SchoolCEO Spring 2023

The Power

- FORMER

“TO LISTEN WELL IS AS POWERFUL A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND INFLUENCE AS TO TALK WELL.”

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL

How can you make the most of your influence?

If you’re anything like us, you can’t get your day started without a cup (or two, or three) of coffee. But have you ever considered what it takes to make your morning brew? Farmers grow and harvest the beans; processors hull and dry them; then they’re roasted, packed, and shipped before finally ending up in your favorite mug.

But some of the most important players in this process are also the most easily forgotten: bees. These little helpers carry pollen from one flower to another, fertilizing coffee plants so they’ll bear fruit. Without bees and other pollinators like them, the world’s coffee supply would shrink dramatically, making that all-important cup of joe too expensive and too rare. The same goes for apples, avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and pumpkins—just to name a few. You wouldn’t think something so small would have such a massive influence on global supply chains, but bees do. They’re working in the background, quietly making our normal lives possible.

Sometimes, as a school leader, you may feel like you’re not making much of a difference. Change in education is often slow and granular, and it’s hard to know which flowers are going to bloom, which efforts are going to bear fruit. But the smallest moments—a bee buzzing from blossom to

blossom or a teacher encouraging a student to keep trying— these are the moments that make the world go ‘round. Every single day, you and your staff are influencing the course of our future.

In this issue, we’re considering what it means to have influence—and how you can use that influence wisely and effectively. You’ll hear from an expert on the science of motivation, who will show you how to create and foster a high-performing culture in your district. We’ll share ways to support and mobilize your teachers, from engaging onboarding to professional development around social media. And we’ll bring you the stories of educators who are already making a buzz with the power of their influence— whether they’re bringing a district back from rock bottom or addressing and redressing inequities in school systems across the country.

Here’s the truth: We need your influence. Society needs the fruit public education bears: thoughtful, productive citizens leading fulfilling lives. But it can’t happen without you. So keep up the good work. We’ll be here to support you every step of the way.

OUR TEAM

Editor: Melissa Hite

Writers/Researchers: Barrett

Goodwin, Brittany Keil, Marie Kressin, Corey Whaley

Digital Marketing: Heather Palacios

Art Director: Sebastian Andrei

VP of Marketing: Tyler Vawser

Graphic Designers/Illustrators: Alex Barton, Marisol Quintanilla

Social Media: Thiphavanh “Bri” Vongvilay

Video/Podcast Producers: Ryan McDonald, Tanner Cox

6 Trajectory of Influence

Rookie superintendent Dr. Barbara Mullen has already blazed trails with her unique brand of impact and authenticity.

12

Welcome Aboard

Making your onboarding a productive and memorable experience might just be one of your best retention strategies.

17

Social Skills

Want your teachers to be brand ambassadors on social media? The key is professional development.

23 Lighting a Fire, Not Burning Out

Researcher Neel Doshi tells us how the science of motivation can keep you and your staff fired up about education.

28

What’s Your Frequency?

The social media game can be hard to play—so we’re breaking down the what, when, and why of posting.

36 The Language of Leadership

Here’s our master class on how to take your public speaking skills to the next level.

41 School Shoutout: Marion

44 Making a Comeback

How Minnesota’s GFW Schools revived their damaged brand—and how you can do the same.

50 Walk the Talk

Your community has a story about who you are as a leader—but are you the one telling it?

55 The Art of the Newsletter

You probably know newsletters are all the rage. Here’s how to make sure yours stands out.

60 The Domino Effect

Guest writer Dr. Mitzi N. Morillo shares five lessons she’s learned about the power of influence.

Want to read up on all you’ve missed? Previous issues are available at: schoolceo.com

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Plus, find us on social media:

Facebook: SchoolCEO

Twitter: @School_CEO

LinkedIn: SchoolCEO

County’s Student Ambassadors

How one district is empowering their biggest advocates—their students.

GOOD NEWS

Hopkins, MN

If you build it, they will play. Betsy Julien’s fifth grade students were sure of just that when they decided Glen Lake Elementary School needed an inclusive new playground for students with disabilities. “It just didn’t seem fair that some kids were just left out,” one student says. So they collected change, held bake sales, printed flyers to hand out door-todoor, and made cold calls for donations—eventually raising $300,000 for the project. “My future as an adult is bright knowing that this generation of students, of changemakers, sees something that needs fixing, and they go for it headfirst,” Julien says. Her students are now planning to buy adaptive playground equipment for other schools in their district.

(CBS News)

San Diego, CA

Smiles are getting brighter thanks to Torrey Pines High School’s ForSocialGoods Club. The student-led club is committed to promoting positive change through community service projects in their area, and one of their main endeavors is to address health equity. Currently, they’re focusing their efforts on dental health. “Kids that don’t have enough to eat are also likely to suffer from tooth decay because they don’t have a toothbrush,” one club founder says. With help from dental education nonprofit America’s ToothFairy, the club is taking donations of toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and mouth rinse—all of which will be delivered to Feeding San Diego for local children and youth in need.

(Rancho Santa Fe Review)

Glendale, AZ

Sparks are flying at Cactus High School. Students in Felix Ramirez’s automotive classes have been putting their skills to the test by building an electric vehicle. “What is unique about this car, it was made for schools,” Ramirez says. In fact, all the parts were provided by the Switch Lab program, part of Switch Vehicles in California. Their build-it-yourself kit comes with everything from a frame and seats to steering components, wiring, and a battery. Ramirez has also recruited experienced student interns to assist each of his four classes with the build.

(Phoenix Business Journal)

Hendersonville, TN

An inspiring class project has changed the lives of several engineering students at Hendersonville High School. Along with some of his engineering students, teacher Jeff Wilkins made a prosthetic hand for a student named Sergio, whose right hand never fully formed. Wilkins assigned three juniors in his engineering design and development class to the project. After consulting with Sergio, the team built the hand from scratch, eventually printing the prosthetic with a 3D printer. Now, Sergio wears his new hand every day, and the students who helped create it have all been inspired to become engineers. “It changed my life,” Sergio says.

(NewsChannel 5 Nashville)

Dallas, Texas

Don’t worry—there’s an app for that! To cut down on food waste and hunger in their community, three students from Dallas ISD’s School for the Talented and Gifted, along with a freshman at Dartmouth College, have created an app called FoodNex. With an estimated 119 billion pounds of food waste in the U.S. yearly, these students wanted to find a way to help. “If we could just reroute that food to the people who needed it, that could easily end food insecurity,” one student says. The FoodNex app does just that—connecting businesses with extra food to food banks and other hunger assistance programs. With funding help from Dartmouth, the app has already been used to distribute about 70,000 pounds of food in North Texas, Minneapolis, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The students hope to scale FoodNex for nationwide use.

(NBC DFW)

Chicago, IL

Starting a home library just got a little easier for the students of Joyce Kilmer Elementary School. With the help of longtime teacher Nancy Wright’s fundraising, the school has installed a book vending machine—and it’s filled with brand-new books. Students are given special tokens by their teachers and get to choose which book to take home for free. Wright is taking donations from the community to keep the vending machine stocked with new books for the kids. “We need to get our kids excited about reading, and they need to have a choice in what they’re reading, so I just felt the vending machine was a no-brainer,” she says.

(Block Club Chicago)

Saugerties, NY

Love is in the air at Saugerties Elementary School. Students at the school spent the first few weeks of the year making Valentine’s Day cards for local senior citizens who live alone or away from their relatives. The project was part of New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey’s annual Valentines for Seniors Card Drive. Together, students at the elementary school created more than 1,000 unique cards, each filled with heartfelt messages. The cards were then handed out to senior citizens at nursing homes, adult daycares, and senior centers.

(Daily Freeman)

Salem, OR

It’s into the woods for a few dozen high schoolers from Salem’s Career Technical Education Center—and for a noble cause. As part of the Oregon State Trust’s reforestation initiative, these students helped replant nearly 800 trees in the Santiam State Forest. This is all in response to the 2020 Beachie Creek fire, which burned 182,600 acres of the forest. Some students even bonded with their baby Douglas firs, giving them names and planning to check on them in the future.

(KATU 2)

At just 11 years old, Dr. Barbara Mullen marched on the California capitol to protest a ban on affirmative action for the state’s universities and public jobs. She still remembers the sea of other young faces on the capitol steps in Sacramento. It was her parents—both of whom were educators and advocates for public education—who taught her to use her voice for change. “When you grow up with parents like mine, you know immediately when you’re doing things that make a difference,” Mullen tells us. So she set out to do just that.

Now entering her first superintendency, Mullen is a leader whose impact is already far-reaching. In fact, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Mullen on several separate occasions during her time in various change-making roles. We were quickly impressed by her authentic and passionate approach to serving students—and her candid take on navigating the bureaucracy of public education to make lasting change.

As someone who has held leadership positions in nearly every corner of the United States, Mullen’s journey hasn’t been a consistent climb so much as a series of courageous leaps. “The path to the superintendency doesn’t always have to be a slow burn,” she tells us. “That’s just not how I roll. If you train for a marathon, you have to do hill sprints—it can’t all be long distance. Short, intense spurts build your stamina for endurance, and I had some impactful, meaningful time in some very hard districts.” Mullen also reminds us that she’s only 38 years old. “The millennial supes are here, and we lead a little bit differently,” she says. And though her meteoric rise may seem like a lightspeed journey, Mullen’s trajectory has been charted with strategy, authenticity, and heart.

As she begins her tenure leading New York’s Rush-Henrietta Central School District—home of the Royal Comets—it’s the perfect time to reflect on how Mullen has used her unique voice and activist spirit to influence the lives of countless students and fellow educators across the country. Needless to say, this teacher, author, and self-proclaimed “organizational architect” is more than ready for the next challenge on her cosmic path to making a difference in the world.

From Greenroom to Classroom

It would be easy to assume that the daughter of a college professor and a special education director would go right into education herself. But despite how much her parents have always inspired her, Mullen wanted to go her own way, majoring in communication and media studies at Northern Illinois University. This quickly led her to pursue a unique

opportunity—interning at television network BET (Black Entertainment Television) in Los Angeles.

As a public relations intern and, later, a publicity assistant, Mullen did just about everything: assisting in media outreach, managing events, and working closely with BET’s director of communications on budgets, image control, and demographic analysis. She even wrote press copy and assisted with media training. In short, it was an eye-opening experience, and it quickly led Mullen to recognize one of her biggest strengths.

“People wouldn’t dismiss me,” she tells us. “I was coordinating and galvanizing people. The production team, the film team, the talent, you name it—I was bringing all these people together. It was less about my positional authority and more about being a person who’s relatable. People have to want to listen to you because they like you.”

For Mullen, the lesson was clear: She could influence and empower people through her authenticity and positive approach to the work. “The power of persuasion was the first thing I learned as a PR person,” she says. “You’ve got to have that as an aspiring leader, too. I’ve always led with, What needs to get done? Come and do it with me .”

Her time in PR taught her so much, but Mullen soon felt the pull of her family legacy. “I left PR because while I knew communicating and storytelling was my passion, doing it in a commercial space wasn’t,” she tells us. “I had a seed of impact planted in me as a child, and PR simply couldn’t nurture it to grow.”

Could she use her authentic approach to team building and empowerment to be an effective educator like her parents? Mullen was ready to find out. She enrolled in graduate school at Quincy University, studying for a master’s in special education, and was hired to teach in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). There, in one of the country’s largest school districts, she would begin to find her true focus: changing systems to address and redress inequities in public education.

Finding Her Philosophy

Teaching special education quickly gave Mullen insight into how large school systems like CPS truly function—and how they need to grow. “It was really my segue into looking systemwide at equity, because special education services is a districtwide division,” she says. “You look at data, you

Dr. Barbara Mullen

assess, you evaluate, and you have a team come together. But, still, there can be something missing. Who’s not at the table? What perspective are we missing to see the complete picture?”

Working as a special education teacher in CPS eventually inspired Mullen to use her advocacy skills to grow her impact beyond the walls of a single classroom. “I really began to see this national push for equity expand,” she tells us. “So I pivoted toward building leadership development, thinking about what systems could impact equity—both at the school level and across an entire district.” Around that same time, she enrolled in Capella University’s Ph.D. program for special education leadership.

Ultimately, Mullen’s time at CPS was an invaluable learning experience. “Chicago Public Schools is still one of the best systems that I have ever worked in,” she tells us. “I had so much support, and I was able to learn as much as I wanted about my practice, about instructional leadership, about teaching, about data-driven instruction.”

Working in CPS also led Mullen to establish the three tenets of her professional philosophy: accountability, reliability, and shared vision. “Accountability goes both ways—it means you tell me the truth and you trust me to tell you the truth,” she says. “I show my love to people by being accountable to them, and reliability is a piece of that love. You build trust when you do what you say you’re going to do.”

Mullen credits her time as a special education teacher for showing her the true importance of the third tenet. “Shared vision comes from the special education side—supporting a child takes a whole team of people,” she says. “You have an IEP team, a general ed teacher, a special education teacher, and a building leader committing their resources to a child. You have to have a collaborative spirit as a leader.”

The Pull of Leadership

Eventually, Mullen found her way to Houston, where she helped to open a charter school and led its special education team. “I was there for about a year and a half, but I missed Chicago,” she says. “Chicago was big and political and a little messy, but I could navigate a system that size.” Soon enough, she heard about an open position that would be perfect for her in Houston ISD (HISD)—the largest school district in Texas. “I wanted to be in a bigger system like that again,” she says. She was hired as HISD’s only inclusion specialist but

quickly adapted the role to suit the district’s needs. “If I get into a role, it’s not going to be the same when I leave it as it was when I got there,” she says.

In her role, Mullen was responsible for overseeing inclusion practices for the entire district. “I was also responsible for coaching principals, for supporting school support officers [SSOs], and advising network superintendents,” she tells us. “And that’s how I got into Dr. Grenita Lathan’s orbit, which was game-changing for me.”

Lathan, HISD’s chief academic officer, asked Mullen to present to all of her SSOs and principals on inclusive practices. Mullen focused her talks on how inclusion changes instruction, how it’s everyone’s responsibility to identify kids in need, and how to create cultures of inclusion in schools. “I was fresh off finishing my doctorate, which was all about inclusion, and I was passionate,” Mullen says. “So I stomped my way across Houston ISD saying, Inclusion, inclusion, inclusion .”

But it wasn’t just the opportunities Dr. Lathan offered her that changed the game for Mullen. Lathan was also a representation of what was possible. “She was a Black woman in the superintendency, and I had never seen that before,” Mullen explains. “I just never thought that was a thing we did. Seeing her in that role made me feel seen. It made me feel like I could bring my authentic self to my own role—like I could aspire to higher levels of leadership while staying true to who I was as a Black woman.”

Lessons in leadership would abound for Mullen in HISD. She was tasked with creating and implementing the district’s inclusion policy, as well as redesigning special education programs in 10 schools threatened by state takeover. Then, when she was named to the HISD board’s Special Education Ad Hoc Committee, Mullen got an even closer look at the pressures of the superintendency. “There, I was really able to interface with governance team members and translate up to them the practical management side of doing the work,” Mullen says. “Then they could communicate that to their constituents.”

Mullen already had the heart of a leader when she entered the district, but she left it with the experiences of one. “It was so powerful,” she says. “So many of these projects prepared me to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of executive leadership.”

Call It Providence

In January of 2018, Mullen moved her husband and two kids from Houston to Providence, Rhode Island, where she served as director of the Learning Leader Network for a small firm called the Center for Leadership and Educational Equity (CLEE). “I had the opportunity to make magic,” she says. “I was able to build upon a vision that I was so committed to and that grew me so much. When I talk about facilitative leadership and continuous improvement in organizational design—all of that comes out of working under that group.” The first thing Mullen did in this role was secure a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We used that to build out continuous improvement to support turnaround in schools,” she says. “So I didn’t get to work in just one district in Rhode Island—I got to work in all of them.”

