RG175 Blog

A good checklist can change everything. Atul Gawande gave us a great gift in The Checklist Manifesto when he documented the value of a checklist for performance. From industries as varied as aviation, health care, and skyscraper construction, Gawande proved incontrovertibly that a good checklist is... read more

In the rush to form a search committee, many board chairs fail to consider some important factors that can ultimately determine if the search is successful or not. When one considers that the selection of a new head of school and the subsequent management of the leadership transition is the most imp... read more

After her appointment in the late autumn, a future head was invited to a January board meeting of the school she would eventually be leading in July with sincere assurance from the search committee chair that she would be there just to watch and observe. It seemed like a helpful opportunity for the... read more

At the end of his lengthy tenure, a school head significantly reduced attrition, doubled the number of applications, increased enrollment by 55%, completed three successful capital campaigns, and helped his school become a “player” in a very competitive independent school market. Before he arrived,... read more

The relationship between a head of school and the board chair is often referred to as a marriage, and the analogy has some validity. You spend a tremendous amount of time together. Working in concert to lead and manage a school community is not unlike dealing with a large family, complete with share... read more

Strategic plans can be effective tools for charting the course of a school’s future, for getting key stakeholders on the same page, and for appropriately allocating time, energy and resources for the purpose of helping the school do a better job of living its mission. But despite these potential ben... read more