A Principled Principal


Book Description

The role of the school principal has become more complexed and demanding in recent years. Where once, the site administrator was viewed as no more than a building manager, the numerous tasks of the principal can now range from monitoring daily attendance of the students and staff, to mediating and advocating for at-risk students and their families. Few would disagree, for example, that at least part of the reason administrative vacancies are growing has to do with unrealistic working conditions. Nearly half of new principals leave their schools after three years and nearly 20 percent leave every year (Superville 2020). The need for effective leadership continues to be one of the most important issues facing many schools and districts across the nation. Parents are seeking schools in which their children are nurtured by competent and qualified administrators and teachers. In pondering over what I wanted to share in this book, I began to think of the many different articles and published writing on the subject of effective school leadership. Volumes have been written on what great principals do and don't do. And so, rather than write another book filled with the many ideas written about leadership theory, in this book, I instead recount the many life lessons I've learned regarding the characteristics of a principled leader. My goal is to share what I've learned, with the hope that I might inspire those of us who have been at this for a while as well as what I believe might be very useful ideas to new and future school administrators who desire to be principled principals. "Dr. Todd's easy-going personality and joy for leading comes through in every page, making it seem as if you're having a conversation while enjoying a cup of coffee with a colleague, a mentor, or a friend." -Dr. Clara M. Guerrero, Principal, NEW Academy Canoga Park "Dr. Todd shares heartwarming anecdotes about his personal and educational life that shaped his administrative leadership style. His subsequent principles, reflective of these experiences, can be useful to future administrators and educators anywhere." -Dr. Ronald W. Solórzano, Professor of Education, Occidental College "A Principled Principal is a glimpse into the daily application of beliefs and values in a school setting. Most compelling is that Dr. Todd shares his life's journey from humble beginnings through his milestones to the emergence of being an effective leader." -Dr. Marta E. Sanchez, Professor of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Loyola Marymount University




The Principled Principal


Book Description

Jeffrey Zoul and Anthony McConnell know from personal experience that the role of school principal is one of the most challenging and the most rewarding in education. Using relatable stories and real-life examples, the authors reveal ten core values that will empower you to work and lead with excellence.




WIN Time


Book Description

WIN Time: Fearlessly Transforming Your School is an action-driven, practical leadership playbook and roadmap that provides a proven path to success so you can create your own WIN system in your school. The authors break down the steps of defining WIN and "what" and "why" you need to provide interventions and enrichments for your students. WIN Time will equip you with ideas and inspire you to take action to transform your campus. These very ideas transformed our school from low-performing to being awarded the prestigious National Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education for our progress in closing the achievement gaps. This book is designed to be a practical-based approach to leadership, designed around a proven learner-centered approach. The proven learner-centered "What I Need" intervention system is outlined in detail within the book and sets the stage for how this book is designed for your leadership solutions. Lessons learned from seasoned administrators are discussed and outlined throughout the book to help the reader reflect and apply scenarios to their own schools. Each chapter concludes with a problem-based scenario that allows the learner to walk through a provided roadmap to help design a solution to an issue in their school. This book will hopefully be "What You Need" to spark a thoughtful solution to an area of struggle on your leadership journey. True professional growth is acquired through reflection. We feel this book provides the spark for reflection in some common areas where we have struggled in our leadership experience. A true learner-centered school is composed of professionals with a passion for learning. If we, as educators, can model a love for learning, it sends a powerful message to the students. I have learned many lessons over the past twenty years as an administrator. Hopefully, some of the lessons shared in the book will make your journey a little easier. Remember to be your best self, build relationships, be grateful, lead with passion, and always model a love for learning. - Morris Lyon, Superintendent, and Author I believe successful schools must have strong and effective leaders. The fundamental purpose of writing this book is to assist you as you transform your school into a true, high-performing school and to help you improve student achievement and learning. I hope that by sharing our experiences and what we have learned, we can help you on this journey. - Stephanie McConnell, Principal, Author, and Owner of Principal Principles




Principle-Centered Leadership


Book Description

An inspirational and practical guide to leadership from the New York Times–bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, named one of Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans, is a renowned authority on leadership, whose insightful advice has helped millions. In his follow-up to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he poses these fundamental questions: How do we as individuals and organizations survive and thrive amid tremendous change? Why are efforts to improve falling so short in real results? How do we unleash the creativity, talent, and energy within ourselves and others? Is it realistic to believe that balance among personal and professional life is possible? The key to dealing with the challenges that we face is to identify a principle-centered core within ourselves and our institutions. In Principle-Centered Leadership, Covey outlines a long-term, inside-out approach to developing people and organizations. Offering insights and guidelines on how to apply these principles both at work and at home, Covey posits that these steps will lead not only to an increase in productivity and quality of work, but also to a new appreciation of personal and professional relationships as we strive to enjoy a more balanced, rewarding, and ultimately more effective life. “There seems to be no limit to the number of writers offering answers to the great perplexities of life. Covey, however, is the North Star in this field . . . without hesitation, strongly recommended.” —Library Journal