Mullen’s work in Rhode Island and in her community made such an impact that when Providence Public Schools was taken over by the state in 2019, Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green asked her to serve as the district’s first chief equity and diversity officer. Fortunately, Mullen had already spent two fruitful years in Providence, serving the community in a variety of ways— from leading in her church to working with the local chapter of her sorority. “By the time I became the chief equity officer, I had an army of community people who believed in the work,” she says. “They already trusted my leadership and knew my heart was in it.”

Despite all the community support, Mullen knew she had to use her authentic approach to leadership to make real,

“I show my love to people by being accountable to them, and reliability is a piece of that love.”

Photos courtesy of Dr. Barbara Mullen

lasting change in the district. For years, Providence had been in a state of turnover—leaders coming and going without changing much for the better. “I tried to be the cultural face of transformation,” she tells us. “What does it look like when we say we’re committed? How do we keep pulling levers that illustrate transformation and bring people into the process?”

For Mullen, being impactful also meant using her talents for connection to reach out to others. “I had a lot of learning to do in that role,” she says. “I knew I needed a community.” She formed an alliance with equity leaders in Chicago, Seattle, and other districts around the country who had been doing the work for years. “We exchanged phone numbers and emails and started sharing resources,” she says.

Mullen’s time in Providence focused on the same kind of work she’s always done: addressing and redressing inequities. As Mullen explains it, addressing inequities means inviting our communities to recognize oppressive systems. “It’s the awareness piece,” she tells us. “It’s how we say: Racism exists here . That can be jarring for white people or anyone with privilege across identity lines—but it’s absolutely necessary.” Redressing inequities, then, is the integral next step. “The redress is the call to action,” she says.

“We want to go back and see what belief systems we held that we now know need to be better, so we can change them or put resources toward supporting that transformation.”

Change in Providence under Mullen’s leadership came in many different forms, from addressing and redressing the digital equity divide during the pandemic to putting more resources toward school-based mental health. Mullen also implemented a social-emotional learning-based curriculum that centered around community building. “I think of equity as the tide that lifts all boats,” she says.

Despite everything she accomplished for the district, Mullen is quick to give credit to the educators and leaders in Providence she partnered with on this important work. “I’d like to take the accolades, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say it was a team effort,” she tells us. “We can do more together on our worst day than we can do alone on our best day.”

New Horizons

By the time of this publication, Mullen will have just stepped into her first superintendency, and she couldn’t be more excited—or prepared—to lead Rush-Henrietta Central School District. The diverse New York district has had a sharp focus on equity and inclusion for several years, and while it’s a slightly smaller district than she’s used to, Mullen is confident that it’s the perfect place for her and her family. “I’m a Great Lakes girl. That’s where my roots are,” she tells us. “And right now I’m in the thick of mommy mode. I have a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old, and I have no qualms about it—they are my sun, moon, and stars.”

After many years of school turnaround work, Mullen is ready to bring her brand of authentic leadership to a place with all-new challenges. “The thing I’m most excited about is the chance to be thoughtful in ways I couldn’t be before because I was so in the thick of it,” she says. “I know I’m equipped and able to be a teacher, a translator, a designer, and a champion for schools. I truly believe that I can have it all. I can be a mother, and I can be a superintendent. I can be in the community, but I can also have a national perspective. I can be very serious, and I can be very funny. I can work in a bureaucracy and honor the individual. To me, those are all things that are very important to the role, and I needed to be in a district that honors the duality of who I am.”

It’s also not lost on Mullen that she will be Rush-Henrietta’s first Black female superintendent. With just 1% of all

superintendents in the country being women of color, Mullen is well aware of the precedent she’s setting. “Black women leaders are coming, and we are bringing everyone with us,” she says. “We need to ensure that we’re creating pipelines that include not just Black women, but Indigenous women, Southeast Asian women, and LGBTQ+ educators.”

Diversity in leadership, after all, helps “ensure that those on the margins are not forgotten,” she says. “Our students’ lives matter—their trans lives, their lives living with disability, their lives as girls or as neurodivergent boys. We have to understand that when we amplify Black voices, we give others permission to raise their voices with us for a more just world.”

Instilled with her parents’ strong sense of justice and influence, Mullen has spent her career impacting the lives of others—a mission she’ll continue in Rush-Henrietta and beyond. With her unwavering dedication to authenticity, Mullen has established herself as a leader who is not only willing to take on new challenges, but who is also devoted to enriching the lives of the educators she leads and the students she serves.

“I am who I am, and I’m not about to hide it,” she says. “I want to be there for every little kid who has their own vibe, who has their own essence, who doesn’t feel represented—not just white and Black or girls and boys, but the nonbinary kids, the queer kids, the multilingual learners, or the kids who just want to sit in a corner and read books. I’m going to walk in with my nose ring and my swagger and show them that you can be yourself, and that being yourself will get you a lot further than being anybody else.”

“We have to understand that when we amplify Black voices, we give others permission to raise their voices with us for a more just world.”

WELCOME ABOARD ONBOARDING

AS A RETENTION STRATEGY

Even before the beginning of the Great Resignation, studies of private sector companies showed that 30% of employees in the U.S. were quitting within their first 90 days of employment. Half said they planned to leave within their first two years. Perhaps at one time, you might have said: Education is different; once a teacher, always a teacher. But that may not be the case anymore. According to a study published in 2022, 44% of teachers quit in their first five years.

A study done by the Society for Human Resource Management shows that when a company loses an employee, finding a replacement will cost the organization an amount equivalent to six to nine months of the original employee’s salary. For school districts, though, that loss is doubly costly. Losing a teacher costs more than the resources it takes to find their replacement; it also costs your students valuable months of learning. And it just

might cost them the teacher who remembers to ask about their pet, who never forgets their birthday, who has become that one adult they’ve learned they can trust.

Retention is just as important in the education sector as it is in the private sector, if not more so. Within the last decade, private sector research has shown that effective onboarding can improve retention by 82%, and yet only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organizations do a great job of onboarding new hires. With so many teachers quitting in their first five years, many of whom are leaving the field altogether, your district’s retention strategy needs to begin on Day One—with onboarding.

What does effective onboarding look like?

If only 12% of employees strongly believe their organizations do a great job of onboarding new hires, then 88% of organizations have room for improvement—and it’s safe to assume the main issue isn’t the way HR explains copays. When it comes to developing a successful onboarding process, we suggest taking a look at the experience you’re providing your new hires.

In their book The Power of Moments , bestselling authors Chip and Dan Heath write about how to make impactful moments a reality. “Defining moments shape our lives, and we don’t have to wait for them to happen,” they write. “We can be the authors of extraordinary moments.” When we recall a past experience, we tend to remember the most intense—or the peak—moments, but everything in between is a little fuzzy. We recall the moments that matter.

So where can you craft the positive, memorable moments that will determine how your new hires view their onboarding experience? Different moments will impact each new hire differently. What you can focus on is making your district’s onboarding process as personal and positive as possible. And while it’s important to do what you can to construct powerful, memorable moments for your newest staff members, it’s equally important to sprinkle smaller moments of connection throughout their onboarding experience.

So, with that said, let’s get something straight: Onboarding cannot be a one-day thing. It is a series of positive moments—both big and small—over time. Effective onboarding is a multi-faceted marathon, not a sprint— and much more than a two- to three-hour meeting tacked

onto the beginning of your summer PD schedule. In an opinion piece for Harvard Business Review, Ron Carucci, a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, writes, “I’ve found that the most effective organizations onboard new hires for the duration of their first year—their most vulnerable period.”

Dr. George F. Fiore is the Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), which provides services to the 12 school districts in Chester County. At CCIU, onboarding doesn’t just extend beyond the first day— it begins before the first day. “We look at the hiring process as the beginning of onboarding,” Fiore explains.

Fiore and his staff pay careful attention to their job postings, their interview process, and their system for informing candidates whether they’ve been hired. Once candidates are in the building, CCIU has a well-developed onboarding strategy. Fiore explains that CCIU is intentional about both what he calls the “technical side” of onboarding as well as the more social side. “We want them to feel welcome,” Fiore says. “It’s important they know that we want them here.”

The Technical Side

All onboarding experiences—no matter how exciting or engaging they might be—have one thing in common: paperwork. Health insurance selections and seemingly hundreds of signatures are unavoidable for any new hire. But even something as tedious as paperwork can be made into a positive experience with some innovative thinking and an emphasis on personal connection.

Fiore’s staff, for example, encourages new hires to fill out their paperwork in person. Not only does this give CCIU an early opportunity for a personal touch point, but it also allows them to walk new hires through any questions or confusion they may have. Plus, inviting folks to fill out their paperwork in person accommodates those who don’t have access to technology at home—a potential problem as more and more HR documentation moves to digital platforms. New hires who do have access at home but can’t make it to an in-person

According to a study published in 2022, 44% of teachers quit in their first five years.

meeting fill out their paperwork while meeting virtually with someone from HR. The idea is to show each staff member early on that they will be recognized and supported every step of the way during their career with CCIU.

The Social Side

Once your new staff members have the basic information they need in order to function in your district, it’s time to integrate them into your network of support—to connect them with the people who already know how to thrive in your schools. CCIU, for example, requires all new hires to have an onboarding session with their direct supervisors. “Let’s say you’re going to be a high school teacher in one of our schools,” Fiore explains. “The school principal will sit down with you for a conversation about what it means to work here, our philosophy, what we care about the most.”

There is no perfect delineation between the technical and social sides of onboarding, so there will still be some technical information shared during the course of this conversation—like a new hire’s specific schedule, lesson plan expectations, and evaluation processes. But the main idea behind the social side of onboarding is to connect your new hires with other folks in your district so that they feel comfortable and supported.

But when it comes to the technical side of onboarding, paperwork isn’t the only thing to think about. A new hire needs to learn so many details in order to thrive in your schools: Where can they park? Where can they get coffee? How do they access their email? The list goes on. And considering that more than a third of K-12 teachers had previous careers before entering the classroom, your new hires may also have more general questions about working in education. For example, let’s say your schools divide teachers into 180and 230-day employees. Someone coming from the private sector may not immediately understand the difference and could be confused about which category they belong to.

To be clear, we aren’t saying you should sit your new hires down and answer all these tedious questions at once. You don’t want to overwhelm your newest staff members by making them think they’re expected to remember all this information immediately. That said, you also shouldn’t expect them to learn it all on their own. Knowing where to park and get a cup of coffee will make folks feel that much more comfortable during their first few days in your district and remove any barriers that could prevent them from engaging on a deeper level.

You might also introduce new hires to leaders in departments other than their own to show them how their individual work connects to the district’s overall mission. According to marketing consultant Dr. Lori Manns, “Allowing new hires to experience a few hours in each department will provide a better understanding of how integral each department is to the success of the company overall. If new hires are introduced to the functionality of each department, it will foster better team building and internal relationships.”

What can you do to facilitate relationships early on in a new hire’s career in your district? Maybe you could set aside half a day in your summer PD schedule for each building to do interdepartmental “speed dating.” After all, it’s not only new hires who might benefit from learning about what’s going on in departments outside their own.

As you’re thinking about these relationships, consider how you might pair students during a lesson. If you had a new student, who would you pair them with? You’d probably choose a student who has a strong understanding of your classroom expectations—maybe even someone who shares interests with their new classmate. You can do this easily with new staff members, too.

Social media management company Buffer considers the matter of pairing new hires with current employees an

“The best onboarding practices do not treat culture and skills training as two separate considerations, but as integral parts of a single process rooted in the company’s mission.”

important part of the onboarding process. During a new hire’s first month at Buffer, they have a weekly chat with their “role buddy,” someone who has tenure in the new hire’s specific role and was recommended by their manager. New hires are also paired with a “culture buddy” who helps ease them into the company culture.

Buffer has even gone so far as to write guides detailing their expectations for role buddies and culture buddies. Their guides include everything from recommendations for how often buddies should meet with their new hires to thoughts on providing effective feedback. In this way, Buffer has made peer mentorship not only a part of their new hires’ onboarding experiences, but also a professional development opportunity for their more seasoned employees.

Even if you don’t have the resources to outline a full buddy program like Buffer’s before your next new hire orientation, you can still identify a good peer mentor for each of your new hires—even if that peer mentor isn’t someone in their department. Not only is this a vote of confidence in the folks you select to be mentors, but it also provides your new hires with an easy access point into your district’s social network. It gives them an example of what it looks like to thrive in your district; it gives them someone to reach out to.

At CCIU, Fiore and his staff have formalized this process. In fact, there are five full-time staff members who do nothing but mentor. Each new hire is connected with one of CCIU’s

on-staff mentors, and the mentorship process lasts for two years, culminating in a final presentation at a dinner that all CCIU’s administrators are invited to attend. “We talk about what they learned and what they’re still learning,” Fiore explains. “So, really, our onboarding process starts from the minute the job is posted all the way to the end of the second year.”

This investment is part of how CCIU creates a safe environment for their newest staff members. According to Fiore, “That’s how we say: We’re here to support you. Your success is our success .”

Integrating Culture

During their first few days with the organization, every new member of Fiore’s staff is given CCIU-branded swag—but Fiore is quick to recognize that T-shirts and water bottles aren’t enough to integrate new hires into the organization’s culture. Bringing new people into the fold is not a one-anddone task. According to a Forbes article written by Tara Milburn, founder of the sustainable merch company Ethical Swag, “The best onboarding practices do not treat culture and skills training as two separate considerations, but as integral parts of a single process rooted in the company’s mission.” In other words, as you develop or update your onboarding process—the technical side, the social side, and whatever else you include—your district’s culture should be the cornerstone of every choice you make.

Let’s say, for example, one of your district’s values is community. If that’s the case, then you probably expect your staff to prioritize relationships. So how can you thread relationships throughout a new hire’s onboarding experience? Telling new hires that you value relationships is one thing, but making ample time for them to form relationships with building leaders and peer mentors is entirely another. That’s how you prove your values are more than lip service and integrate new folks into your district culture.

Or maybe your district has identified growth as a core value. Remember that opinion piece by Ron Carucci we mentioned earlier? In it he explains that setting up early wins is a powerful onboarding strategy that helps new hires recognize and plan for their own growth and development. “An astounding 60% of companies report that they do not set short-term goals for new hires,” Carucci writes. “A good way to start is to assign tasks with an expectation that they be completed at the three, six, and nine-month marks.”

To help your new hires focus on growth, have them work with a mentor teacher to set goals, or invite them to be part of a committee that is already working toward established goals. Not only will this encourage new hires to take ownership of their own professional development, but it “will help build trust,” Carucci writes. “New hires that feel grounded in their contribution and understand how it fits into the larger organization gain confidence and feel loyal faster.”

Leading with Your Heart

Whether you’re onboarding a first-year teacher or a veteran principal, the goal is to create a sense of belonging. “Everything about onboarding is about heart,” Fiore says. “When you truly care about your staff, you want them to feel like they belong, that you care about their success. If you go with that, it makes it really easy to make decisions.”

School leaders have so much to contend with. But unless our schools find a way to keep educators in the classroom, leaders will continue expending limited energy running on the hamster wheel of turnover cycles. That’s why it’s so important to recognize that onboarding isn’t just a time for new hires to select dental plans and set up direct deposits. Onboarding is a retention strategy. It’s how you create the positive experiences your staff will remember over time. It’s how you invest in the kind of relationships that are strong enough to last.

“Everything about onboarding is about heart. When you truly care about your staff, you want them to feel like they belong, that you care about their success.”

Social Skills

Training your teachers to represent your brand on social media

There are approximately 8 billion people in the world, and nearly 5 billion of them are on social media. Depending on the exact numbers you use, that’s somewhere around 60% of the world’s population—and in the United States, the percentage is even higher. One of the basic rules of marketing is to meet your audience where they already are, and like it or not, your district’s parents, students, and community members are on social media.

