29 unexpected things my clients (and I) need to hear...You’re gonna want to print this one out .

1. On-going, consistent support for yourself in leadership isn’t just something that’s nice to have.  It’s essential for making your leadership sustainable.  Don’t wait for the first crisis of the school year to hire a coach you feel deeply seen and supported by - put it at the top of your to-do list and take action now.

2. There’s power in focusing on ONE area of improvement until you learn what works for you and your team.

3. The concept of VALUES isn’t fluff.  What you stand for and what you don’t as a person and as a leader are essential to name clearly and deeply internalize.  It will make every decision you make this year SO. MUCH. EASIER.

4. You get the level of peace, ease, freedom, and pleasure in your work you believe you deserve.

5. You are a freak’n leader of a school.  Act like it.  Throw out the blazer from the last decade and buy something that makes you feel good.  Every part of your life deserves the energy of of POWERFUL, VISIONARY leader.  Your leadership success is as close as your breath if you let it in.  It’s about embodying the energy of LEADER so fully that no one can tell you otherwise. 

6. When you’re mad that someone on your team or in your life didn’t do what you thought they would do - before you do anything else, check your agreements.  Are they explicit?  Clear?  Mutually co-signed?  If not, clean them up.

7. Whatever you want that person to do or become or act like - get right with yourself first.  Whatever we want out there, we have to go first and be that thing.

8. It’s not all your fault.  As highly responsible leaders, we can over-do self correction.  We also need to look around and let ourselves judge what is needed by others.  Maybe your team needs a retreat or your assistant principal needs leadership training.  It’s okay to see and assess.

9. Learn how to integrate two seemingly opposing concepts - great leaders can be with and make sense of dichotomy and nuance.

10. Regulate your nervous system.  Research shows that a regulated leader can help co-regulate their team (they can also co-disregulate their teams).  I’m training in nervous system repair this fall so I can use it in my life and bring it to coaching sessions.

11. Soft skills - adaptive work, emotional intelligence work, trauma informed work - none of these skills are at odds with high expectations and excellence - they are what underpin sustainable, exceptional work.

12. Great leaders are clear and direct and can articulate a focused vision for the year.  Educational leaders are prone to people pleasing, trying not to rock the boat, and longing to keep their staff happy.  The result can be shifting priorities and a lack of focus. 

13. Own the entirety of your results.  If you’re beating yourself up for every missed opportunity, it’s your job to also absorb each celebration.  If you put your rose colored glasses on and are only looking at “what worked,” it’s time to also acknowledge what didn’t.  Radical responsibility sets you free.

14. This game was never “get everything right the first time.”  The game is to make mistakes then reflect, refine, and try something new. The more you follow this cycle, the faster you collapse time on your growth.  

15. You’re making it harder than it needs to be because you’re operating on old beliefs that used to keep you safe and now are a chain around your ankle.  

16. Leadership becomes way  more fun when you treat it as self expression and one of the best ways to become more of who you truly are.

17. If you don’t like coaching, you need to learn to love it.  Some of the best leaders I’ve observed spend most of their day listening and talking like a coach.  The hallmark of their teams and building is:  “When you’re with me, we’re doing growth.”

18. The thing you avoided last year is the first thing you should clean up.  Avoiding certain classrooms?  Not scheduling difficult conversations?  Canceling certain meetings?  These are your best clues as to where your attention is needed now.

19. Gratitude fixes everything.

20. Being offended is always a waste of energy.

21. Loneliness is bad for everyone.  Even Jesus had disciples.  Get support. 

22. Humility can be a trap that keeps leaders from sharing their true knowledge and gifts and keeps our systems stuck.  

23. If you don’t think you need mindset work, you probably do.  We all do.  We’re unlearning decades of conditioning.

24. People hit their first wall of fatigue in October.  Plan ahead now.

25. You don’t have to see the same concern ten times to make your observation valid.  Trust what you see and take action.

26. Speak to the culture you are creating every day, in every meeting, in each 1:1.  Words come first and it’s ‘words that create worlds.’

27. The best way to prevent burnout and disillusionment is to be connected with your purpose and power.  Aim to get 51% of your day to be time spent on the work you know matters, then move it to 60%.  

28. Put thirty minutes on your calendar everyday to close the door, review your priorities, and get clear about the day ahead.  Busy all day can add up to distracted all year.

29. Normalize a harmonious life and effective leadership.  You don’t have to suffer to give - it’s the thing that takes people out of the game.  “Wellbeing and impact” become true for you the moment you decide it does.

    
    

Your leadership is good for the world.

The moment you get clear on that, the whole experience changes.

1:1 holistic leadership coaching is available now.  A bimonthly container that sees you, helps you grow and refine your strategy, moves and transforms your mindset, and nurtures you to become the leader you’ve longed to be.  Book your free coaching session HERE.

Your partner in the work,

Maggie