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Colleagues,
Two weeks ago, Mara and I shared ten small ways to live and lead better. My final tip was to turn off your email notifications. Even during the day. My argument:
I would really appreciate receiving pushback on this. I don’t understand why we can’t agree to do this, but I know I have blind spots. PLEASE… make the argument to me that we must have email notification on and must respond frequently throughout the day. If you decline to share your reasons with me, I’ll assume you agree and have silenced your email notifications. Seriously, please help me understand what I am missing by replying to this email. Cheers! Frederick
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Colleagues,
I had a conversation with someone who coordinates online learning courses for principals in a populous midwestern state. He said the four most popular course topics were relationships, communication (especially during conflict), disposition (soft skills), and classroom management. I wonder, are these the four most important courses for all of us?
And, aside from highly technical skills, if we could all do those four things, I think the world would be a pretty decent place. Maybe we make things more complicated than they need to be. Cheers! Frederick Colleagues, “Stop, drop, and get organized.” My guest on yesterday’s show, Jeffrey Bradbury, made the suggestion. Stop right now and get your systems built before it all gets crazy. Of course, the truth is your systems are never complete. We’ve worked very hard over the past three years at Strategic Leadership Consulting to build systems and they have sustained us through a very challenging 2026. However, as business grows and I have more and more clients and events, the systems are beginning to break down. The needs we have now are different from the needs we had even six months ago. So, invest in your systems. Build them. Maintain them. Upgrade them. What is a system or process you wish was better right now? Feel free to share. I’m happy to acknowledge Kaleidoscope Adventures as a sponsor of yesterday’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! I appreciate their support and encourage you to connect with them if you are thinking about planning a school trip!  Cheers!
Frederick Colleagues, Today’s message previews a possibly contentious email on Friday… This morning on The Assistant Principal Podcast I spoke with Jeffrey Bradbury and we talked a lot about symptoms. Part of the discussion was specifically about managing email. One thing we can do at an organizational level is develop clear rules, vocabulary, and definitions for what we put into the subject line. For example, we can use FYI in the subject line to indicate something is for reference and not urgent. If you’d like 24 more suggestions for managing email, reply to this message and I’ll send them to you. Thanks again to IXL for sponsoring today’s episode!  Cheers!
Frederick Colleagues,
I recently watched a movie where a secret handshake was a pivotal moment in the plot. Then I thought about wearing our favorite team logos and all the other ways we mark ourselves as members of a specific group. If you do the thing (do the handshake, wear the Block O, have a bushy beard) then you are part of that club. We do this so we know who to identify with and who we should be extra kind to. But what if we identified with everyone? What if we were extra kind to everyone? There is mounting evidence that the way we treat strangers has a huge influence on how we are treated and on our happiness. Just for this week, maybe try treating everyone extra kindly, and see what happens. Cheers! Frederick |
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