These days, social media can make or break a brand. But even if you’re posting great content across your platforms on a regular basis, that content won’t do any good if no one sees it. To really use social media to build your brand, you need to expand your reach—and to do that, you’ll need help.

In the U.S., there are about 3.2 million public school teachers—more than 200 teachers for every one superintendent. While your voice— whether in person or on social media—may carry the most weight, the voices of your employees have the greatest volume. Say your district has 600 employees total, each with about 300 Facebook friends. If every

one of your employees shares just one district post, it has the potential to be seen by 180,000 people. That’s 180,000 possible touch points with your district’s brand.

Fortunately, in our 2022 study on brand ambassadorship, we found that the majority of teachers already understand their responsibility to be megaphones for their districts. About three-quarters of the teachers we surveyed said it was important for them to be familiar with their districts’ brand and messaging priorities, and 72% said it was their responsibility to improve the district’s reputation.

However, half of our surveyed teachers said they never engage with district social media. And even those who do engage may not have the necessary know-how to use social media to further build your district’s brand. In our study, 21% of teachers said they had never received training on their districts’ brand and messaging priorities.

This may sound grim—but there’s good news. More likely than not, a good number of your staff members are willing to act as brand ambassadors; they just may not know how useful their participation on social media could be. Your job is twofold: to show your teachers how much you need their voices and to help them build the skills they need to engage online. Brand advocacy on social media, like any other skill you want your teachers to learn, will take some good oldfashioned professional development.

Building Familiarity

According to our research, 12% of teachers don’t engage with district social media because they don’t have personal social media themselves. For these staff members, it’s worth providing a “Social Media How-To” professional development session. Pick one platform at a time and go over the absolute basics. By the end of this session, your social media novices should know how to:

• Set up an account

• Access the platform from their mobile device

• Post, tag, and share

• Access and follow the district’s profiles

• Avoid basic pitfalls—like engaging with trolls in the comments

As you begin planning this PD, be sure to check in with your teachers about where their knowledge gaps lie. After all, even teachers who use social media a little may not be

present on all the major platforms. Maybe most of them have a pretty good grasp of Facebook, but find Instagram or Twitter more intimidating. Assessing your teachers’ needs beforehand will help keep your training relevant and worth your participants’ time.

Of course, not all your teachers are social media newbies. Our research also revealed that 38% of teachers have personal social media, but never engage with their districts’ content. For many of these people, the problem isn’t a lack of know-how; it’s fear. It’s not hard to see why. Just Google “teachers and social media,” and you’ll find a slew of warnings, from “Teachers and Social Media: A Cautionary Tale About the Risks” to “Teachers, Politics, and Social Media: A Volatile Mix.” These teachers have probably seen educators who’ve been burned by a past post, photo, or retweet, and they may be refraining from engaging with social media professionally because they don’t want to make a similar mistake.

To get these teachers more comfortable engaging with district content, consider hosting a “Do’s and Don’ts” PD session. Use this PD to show your staff members the line in the sand. Be very clear about the district’s expectations for social media use. What is okay for staff members to post? What isn’t? Show participants where they can access the district’s social media policy, and walk them through the most important points. You might even provide an easy-todigest one-pager of Do’s & Don’ts that participants can take with them and consult regularly after the training. And be ready for folks to ask questions. In fact, depending on who’s in attendance, this type of training may be best facilitated as an open discussion. There’s a good chance participants will come in with specific scenarios they want to talk through.

There’s one more group of teachers to consider: those who are ambivalent about district social media. There are probably plenty who know their way around an Instagram feed but have no desire to post about their jobs. You can’t force your employees to advocate for your brand on their personal social profiles; even if you could, your audience would sense the inauthenticity. But in these social media PD sessions, you can take some time to convince them that engaging on social media is worthwhile—not just for the district, but for their students, too.

It’s no secret that students are more successful when their families are engaged in their learning—and these days,

parents are on social media. According to data from Pew Research Center, 79% of U.S. parents are on Facebook, and 80% of those who use the platform engage with it daily. If your teachers can see social media as a window into their classrooms, platforms like Facebook and Twitter can become powerful tools for family engagement—as well as brand building.

Building Your Brand

While building familiarity with social media is more of a beginner-level PD, using social media to build your brand is an advanced placement course. The folks who are present for this session should already be well acquainted with the basics of each social media platform because, ideally, this more advanced PD will be about messaging priorities and how to use the district’s values to identify strong stories for social media.

Let’s start with your district’s messaging priorities. When it comes to things like districtwide or even buildinglevel announcements (think snow days, late starts, and lockdowns), you may not want each individual staff member making their own post. That many posts can quickly turn into a game of telephone gone wrong—with a parent at the end

of the line hearing s omething that’s wildly incorrect. Instead, use this PD to either brainstorm or communicate methods for sharing information quickly while maintaining accuracy.

East Central Public Schools in Minnesota has implemented a strategy they refer to as COPE, which stands for “Create Once; Post Everywhere.” The idea behind their COPE strategy is to prevent individual staff members from using social media to put their own spin on important district information—whether intentionally or by accident. Instead, teachers are encouraged to simply retweet or share the district’s official posts, ensuring that information stays consistent as it spreads. Strategies like this will help you build the kind of credibility that is the foundation of any strong brand.

In addition to credibility, social media can be a solid tool for sharing stories that connect back to your district’s core values. If your brand is how your community feels about your district, then your values are the guideposts for the feelings you hope to elicit. Is your district relationship-oriented? Do you center your work around a core value of joy? Maybe all your conversations go back to the importance of curiosity. Once you know your core values, you can begin training your people to use social media to tell stories rooted in those values.

For example, if your district brand is grounded in the core value of joy, encourage staff members to brainstorm how to tie joy into the stories they’re telling online. It might go something like this:

1. Try having participants break into small groups to talk through what they’ve experienced at school that week.

2. Encourage each group to draft a post along with a few photos and hashtags. Does anyone have photos of lessons? How could they turn a moment from their workweek into a story about joy that would be successful online?

3. Have each group present their post to the larger group and receive feedback on what is and isn’t working. Does the post support the district brand? Why or why not?

4. Give your participants time to revise their work, and maybe even have everyone make a post before leaving!

How-To Tips for Social Media PD

Now that you’ve thought through your big-picture goals for hosting social media PD and considered a few high-level options for what your sessions could look like, check out these quick tips to take your PD to the next level.

Make sure the training is worthwhile.

Just like you would with a classroom lesson, don’t be afraid to use pre-assessments and formative assessments to make sure the session is appropriate to your participants’ skill levels. Ask your attendees what the district’s hashtags are before you even begin, or post an announcement on Twitter halfway through the PD and ask your participants to retweet it. Not only will this increase your engagement numbers, but it will give your participants a chance to check in with their own understanding.

Lean on internal experts.

There’s a good chance that at least a few teachers in your district are already acting as excellent brand ambassadors on social media. Why not put their expertise front and center and have them lead professional development? The advantages to peer-led PD are many: It’s cost-effective, it builds relationships among staff members, and it boosts skills not only for the mentees, but for the mentors as well. Empowering teachers to lead professional development helps them build leadership skills—while making them feel valued at the same time.

Include elements of choice.

Let’s be honest: Very few teachers get to exercise agency when it comes to professional development. In fact, only 24% of schools allow teachers to suggest or vote on topics for PD, and only 7% of teachers get to decide whether they engage with professional development in the first place. These statistics aren’t surprising; there are a number of external factors acting on how PD takes shape. In a 2020 survey, 70% of respondents reported that their PD topics are connected to their strategic plans—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

But just like a teacher can still include elements of choice while teaching to state standards, you can include elements of choice in your PD. You might provide a beginner’s track and an advanced track, for example, to accommodate both newbies and experts. You can also allow participants to choose which platforms they’re most interested in learning about. What if you held a large PD with small breakout sessions? Staff could choose to attend sessions about Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Live.

According to research from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, teachers who did have choice in their own professional development reported much higher satisfaction than those who didn’t. Giving your teachers some autonomy over the way they engage with this PD is likely to increase their buy-in—especially if they’re already hesitant about social media.

Clarify the relevance.

According to researchers James Gregson and Patricia Sturko, a key facet of adult learning theory is making the real-world application of professional learning abundantly clear. “Adults learn what they need to know,” they write. If you make your social media PD voluntary, it’s likely that the folks in attendance will already recognize why the training matters. However, if it’s mandatory PD, make sure you clarify why social media is an important tool for your district. Why is social media training worth taking your staff members away from all the other work they have on their plates? Being explicit about your why will go a long way.

You might even show teachers how they can use their expanded knowledge of social media in their classroom lessons. After all, there are tons of materials online that play off students’ interest in various platforms, from Twitter-style book reviews to mock Instagram profiles for historical figures.

Case Study: Collier County Public Schools’ #Tweetchers

Nearly 10 years ago, social media use at Florida’s A-rated Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) was in its infancy. The district, which spans 63 schools and approximately 50,000 students, had just one districtwide social media account. But parent surveys had shown a dip in parent satisfaction with school communication. From 2014 to 2016, CCPS saw a 5% decrease in the number of parents who agreed with the statement “I feel informed about Collier County Public Schools.”

The district’s initial response involved creating Twitter accounts for each of its campuses— but keeping those pages stocked with content would be a challenge. To give parents a consistent window into their children’s classrooms, the district would need help from the inside. They’d need #tweetchers.

According to Chad Oliver, executive director of communications and community engagement at CCPS, the #tweetchers initiative is a way to expand the district’s reach through social media. Originally launched by Oliver’s predecessor Greg Turchetta, the program helps educators overcome their fears of social media and become better brand ambassadors.

“Think of it like this: You have an army of teachers who willingly share their classroom stories,” he explains. “They share their best practices, they share student successes, and then those tweets are retweeted on the school Twitter pages and visible on school websites. It’s a built-in content provider.”

But how would they get teachers comfortable with becoming #tweetchers? The initiative faced a number of challenges—the first being CCPS’ past social media policies. “Some educators have been around in the district long enough to remember when we used to ban social media,” Oliver says. “You have to get over the hurdle so they know they have the blessing from their administrators.” Then, of course, there’s the overwhelming workload teachers already deal with. “We try not to overburden our educators,” Oliver says. For

that reason, it was important that #tweetchers be “a coalition of the willing,” he explains. “If you’re inclined to share on social media, we’ll support you, but it’s not something that you have to do.”

Over the course of four months, CCPS kicked off the #tweetchers initiative with a total of more than 100 trainings across all its school sites. The first several were for all staff and explained the why behind the program, as well as the benefits it could provide the entire district. Subsequent trainings, though, were for those who actively wanted to become #tweetchers. They provided guidance on specific topics: how to create a classroom Twitter page, how to record and edit videos, or what makes a quality post.

Before long, the first #tweetchers were off and running—and years later, CCPS teachers are still joining their ranks. The district provides ongoing support and training for anyone who wants to participate, and the benefits keep rolling in. For example, #tweetchers often catch the attention of CCPS’ local ABC news affiliate. “Because we have so many educators on Twitter sharing videos, sharing photos, sharing stories, the station has taken lots of those stories and shared them with their audience on the news,” Oliver says. “That’s gold from a marketing standpoint because you’re getting more eyes on the content.”

Even more importantly, #tweetchers gives parents a window into their students’ time in school. “With four kids, we have been inside the walls of [CCPS] for 14 straight years now, and as a parent, I feel more connected than ever,” wrote one parent shortly after the program began. Another agreed: “The schools’ posts are a little splash of happiness that show up in my news feed, reminding me that my child is in a great environment that they are flourishing in.”

All this success has made #tweetchers contagious. “When you show teachers the positive stories, they do say, I want to get in on that. I want my kids to have that exposure ,” Oliver says. “Because at the end of the day, this is all about celebrating student success.”

Building Advocates

There’s one more important aspect of brand ambassadorship we haven’t addressed. In our 2022 research, we found that employees who feel valued are more likely to advocate for their districts than those who don’t. It makes sense. According to data from business magazine Workplace Insight, 80% of people say feeling appreciated is important to their happiness at work. You wouldn’t feel like singing your district’s praises if you didn’t feel great about working there.

So the problem of how to engage your employees on social media isn’t just about training; it’s also about culture. How

Professional development around social media is the fuel, but your teachers’ pride and love for their schools is the match that will set it aflame. So don’t just train your teachers; thank them. Listen to them. Post about them. Celebrate them. Make sure they know that they matter. By getting your staff fired up not only about social media, but about their role in your schools, you can make your district’s light shine all the brighter.

How are you creating an environment that

SCHOOL LEADERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE FACING A BURNOUT CRISIS . IN A JUNE 2022 GALLUP POLL, K-12 TEACHERS REPORTED THE HIGHEST RATES OF BURNOUT AMONG ALL U. S. PROFESSIONS, WITH FOUR OUT OF EVERY 10 TEACHERS SAYING THEY ALWAYS OR VERY OFTEN FEEL BURNED OUT. PART OF EVERY SCHOOL LEADERS JOB IS TO KEEP THEIR STAFF MEMBERS MOTIVATED BUT WITH SO MUCH PRESSURE MOUNTING ON EDUCATORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, HOW CAN YOU KEEP YOUR FIRE FOR EDUCATION BURNING BRIGHT? THROUGH THEIR EXTENSIVE RESEARCH , HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM NEEL DOSHI AND LINDSAY MCGREGOR HAVE BECOME THE WORLDS LEADING EXPERTS ON THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. AS THEY SEE IT, MOTIVATION CAN BE LEVERAGED TO PROMOTE POSITIVE CULTURES OF HIGH PERFORMANCE AND WITH THEIR COMPANY VEGA FACTOR, THEY HELP ORGANIZATIONS DO JUST THAT. THEY’VE EVEN PUBLISHED A BESTSELLING BOOK, PRIMED TO PERFORM, LAYING OUT THEIR MOST IMPACTFUL FINDINGS . WE SAT DOWN WITH DOSHI, AN EXPERT IN HUMAN CAPITAL AND PERFORMANCE, TO DISCUSS THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION AND HOW YOU CAN APPLY IT TO KEEP YOUR STAFF ENGAGED IN THEIR CRITICAL WORK. AS HE EXPLAINS, THE LEVELS OF MOTIVATION IN YOUR SCHOOLS ARE VERY MUCH WITHIN YOUR CONTROL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY MOTIVATION?

LIGHTING A FIRE, NOT BURNING OUT

AUTHOR AND RESEARCHER

MOTIVATION BOILS DOWN TO A FAIRLY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE: WHY WE WORK DETERMINES HOW WE WORK. A PERSONS REASON FOR DOING SOMETHING IS THE SOURCE OF THEIR MOTIVATION. THERE ARE SIX FUNDAMENTAL REASONS WHY PEOPLE DO ANYTHING. THE FIRST MOTIVE IS CALLED PLAY. PLAY IS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ENJOY DOING IT. A LOT OF COMPANIES GET THIS WRONG, BY THE WAY. THEY THINK PLAY COMES FROM PING-PONG TABLES OR KOMBUCHA ON TAP, BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT ITS ABOUT. THE PLAY MOTIVE HAS TO COME FROM THE ACTIVITY ITSELF. FOR EXAMPLE, A SCHOOL TEACHER MOTIVATED BY PLAY SIMPLY ENJOYS THE WORK OF TEACHING. THEY MIGHT ENJOY COMING UP WITH CURRICULA OR ASSIGNMENTS. THEY ENJOY THE DAY-TODAY MOMENTS OF WORKING WITH KIDS IN THEIR CLASSROOM. THE SECOND MOTIVE IS CALLED PURPOSE. PURPOSE IS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU VALUE ITS IMMEDIATE OUTCOME. THIS IS ANOTHER AREA SOME COMPANIES ARE GETTING WRONG. THEY THINK THAT PURPOSE IS SOME BIG, GRANDIOSE MISSION STATEMENT. THAT’S NOT WHAT IT IS. WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE WHAT YOU’RE DOING MATTERS RIGHT NOW NOT THAT IT WILL MATTER EVENTUALLY, BUT RIGHT NOW THAT’S THE PURPOSE MOTIVE. THEN, THERE’S THE POTENTIAL MOTIVE. IF PURPOSE HAS TO DO WITH THE IMMEDIATE OUTCOME OF YOUR WORK, POTENTIAL HAS TO DO WITH THE EVENTUAL OUTCOME. WE CALL PLAY, PURPOSE, AND POTENTIAL THE THREE DIRECT MOTIVES BECAUSE THEY ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE WORK ITSELF. BUT THERE ARE ALSO INDIRECT MOTIVES, MOTIVES THAT ARE NOT CONNECTED TO THE WORK. WHILE THE DIRECT MOTIVES INCREASE PERFORMANCE, THE INDIRECT MOTIVES DECREASE PERFORMANCE. THE FIRST OF THE INDIRECT MOTIVES IS EMOTIONAL PRESSURE WHEN SOME KIND OF EXTERNAL FORCE ACTS ON YOUR IDENTITY IN ORDER TO GET YOU TO DO SOMETHING.

