Most leaders don't have an influence problem...

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OFF CAMPUS

• 📣 From Critic to Cheerleader: Doc Jones joins me again on the RuckusCast to unpack how he takes resistant staff and creates ownership with them. Listen or watch here.

• 🦾 AI-OH-IO: I’m off to Ohio next week to teach a Do School Different workshop on AI. How ready is your campus for AI? Take this free, 3-minute audit to find out and get personalized next steps based on your readiness score.

• 🤔 The Ruckus Lounge — is a free space inside The Ruckus Maker Club. There you can connect with 226 innovative school leaders from around the world. Set up your profile here and join the conversation.

• 🎨 Art That Inspires: Here’s a grant for students in that our visual artists. If you win, a classroom in your school will get a full lab of Wacom Cintiq 16 pen displays.

DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT

A fresh perspective on winning

Tuesday night I was lucky enough to share my second story at the Moth.

My topic: LIES.

I was picked 6th. A fun position to be in. The first speaker after intermission and a great opportunity to set the tone for the second half of the show.

Every Moth has a theme. Tuesday it was an experiment. The theme was THEMELESS.

As I was called on stage, I practiced my routine.

First: I connected with my shadow leveraging the "Inner Authority" tool in Phil Stutz and Barry Michels excellent book THE TOOLS.

Second: I silently scanned the audience, letting them know I was in control.

Third: I let the story pour out from my heart and connect with those in the audience.

I was in total flow. The words spilled out of me. I didn't even think.

At one point, after a laugh, I forgot for a second where I was, but I took a deep breath and trusted if I opened my mouth again, the right words would appear. They did.

People laughed. They gasped. They felt emotion.

About 5-minutes later I was done.

In high school, I was told by my PE teacher that I was a "motor moron." This was his not-so-kind way of describing my ability to do gymnastics in front of all my peers. I remember that comment 30 years later.

The PE teacher who made fun of me in front of 50 or so classmates had some kind of physical problem. He walked with a hitch. But I never made fun of his gait behind his back or to his face. I imagine he was ruthlessly bullied for this when he was my age, and now stopped down to making fun of teenagers as an adult because of some deep insecurity.

I bring up gymnastics because I don't consider myself a graceful athlete, although I love to workout.

And the second I finished my story and looked out at the crowd, I felt something I've never experienced before. The only thing I can liken it too is when Simone Biles lands her signature Biles I or Biles II.

She knows it. The crowd knows it.

And I knew it the second I finished speaking.

Buzzing with energy, I fidgeted in my chair while I waited for my score. Not because I was worried that it would be low, but I knew it was gonna be my best score yet.

The MC asked for the score.

• THEME-ON scored me a 9.0.

• A group (whose name was forgettable) also scored me a 9.0.

• MYSTERY MEAT scored me a 9.5.

I was in the lead until the final, and 10th storyteller.

I ended the night in second place, but left Boston a winner.

I won because I wished for the final storyteller to perform great (instead of messing up) because that would make it more dramatic for the audience.

I won because I was the best version of myself that night.

I won because I told the best version of that story that night.

If those things were true, how could I have lost?

Next month, I'm going to lead a workshop on storytelling for Ruckus Makers.

If you want to:

1. Master the art of storytelling to inspire stakeholders and drive educational change

2. Transform your "failure" stories into powerful leadership tools

3. Build confidence to share your Do School Different vision for your campus ...

Hit reply, type STORY in the body of the email, then click send. I'll follow up with more details.

TIP OF THE WEEK

“The Implementation Engine”

This past Thursday was Week 5 of the Play Your Game 1 cohort experience. A new program for Ruckus Makers who want to play the Great School Leadership Game on their own terms.

This last week I taught on foundational beliefs for Inner Excellence as well as revealing the first 10 (or 20) tips from a Do School Different framework called “The Implementation Engine.”

Below are three tips from the “Implementation Engine” framework …

Create a “Someday” List — If you ever woke up in the middle of the night worries about something you had to do, that means you do not have a “Someday” list. Because if you did, you would sleep better at night. It’s very important for leaders to get everything out of their head. It helps with focus, clarity, and also keeps anxiety at bay. Write it down!

FOCUS — Stands for Follow One Course Until Success. A players focus on one thing. Everyone else tries to “multitask” … one of the dumbest/ineffective ways to approach work. Why move 5 projects a little bit forward when you can knock one out completely and then get to the next? This is the way.

Learn to Delegate — I have a Delegation Masterclass inside The Ruckus Maker Club. It’s a great training. My favorite part is what I call “identifying success criteria.” You can level up your delegation skills Monday Morning by implementing this tip. Identify 4-8 success criteria for a project. Go over them with your team. Now they know what a job well done looks like. Most leaders NEVER do this.

ALBA