The Private School Leader Podcast

We all have pet peeves. For some reason, most of mine tend to happen at the grocery store. It bugs me when the person in front of me has 35 items in the “10 items or fewer” lane or when someone is walking really slowly...

On June 21, 1985, a domestic flight in Norway (Braathens SAFE Flight 139) was hijacked mid-flight. The aircraft was a Boeing 737, carrying 121 people (116 passengers and 5 crew.) The hijacker had an air gun that looked...

Back in the summer of 2021, one of my daughters was driving a Chevy CRUZE with over 110,000 miles on the odometer. She needed to trade it in and get a more updated used car, with less miles on it. We found a car that...

A little bit of fire, under control, is a good thing. I love grilling in my back yard and a hot dog always tastes better straight from the grill. When my daughters still lived at home, we would really enjoy making...

Do you have any fragile kids at your school? Do some of your students give up easily when faced with a challenging problem or concept? Are your students sometimes too worried about “looking smart?” Do any of your...

I know that the title of today’s episode is a little bizarre, but just trust me. I promise, by the end of this episode, you’re going to see how the heroes from The Hunger Games and Star Wars can help your school save...

I was a private school leader for 33 years. When I think back on some of my favorite things about my job, a few things immediately come to mind: Spirit Days and seeing all the kids dressed up and having fun Home...

I want you to use your imagination. Imagine that you are a stick figure. Now imagine that this stick figure has a sponge for a heart. You go through your day and your sponge keeps absorbing other people’s emotions. The...

What do the following four things have in common? A meatloaf recipe The 2nd grade math curriculum The NFL rulebook A grading rubric They are all examples of frameworks. Frameworks give us structure. They give us a clear...

Has this ever happened to you? You are standing in front of your faculty about to introduce a new initiative, policy or school-wide roll out of some sort. Before you even open your mouth, you notice one of your veteran...

About 5 years ago, one of my daughters bought a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. Before buying this car, she did a ton of research because she was looking for one very specific feature. It wasn’t the stereo system or heated seats...

It was Field Day 2005 and I was just trying to be helpful. I arrived at the field early and asked Mrs. Ankney if there was anything that I could do. She asked me to use the manual line painter and paint the finish line...

Several years ago, I was meeting with the mom of a 6th Grade boy. She looked me in the eye and said, "If you don't put my son into Pre-Algebra 6, then I'm going to pull both of my kids out of the school." Immediately, I...

Just a heads up that the next few sentences are going to be gross. We have all heard the phrase, “death by 1,000 cuts.” This phrase actually comes from an ancient Chinese form of execution called Lingchi, which...

Has this ever happened to you? You are at school or at an event and you are surrounded by parents, teachers and students. You are surrounded by hundreds of people, but you feel totally isolated and profoundly alone. I...

12 years ago, Leo’s mom asked me a question. To this day, her words still send a chill down my spine. "So, are you saying that you have no idea where my child is right now?" And I had to say, “That’s correct.” It was...

On May 21, 2018, 19 year old Cedella Roman, a French citizen, was visiting her mother in White Rock, British Columbia. Cedella decided to go for a run on the beach and she headed south. After running for about 30...

Is it just me or does it seem like more people are getting more angry, more quickly? I am seeing people go from 0-100 in 2.2 seconds over things that didn’t used to be that big of a deal, like: An overcooked steak at a...

If you have listened to even one episode of this podcast, you know that I really like to talk about a few leadership traits that are super important for you to be successful as a private school leader. especially...

About 3 years ago, the 5th grade boys at my school were obsessed with juggling. I don’t know how it started, but about half of them were juggling all the time, especially at recess. I remember thinking: “That looks...

A 2016 Harvard Business Review study found that 58% of employees reported they would trust a stranger more than their own boss. Yikes! Just let that sink in for a minute. More than half of American employees say that...

I would like to ask you three questions: Are you 100% satisfied with the culture at your school? Can you envision the culture that you want? Do you know how to make your vision a reality? As private school leaders, most...

I want you to use your imagination. You and two colleagues from your school are going to an educational conference in another city. You decide to go a day early and visit two private schools in that area. In the...

At my local Walmart, the same thing happens every year, during the week after the 4th of July. They start putting out all of the “Back To School” items in their seasonal section. Just a week before, this section was...

I want you to use your imagination. Pretend you are at school. For the entire morning, you are wearing glasses that make everything very blurry. Around noon, someone hands you glasses with a perfect prescription and you...