NEEL DOSHI TELLS US THE SECRET TO INCREASING MOTIVATION.

SO, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE YOU EVER USED GUILT TO MOTIVATE A LOVED ONE? THAT’S EMOTIONAL PRESSURE. THE NEXT INDIRECT MOTIVE IS CALLED ECONOMIC PRESSURE THE CARROT OR THE STICK. YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU’RE TRYING TO GET A REWARD OR AVOID A PUNISHMENT. AND LAST IS INERTIA. ITS WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOURE DOING WHAT YOURE DOING. YOU’RE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS. IF YOU WANT A HIGH-PERFORMING ORGANIZATION, THEN YOUR PEOPLE NEED TO BE MOTIVATED BY PLAY, PURPOSE, AND POTENTIAL NOT EMOTIONAL PRESSURE, ECONOMIC PRESSURE, OR INERTIA. WHY IS THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION IMPORTANT AND HOW DOES IT APPLY TO SCHOOLS? ORGANIZATIONS ARE REALLY STRUGGLING WITH DISENGAGEMENT ESPECIALLY TODAY. BURNOUT IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH. A RECENT SURVEY FROM GALLUP THAT FOUND THAT SOMEWHERE AROUND 70% OF AMERICANS AT WORK ARE JUST CHECKING THE BOX, DOING THE BARE MINIMUM TO GET BY. AND THIS IS NOT THEIR FAULT. THIS THE MOTIVATIONAL CONSTRUCT AROUND THEM. ORGANIZATIONS ARE MAKING PEOPLE UNMOTIVATED AT WORK BECAUSE LEADERS ARE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO ACT LIKE AUTOMATONS OR COGS IN A MACHINE; THEY GENUINELY BELIEVE THAT’S WHAT IMPROVES PERFORMANCE . SO ITS NO SURPRISE THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE SPENDING THEIR ADULT LIVES FEELING COMPLETELY UNFULFILLED. TOO MANY FORCES IN OUR SOCIETY THINK THAT MOST PEOPLE NEED TO BE PRESSURED IN ORDER TO PERFORM WELL. ITS NO DIFFERENT IN OUR SCHOOLS. EVEN PREDATING THE PANDEMIC REALLY SINCE THE EARLY 80SWEVE BEEN SYSTEMICALLY PUTTING EMOTIONAL PRESSURE AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON EDUCATORS WHILE DECREASING THEIR PLAY AND PURPOSE . AND THE PANDEMIC HAS JUST MADE THINGS WORSE. IF WE CONTINUE ON THAT TRAJECTORY, WELL SEE PERFORMANCE MOTIVATION CONTINUE TO REDUCE, COUPLED WITH SIGNIFICANT STRESS AND EVENTUAL BURNOUT. THAT’S WHERE UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION IS SO IMPORTANT. ONCE YOU KNOW WHICH MOTIVATORS ARE DRIVING YOUR PEOPLE, YOU CAN START TO PROBLEM-SOLVE.

Neel Doshi

School leaders across the country are facing a burnout crisis. In a June 2022 Gallup poll, K-12 teachers reported the highest rates of burnout among all U.S. professions, with four out of every 10 teachers saying they “always” or “very often” feel burned out. Part of every school leader’s job is to keep their staff members motivated—but with so much pressure mounting on educators across the country, how can you keep your fire for education burning bright?

Through their extensive research, husband-andwife team Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor have become leading experts on the science of motivation and organizational psychology. As they see it, motivation can be leveraged to promote positive cultures of high performance— and with their company Vega Factor, they help organizations do just that. They’ve even published a bestselling book, Primed to Perform , laying out their most impactful findings.

We sat down with Doshi to discuss the science of motivation and how you can apply it to keep your staff engaged in their critical work. As he explains, the levels of motivation in your schools are very much within your control—if you have the right tools.

Q: What exactly do you mean by motivation?

A:Motivation boils down to a fairly simple principle: Why we work determines how we work. A person’s reason for doing something is the source of their motivation.

There are six fundamental reasons why people do anything. The first motive is called play. Play is when you do something simply because you enjoy doing it. A lot of companies get this wrong, by the way. They think play comes from pingpong tables or kombucha on tap, but that’s not what it’s about. The play motive has to come from the activity itself. For example, a school teacher motivated by play simply enjoys the work of teaching. They might enjoy coming up with curricula or assignments. They enjoy the day-to-day moments of working with kids in their classroom.

The second motive is called purpose. Purpose is when you do something because you value its immediate outcome. This is another area some companies are getting wrong. They think that purpose is some big, grandiose mission statement. That’s not what it is. When you feel like what you’re doing matters right now—not that it will matter eventually, but right now— that’s the purpose motive.

Then, there’s the potential motive. If purpose has to do with the immediate outcome of your work, potential has to do with the eventual outcome. We call play, purpose, and potential the three direct motives because they are directly related to the work itself.

But there are also indirect motives, motives that are not connected to the work. While the direct motives increase performance, the indirect motives decrease performance. The first of the indirect motives is emotional pressure—when some kind of external force acts on your identity in order to get you to do something. So, for example, have you ever used guilt to motivate a loved one? That’s emotional pressure. The next

A:

indirect motive is called economic pressure— the carrot or the stick. You’re doing something because you’re trying to get a reward or avoid a punishment. And last is inertia. It’s when you have no idea why you’re doing what you’re doing. You’re just going through the motions.

If you want a high-performing organization, then your people need to be motivated by play, purpose, and potential—not emotional pressure, economic pressure, or inertia.

Q:Why is the science of motivation important—and how does it apply to schools?

Organizations are really struggling with disengagement—especially today. Burnout is at an all-time high. A recent survey from Gallup found that somewhere around 70% of Americans at work are just checking the box, doing the bare minimum to get by.

And this is not their fault. This is the motivational construct around them. Organizations are making people unmotivated at work because leaders are trying to get people to act like automatons or cogs in a machine; they genuinely believe that’s what improves performance. So it’s no surprise that the majority of people are spending their adult lives feeling completely unfulfilled. Too many forces in our society think that most people need to be pressured in order to perform well.

It’s no different in our schools. Even predating the pandemic—really since the early ‘80s— we’ve been systemically putting emotional pressure and economic pressure on educators while decreasing their play and purpose. And the pandemic has just made things worse. If we continue on that trajectory, we’ll see performance motivation continue to reduce, coupled with significant stress and eventual burnout. That’s where understanding the science of motivation is so important. Once you know which motivators are driving your people, you can start to problem-solve.

What we have to solve for teachers is their play, purpose, and potential. We need to reduce the emotional and economic pressure we’re putting on them. If we can do that, then we will increase our educational outcomes. But how do we, as a community, combat those indirect motivators? How do we get back to the right motivation for teaching? That’s probably one of the most critical questions we should be asking right now.

Q:

So what do emotional and economic pressure look like in schools, and what can be done about it?

A:

Think about the phrase “high-pressure testing.” The problem is right in the description: high pressure. If we make educators’ evaluations, performance reviews, and promotions dependent on test scores, we’re turning those test scores into the metaphorical carrot or the stick. By making promotions contingent on very specific data points, we’re putting economic pressure on educators; we’re using reward and punishment to drive performance.

Another example would be how parent-teacher relationships have evolved over the past several years. The expectation used to be that parents and teachers would work together as a team. Now the prevailing narrative is that any time the education system falls short—whether on the macro or local level—educators are to blame. There’s this expectation now that an educator who cares about kids should be willing to do anything for their students. But even the best educators won’t be motivated by that sentiment, not for long. And that’s because that kind of blame—that guilt—is emotional pressure.

STAFF CAN YOU TEAM MOTIVATION AND CULTURES OF THEY’VE EVEN DOWN WITH APPLY SCHOOLS MOTIVATION? REASON FOR ANYTHING. COMPANIES NOT WHAT BY PLAY ENJOY THE PURPOSE COMPANIES ARE WHEN THAT’S THE OF YOUR DIRECT MOTIVES THAT DECREASE ACTS ON LOVED STICK. ITS WHEN A HIGHEMOTIONAL APPLY TO AN ALLARE JUST CONSTRUCT PEOPLE SO ITS TOO MANY DIFFERENT IN EMOTIONAL PANDEMIC HAS REDUCE, MOTIVATION

Play and purpose are direct motivators; they’re closely connected to the work itself, and they have the largest positive impact on performance. In other words, have macro-level factors made the world of education brutal? Yes. But school leaders can create environments where each staff member feels empowered to develop their own sense of play and purpose.

Another part of the answer is to think about how you’re building your teams. It’s so important to incorporate teamwork as much as possible. And just having departments doesn’t necessarily mean you have teams. A functioning team takes collective ownership and responsibility over their work and their outcomes—which inherently reduces pressure. Collaboration and coaching are key to a highly motivated, highperforming work environment.

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A: Q: TEACHERS TEACHERS

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School administrators have an effect on cul ture. That’s for sure. I like to think about affecting culture as pulling different levers. Culture isn’t just some intangible thing you can wish into existence. It’s the result of specific actions. The different actions available for you to take are like the different levers you can pull to shape a positive culture.

I would say school administrators have access to a number of these levers. That being said, at least half—if not more than half—of the levers that will affect culture and motivation are close to the work being done at the team level.

Most organizations don’t manage this way, though. They don’t realize that helping teams manage their own levers is the most important and critical aspect of motivation. They try to do everything from the executive team. What the executive team should be doing, though, is trying to create the conditions and the tools to allow a team to create its own motivation. That’s the real name of the game.

Usually, I recommend two starting points. First, it helps to get your whole organization to learn about motivation, how it works, and how it drives performance—especially for schools and school systems. Then, the second thing I’d recommend is to measure it. Measure motivation, and measure it the right way—at the team level, not at the organizational level. If you measure it the right way, it will start to get people to change.

Schools are responsible for adhering to so many strict processes. How can school leaders create environments that prioritize play?

Systems and processes can actually make things a lot more fun. But when you put them in the wrong way, they become like high-pressure testing. They become demotivating. There is a way to introduce processes effectively, though. You do that by providing a strong framework within which your people can work effectively without extinguishing their creativity.

How well a team executes systems and processes is best understood as their tactical performance. But they need one more thing, too: adaptability. For example, if a soccer team’s strategy for winning is to improve their defense, then their goalie may need to work on improving their footwork—a specific skill. Let’s say their system for this is to do drills every Monday. If that system isn’t working, they need the freedom to adapt. The real key to a high-performing environment is finding a balance between tactical and adaptive performance.

If increasing motivation happens at the individual and team levels, what can a school leader do?

ingredient will be the same every time. Even the perfect recipe has to be adapted to create the perfect meal.

And adaptability—the freedom to make adjustments and try new things—is such a huge part of how we find play in our work. So when you start to lose adaptability, you start to lose play and purpose. And as you lose adaptability, total motivation decreases, which causes you to continue losing adaptability, which causes you to continue losing total motivation. It starts to become a pretty bad downward spiral.

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For more from Neel Doshi, check out his co-authored book Primed to Perform . You can also hear Neel speak at our upcoming SchoolCEO Conference. Find out more at schoolceo.com/conference

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Think back to those levers we talked about, all those small things that have to happen to establish a positive culture. If we pull those levers, we’ll create the kind of positive culture that improves motivation—meaning we’ll be more motivated to pull more levers. Positive culture breeds improved motivation, which breeds positive culture, and so on. It’s a virtuous cycle.

But it’s also a vicious cycle when it goes the other way. This is really the most brutal catch. If an organization’s culture is demotivating, the people of that organization are less likely to pull the levers that will make it more motivating.

One of the things we’ve found is that organizations are often on a downward spiral of motivation. Poor culture leads to demotivation, which leads to poor culture. In other words, we’re seeing people resisting the very thing that will increase their motivation. But, as a leader, I’m not going to say to my unmotivated colleagues, Hey, motivate yourself so we can fix our culture . As a leader, I’m going to take the first steps toward implementing the small habits—or pulling those levers—in order to move my team toward a positive culture. It’s a leader’s job to turn a vicious cycle into a virtuous one.

SCHOOL LEADERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE FACING A REPORTED THE HIGHEST RATES OF BURNOUT AMONG ALL SAYING THEY ALWAYS OR VERY OFTEN FEEL BURNED OUT.

MEMBERS MOTIVATED BUT WITH SO MUCH PRESSURE MOUNTING KEEP YOUR FIRE FOR EDUCATION BURNING BRIGHT? THROUGH NEEL DOSHI AND LINDSAY MCGREGOR HAVE BECOME THE WORLDS ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. AS THEY SEE IT, MOTIVATION

HIGH PERFORMANCE AND WITH THEIR COMPANY VEGA FACTOR, PUBLISHED A BESTSELLING BOOK, PRIMED TO PERFORM, LAYING DOSHI, AN EXPERT IN HUMAN CAPITAL AND PERFORMANCE, TO IT TO KEEP YOUR STAFF ENGAGED IN THEIR CRITICAL WORK. ARE VERY MUCH WITHIN YOUR CONTROL IF YOU HAVE THE MOTIVATION BOILS DOWN TO A FAIRLY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE: WHY DOING SOMETHING IS THE SOURCE OF THEIR MOTIVATION. THERE THE FIRST MOTIVE IS CALLED PLAY. PLAY IS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING GET THIS WRONG, BY THE WAY. THEY THINK PLAY COMES FROM ITS ABOUT. THE PLAY MOTIVE HAS TO COME FROM THE ACTIVITY SIMPLY ENJOYS THE WORK OF TEACHING. THEY MIGHT ENJOY DAY-TO-DAY MOMENTS OF WORKING WITH KIDS IN THEIR CLASSROOM. IS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU VALUE ITS IMMEDIATE GETTING WRONG. THEY THINK THAT PURPOSE IS SOME BIG, YOU FEEL LIKE WHAT YOU’RE DOING MATTERS RIGHT NOW NOT PURPOSE MOTIVE. THEN, THERE’S THE POTENTIAL MOTIVE. WORK, POTENTIAL HAS TO DO WITH THE EVENTUAL OUTCOME. MOTIVES BECAUSE THEY ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE WORK ARE NOT CONNECTED TO THE WORK. WHILE THE DIRECT MOTIVES PERFORMANCE. THE FIRST OF THE INDIRECT MOTIVES IS EMOTIONAL YOUR IDENTITY IN ORDER TO GET YOU TO DO SOMETHING. SO, ONE? THAT’S EMOTIONAL PRESSURE. THE NEXT INDIRECT MOTIVE

It can seem like we’re surrounded by cycles of negativity. How do we create cycles of positivity?