The Peter Principle


Book Description

The classic #1 New York Times bestseller that answers the age-old question Why is incompetence so maddeningly rampant and so vexingly triumphant? The Peter Principle, the eponymous law Dr. Laurence J. Peter coined, explains that everyone in a hierarchy—from the office intern to the CEO, from the low-level civil servant to a nation’s president—will inevitably rise to his or her level of incompetence. Dr. Peter explains why incompetence is at the root of everything we endeavor to do—why schools bestow ignorance, why governments condone anarchy, why courts dispense injustice, why prosperity causes unhappiness, and why utopian plans never generate utopias. With the wit of Mark Twain, the psychological acuity of Sigmund Freud, and the theoretical impact of Isaac Newton, Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull’s The Peter Principle brilliantly explains how incompetence and its accompanying symptoms, syndromes, and remedies define the world and the work we do in it.




The Trouble with Principle


Book Description

The author explains that history and context determine a principle's content and power and that "intellectual and religious liberty ... are artifacts of the very partisan politics they supposedly transcend."--Jacket.




Principles


Book Description

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Significant...The book is both instructive and surprisingly moving.” —The New York Times Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals. In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success. In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve. Here, from a man who has been called both “the Steve Jobs of investing” and “the philosopher king of the financial universe” (CIO magazine), is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.




Principled


Book Description

In the era of #metoo, &‘fake news' and &‘alternative facts' few would dispute that we face a global crisis around trust in the workplace and more broadly in society. When the CSIRO released its Australian National Outlook 2019, it identified trust as one of the future key challenges the nation faces in relation to governments, business, non-government organisations and the media. It is less likely that a company will be able to innovate and remain competitive if trust is low or absent. Prominent Australian educator Paul Browning faced this situation when the school he led became embroiled in The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Principled draws on Browning's first-hand experience of navigating an organisation through this highly public ethical crisis and outlines the challenges he faced as a leader. Bringing together evidence-based research and over 20 years of management experience, Paul Browning offers timely advice on the 10 key practices that can help executives build and develop skills to become more trustworthy leaders.




Principaled


Book Description

The best view comes after the hardest climb. While the principal's office may sometimes feel like the loneliest place in the building, it doesn't have to be. In Principaled, veteran principals Kate Barker, Kourtney Ferrua, and Rachael George draw back the curtain on their years of experience, revealing the strategies, mind-sets, and practices that have helped them flourish in their roles. With humor, humility, and candor, the authors detail the key ingredients to finding balance as a school leader: taking time to reflect and learn, seeking out mentors, crafting simple and clear goals, and not neglecting self-care. The authors present a step-by-step approach to facing the challenges of school change and demonstrate that achievement and improving culture are not mutually exclusive goals. Strengthened by their hard-earned wisdom, the dynamic trio behind Principaled will elevate school leaders and help them find their footing along the route to career contentment. "Being a principal is a rocky ride. Tomorrow always has surprises waiting, there are always too many priorities, and for most of us good is not good enough. This is a rare book, written from the front line. A must-have for future, new, and experienced school leaders." -John Hattie, PhD, director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute "Barker, Ferrua, and George's Principaled should be required as the go-to playbook for every education leader seeking to lead effectively. The reader is left with the seeds of effective leadership and a developed purpose, and presented with a comprehensive game plan on how effective principals can be cultivated through strategic reflection." -Dr. A. Katrise Perera, 2015 NASS Superintendent of the Year "Barker, Ferrua, and George masterfully identify the areas where it matters the most: knowing yourself, knowing your people, and knowing your skill sets. The authors share personal stories and relevant examples with refreshing honesty and insight." -Jimmy Casas, leadership coach, educator, author, and speaker




The Treasure Principle, Revised and Updated


Book Description

Discover how the joy of giving can make your life richer, starting today. Bestselling author Randy Alcorn introduced readers to a revolution in material freedom and radical generosity with the release of the original The Treasure Principle in 2001. Now the revision to the compact, perennial bestseller includes a provocative new concluding chapter depicting God asking a believer questions about his stewardship over material resources. Jesus spent more time talking about money and possessions than about heaven and hell combined. But too often we’ve overlooked or misunderstood his most profound teaching on this topic, from his words in Matthew 6. Jesus offers us life-changing investment advice. He actually wants us to store up treasures for ourselves—just not here on earth. Instead, he urges us to store our treasure in heaven, where they will await us, and last forever. We can’t take it with us—but we can send it on ahead! Readers are moved from the realms of thoughtful Bible exposition into the highly personal arena of everyday life. Because when Jesus told His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” He intended that they discover an astounding secret: how joyful giving brings God maximum glory and His children maximum pleasure. In The Treasure Principle, you’ll unearth a radical teaching of Jesus—a secret wrapped up in giving. Once you discover this secret, life will never look the same. And you won’t want it to be. “Supercharged with stunning, divine truth! Lightning struck over and over as I read it.” - John Piper, Senior Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis




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