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.

Head, School, Value, judgement, crisis, reflective, identifying, critical, management, consequences, decisions, experience, knowledge, response, thoughtful, rationale, behavior, Harvard, Ron, Carucci, Ten, Year, study, Business, Review
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HEADS WITH SOUND JUDGMENT

Being a successful Head of School is more than just adding value to the school – it requires good judgment. Case in point: the crises involving sexual misconduct that some independent schools are currently facing. Yet sadly, the typical independent school search process rarely addresses this critica... read more

Leadership, ego, talent, learn, headship, identifying, management, team, collective, characteristics, confidence, quality, initiative, dumbest, guy, room, in
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LEADERSHIP AND THE HARNESSED EGO

“My goal is to be the dumbest guy in this room, and I’m pretty smart,” said a successful C.E.O. to his senior administrative team. This C.E.O., a good friend of mine who started and sold two successful businesses, was recounting this story to me recently. At first it seemed an odd statement. Shouldn... read more

Heads, Role, Chief, Strategist, affordability, reality, sustainable, future, growth, enrollment, insight, vision, brand, distinguish, mission, SWOT, market, experience, challenges, values
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THE HEAD’S ROLE AS CHIEF STRATEGIST

The pitfalls and limitations of strategic planning for many independent schools have been identified and explained by major industry thought leaders (Rob Evans, Ian Symmonds, Grant Lichtman). The sad truth is that most strategic plans lack strategic thinking. Most embody what other schools have incl... read more

Faculty, Culture, excellence, Stephen, Covey, NAIS, Leadership, Standards, Professional, Development, Career, Path, teachers, rewards, structure, showcase, hiring, demonstrating, time, money
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BUILDING A FACULTY CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE

Stephen Covey famously wrote, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” I believe that a faculty culture of excellence is the main thing in independent schools. Faculty excellence is at the heart of the value proposition for most independent schools and therefore intimately tied to... read more

Faculty, Evaluation, Value, Proposition, leadership, improvement, consult, NAIS, students, tuition, quality, programs, marketing, questions, independent, school, growth, recruitment
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FACULTY EVALUATION, THE VALUE PROPOSITION AND LEADERSHIP

In a 2013 article for Independent School, Rob Evans stated that of the hundreds of independent schools he has consulted with, thirty percent did not have a formal faculty evaluation system. He further maintained that for many of the independent schools that did have a system, the actual implementati... read more

Tuition, Setting, Financial, Stability, Strategic, Cost, higher, increase, NAIS, school, Academic, Compromises, decline, enrollment, goals, independent, affordability
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TUITION SETTING, FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND STRATEGIC THINKING?

It’s that time of year again, the time when administrators and trustees begin the process of determining tuition for the following academic year. The “doom and gloom” faction laments higher tuitions, and questions the viability of on-going increases. On the opposite side are those that champion bigg... read more