WHAT’S YOUR FRE The Right Time a QUENC nd Place for Social Media P Y osts ?

Social media can be a tricky game to play, especially for school districts. It’s often difficult to pin down the what, when, and where of posting—so difficult that some districts don’t even bother. But social media can be an integral tool for communicating vital information to your stakeholders. Finding the right way to use social media will help you tell your story while building an audience who will stay connected to and advocate for your schools.

But let’s be honest: There is no perfect social media strategy. Like most things that exist on the internet, social media trends ebb, flow, and evolve—sometimes quickly and without making much sense. In fact, private sector companies have spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to find just the right times and places to share content. “If you post too infrequently, your audience will forget that you exist, and you will quickly fade into the deep dark recesses of their minds,” writes private sector marketer Neil Patel. “However, if you are posting too often, you will become a complete nuisance, and they will dread seeing your posts overcrowding their feed.”

For schools, the stakes are naturally higher. When you serve a community’s children, it’s especially crucial to pin down your content and the frequency with which you share it.

That’s because social media is a way to share not only your district’s story but also messages of timely importance. Whether you’re announcing a snow day or providing details about an upcoming bond vote, you don’t want families, students, and staff to lose your messages in an endless stream of social media content.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of social media posting frequency, let’s break down what a successful social media presence looks like—and why posting frequency isn’t actually as simple as it may sound.

Quality beats quantity.

Ask any frequent social media user and they’ll tell you: What you post matters a lot more than how often you post. So before fine-tuning the frequency of your social media sharing, it’s important to assess your content. Audiences are looking for posts that engage them, that give them insights into how your schools work. They’re looking for stories.

We probably don’t have to tell you that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Research by cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner suggests that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Stories can clarify complex ideas. They also have the power to

elevate boring subject matter into something engaging and interesting. What’s more, 92% of people say they prefer marketing that comes in the form of a story.

But most importantly, stories are a catalyst for connection. “Stories are the way that we connect with each other,” says Hilary Trudell, founder of storytelling organization The Yarn. “You want to connect with your audience, whether it’s your parents, your kids, or your school board. You want to create empathy within that space. Stories are an essential part of what creates a community.”

So when it comes to social media, we recommend you prioritize building a strong foundation of connection and community first and foremost. This is not only important for marketing your schools to potential new students and staff members, but also for growing your following and earning new advocates. If you’re posting engaging content, people will keep paying attention, and they’ll keep sharing your best stories.

For a crash course on how to captivate your audience with stories, check out schoolceo.com/storytelling.

Consistency is key.

Building a foundational line of communication with your audience by sharing engaging content is just one piece of the social media puzzle. The next essential step is being consistent with your posts. If your followers aren’t hearing from you consistently, you can’t expect them to keep tuning in.

But we’re not advising you to overwhelm your stakeholders with unnecessary minute-by-minute updates. Posting too much information too often can also cause your audience to tune you out. A little can go a long way if you’re posting the right content. Sharing consistent updates about a bond campaign is great, for example, but inundating your social media channels with tons of technical information is just going to turn people away.

Being consistent also shows your community that you have a plan—that you’re in control. If you post about a bond vote or other important event only the day before it happens, what’s that saying to your stakeholders? Staying proactive

and thoughtful with the way you share any information is vital, and consistency is a big part of that. By consistently sharing relevant information, you’ll keep your community in the loop and grow support among your district’s stakeholders and advocates. That, in turn, will help you shape the narrative surrounding your schools.

Ask any frequent social media user and they’ll tell you: What you post matters a lot more than how often you post.

How often should you post?

Private sector brands have had to fine-tune their advertising and messaging to reach the right consumers at the right times. And though most private sector companies aren’t serving communities the way schools do, they’re using many of the same communication channels. So why not borrow some ideas from brands who have played the game, won their audiences over, and calibrated the frequency of their posts to perfection?

According to a 2022 study from Sprout Social, 74% of consumers think brands should post one or two times per day. Sprout also notes that since each platform has its own unique algorithm, “more frequent posting might not be a bad idea.” But which platforms you should choose depends on your schools. The decision really comes down to two factors: the audience you’ve built and the audience you want. You may need to audit your district’s social media following as it stands, platform by platform, to determine where your biggest audience already exists. Then you’ll know not only where certain messages will have the most impact, but also where you need to rethink your strategy and grow a greater following.

An audit of your social media can also provide valuable insights into which times of day are best for posting specific content. Does a video clip shared on a weekday at 5 p.m. get more likes and comments than any other post? Try posting at that same time consistently to see if that is, in fact, when your followers are most likely to interact with your content. If you have no idea what times work best, try staggering your

post times and comparing your engagement metrics. This will help reveal when your audience is most actively engaged with your feeds.

Many private sector marketers claim to have pinpointed the right times of day or night to post certain content, but in reality, the “best time” to post is constantly evolving. Focusing too much on when to post pulls attention away from what’s most important: sharing high-quality content consistently. You’ll have to find the best schedule for you, but we strongly encourage experimenting with various types of posts to see how your audience responds.

In terms of where to post, many marketers suggest companies focus on just one or two social media channels for their messaging—but schools may not have that luxury. When you want to reach your community, market your schools, or provide important information, being everywhere you can is vital. But take note: While being on multiple platforms is a good idea, you need a solid strategy for keeping your messaging consistent across these platforms—whether that means using social media management software or creating a handbook for who posts what on each channel and when.

Facebook

Ah, Facebook. The social network that changed everything… for better or worse. It’s hard to imagine a time when we didn’t have likes and comments and friend requests, isn’t it? Maybe because of its age and cultural impact, Facebook is still the most popular social platform on the planet—and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. According to Statista, Facebook had a combined 266 million monthly active users in the United States and Canada at the end of 2022.

So how often should you be posting on your district or school Facebook page? Studies on posting frequency across private sector brands can give us some insight— though they’re not all in complete agreement. According to Sprout Social, “Across all industries, brands publish an average of five Facebook posts per day.” But research by Hubspot found that when brands with fewer than 10,000 followers averaged more than two posts per day, their click rates actually started decreasing. It seems that posting more than 60 times per month tends to overwhelm audiences.

Looking at these numbers and taking into consideration the average size and reach of school

district s, we recommend posting on Facebook at least once per day consistently with a focus on sharing engaging, visual content. And remember: The types of content you post can vary in many ways—and have varying degrees of impact. For instance, Sprout Social says that in 2022, 66% of consumers found short-form video to be the most engaging type of in-feed social media content, with images close behind at 61%. Only 32% of consumers found text-based posts to be the most engaging.

If we look at popular brands on Facebook, it’s easy to see that they’re catering their content to match their followers’ preferences. Outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, for example, averages one post per day and keeps them mostly visual. The company often shares videos and high-quality images to tell the kinds of stories that appeal to its niche following of nature lovers and adventurers.

Twitter

Even though Twitter isn’t as popular as it used to be, Pew Research says a quarter of all U.S. adults are active on the site. That means it’s very likely that many of your staff members and students’ families are engaging with tweets— and they may be looking for yours.

In terms of posting frequency on Twitter, Sprout Social found that brands in all industries are sharing an average of three posts a day. However, in our conversations with school communications professionals, it seems that this may be a bit too ambitious for most districts—and it may not be worth the trouble. For school districts specifically, we recommend posting on Twitter at least twice a day.

Again, consistency is what matters most. If your followers are accustomed to three posts a day from your district, then it’s probably best to hold yourself to that standard. If you’re just now building your audience on the site, however, focus on the quality of your content first.

There’s also Twitter’s unique interface to keep in mind. Unlike Facebook, Twitter limits posts to 280 characters unless you subscribe to their paid service, Twitter Blue (which increases the limit to a whopping 4,000 characters). Assuming most districts will still opt for a free account, it’s important to use this limited space to your advantage. Just like on Facebook, videos get more engagement on Twitter than other forms of content. But keep them short. According to Sprout Social, users find short-form videos 2.5 times more engaging than long-form ones.

Twitter is also uniquely equipped to help you share in-themoment updates. With threads, you can post a series of tweets that all relate to the same topic—whether you’re announcing a snow day or live tweeting a school board meeting. People use Twitter differently than other social media sites, and you should keep that in mind when deciding what to share and when.

Airline company JetBlue has amassed an impressive 1.8 million followers on Twitter by sharing unique content that shows up consistently in users’ feeds. Whether it’s a video clip, a funny gif, or even a meme, JetBlue has solidified its place as a reliably entertaining and informative account to follow—and they only post an average of once per day.

Instagram

Out of the three social media platforms we’re discussing, your students—especially high schoolers—are most engaged on Instagram. In fact, Pew Research says that a majority of teenagers between 15 and 17 use the app (73%). This may be because social media users seem to prefer visual content, and Instagram is, by design, the most visual of the three channels.

In terms of crossover reach between your staff, students, and their families, the numbers suggest that Instagram may just be the sweet spot. And it’s not just teens; in 2021, Statista reported that 48% of adults between the ages of 30 to 49 were also on Instagram—along with 71% of adults ages 18 to 29. Considering these age ranges, Instagram is a place where teachers, parents, and students likely converge.

So how often should you be posting on the photo and video-specific app? Sprout Social found that most brands only average one post a day on Instagram—and we recommend the same. School districts should post on their Instagram grids at least once per day. But according to blogger and visual content creator Louise Myers, you shouldn’t post on the platform more than three times in one day—especially if your content is shared in quick succession.

Instagram Stories, which expire after one day, are the exception to this rule. According to data from social media management company Buffer, posting anywhere from one to seven Stories is optimal; after seven, your completion rate—the number of people who actually watch your posts all the way through—is likely to drop off. Like Twitter threads, Stories make it easy to share content in real time. Since they’re typically raw and authentic, we recommend using them for more casual content, like a candid photo of your school mascot or an unedited video clip of students playing kickball.

It isn’t just big corporations that have found success with Instagram. For a great example of the power of frequent, thoughtful posting, we look to Blackberry Market. This fast-casual cafe and coffee shop chain has two locations in the Chicago area and recently opened its third store

in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Even before opening its doors last fall, their newest location was using Instagram to build support and fans in the area. Since opening, the shop has consistently posted high-quality photos showing off its array of menu items, coffees, take-home meals, and merchandise. With an average of one grid post per day— along with daily Story posts—they have quickly amassed thousands of followers in the area and invaluable word-ofmouth marketing.

On top of that, Blackberry Market thoughtfully utilizes Instagram to showcase its stylish and comfortable interior and its prime location in one of the city’s historic arts districts. For a local cafe with a limited audience, Blackberry Market has proven that consistently connecting to your community is key to the success of your brand.

In terms of crossover reach between your staff, students, and their families, the numbers suggest that Instagram may just be the sweet spot.

And since Little Rock is also the home base of SchoolCEO, we’ve gotten to witness firsthand how the shop’s popularity has skyrocketed since its grand opening. There is seldom a weekend without a line out the door. (And if you’re ever in the area, you’ve got to try their signature cinnamon roll or blackberry lemon scone.)

When it comes to pinpointing the frequency with which you should be sharing content about your schools, a lot is up to your individual needs and the needs of your community— your students, your families, your advocates, and your prospective hires. There is no magic formula or sure-towin strategy. But if you put quality content in front of your audience consistently, you’re bound to create spaces on social media where your school community feels welcome, informed, and engaged.

THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP

BUILDING INFLUENCE THROUGH THE CRAFT OF ORATION

Like many superintendents, Dr. Robert Hunt’s introduction to the vast majority of his district’s staff members was a convocation speech. While he’s no stranger to giving presentations and speeches, that doesn’t mean Hunt doesn’t dread them. “It was nerve-wracking because public speaking has never been something I really love, and I needed to both introduce myself and set the tone for the school year,” he explains.

Hunt’s experience is likely familiar to many school leaders. Public speaking, from speeches to presentations, is part and parcel of being an educator. But just because something is part of the job doesn’t mean every school leader is automatically good at it. While some people may have a natural knack for oration, public speaking is a craft that must be honed like any other.

Most of us have gone through an oral communications or public speaking class at some point. Maybe we learned how to make note cards for long speeches or pulled a topic out of a hat for the dreaded timed extemporaneous speech. And if you’re a superintendent or other school leader, you probably use these skills a lot, no matter how long ago you first learned them.

But what they teach in high school or even college is just the basics. It’s like dipping a toe in the water—while professional orators swim leagues through choppy seas. While being an educator comes with its fair share of public speaking, there’s a big difference between a classroom of middle schoolers and an auditorium full of frustrated parents. The good news is that there’s a surprisingly robust body of research about how to turn a dull presentation into a speech worth remembering.

No one expects you to master everything the role of a superintendent entails on your first—or even thousandth— day on the job. But strengthening your oratory skills is a must when it comes to moving the needle on the things that matter. By becoming a stronger speaker, you’ll be better able to communicate your agenda and influence your audience. Here are a few advanced tips to incorporate into your own craft.

Establishing Common Ground

As the superintendent, you are often the voice of your district. After all, you’re the one who most often gives statements to the press and speaks during district events. That means you don’t have to spend unnecessary time establishing your credibility, right? Surprisingly, this isn’t always the case.

Despite the important work that happens at the upper levels of leadership, some of your employees likely feel pretty distant from you and your work. If you’re in a smaller district, you may interact with most of your teachers on a regular basis, but if you’re in a larger district, you may not have even met some of them. The same goes for your students, families, and community members. So when you need to get a message across, what do you do? Establish your credibility by building common ground.

You might be thinking: I’ve been working for my district for five years—why do I have to establish my credibility? And partially, you’re right. Every speaker takes the stage with their reputation in tow, and in a school leader’s case, that’s hopefully a good thing. But a speech is also like a standalone production. If you’re speaking to a large crowd of disparate stakeholders, your audience will probably come to your speech with varying levels of understanding—both of the topic at hand and of who you are as a leader. This means they’ll also have varying levels of trust in you.

You don’t need to start every speech with a rundown of your CV’s high points, but you should be able to explain why you are uniquely qualified to speak about this particular topic. Are you able to offer an authoritative view on the subject that no one else can? Do you want to help your audience

understand that you empathize with their points of view? All of these are ways to establish your credibility from the outset.

In practice, you might open a speech about a new school safety policy with something like this: “ As a superintendent, an educator, and most essentially, as a parent, I know there is nothing more important than keeping our children safe .” While your primary role in this situation is that of an administrator, and the details of your speech are about policies for school visitors, you have quickly established yourself as a parent as well. You’re proving that you have a shared, vested interest with your audience and, most importantly, that you care. By pointing this out, you are establishing your why.

Building common ground within the limited microcosm of a speech shows your audience you’re worth listening to— even if they already have an opinion about your topic. It’s also about trust.

According to a 2022 study by the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, 80% of Americans would not follow a leader they did not trust. A similar number of people would not buy goods and services from someone they didn’t trust. Writing for Harvard Business Review, communications expert Allison Shapira discusses the value of trust in communication. “As speakers, our first goal is to build trust: in our credibility, our belief in what we do, or our ability to deliver value,” Shapira explains. “Only then can we mobilize our audience to take action around a shared vision.”

Look again at how the example above establishes trust. You will notice broader statements of credibility. It references your perspective as a parent and refers to the students of your district as “our children,” which humanizes them and you. From the get-go, your audience knows that you have the same goals they do: to keep children safe at school. And that makes you worth their trust.

As you write your own speeches, think of the following questions and consider how you’re answering them throughout your presentation:

• Why should you trust me to do a good job with this?

• How do you know that I really care about this?

• How can I show you that regardless of the challenges, I will work hard on this?

If you answer these questions and demonstrate your ability to be trusted with whatever issue is at hand, your connection with your audience will blossom.

Honing Your Core Message

A common mistake that many novice public speakers make is trying to cover too much content at once and having none of it stick. In fact, this is a struggle you’re likely already familiar with from your time in the classroom. Any lesson that tries to pack too much into a single class period is bound to fail. But why?

