Ever see the movie, Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy?

I love the scene where they are heading down the highway and everyone is beeping at them and yelling...you're going the wrong way...

It's more funny to see it (watch it here) 2 minutes

The sad part is...this just happened to me the other day. 

I have a lot going on right now...my mind is cluttered with emotions and tasks at hand. 

I was trying to get back to my school when suddenly I realized, I was going the wrong way. Not the wrong way on a road (like the classic scene). The opposite direction of my school. 

This is probably why I constantly use my GPS on my phone. 

In order to get from one point to another I need to know:

1. Where I am.

2. Where I am going.

If I get off track, the GPS will adjust my route. 

Wouldn't that be great to have as a school leader?

Do you ever wonder.....

How to build a GPS for your school leadership. 

How to measure where you are and...

I’ve got two amazing kids!

I am extremely blessed as they are good human beings and are way more advanced than I was at 11 or 16. Maybe even at 30!

Sometimes they do stuff, like leave their dirty dishes around, the lights on, argue, say a word out loud they shouldn’t, give attitude, bad mouth others, whatever…anything that gets my wife or I on a different emotion.

I've realized that all of the nagging to get them to do something different is pointless.

Because people don’t do what people say. People do what people see. 

That is the Law of the Picture from John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. 

I wish I had read a book or had a mentor like John Maxwell in my life in my twenties when I was a young teacher and baseball coach. I had a giant ego, a character that lacked integrity and humility, and a mouth to match. 

I recall making my JV Baseball team run and run and run when I heard them cursing or throwing equipment. Not 20...

Recently I was in a conversation with a group of  school leaders and they were sharing how expensive a professional development quote was for their staff.

I shared, well, If you think the price for training is expensive, just wait until you get the bill for incompetence. 

This is a common problem in the field of education. Schools will not invest in their people. They succumb to the “position” trap.

They assume by having the position they don’t need more training. Or worse, they don’t have the position but once they do THEN they will sign up.

What they don’t realize is that leadership evolves daily, not just in a day. Not in an event. 

Even if we are avid readers or listen to podcasts, read blogs and articles, this doesn’t mean we will be better leaders. It just means we are more informed. 

We pour ourselves into work, family, mentoring co-workers, and are involved in community groups or activities.

Being involved with these...

In professional development sessions, administrator certification programs, administrative meetings,  we spend a lot of time teaching and telling leaders what to do.

We do not spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop doing. 

I believe in order to be more effective as a leader, you must know what to stop doing.

 One of the most powerful leadership principles I have learned from my leadership mentor John Maxwell is the Law of Priorities from Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

The Law of Priorities teaches us that busyness doesn’t equal productivity.

You see, activity is not necessarily accomplishment.

More than half of the school leaders I initially begin to work with as their coach or thinking partner do not need to learn more leadership skills.

They need to learn what to stop doing and where to prioritize their time.

They need to stop trying to do it all and stop trying to learn HOW to do it all.

I challenge you this week to celebrate...