Sometimes, you mess up. Sometimes things go wrong, you experience loss or defeat, you become overwhelmed by change, or you fall under insurmountable obstacles. Whether it’s your fault or not, it all falls apart, and then you experience shame, chastisement, rejection, and other consequences, and you’re left wondering what you are supposed to do next and questioning everything you’ve been … Read More
The Secret Mandate
“And that’s when I knew there was a secret mandate …” he said. A colleague was passing through town. I had heard the news a few weeks prior – news that comes all too frequently in Christian School circles – another head of school departing prematurely. “Tell me your story,” I asked. And he did. It was familiar. All too … Read More
The Teacher – Student Intersection
It is safe to say that the 2015-16 school year has begun in most schools across North America. In several of the Midwest states, legislation was passed to move back the first day of school. Iowa legislators decided that August 23 is the first day that schools may officially begin. The City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, allowed citizens to … Read More
Effective Christian Leadership: Strategic Planning
I was fairly young and had just become the headmaster of a small Christian school. I knew that the school had been operating with an interim headmaster, that enrollment had drastically declined over the previous couple of years, that they had recently gone through a major shift in identity, that resources were very limited, and that a desired plan for … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 7)
Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
What makes an education ‘Christian’?
“This article originally appeared in the August 10, 2015 issue of Christian Courier, an independent Christian bi-weekly newspaper (christiancourier.ca).” Does hiring Christian teachers and administrators automatically yield a Christian education? Well-meaning and sincere Christians have taken very different approaches to Christian education and scholarship. What follows are six examples. The first approach is to proceed as if there is not … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 6)
Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
Positive Intersections
As a former driver’s education instructor, intersections were typically the most exciting part of the job. Riding alongside rookie drivers as they figured out who arrived at the four-way stop first, who was on the right, or how to navigate those unique intersections where cross-traffic did not stop, tended to provide some interesting interactions. Great decisions needed to be made at … Read More
Effective Christian Leadership: Take Time to Celebrate
We celebrate many things. When we grow another year older, we celebrate. When we add another year to the length of our marriage, we celebrate. When our favorite team wins a championship, we celebrate. When we graduate – from kindergarten, from high school, from college – we celebrate. When our child is born, we celebrate. When we get a promotion, … Read More
Three Steps for Recruiting Talent
In my prior blog, “School Buses, Lord of the Flies, and The Right People”, I received comments and questions about my own experience riding school buses, how to develop exciting non-bus orientated analogies, and what dispositions I look for in candidates; however, the most significant interest and conversation revolved around the following comment: Recruit Talent: No offense to those that … Read More