Part of it has to do with attention span, but another part of it is just how people expect to communicate. Regardless of what your topic is, your audience will be parsing your speech in search of your single core message—that small, important nugget of information to take away.

One way to make sure your core message shines through in your speech is to establish one in the first place. By the end of your speech, your audience should be able to explain your point in one to two sentences—and if you can’t do this yourself, your audience won’t be able to, either. This is especially important if your speech includes a call to action. After all, if your audience doesn’t walk away knowing what you want them to do, they probably won’t do it.

To make sure your core message isn’t lost in your overall presentation, keep your speech as thematically unified as possible. While you don’t want to be too repetitive, repetition can help your audience understand—and remember—your core message.

According to a 2022 study by the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, 80% of Americans would not follow a leader they did not trust.

Former President Barack Obama will likely be remembered as one of our century’s best orators. His speeches are so powerful and memorable in part because he encapsulates his message into short, succinct statements. Even after a decade, some of these soundbites (for lack of a better term) may spark your memory; for example, “We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America.” This example also uses the rule of three: the idea that people remember things better when they’re strung together in groups of three.

Think about the best speech you’ve ever heard. Maybe it was one given by a colleague, one you studied in school, or one given by a public figure, such as a State of the Union Address. Whoever delivered this speech likely did one thing very, very well: They honed their core message.

Great public speakers spend a lot of time listening to other speeches, both historical and contemporary, heavy and lighthearted. Next time you sit down to watch the Oscars, listen closely to the acceptance speeches. Some celebrities have speechwriters, and when you realize how carefully they build to a singular core message, you’ll start seeing it everywhere you look.

Pacing and Leading

In Everything’s An Argument , a seminal rhetoric textbook, authors Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz make the case that all forms of communication—from speeches to advertisements to long-form articles—set out with the intention to persuade. They argue that as we navigate the world, we are enmired in arguments attempting to sway us this way or that. And it’s true; while you may not view every small speech you deliver through the lens of persuasion, you are, in fact, trying to lead your audience toward a certain belief or perspective.

As a district leader, most of your speeches are, at least in part, an attempt to move your stakeholders to action. This is where “pacing and leading” comes in. While this technique has different iterations across disciplines, the core principle is to convince your audience to take a future action by logically connecting it to actions they’re already taking.

You can do this by using a “pace, pace, lead” structure. Let’s say that you want your building leaders to begin taking the next step with your district’s PBIS program. You know that some of them may be resistant to this next step, as it requires

midyear buy-in that can be hard to garner. To use pace, pace, lead, you would start by stating two steps—the “paces”— that you’re currently taking or have already taken. Then, you would state the desired next step—the action you hope to “lead” them toward. This draws a logical connection between all three steps or ideas even if there isn’t one.

It might look something like this: “ We have increased positive phone calls home. We have made targeted changes to our transitions. Now we must work with our student ambassadors to build culture norms that all our students will buy into. ” The first two steps aren’t new and have likely already proven their value. The third step could be easy to resist if presented alone, but as part of a series, it feels like the next logical action to take, rather than just more work.

There’s also a different version of pacing and leading called “future pacing.” With this technique, you’re focusing on an imagined future that is mutually desirable by everyone in the audience, even if it’s as yet out of reach. This technique was most famously used in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech:

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

“As speakers, our first goal is to build trust: in our credibility, our belief in what we do, or our ability to deliver value. Only then can we mobilize our audience to take action around a shared vision.”

You can see here how King is building a vision that is very different from the realities of the day, and yet so plausible that it’s worth whatever is necessary to reach it. You’ll also notice, even in this short excerpt, King’s use of repetition. In fact, he used the phrase “I have a dream” 11 times in the final four minutes of his speech.

While your own future pacing will likely not be as memorable as Dr. King’s, it can help your audience lean into whatever future you’re envisioning. You may be explaining your vision for what new team-taught classes will look like two years from now or how a major bond campaign will impact your district in a decade.

Future pacing is all about building a shared vision. If you’re speaking about a long-term school improvement plan, you want to make your vision clear to your audience—so clear that it feels like a future everyone can be proud to work toward.

Talking Smart

It’s amazing how much speeches are expected to do. Often, speeches need to accomplish multiple tightly braided goals: building trust, communicating an initiative, and giving a call to action. So it makes sense to try to get as much right as possible. Using the rhetorical techniques we’ve discussed here is a way of working smarter—getting more people on board with your vision so that everyone can work together.

While this all may seem daunting, don’t lose heart. If giving speeches is like swimming, you’ve been doing laps around the pool for years; now you’re ready to go from a simple breaststroke to a powerful butterfly.

Being a good orator doesn’t necessarily make you a better leader in the day-to-day of your job, but it will make it easier for you to rally your team (or your entire district) together around a major idea or initiative. Building your speech-giving

You want to make your vision clear to your audience—so clear that it feels like a future everyone can be proud to work toward.

School Shoutout

Marion County’s Student Ambassadors

How Kentucky’s Marion County Public Schools empowers students to represent their schools—and themselves.

Every school board meeting at Kentucky’s Marion County Public Schools starts the same way—with the Pledge of Allegiance and an update from the district’s Student Ambassadors. These students are empowered to represent their entire student body to the board—and the district to their close-knit rural community.

We were honored to speak with three leaders in Marion County’s Student Ambassador program—high school seniors Brooklyn, Mandy, and Sydnie. They shared with us how the program is benefiting their school district and how it’s impacting them as young leaders.

What are the Student Ambassadors?

The MCPS Student Ambassadors represent the district as student leaders, with duties that include giving tours of their campuses to community members and interfacing with school and district leadership. The Student Ambassador program is open to any Marion County High School student who wishes to apply, and being selected to join a cohort is a big deal. The district takes an applicant’s references and past leadership experience into account, and prospective ambassadors undergo group interviews with district staff and community members. “We’re looking for students who seem excited to tell a positive story about our school district,” says Jason Simpson, Marion County’s director of communications.

Interest in becoming a Student Ambassador starts early. Every year, the district’s current ambassadors organize a one-day event for students in grades 4-8. This Young Leaders Conference is built around a series of workshops designed and implemented by the ambassadors themselves. When she was younger, Mandy attended the Young Leaders Conference every year she could. “The Student Ambassadors at the time knew what they were doing,” Mandy tells us. “I knew when they got into the real world they were going to succeed because of what they had learned from the Student Ambassador program—I always knew that I wanted to be one from that alone.”

Why be a Student Ambassador?

As Student Ambassadors impart leadership lessons to other students, they’re also developing as leaders themselves. The three students we spoke to are all members of the Student Ambassadors’ Executive Council—a small group of seniors who work with Simpson to plan events and coordinate projects with their fellow ambassadors.

Their work representing the district has also helped them develop other professional skills that will benefit them in college and beyond. All three of the students we spoke to said that their time as ambassadors has made them better

public speakers. “The first time I had to speak at a board meeting, I was so nervous; my voice was shaking,” Mandy explains. “Now, I can talk at a board meeting, and it doesn’t even phase me.”

Those skills can translate to ambassadors’ personal lives as well, especially as they move on from high school. “I’ve grown over time by being more confident in my ability to talk to new people,” Brooklyn says. “Before the Student Ambassadors, I just wanted to stay by myself and talk to the people I knew. I’m going to a college where not many people from my school go, so I’ll definitely have to use these skills to meet new friends.”

All of these opportunities have sparked continued interest in leadership. “I know that because of this program, I’ve wanted to become a leader in other things that I do,” says Sydnie. “I have greater aspirations because of the confidence and the skills this program has allowed me to develop.”

Why do the Student Ambassadors matter?

One of the Student Ambassadors’ core responsibilities is presenting at Marion County’s monthly board meetings. There, students give updates on what’s happening at each campus, providing a unique and crucial perspective. As Mandy puts it, “We go to school every day—we experience the consequences of all the district’s actions, both good and bad.”

Having this avenue for student voice provides perspective in more ways than one. “I think when the principals who are there at the board meetings see us as proud to be ambassadors and proud to be students of Marion County Public Schools, it reminds them that what they’re doing for the students is important,” she says.

While the students involved get to learn from district leaders, it’s also important for district leadership to learn from them. “It’s been a while since they’ve been students, and most superintendents probably didn’t go to high school in the same district that they are in charge of,” Mandy says. “It’s really important to listen to the experiences of the students and make decisions based upon that.”

Another of the Student Ambassadors’ priorities is working closely with the elementary grades throughout Marion County Schools. “We’ve been focusing on leadership in

Photos courtesy of Marion County Public Schools

our elementary schools, teaching them how important leadership is, giving them the tools to hopefully be ambassadors when they get to our stage,” says Mandy. Working with these younger kids has allowed the Student Ambassadors to really embrace their mentorship roles in their community. “At the end of the day, we just want to get kids excited about being leaders and about growing up,” Sydnie says.

And the Student Ambassadors’ impact extends beyond school walls, too. They interface with local business and civic leaders, and are recognized around their community of Lebanon. They’re a constant reminder of the value an MCPS education provides.

Building on a Legacy

During a recent tour of Marion County High School, a group of alumni shared their MCPS stories with current ambassadors. “They started telling us all these wonderful things that we didn’t even know about our school,” Sydnie recalls. “I was sitting there thinking, This is the legacy of Marion County—it’s made an impact on all of these people .” Mandy sums it up nicely: “I’m proud of what we represent. We’re part of creating that legacy.”

The legacy of the Student Ambassador program lives in its students, both those who will graduate soon and the younger students they’ve mentored who will one day fill their shoes. “I’m glad Marion County has given me the opportunities that it has,” Sydnie says. ”The Student Ambassador program is a very big responsibility, but it’s worth it—you make such a difference in all these kids’ lives.”

“The Student Ambassador program is a very big responsibility, but it’s worth it—you make such a difference in all these kids’ lives.”

MAKING A COMEBACK

HOW ONE DISTRICT REGAINED ITS COMMUNITY’S TRUST—AND YOU CAN, TOO.

When Dr. Jeff Horton first took the helm as superintendent of GFW Public Schools in July 2020, the district was caught in a downward spiral. The small rural system in Minnesota had just closed one of their three schools and, over time, had racked up a substantial amount of debt. Now operating with a negative 12% unassigned fund balance, GFW was so strapped for cash it was borrowing money just to make payroll.

Getting out of Statutory Operating Debt and actually turning the district around would take time—but Horton and his team only had about six weeks to rescue GFW’s reputation. Just 41 days after his start date, community members would vote on an operating levy that could make or break the district’s recovery. A successful levy would allow GFW to stabilize its finances and work with the community to chart a path forward. But if it failed,

the district would face increased class sizes, reduced programming, and maybe even dissolution.

It was clear that in recent years, confidence in the district had waned. Two previous referendums had failed—one in 2017 and the other in 2019—and the first had seen a disapproval rate of more than 80%. How could any district make such a monumental shift in perception in so little time?

GFW’s situation was certainly extreme, but by no means unique. School districts across the nation—maybe even yours—have found themselves with damaged brands for all kinds of reasons, whether it’s a scandal, an unpopular decision, poor management, or something else entirely. But as we’ll discuss, a damaged brand doesn’t mean you’re down for the count.

Listen to your community.

Like so many other issues in education, the path toward fixing a damaged brand begins with listening. You may think you know how your community is feeling about your district and why—but in reality, only they can tell you. The roots of the problem might be more complicated than you think. “A lot of us want to be problem-solvers. We want to find the answer right away and get to work,” Horton says. “But you have to intentionally stay in that listening and processing mode. If you’re not taking enough time to do that, you may miss something important.”

That’s why, in his first 100 days as GFW’s superintendent, Horton spent a huge portion of his time learning from his stakeholders. “Doing listening sessions with the community was one of the biggest things that has led to our success here,” he tells SchoolCEO. “We’ve worked really hard at trying to understand: Where are people on this? Why are they feeling this way? ”

This wouldn’t be an easy endeavor in the best of times, but remember: This was the summer of 2020. “We had just closed down schools across the nation,” Horton explains. “So I’m trying to figure out how to get in contact with people during a pandemic.” Despite the logistical difficulty, he knew this was a step that couldn’t be skipped. He set up several meetings on local farms with lots of outdoor space for social distancing. “We’d get into these massive circles, trying to have conversations,” he tells us.

Through sessions with a wide range of groups—from farmers and business owners to legislators and the media— Horton got a handle on GFW’s story as it existed then. He says he can distill most of the perspectives he heard into two major themes. The first? Confusion. GFW hadn’t always faced the troubles it was dealing with in 2020; in 2010, they’d been a trailblazer, introducing one-to-one iPads to their high

school students far ahead of the national trend. “That’s a district that says, We’re innovative. We’re ahead of the curve ,” Horton tells us. “But not even a decade later, we’re looking at possible dissolution because finances are in disarray—and people are wondering, How did we get here? How did we go from a place with so much pride and success to this? ”

Was it difficult to hear all that confusion, hurt, and criticism?

Absolutely. “But if you as a superintendent aren’t willing to walk into a room full of people who don’t agree with decisions that have been made, who else is going to do that job?” says Horton. “It’s important as a leader to go out there and talk with people who are critical of you or your organization. Their voices are still extremely important, and if we don’t take time to understand why they feel the way they do, it’s really hard to move people forward.”

But Horton also heard undercurrents of something encouraging: hope. “People wanted a reason to believe,” he says. “Despite the frustrations, despite the hurt, most people were looking for a path forward: How do we get out of this? How do we get back to what once was? ” Fortunately, Horton would be able to tap into that hope as he built buy-in for the levy and worked to restore his community’s trust.

It’s important to note: Listening isn’t a one-time task. If you want to pull your district from struggle to success, you have to keep that conversation going. In these early listening tours, Horton promised his community that he and the district would keep listening as they put potential levy funds to use and created a new strategic plan. “We told them, If we pass this, we will invite the community in, gather your input, and define what our future looks like together ,” he says.

These listening sessions did more than just provide Horton and his team with crucial insights. They also played a pivotal role in rebuilding the community’s trust in its schools. “Our community values hard work,” Horton says. “When they saw us working that hard to understand and listen, I think that was a step in the right direction.”

Whatever circumstances have damaged your district brand, listening to your community is the best way to start moving forward. Hearing their specific thoughts, fears, disappointments, and hopes will show you what misunderstandings need clarification and what mistakes need rectifying. And just as importantly, it will assure your stakeholders that their schools are in the right hands.

“If you as a superintendent aren’t willing to walk into a room full of people who don’t agree with decisions that have been made, who else is going to do that job?”

Once you’ve taken the time to listen to your community, you essentially have a game plan for moving forward. You understand where your stakeholders are coming from and can therefore respond to their specific concerns, rather than addressing issues that may not actually matter to them. “In order to listen to you, people have to connect with the story you’re telling,” Horton explains. “If you don’t understand your audience, you can’t tell a good story. That’s why listening as a superintendent is so important.”

At GFW, Horton knew that to win stakeholders over, he had to address the confusion he’d heard in these community conversations, and that started with explaining the district’s financial situation. Understandably, stakeholders were concerned about the district’s debt. In the absence of clear information, a damaging story had emerged: GFW isn’t a good steward of our taxpayer dollars.

But the real story was more complicated than that. At least part of the district’s financial troubles came from their commitment to special education. “The federal government currently does not fund at the level that they promised when IDEA [the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] was passed as legislation,” Horton explains. “The states aren’t fully funding special education either, so that falls to the school districts and the local tax.” But under IDEA, students with disabilities must receive the services they need, no matter what it costs. This puts many districts—including GFW—under significant financial strain.

As a former special education director, Horton knows the importance of this work. “I believe the things we’re doing are right, but they do have a cost,” he says. “People wanted to know why the district finances were where they were, and that’s not the only reason—but it is a piece of it.” When the district provided that clarification in informational meetings about the upcoming levy, it resonated with their community.

