Lessons in School Leadership

From Why to How: What Educators Really Need This Year

Every August, in school gyms and media centers across the country, educators gather for back-to-school professional development. There's always a slide deck, always a motivational video queued up, and usually, at some point, a prompt appears on the screen: “Reconnect to your why.” Now listen, I l...

Jul 24, 2026

Hiring Season is a Culture Check—Is Yours Attracting or Repelling Talent?

Right now, schools across the country are deep in hiring season—posting job openings, reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews. But here’s the real question school leaders need to ask themselves: Is our school a place people are excited to join? Or a place they’re quietly avoiding? Because hiring...

Jul 23, 2026

8 Years Ago I Won Principal of the Year—Here’s What I Know Now

Eight years ago, I thought I was walking into a crisis. It was state testing week, and I was coming back from an offsite meeting when my secretary called, saying contractors were working in the gym to fix a leak and were asking them to evacuate the school. They stated they would need a few hours ...

Jul 23, 2026

Stop Managing. Start Leading: The Hidden Shift That Separates Burned-Out Leaders from Sustainable Ones

Every week, I sit across from school leaders who are brilliant, committed, and deeply passionate about their work—but they’re also quietly overwhelmed. They’ve mastered the art of “holding it all together.” On paper, the school is moving. The schedule is tight. The team is staffed (mostly). Testi...

Jul 23, 2026

What They Don’t Tell You About School Leadership (But You Learn Fast)

You know what they don’t tell you about becoming a school leader? That sometimes you’ll be drafting observation notes one minute… And figuring out how to support a school community in the middle of a crisis the next. They don’t tell you that you’ll need to be an instructional coach, culture build...

Jul 23, 2026

Spring Reset: How to Finish the Year Without Burning Out

Spring always seems to hit school leaders differently. The energy from the start of the year has faded. The pressure of testing season is here. The end of the year is on the horizon, but it feels just far enough away that you can’t quite exhale yet. For many principals and school leaders, this ti...

Jul 23, 2026

How to Lead Others by Leading Yourself First: The Power of Self-Leadership

March is Women’s History Month—a time to celebrate the resilience, achievements, and leadership of women who have paved the way. But today, I want to talk about a leadership truth that often gets overlooked: The hardest person to lead is yourself. As women in leadership, we pour into others—our t...

Jul 23, 2026

How to Lead Through Change When Your Team Doesn't Trust You

“You may get compliance, but you won’t get commitment without trust.” Trust is the foundation of leadership. By definition, it means: "assured reliance on character, ability, strength, and truth of someone". Trust is critical when you're developing your leadership skills. It is an overlooked skil...

Jul 23, 2026

The Psychology of Change: Why People Resist and How to Overcome It

The Day Leading Change Broke My Team I’ll never forget the staff meeting that almost made me question everything. We were rolling out a new instructional coaching model—one I believed in, one that had proven results from other schools. I had spent weeks preparing the rollout, gathering data, and ...

Jul 23, 2026

How to Sustain Your Leadership Without Burning Out

Leadership is a calling—and for school leaders like us, it's a deeply personal one. We step into our roles not just to oversee buildings and budgets but to transform lives, shape futures, and serve communities. But let’s be real, the weight of that calling can feel overwhelming. I’ve been there. ...

Jul 23, 2026

How to Reset Your Systems for Second Semester: Prioritize, Organize, and Execute

The week after winter break always feels like a fresh start, doesn’t it? The teachers seem rejuvenated, the hallways are quieter for just a moment as students adjust to waking up early again, and the possibilities for a successful second half of the year is within reach. But for many principals, ...

Jul 23, 2026

How The "Let Them Theory" Can Jumpstart Your Leadership in January 2025

Over the holiday break, like many school leaders, I took some much-needed time to rest and reflect. Between binge-watching Netflix and diving into a thought-provoking book, I found inspiration to kick off the new year with clarity and purpose. One standout was Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins—a boo...

Jul 23, 2026

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Lessons in School Leadership

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