Focus, with effective monitoring, and adult efficacy yielded strikingly positive results for all students and…
Read MoreMake a Movement. Leave a Legacy
Turn Moments into a Movement 5-minute read Leaving a legacy and leading for the future takes more than keeping the lights on – although there are days when that is a true accomplishment! Here are some thoughts about turning great Moments into Momentum and Movement. 13 Ways – and ONE CAVEAT – to Leave a…
Read MoreGrowing a Culture of Care
Lessons Learned … Culture of Care. My Window on Education As an active full time coach/consultant I have the privilege of working with: Three superintendent cohorts representing 50 Superintendents and nearly 200,000 students; two leadership development teams; and a dozen 1:1 coaching relationships. I see weekly and monthly a broad sweep of educational issues as…
Read MoreCreating a Culture of Learning
Creating a Culture of Learning. Two themes. I hear two persistent themes through the pandemic. How do we build a culture of care; just to keep the wheels on and everyone functioning? And … How do we create a culture of learning to improve student learning? Both are needed. Care and creativity. Empathy and excellence.…
Read MoreEmbracing Community Conflict
Addressing Community Conflict … And Living to Tell About It When in doubt, reach out: collaborate. The answer is in the room. Invite the group to help resolve issues of the group. Polarized Schools have become the battleground for polarized views on COVID, race, books, and more. When in conflict, we have only so many…
Read MoreMaking tough personnel calls
Principals … Key to Student Learning School improvement rarely (possibly never) happens without great leadership. Principals’ building-wide impact makes them one of the most important forces in student learning. Earlier blogs have highlighted the power of principal pipelines and ongoing capacity development for principals. This blog focuses on discernment: what to do when a principal…
Read MoreValue Based Budgeting
Budget Priorities: What You Value Most Spring brings April showers—and enrollment projections, staffing allocations, and budgeting decisions. Essentially, we are doing three jobs at once: finishing strong, celebrating with grads and retirees, and hiring for the coming year. As one colleague puts it, “God blesses educators with a forgetful memory; otherwise, we would never go…
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