But GFW’s stakeholders also needed to see the district holding itself accountable. “We had to own some things,” Horton tells us. “As the new superintendent, even though I wasn’t here when this all started, I still needed to own up and say: You’re right—we made some mistakes. Here’s what we could have done better. We hear you, and we’re going to act on that .” And while he couldn’t take much action in the 41 days before the vote, Horton did promise the community that, should the levy pass, the district wouldn’t use any of those funds until they had exited Statutory Operating Debt. The levy wouldn’t be a bailout; it would be an investment in the district’s future.

Just by communicating with his stakeholders and responding to their perceptions of the district, Horton was able to course-correct GFW’s reputation in the community. Where local stakeholders had once seen poor stewardship, they now saw tough decisions and a renewed commitment to accountability. “My story for the district wasn’t necessarily new,” Horton says. “It came from the community’s view of the district, but we were able to focus it into something that

“If you don’t understand your audience, you can’t tell a good story. That’s why listening as a superintendent is so important.”

Address stakeholder needs.

Find your why.

Listening to your stakeholders and addressing their needs will put you well on your way to rebuilding your community’s trust—but achieving true success will take some significant refocusing. To fight your way back, you’ll need to know what you’re fighting for.

On August 11, 2020, GFW’s operating levy came to a vote. It passed with more than 60% support. In an incredibly short amount of time, Horton and his team had managed to regain a great deal of community trust. “I think that’s the highest operating levy that has ever passed in our community,” he says. “That tells me that people want a district here and they believe in the district.” But what would be GFW’s rallying cry moving forward?

Horton had once come across a TEDxTalk by author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek, describing what he called “The Golden Circle.” Sinek starts with a question: Why do some people achieve greatness when others—even those who have all the same talents and resources—don’t?

In Sinek’s mind, the answer is simple. “Every single person, every single organization on the planet, knows what they do,” he says. “Some know how they do it ... but very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do.” For Sinek, that why is the key difference between the ordinary and the great. “What’s your purpose?” he asks. “Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care?”

“I think that was what we were searching for when I first started,” says Horton. “We didn’t have a why. We’d lost it. The district was in survival mode, and why wasn’t even on their radar.” But refocusing on that purpose would be critical as they began building a new strategic plan.

True to their word, GFW began the process by reengaging their stakeholders. “We did equity diagnostic surveys, we did community surveys, we did another round of listening tours,” Horton says. “We put together focus groups and planning groups.” At every turn, they asked their community for input. But amongst the more nitty-gritty questions, the most important was also the most basic: Why do we do what we do? What’s the district’s reason to exist?

Horton already had an idea of his own personal why. “I believe that we need to challenge the status quo of education,” he tells us. “We need to rethink how we are serving students. If we’re seeing 3% drops in enrollment across the country, why are we seeing that? What is making families feel like public education isn’t doing what it needs to do? I’m pro-public education all the way—but we have to take a good look at ourselves and ask, How are we challenging ourselves to get better? ”

In one of these meetings, someone—not Horton, as he’s quick to admit—hit upon the perfect summation of this idea: G rowing F uture W orld-Class Leaders . “At the end of the day, you have to remember that you are here to serve students and to help students be successful,” he says. “For us, that’s growing future world-class leaders. Once we hit on that, we could start looking from the inside out of that circle: How do we do that? And what do we do? Everything we have done since has been based on that idea. It’s pushed us to ask: How are we still challenging the status quo? ”

As you rebuild your brand, you need to find your why. Maybe, as at GFW, your why is growth and constant improvement. Maybe it’s building up your community or producing kind and intelligent citizens. Whatever it is, your why is your motivation—and you’ll need it in order to keep up the good fight.

Follow through.

As so many school leaders know, trust is hard to win and easy to lose. If GFW let the community down again after this vote of confidence, the damage to the brand—and the district’s future—would be nearly irreversible. In short, the pressure was still on to build and keep stakeholder trust. It was key to follow through on the promises they’d made before the vote.

And that’s just what the district did. With guidance from financial services companies Baird and PMA, GFW implemented a plan to allocate its budget more efficiently. They worked with their community to successfully develop and implement a comprehensive strategic plan. Just two years later, the district had exited Statutory Operating Debt and achieved a projected positive 12% unassigned fund balance—all before spending a single dollar from the levy.

These days, GFW is thriving. Through a Comprehensive Literacy Grant, they’ve provided coaches to assist elementary school teachers with literacy instruction, improved classroom libraries, and hired a family literacy specialist to engage families in the joy of reading. They’ve boosted their support for English learners and renewed their focus on social and emotional learning. Class sizes are down, and the district is now offering over 100 new courses and opportunities for students. It’s a complete 180.

Now, after hitting rock bottom, GFW has come back stronger than ever. “I wouldn’t wish Statutory Operating Debt on anyone,” Horton says. “That was very hard for our community. But sometimes, you take things apart in order to put them back together the right way.”

If you’re trying to regain your community’s trust or rehabilitate your district brand, don’t give up. It may be difficult at first, but if you let your why guide you, you’re bound to make a comeback.

“Sometimes, you take things apart in order to put them back together the right way.”

WALK THE TALK

Personal Branding for Superintendents

If you were to ask your students what personal branding means, they might say something about being an influencer on TikTok or having thousands of followers on YouTube. They might tell you it’s all about content and hashtags and retweets, about joining the online conversation in a way that sets you apart.

And while your students may have good advice, if you’re thinking about your personal brand as a superintendent, your goal isn’t to become the kind of influencer your students follow online. Your goal is to influence your community, to establish yourself as a trustworthy and relatable leader.

If it’s built around your core values, your personal brand can act as a guidepost for your leadership, as an internal locus of control. By reflecting on the kind of leader you are and want to be, you’re giving your community the opportunity to know the real you. And just as importantly, you’re also giving yourself the opportunity to say what you stand for—and then stand for it.

Do you have a brand?

Here at SchoolCEO, we’ve done a good amount of research and writing on how branding applies to school districts. And, as a school leader in this day and age, you’re probably thinking about your district brand, too.

Your district brand can be understood simply as its reputation: the way people think and feel about your schools. It’s the story they tell. The important thing to realize is that even if your district hasn’t built its brand intentionally, there is still a story circulating about what it means to attend your schools. It just may not be the story you want. As a school leader, part of your job is to guide the narrative so that your community has the right idea about your district.

That exact same sentiment applies to your personal brand. Tara Thompson, chief communications officer at Oklahoma’s Broken Arrow Public Schools, says, “Like it or not, everybody has a brand. They just may not be aware of that brand.” And Zandra Jo Galván, superintendent of California’s Greenfield USD, would agree. “Everyone has a brand,” Galván says. “The question is: Is their brand intentional? Or are they allowing their brand to be created for them?”

Whether you’ve constructed it intentionally or not, there is a story out there about who you are as a leader. Maybe that story is a good one—but maybe it isn’t. Your personal brand

is how you control the narrative. It’s how you write the story of who you are.

Building a Personal Brand

Whether your personal brand is something you’ve thought about before or not, it’s never a bad idea to reflect carefully on who you are as a leader and ensure that your community’s perceptions of you are matching up with how you perceive yourself. Below, we’ll look at some ideas for building a personal brand that will establish you as an authentic leader and move both you and your school district closer to your unique goals.

Identify—then share—your values.

Galván says her personal brand keeps her grounded as a decision-maker because it keeps her connected to her core values. “When you’re intentional about building a brand,” she tells us, “you have to really think about your core values. Ask yourself: What am I all about? What am I known for? ”

Recently, Broken Arrow Public Schools hired a new superintendent. In her role as chief communications officer, Thompson developed a communications plan specifically for the new super, part of which had to do with managing his personal brand. “One of my first questions to him was about his core values,” Thompson tells SchoolCEO. “I asked him to give me two or three things that are really important to him. He chose authenticity, relationships, and roots—so that’s what we built his brand around.”

More than likely, you already have a clear idea of what your core values are as a leader—but the trick isn’t simply to identify what you value. More often than not, values are slippery, nebulous things. The idea is to find ways to live your values and share them with your community.

For Thompson and her superintendent, communicating these values meant making an unusual decision. Every other week, Broken Arrow staff members receive a video from the superintendent as part of the district’s internal communications strategy. But Thompson and her new super decided to keep the videos a little rough, to not overedit them. Because one of the super’s values is authenticity, they didn’t want the videos to be overly polished. The point wasn’t to create a perfect image; it was to show him as his most authentic self.

Another way to share your values with your community is to weave them into the way you talk about yourself. “We talk a lot about roots,” Thompson says. “Our superintendent went to school here; he taught here; his roots are here. We don’t necessarily make that the highlight of the story all the time, but we do constantly have little throwbacks. We’ll say things like: Hey, he’s walked in your shoes as a student or as a teacher .” Once you know what your values are, find ways to link those values to the stories you tell about yourself—and the stories your community tells about you.

Consider using social media.

It goes without saying that one great way to share your story—your personal brand—with your community is by engaging with online platforms. And while using social media to build your personal brand may sound intimidating at first, just think back to those core values you identified. These aren’t just your core values—they’re your lodestar guiding you forward. For Galván, her three guiding values are kindness, community building, and celebrating kids. She says that, for her, these translated easily to social media.

Take, for example, Galván’s “Superintendent Storytime.” As an elementary school district, Greenfield has a large number of younger students—and Galván has taken it upon herself to ensure they all have someone to read to them at night. “You just use whatever social media platform you

have to send out a video of yourself reading a story around the time most of your students would be going to bed,” Galván explains.

She tells us it’s easy to set aside an hour each Monday to make the recordings; then, her team schedules the videos to go out ahead of time using Greenfield’s YouTube channel. “It’s a way to show that you’re a real person,” Galván says. “It’s a way to show you care.” Making sure every one of her students has a positive connection with someone in their school community is important. Reading a bedtime story is part of how Galván communicates to her students that they all are special and deserve kindness.

Galván and her team also do something they call “60 Seconds in GUSD.” “A 60-second segment is anything you want to highlight in your district,” she tells us. “We get an iPad, put it on a tripod, and I ask someone in the district some kind of opening question.” GUSD’s 60-second segments have highlighted everything from a preschool staff member discussing the importance of socialization and play to a cafeteria worker talking about a traditional Mexican dish the students love. By highlighting every aspect of the work happening in GUSD, Galván and her team emphasize the importance of the entire school community.

Superintendent Zandra Jo Galván emphasizes the importance of her entire school community with “60 Seconds in GUSD.” Photos courtesy of Greenfield Union School District

Through her “Superintendent Storytime,” Galván exemplifies one of her core values: kindness.

Regardless of how you decide to engage with your stakeholders online, the key is to be authentic and genuine. The last thing you want to do is create content that drives likes or shares, but that isn’t true to who you are. If social media isn’t the right tool for sharing your authentic self, it probably isn’t the best tool for promoting your personal brand. And that’s okay. If you decide social media isn’t for you, try brainstorming with your team about ways to promote your personal brand offline. What can you say about yourself? Where can you have those conversations?

Let yourself be simplified.

As you begin digging into your personal brand, it may feel like you’re being siloed into a very singular identity. That’s because, in a way, you are. Think of a favorite actor or musician. What do you know about them? Unless you’re a mega-fan, chances are you know two or three major characteristics about most big names. Creating an encapsulated, easy-to-grasp image can be a useful marketing tactic. When you hand people a simple story to tell, it’s probably the story they’ll remember most.

It may sound counterintuitive at first, but streamlining your public-facing identity can help broaden your network. Giving your community two or three things to know about you makes you easier to connect with. Maybe one thing to know about you is that you’re always trying to spread joy, and part of how you do that is by wearing goofy socks every day. Suddenly, every student and staff member wants to check out your socks and tell you which pair they like the best. Then, over time, you might find these conversations have a tendency to go deeper. You might find new relationships forming.

Galván says it’s all about starting with the basics and expanding from there. She says you pick a few things that become “your way in.” And then, from there, “people know you, and doors open to all the things that are important to you.”

Recognize self-promotion as district promotion.

Dr. PJ Caposey, superintendent of Illinois’ Meridian CUSD 223, is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and consultant. He has a newsletter, an active blog, and an impressive online following. But according to Caposey, these avenues shouldn’t be pursued lightly. “Not all superintendents need to focus on building a personal brand the way that I have,” Caposey says, “but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t, either.”

Sometimes as educators it can feel uncomfortable—if not downright wrong—to talk about professional selfadvancement. After all, it’s the students who are the number-one priority. In most other fields, though, making choices to advance oneself professionally is considered an inherent—even necessary—part of the game. Should it be so different for educators? To be clear, we aren’t advocating for self-advancement to the detriment of your students. Rather, we’re suggesting there’s a way to advance yourself and your students at the same time.

Maybe your district is trying to boost enrollment, pass a bond, recruit new teachers, or improve your overall district reputation. The more you strengthen your image, the more credibility you’ll have in your community when you approach stakeholders about any of these initiatives. When you tell your unique story and strengthen your unique personal brand, it’s not just good for you—it’s good for your district.

During our conversation with Caposey, he posed this question: Is Tesla the best electric car? “By most metrics, no,” he tells us. “By stock price, by performance—no, it’s not. But when you think of electric vehicles, what do you think of? You think of Tesla.” According to Caposey, Tesla is the name that comes to mind first because we all know its CEO: Elon Musk. “Whether you like Elon or not,” Caposey says, “you know him, and you know his company as a result.”

Now, are we saying you should be like Elon Musk? Not at all. Our point is that, as a school leader, your success is intertwined with the success of your district. Often, if you’re promoting yourself, you’re promoting your schools— especially because your personal goals and your district’s goals will frequently overlap.

Take, for example, teacher recruitment. According to our 2023 research study “What Teachers Want,” leadership is one of the top three factors teachers consider when deciding which districts to apply to. That means your personal brand could actually play an important role in filling vacancies.

Caposey says that last year, districts in his county had five open principalships. “And the other four positions combined didn’t get as many applicants as we did,” he tells us. Caposey teaches college courses, attends speaking events, and has been interviewed by This American Life . By putting his name out there, he’s pulling people in—all the way into his district.

Hold yourself accountable.

Being clear about who you are and what you stand for will make it easier for members of your community to disagree with you—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If someone is disagreeing with you, that means you took a stance. And when you take the same stance consistently, that’s integrity of belief. Caposey puts it like this: “One of the best things that you could say about me as a leader is that I’m predictable.”

Disagreements can be frustrating and, unfortunately, they’re often unavoidable. “But we can’t hide,” Galván says. “When we hide, people create false stories about us.” The upside?

If your personal brand is based on your core values, it will be a little easier to stand your ground in the face of conflict. “I just try to be really true to myself on the things that are important to me,” Galván tells us, “because then I don’t have

to fake anything.” And Caposey would agree: “Just tell the truth and say what you believe—then people won’t be able to question who you are.”

At the same time, it’s important to remember that your personal brand is more than talk. “Personal brand is an accountability metric,” Caposey explains. “If I’m out here talking about how I believe in culture, but I’m not behaving that way as a leader—that’s going to be all over the blogosphere. I can’t be a hypocrite.” In other words, don’t say you stand for anything you wouldn’t be willing to stand up for. Because, at the end of the day, your personal brand isn’t just about declaring who you are—it’s about being who you say you are. It’s about walking the talk.

Planting Seeds

Let’s be honest: Most of us will never be the kind of influencers your students follow online. But you do have significant influence in your district, and any moment could be the one that changes a life.

“In education, we’re constantly planting seeds, but we don’t ever know which seed is going to take,” Caposey says. “It’s never the one that I would have expected. That’s the beauty and the pain of education. You have 1,000 moments every day that could change a life, but you don’t know which one will stick. You have to put faith in the belief that you’re making an impact.”

