RG175 Blog

As part of our ongoing effort to cultivate and support independent school leadership, RG175 consultants contribute monthly blog posts on topics ranging from governance and head transitions to strategic thinking and school management.

Boards, Behavior, Independent, executive, director, head, school, Trustees, Three, B's, Bs, Behaving, Badly, Boston, MA, program, talent, expertise, role, key
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Governance
BOARDS BEHAVING BADLY

There is a lot of talk these days about independent school governance. And it’s not good. One executive director of a large regional independent school association receives over fifty requests for trustee workshops each year. Another executive director is looking to form a cadre of experienced heads... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson
Actions, Speaks, Loudly, Independent, School, Magazine, MISBO, NAIS, Study, Statistics, Florida, North, Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Chubb, Levinson, retiring, heads, boards, decision, bias, halo, kahneman, northeast, candidate,
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The Head of School Search Process
NOTHING SPEAKS SO LOUDLY AS YOUR ACTIONS

Published originally in Independent School Magazine, Fall, 2016The statistics are alarming. According to Marc Levinson, Executive Director of MISBO, in his study “Evaluating the Head of School Transition” from 2009 to 2014 there have been 102 head transitions out of about 160 schools in Florida. For... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson
decision, making, leadership, skill, personality, Chip, Heath, Dan, Decisive, leaders, emotion, decision, subjective, illogical, choices, mitigating, behavior, self, aware, head, school, discussion, team, culture, positive
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Head of School Leadership
MITIGATING BIAS IN DECISION-MAKING

I used to assume that quality decision-making was an innate leadership skill, more a matter of instinct and personality rather than something learned. Turns out, I was wrong.Recently, I read Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s book Decisive, which explores the nature of decision-making, delineates the inevit... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson
Idea, Vision, Reality, Trustees, School, Leading, change, principles, fundamentals, resources, talent, targeted, initiatives, transformative, goal, meaningful, sell, strategy, important, execute, Ted, Talk
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Management
WHAT WE NEED IS ONE IDEA: MAKE YOUR VISION REAL

Early in my tenure as a 34-year-old Head of School, a small group of trustees, the athletic director and I were chatting about the many ways in which we could make the school better. We were on a roll, one idea leading to another. After about ten minutes of riffing on each other’s ideas, the athleti... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson
Heads, independent, tools, perspective, strategic, school, brand, achievements, positive, information, David, Brooks, New, York, Times, Advice, reality,
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Management
“AT THE EDGE OF INSIDE.” WHERE HEADS NEED TO BE

One of the most powerful tools an independent school leader has is perspective, an ever-evolving practice of seeking deeper and deeper insights into the landscape of reality. Those insights can lead to better strategic thinking and better strategic decisions.But clearly seeing and understanding real... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson
Head, Mentorship, professional, development, focus, skills, leadership, operational, decisions, enrollment, financial, board, trustees, NAIS, mentors, consultants, responsibilities, president, relationship, trust
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Leadership Transition
FURTHER THOUGHTS ON HEAD MENTORSHIP

Recently I heard about the struggles of two first-time heads of school. Their missteps are a reminder of the importance of a head’s on-going professional development that focuses on the practical skills of leadership.Within a year and a half of beginning his tenure, a first-time head fired two long-... read more

  • Thomas P. Olverson