The Private School Leader Podcast

One of the things I hear from my coaching clients every July is this:  "Mark, I had all these plans for the summer...and somehow it's already half over." You know what I’m talking about. You had big plans this summer. You were going to: exercise every morning, spend more time with your family, take a few days completely off, sleep in, organize your office and think strategically about the com...

On June 22, 1984, I was sitting in a movie theater. I love 80’s movies and there were so many good ones. Top Gun, Footloose, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Rocky IV and The Goonies were some of my favorites. I was lucky enough to see most of them the day they came out in the theater. On June 22, 1984, I was sitting there watching Karate Kid. Daniel LaRusso moved from N...

I want to begin with a prediction. I believe that over the next two years, one of the biggest conversations in independent and private schools will be answering the following question: “How much technology actually belongs in the classroom? For almost twenty years, schools have raced toward more technology. We have become 1:1 and we have purchased iPads and online curriculums and apps and other ty...

As you read this, it is late June and July is just over the horizon. During my career as a private school leader, this was always my favorite time of the year.  Most of the reasons are pretty obvious: My annual vacation with my family in Ocean City, NJ My favorite holiday is the 4th of July! Warm weather and lots of fun outdoor activities But if I am being honest, there is another reason that...

It's mid-June, the students and teachers are gone and the building is pretty quiet. Many private school leaders are sitting down with a bottle of water, last year's Employee Handbook, and a red pen. For better or for worse, this is handbook season . This is the time of year when we review policies, update language, make revisions, and prepare for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, when handb...

You probably have a garden hose at your house. If you take a look at the spray nozzle at the end of your hose, you are very likely to see five words. Mist. Shower. Flat. Cone. Jet. When your hose is on “Mist” , the water kind of goes everywhere, but it is a weak stream and pretty scattered and not very powerful.  It is a whole different story when you rotate over to “Jet.” A very powerful str...

Who said these four famous quotes?: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” “That’s one small step for man, one giant step for mankind “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” If you said JFK, Neil Armstrong, Maya Angelou and Fra...

I have never run a marathon. My right knee gets sore when I drive 26.2 miles. That said, I have a lot of respect for people who have finished a marathon. My wife’s side of the family lives in Northeast Ohio and many of them have finished multiple marathons. They have even driven to other states to run in marathons in other cities. Inexplicable to me. Fun for them. Whether in person or on TV, you h...

Have you ever had one of those days where you leave school completely exhausted and yet somehow also wondering if you did enough? You solved problems all day. You answered emails. You handled parent concerns. You dealt with student behavior. You encouraged a teacher. You sat in meetings. You made decisions. You put out fires. And then you get in your car and your brain starts replaying everything...

confidence noun us  /ˈkɑːn.fə.dəns/ uk  /ˈkɒn.fɪ.dəns/ the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future prerequisite noun [ C ]   formal us  /ˌpriːˈrek.wə.zɪt/ uk  /ˌpriːˈrek.wɪ.zɪt/ something that must exist or happen before something else can exist or happen I think many private school leaders believe the following stateme...

Has this ever happened to you? You tell one person something in confidence. And then somehow, by the end of the day: Two teachers are talking about it in the hallway Three parents know A board member texts you and says, “I heard that you said…” Do you? Say to yourself, “Oh well, no such thing as a secret in a private school!” Throw up your hands Just figure  “it is what it is” The problem wit...

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever walked into a meeting with an upset parent and thought: “OK, I just need to stay calm, explain the facts, and this will be fine.” And then 10 minutes later… The parent is more upset. You’re starting to feel defensive. The conversation is going sideways. And you’re thinking, “How did we get here?” There is a common mistake that many private school leaders ma...

You have probably heard the quote that “a school year is a marathon, not a sprint.” That being said, the weeks between now and the last day of school sure feel like a sprint. Not only that, when you get close to the finish line it feels like it just keeps moving farther and farther away.   You are about to start “The 100 Days of May” (one of my coaching clients told me that they call it “Mayc...

