It’s the first day of school and instead of excited, I feel dread.

And for good reason.

This school year has started in one of the worst ways imaginable.

50% of kids do NOT have complete schedules.

(read that again)

The leadership team — the team that I’m a part of — dropped the ball.

And for hundreds of students, they didn’t have schedules. And they were pissed.

The parents were pissed. Teachers were upset. The leaders at central office weren’t pleased either.

And I was on about 4 hours of sleep.

It was a very bad day.

I wasn’t in charge of student schedules, but I was dragged into cleaning up the mess since I was an AP.

We cleaned up this mess during the first week of school.

It was intense. Long hours. Embarrassing.

But failure can be a great teacher.

It was that moment that I vowed — whether I was in a supporting role or the principal — that I would NEVER repeat this mistake.

And I never did.

There are many reasons why and how this mistake actually happened.

But none of that matters. Especially in the moment when you are telling students, staff, and parents that schedules aren’t complete for the first day of school.

What a massive failure!

Here’s what I discovered:

The difference between principles who thrive and those who merely survive comes down to one thing: a rock-solid 90-day entry plan.

Most leaders wing it. They have "concepts of a plan." They react instead of lead. They fire-fight instead of build systems.

And that's exactly why crises like scheduling disasters happen.

If you're heading into a new building, starting a new school year, or just tired of feeling like you're always two steps behind, you need a proven framework for your first 90 days.

After years of using and perfecting this approach to planning, I wrote a bestselling book on the topic.

I also have taught this framework in person at workshops and virtually inside The Ruckus Maker Club — and we’ll be launching our next cohort soon. But start with the book.

If no one has ever shown you how to create a 90-day entry plan (or if you’re looking for a leadership edge), then I invite you to read Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan.

Keep Making a Ruckus,

Danny