A natural leader, I am not, and I suspect you may feel the same about yourself. Why else would you be here?

We know leaders are made, not born. Leaders evolve, and we must discover these talents and develop them over time. I had leadership roles in high school and was a part of a national nonprofit leadership training program in college. I had corporate and nonprofit leadership positions and was also self-employed in my early career.

But I didn’t get serious about leadership and the impact good leadership has on others until I started my career in education. And I didn’t start that until I was 30. It was my 4th career switch. I decided to pursue my teaching degree when my wife had just given birth to our second child. I quit what I was doing at the time, which wasn’t working out anyway, and enrolled full-time in school. Long story short, I had my teaching certificate and a teaching position two years later.

Being a teacher was great. I enjoyed it. However, I saw that the change I was looking for can only be accomplished by influencing others. That meant I needed to go into leadership.

I realized leadership is much more involved and complicated than having a title. In my case, my title was principal. Yours may also be principal, teacher, executive director, manager, superintendent, president, vice-president, board member, board chair, or one of many other positions. You and I both know your title does not make you a leader. We are leaders to the extent of our ability to influence others and take them in a direction they perhaps didn’t even know they wanted to go.

I learned quickly, as I suspect you have also, being in a position of leadership in an organization is quite complex.

At first, I let experience be my teacher, and I also watched others. I mostly learned what NOT to do, which is very helpful in its own right but not the best for developing my leadership framework. So I started reading books and articles on leadership. Because I was in the education field, I focused on that. But I also went beyond education.

With the emergence of podcasts, I have consumed even more on leadership. Social media has also been a great resource, especially following other leaders on Facebook and Twitter. It is most beneficial to take notes from what I read and listen to.

Most importantly, and I encourage you to do, I formed and cultivated relationships with other leaders, people I could call on and who could call on me, whom I could both rejoice and commiserate with.

I’ve realized that more effective leaders are needed. Being an educational leader requires more skill and support than ever before. Our communities and organizations that serve them also need good directors and board members. I’ve realized this is where I need to apply my expertise.

My purpose is now to serve you, the new leader, the aspiring leader, and the leader looking to serve their organization well or even move along in their career. I will work with you to develop your leadership, communication, and language skills, confront conflict and difficult conversations, and on education-specific topics such as guiding instructional practice, developing effective instruction, and motivating and inspiring teachers.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me, even if you don’t have an immediate need or want to explore some possible options. I would be glad to connect with you!