When it comes to changing lives, there’s no clear-cut path, no simple to-do list. The best you can do is think carefully about the kind of leader you want to be—and then be that leader. For Galván, it’s as simple as keeping a promise. “If you make a promise to kids,” she says, “you have to keep it.”

Building your personal brand is a way to make your district a promise. You’re promising to think carefully about the kind of leader your schools deserve and to show up as that leader every day. Your personal brand is how you plant seed after seed, trusting that, eventually, something good will grow.

AND HOW TO MAKE YOURS SOAR

Whatever your hobby or interest, you can probably find a newsletter about it these days. There’s even a newsletter just for cheese lovers (The Cheese Plate, if you’re curious). But the popularity of newsletters over the past few years isn’t just because people enjoy writing them; they also enjoy reading them. A recent study reported that 90% of Americans subscribe to at least one newsletter. And while you might think that newsletters appeal mostly to older folks who are more tied to their inboxes, this isn’t necessarily the case. According to data from Similarweb, almost 20% of the users of Substack, a popular newsletter platform, are under the age of 24.

Newsletters owe at least some of their popularity to their unique readability. While long-form content can flounder on social media, many newsletters with cult followings include full-length blog posts. On the other hand, some newsletters are more like quick curations of important news, and those do

well, too. Unlike other forms of online media, newsletters are usually opt-in and have no algorithm determining whether your content reaches your audience. When someone follows you on Twitter, your posts may or may not always show up in their feed; but if someone subscribes to your newsletter, your content always goes straight to their inbox.

Done well, newsletters can help school districts increase community connections in a way that is intimate and— compared to daily social media posts—fairly low-effort. Because of the long-form nature of most newsletters, they also allow room to dive into nuances that don’t always translate to social media, be it the story of a beloved school employee or the reason for a major district policy change. Newsletters are also uniquely personal; many public figures, including superintendents, use them to connect directly with their communities in an unscripted, authentic way.

You also have a unique advantage when it comes to contact lists for your newsletters. Marketers spend tons of time (and money) trying to get email addresses for people who may be interested in their content—but as a school leader, you already have contact info for every one of your families. There’s a ready-made audience waiting for you, and a newsletter is the perfect way to take advantage of that.

But even given these good reasons for starting a newsletter, there’s also no denying that plenty of them go unread. Like any other email, a newsletter can quickly fade into your audience’s inboxes, especially if they’re particularly busy.

So the question isn’t just whether or not you should start a newsletter. It’s also how to make it one your audience opens week after week.

The Basics

Aside from your content, there are a lot of technical choices to make when deciding to launch a district newsletter. We want to take a moment to cover these before we dive into general best practices.

How do I choose a tool to organize my newsletter?

Different districts send newsletters in a variety of ways, sometimes using paid tools designed to make every aspect of the process as seamless as possible. As you choose a tool, consider (1) what will make the most sense for the team (or individual) working on the newsletter and (2) what tools allow you to collect meaningful data about how your newsletter is performing. Experimentation is key to writing a successful newsletter, and without meaningful data, you’ll never know what sticks with your audience.

How often should I send my newsletter?

This depends on two factors: What is your capacity to send newsletters consistently, and how frequently can you send them while still maintaining fresh content? For many districts, this is once or twice a month. You want your send schedule to make sense to your audience, so don’t bite off more than you can chew on the front end. Be careful not to underestimate how much time it can take to produce a newsletter week after week.

Should I have separate newsletters for my external and internal audiences?

This answer depends on your content. Is it equally relevant to both audiences? If so, one newsletter will probably do. However, if you have specific information or content to share with one audience or another, it can be helpful to have two distinct newsletters. If you do decide to have multiple newsletters, though, remember to factor in the time they’ll take to produce when you’re setting goals for how frequently to send them.

What is the ideal structure for a newsletter?

This is totally up to you—in fact, it’s a great opportunity to experiment so you can learn what your audience likes best. While the school newsletter has definitely become its own form (check out NSPRA’s award-winning newsletter category to see what we mean), there is no one perfect structure.

Look at the structures used by some of the bestperforming private sector newsletters. The Her Hoops Stats Newsletter, for example, follows a bloglike format, providing long-form commentary on the WNBA. Bestselling author James Clear’s 3-2-1 Thursday Newsletter, on the other hand, is broken into short blocks, following a standard structure each week: three ideas from him, two quotes from others, and one question for the audience. Experiment, find what your community prefers, and stick with it.

Every other week, we send out our SchoolCEO Newsletter. In it you’ll find three ideas to get you thinking, one school that inspires us, and an article from our latest issue—plus a little something extra every time. Sound fun? Sign up at schoolceo.com/subscribe-now

How do I know if my newsletter is accomplishing its goals?

In the world of communications, newsletters present a unique advantage: You can know whether your content’s actually being read. While you probably won’t receive detailed replies from your subscribers, the analytics you can pull from your newsletter tool will show you what’s working and what’s not. Open rates are important, but also take note of which emails take the longest for your audience to read. Chances are, these are the ones that they’re paying the most attention to.

Know your audience.

When you think of your newsletter, who do you most want to read it? Staff? Families? The broader community? Students, even? Some combination of all of the above? This question requires careful consideration, as it will impact everything about your newsletter, from the format to the content to the send schedule.

When his incoming superintendent wanted to establish a regular touch point with staff, school board, and families, Dr. Ben Boothe knew a newsletter was the answer. As the director of community relations for Kansas’ Gardner Edgerton USD 231, Boothe knew the district had to meet folks where they were—and he knew they were already checking their emails.

“Newsletters offer a lot that other forms of communication like social media can’t. They’re a great place to consolidate information and can be somewhere in between the formality of a press release and the casual nature of a social media post,” Boothe explains. “While there is plenty of other information in the newsletter, our superintendent is also able to give his perspective on what is happening in the district— and that gives everyone a chance to get to know him better.”

Boothe may have known email would be a good tool for connecting with families—but that same assumption isn’t necessarily true for all communities. Your first step in assessing whether you should launch (or continue) your newsletter is to evaluate whether email is a strong form of communication for your audience. According to 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost everyone uses and accesses email. But while most Americans do have an email address, not every group is equally invested in their inboxes. What matters is whether or not they use email as a primary or at least secondary form of communication.

One way to figure this out is to ask the group who communicates most with families—your teachers. Do they find sending emails or newsletters home productive? Since many teachers have newsletters themselves, they may even know families’ preferences and feedback already, saving you lots of trial and error.

If your primary audience is your staff or school board, they’re probably already relying on email to get updates from you. Having a regular newsletter just allows you to consolidate

that information, reducing the risk of something getting lost in the mix.

You should also ensure that your newsletter is accessible to any families in your district who speak languages other than English. While it may be tempting to run your newsletter through Google Translate or a similar tool, the general best practice is to have your content translated by a skilled translator. While this may limit how many newsletters you are able to schedule out at once, it will ensure that your newsletter is more productive—and inclusive—in the long run.

Integrate it into your brand.

Similar to your homepage, your newsletter is a direct extension of your brand. And for folks who are less likely to visit your other online or physical spaces, it’s an opportunity to showcase your brand’s goals.

A districtwide newsletter can build consistency in your brand by consolidating other newsletters that may be circulating in your schools. If some of your campuses have newsletters but others don’t, that can muddle your brand and potentially confuse parents—especially since many families have children in multiple schools across a district. Having one district newsletter ensures that everyone is getting the same information, with the same branding.

Having a newsletter as part of your brand-building strategy will also provide you with another avenue for expressing your values and bolstering your school culture. Gardner Edgerton offers a monthly celebratory newsletter that includes all of the previous month’s students of the week, staff of the week, and other accomplishments by both students and staff. “Because our district has multiple campuses, we have staff members who only get to see each other a few times a year. Our newsletter gives them a chance to stay up-to-date and connected, which benefits our culture,” Boothe explains.

It’s also crucial to make sure your newsletter’s visual components reflect your brand. Initially, you could work with a designer or other brand expert to make sure that your newsletter checks all the right boxes as a branded document. The colors, fonts, logos, and any other design elements should all make it clear, even at a quick glance, that your newsletter is cohesive with the rest of your brand.

As on other platforms, though, be wary of cramming too much into one message. Prioritization is key. Although

newsletters are useful for pulling lots of information into one place, consider organizing them so that the most important info is up top, followed by less pressing content. This is especially important since most people read emails on their mobile devices and may not want to scroll all the way down to find the content they’re looking for.

Have fun.

There’s an important truth when it comes to your newsletter: If you wouldn’t want to read it, your audience probably won’t want to, either. Current NSPRA President Cathy Kedidjian, APR, is the executive director of communications and strategic planning at Glenview School District 34 in Illinois. She says fun is the magic ingredient for a successful newsletter. “Have fun with it,” she explains. “If you aren’t having fun making your newsletter, your readers won’t have fun reading it.”

While this sounds simple in theory, it can be difficult to sustain positive energy throughout a potentially never-ending project. But consistent experimentation can help keep your work feeling fresh. Because every district newsletter is a little bit different depending on the community, you will need to experiment to see what really resonates with your audience. Even then, your audience’s needs will shift over time. Trial and error are a part of the process—and also part of what makes it fun.

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THE DOMINO EFFECT

DR. MITZI N. MORILLO GIVES HER TAKE ON THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY AND INFLUENCE.

With 35 years in education, Dr. Mitzi N. Morillo has a deep understanding of influence. Her 16 prolific years as a classroom teacher in schools across the country taught her the value of both seeking and sharing opportunities— especially as a woman in education. She fine-tuned her authentic approach to leadership as principal of a one-school district, which prepared her for and propelled her to district leadership. Now, as the superintendent of New Jersey’s Mendham Borough School District, Morillo leads with a keen eye fixed on the future—and on future leaders. Here she shares five lessons she’s learned about the power of influence and the importance of encouraging and empowering those following in her footsteps.

#1: Your experiences influence who you become.

I recently visited my childhood home in Puerto Rico to celebrate my father’s 90th birthday. While there, I was surrounded by vivid memories of the early experiences that influenced the foundation of my leadership. Even though my parents didn’t have college degrees, they taught my siblings and me the value of education. They were our first teachers, our influencers—and the experiences they gave me helped shape who I am as a leader.

My father worked for the United States Postal Service, starting as a third-shift processing clerk and moving up to a station manager, even though he’d left college to join the army. He taught me to balance hard work and high expectations while caring for a team. I still remember how he planned activities for his employees and their families—his way of reinforcing that family always comes first. He was also a math genius, and he used his skills not only to help with our homework, but also to give him an edge at the domino table.

My mom, on the other hand, is the one who made our house a home—and the one who taught me how to overcome fear. Most people consider driving in Puerto Rico to be an extreme sport, but I remember her taking driving lessons in her 40s just to get my brother to kindergarten. She was fearless and had a competitive spirit, which made her an excellent partner for my father’s domino games.

My family moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Puerto Rico when I was 4 years old. Because my dad worked for the post office, I attended a Department of Defense school where all the classes were taught in English. There were no ESL classes. So my mom started speaking to me in English at home—something we’d never done before—to help me do better in class.

Both my parents—and my extended family—did whatever it took to give us the best education possible. We can’t give you money , they said, but we can give you an education, and that will be your inheritance . Now my sister is an architect, my brother is an attorney, and I’ve been the superintendent of Mendham Borough School District in New Jersey for nearly a decade. All of that is because of their influence.

I frequently say: You are who you are because of your experiences. And I know that I am who I am because of the meaningful and encouraging childhood my parents gave me. As a superintendent, I want all my students and staff to have genuine experiences that influence who they are and who they’ll become.

#2: Encouraging the potential in others influences the future.

What’s funny is I never imagined going into education. My family thought I’d be a doctor—I even got a degree in biology. My goal was to eventually attend medical school and become a psychiatrist.

Influence (n.): the capacity to affect the character, development, or behavior of someone or something

Dr. Mitzi N. Morillo

But after my husband and I graduated from college, we got married and moved to El Paso, Texas, where he was stationed in the military. There weren’t many jobs in that area for someone with a biology degree, so I took a role at a local community college helping nursing students in calculus, biology, and chemistry. As it turned out, I was pretty good at it, so I got the opportunity to work at a second campus. That’s where a program director told me I should consider enrolling in an alternative certification program for teachers. So I went for it.

I chose to get certified in bilingual education. When asked what grade I would prefer, I decided on kindergarten because I believed it to be the easiest. But I quickly realized how wrong I was. Everything you need to know is taught in kindergarten.

Fortunately, I was able to complete three teaching certifications—ESL, middle school science, and gifted and talented—while following my husband’s career around the

me now as a superintendent. When I observe teachers, I can support them by speaking from my own experiences.

If that program director years ago hadn’t seen and

Photos courtesy of Mendham Borough School District

#3: Don’t let the wrong influence compromise your authenticity.

The desire to effect change beyond my classroom walls is what propelled me into administration. I earned a second master’s in educational leadership and became a principal. I quickly recognized, though, that moving into administration as a woman would require a skill set beyond education and experience.

In preparation for my first interview for an administrative position, I asked one of my education professors for advice on landing the job. He suggested pulling my hair back, skipping the perfume, limiting my makeup, and wearing pearls. It was bizarre. I’ve never even owned pearls. That’s not who I am. I remember thinking to myself: What am I going to do if I get the job? I couldn’t show up every day pretending to be someone I’m not. It goes back to authenticity—I am who I am. If I’m not the right match, I don’t want the job.

Upon securing my first administrative position, I was contacted by a local reporter for a quick interview that would introduce me to the community. After the call, I felt uneasy— and rightfully so. The headline the following week read: New principal brings high hopes and high heels. I worked so hard to get where I was, and she made the story about my shoes. I’ve never heard anyone talk about what a male administrator is wearing. Never. It’s one of those things that women in

leadership have to deal with that men don’t. Needless to say, I learned to be more discerning about whose advice I sought and who I invited to tell my story.

Sometimes, as a superintendent, you lose your humanity. People view you as your position, especially if you’re a woman. But I don’t want to just be my job. I’m a complex person. I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter. I’m a lifelong educator. I can view my work through the lens of a parent, through the lens of a teacher. All those things are true at the same time.

The truth is that every part of who I am helps me as a leader—and I don’t want to sacrifice any part of myself to fit someone else’s view of who I should be. I don’t want to let the wrong influence compromise my authenticity.

#4: Influence has to do with people—not with their titles.

Throughout my career in education, my leadership lessons have come from great, albeit nontraditional, leaders. These weren’t always the people with the most impressive titles— but they were the people who had strong relationships with those around them.

Interrogated by the building custodian, who thought I was a student and not a student teacher, I learned early that many custodians are the first layer of security and discipline in a school building.

I also fondly remember one school secretary who always had a chair next to her desk—and that chair was rarely empty. She would either provide a listening ear or give you a swift kick in the pants when necessary. Looking back, I realize that she was responsible for the climate and culture of that school. She taught me that respect must be earned and imparted at every level of an organization.

When you go into administration, you go because you want to have a greater impact. Everyone says that. But when you take on a role like superintendent, you tend to not be as connected to students, teachers, and parents as you were when you were a teacher or building administrator—and that

can be hard. When you’re the one making tough decisions, it can be difficult for people to see you as a person and not just the position.

But not always being seen has made me realize how important it is to see others as individuals. Just like we want to be seen as more than our positions, we have to see others

So how do we make sure we’re using that influence wisely? It goes back to acting on opportunities to encourage and mentor others. In the back of my mind, I’ve always thought: If someone helped me along the way, then I owe that help to someone else. I work with some excellent leaders, and I always try to bring them along. If I see potential in someone, then I try to provide them with professional development.

SchoolCEO Conversations takes a deep dive into the minds and hearts of the country’s most successful and innovative school leaders and subject matter experts on the topics of brand, culture, and marketing.