You have so many people that you serve.  Students, parents, teachers, staff, board members, coaches, volunteers, grandparents, donors  and alumni make up just a part of your entire school community. All of these people have different needs, which lead to competing priorities. It is IMPOSSIBLE to keep everyone happy. I know. I tried for years to keep everyone happy. It doesn’t work. It is...

On August 15, 1973, Richard Nixon gave a televised address to the American people from the White House. During that speech, Nixon said, “I had no knowledge of the Watergate break-in and I had no involvement in it.” His supporters believed him, but the investigation would eventually reveal that he had lied. The Watergate tapes were released to the American public on August 5, 1974. Just 3 days late...

Has this ever happened to you?  You receive an email from an upset parent, an upset teacher or an upset board member. The email makes you angry. You immediately write a response to that upsetting email. You hit send. And almost immediately, you wish you hadn’t. You wish that you could put the “toothpaste back in the tube” , but you can’t. You wish that you had a time machine, but you don’t. T...

Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, I was a basketball coach. I coached Boy’s Varsity for nine years and coached 5th/6th Grade Girls for seven years. I wasn’t the same coach the entire game: If my team was making a lot of mistakes, they needed a teacher. If my team was down by a lot of points, they needed an encourager. If my team was not playing up to their potential, they needed a motivator. My t...

Where I live, we are lucky enough to have all four seasons. Last week, I saw the first robin of the year and some of the daffodils are starting to pop up.  Spring is a wonderful season because it means winter is over and everything will be lush and green in just a few weeks. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily a wonderful season for private school leaders. Why? Two words. Enrollment Season...

On October 17, 1995, Kyrie and Brielle Jackson were born at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. The twins were 12 weeks premature and each baby weighed just two pounds.  Kyrie was gaining weight in the days following their birth, but Brielle was having difficulty breathing, and her oxygen levels were dropping critically low. Nurse Gayle Kasparian, who was on duty...

On March 11, 2010 I was lying on the bathroom floor at my house. I had been lying there for an hour, because I couldn’t stand up. I couldn't keep anything down for two days and I was severely dehydrated and dizzy.  I said to my wife, “I need you to take me to the emergency room.” After a lot of tests, I was told that I had four ulcers in the lining of my stomach and esophagus. Then the ER doc...

90% can be an awesome number or a terrible number. It can be an awesome number when: Your favorite team has a 90% chance of winning the championship You live in a city where 90% of the days are sunny It can be a terrible number when: 90% of the students in your Middle School have earned a detention in the last 2 weeks There is a 90% chance of rain on the morning of your annual Field Day Over the l...

There are very few guarantees in life. However, there are probabilities. Think about your car. If you drive the speed limit, obey the rules of the road, have good tires and good brakes, you are less likely to get into an accident. However, if you speed, run red lights, drive on bald tires and your brakes are shot, you are probably going to get into an accident. Unfortunately, there are no guarante...

When I ask you to picture the island of Jamaica, what comes to mind? Probably white, sandy beaches, palm trees and crystal clear water. What you probably don’t think about is snow, ice and needing to dress in multiple layers just to keep warm.  But, in the late 1980s, the Jamaican Olympic Committee decided to send a team of athletes to compete at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. The s...

I hate going to the dentist. The thing that I hate the most is when the dental hygienist gives me a shot of Novocain and says, “You are going to feel a little pinch.” Yeah, right! It feels like a needle just went through my gum and directly into my brain.  I need to be straight with you. During this episode, you are going to feel a “pinch.” I am going to be talking about some things that your...

We all know the name Arnold Schwarzenegger. Seven-time Mr. Olympia. Hollywood action star. The Terminator. At his peak, Arnold could bench press well over 500 pounds and had one of the most powerful physiques the world had ever seen. Being the most famous body builder in the world led to notoriety and eventually led to Arnold being the highest-grossing movie star in Hollywood. But, he also had som...