We celebrated with family recently up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We watched football games, played cornhole, took naps, and enjoyed delicious food.

Some like to ride through the mountains, while others love the test of climbing them. Some aim for mountain top experiences, while others struggle in the valleys.

Mastering the mountain is crucial for each of us to overcome the fears and to discover just how high we can truly go. Are you ready?

It was fairly early during the massive disruption of the COVID pandemic that we found an even deeper calling for our organization. Debate raged over how to manage schools in the midst of the crisis, with a very vocal contingent endlessly condemning administrators and teachers.

Like many schools and businesses, we were hanging on by a thread trying to survive. We love educators and could sense the exasperation and fatigue, so we started to create and share our Weekly Encouragement for Educators email along with professional development resources to encourage educators in their calling and commitment. 

Checkout the backstory behind this transformation from Tammy's perspective. 

Unhealthy competition and adversarial alliances will usually degrade school culture and limit the ability to learn and improve. While some tensions can be destructive, not all are bad. 

It may sound counterintuitive, but creative tension can be used strategically to elevate our personal and school growth potential. When we purposefully challenge our thinking, we're often able to access untapped potential. 

It all starts with a journey that gets us outside of our comfort zone. This is mine...

As educators, our mission in this life-changing work is way beyond just surviving. We want to thrive! But achieving that high level of experience requires energy and passion combined with habits of excellence that sustain both. 

Being human is hard. Educating humans is even harder, as we guide children, parents, fellow educators, and others into greater levels of growth and maturity.

Some days this seems like an impossible task because we encounter people on the team who can at various times be frail, fickle, and/or fantastic. This produces a wide range of relational challenges since we are so reliant on each other. Let's explore these characteristics and the impact of limited relational intelligence in more detail.

Part of the adventure of life and leadership as an educator is really listening to people and learning the rest of the story, where we let them safely reveal their thoughts and motivations to deepen trusted connections.

Problem solvers get much of the glory: Heart Surgeons, First Responders, Plumbers, and so on. Their ability to fix us, resolve the crisis, and get us back on track is vitally important.

Certainly, problem solvers are vital, but what if more investment was made in Preventive Measures? That would require prioritizing decisions, habits, and accountability to reduce risks and improve performance. The peace of mind is worth it!

Interpretive Master Planning (IMP) is uncommon among educators, but it offers a transformative approach to school design that aligns closely with strategic planning and campus master planning.

In light of the leadership's desire to create a beautiful culture and campus, this approach to designing physical spaces and experiences offers a significant advantage for competitive differentiation and life-changing impact.

Learn more about the process and benefits of IMP through this infographic.

School growth and improvement is an elusive goal that many pursue but confusion lingers among boards and administrators about what success looks like. What should be measured to learn and improve? What matters most? How do we win?

Tensions and expectations are high, so it’s imperative that we find some common language for excellence and alignment around meaningful goals.

In other words, elevating the quality of our schools is more about renewed commitment to the disciplines of effective school leadership than cutting edge innovation. 

Inspiration can come at the most unexpected times.

In September of 2020 we hosted an online symposium for school administrators on sustaining a healthy school culture in the early stages of the pandemic. The mood among these leaders wasn't good―actually it was miserable. 

They were tired, tired of it, and some were already making other career plans as a result of the unending conflict and stress.

That moment was the catalyst for the Weekly Encouragement for Educators email and the recently published book, "Love'em and Lead'em: Encouragement and Inspiration for Educators." Genuine care and relationships among colleagues is crucial in this work, and we have a new tool to get there.

Below are three ways you can more effectively Love and Lead educators.