Reject the Premise

Novice school leaders often receive terrible advice while veterans dish it out freely.

It’s nobody’s fault. Terrible advice exists because sometimes it is all that is known.?

Terrible advice has been accepted as truth and often goes on unquestioned.

But as a Ruckus Maker you think about your thinking.?

After all, that’s the most important kind of thinking there is!

And Ruckus Makers REJECT THE PREMISE.

Like anything I teach or share, you should not accept it as fact. Whenever I go to speak at a conference, lead a workshop, or host our annual summer event , I share three rules (today I’m talking about the first rule).

Rule #1 is “Don’t believe a word I say.”

Now why would I say that?

Because I want you to form your own opinion. Yes, what I teach works for me and for countless Ruckus Makers who take action on the idea.

But I don’t know your context or your bias for action.?

Later on in The Ruckus Maker Mastermind? we are reading my favorite book of all time … Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.?

What does Frankl say about the meaning of life??

Basically, it’s your answer to the question that matters, not Frankl’s answer.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that Ruckus Makers are responsible for what they believe and accept to be “true” about education.

Which brings us back to TERRIBLE advice.

Has anyone ever told you that as a principal you need to be FIRST on campus and LAST to leave?

That’s BS advice.

Here’s why …

UNSUSTAINABLE PACE

Right out of the gate, this advice basically means you do not have a life if you are a principal. But all the BEST Ruckus Makers I know, have time for work AND their family.

With many educators running for the exits and burnout running rampant in our field, we must ask ourselves what the root causes are.

We will address this in Nashville this July at The Sustainable School Leadership Summit . But for now, consider what YOU are doing that contributes to burnout.

After all, a system is set up perfectly for the results that it gets.?

Don’t like the results you’re seeing? Time to tinker with the system.

QUANTITY ≠ QUALITY

Status Quo Superintendents and Play-It-Safe-Principals get this wrong all the time.

It’s common sense that quantity does not equal quality.

That’s where an idea like the Pareto Principle is so important. What are the 20% of inputs you can focus on each day that produce 80% of the value?

Ruckus Makers focus on the essential few things that will create massive value on their campuses.

Play-It-Safe-Principals try to do it all and fall prey to what Greg McKeown calls The Tyranny of the Urgent.

Another way to think about QUALITY-QUANTITY is to ask yourself the question found in the book The One Thing.

It’s one of the greatest questions of all time …

“What is the ONE thing I can do TODAY, to make everything else EASIER or UNNECESSARY?”

Get good at answering that question and you will master the quality-quantity debate running rampant through education these days.

MODELING POOR PRACTICES

If you subscribe to the “first in, last out” way of school leadership you are causing harm to your staff by modeling poor practices and perpetuating terrible advice.

I know that this was done to you, but that doesn’t make it right.

As I shared earlier in this post, Ruckus Makers think about their thinking and REJECT the PREMISE.

Just because a lot of people believe a certain thing, it doesn’t make it right.?

But there is some truth to the “first in, last out” idea.?

When you’re first in and last to leave, you are demonstrating commitment and making sure you are visible and accessible.?

My point is that these benefits don’t outweigh the costs. You can also find other ways to show you are committed and accessible.?

Want help figuring that out?

This July I’m hosting up to 50 Ruckus Makers in Nashville for The Sustainable School Leadership Summit .

We’ll be considering the idea of sustainability and longevity as it relates to our industry.?

At Better Leaders Better Schools we believe “When YOU get better … Everyone wins.”

When you come to Nashville, you’ll not only learn practices that will support your efforts in education, but also that of your staff as well.?

That’s one shift Ruckus Makers make when they Do School Different?.

While most campuses experience an unsustainable pace leading to burnout, Ruckus Makers lead REMARKABLE campuses where all humans thrive.

Sound good?

See you in Nashville!

Jump Start Passes expire this week so you’ll want to register soon to lock in the best deal. And by the way, 40% of the tickets are already spoken for …

Learn more and register today: https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/school-leadership-summit/ ?