The advice every new principal needs (but won't get from HR)

OFF CAMPUS

• 😱 Uh-oh: When you're the go-to for every fire, you're not leading, you're enabling dependence. Listen to this week’s spicy podcast here.

• 💰 Approved no more: The Trump administration is withholding over $6 billion in education grants for schools.

• 📈 Engineer your breakthrough: This tool we use with mastermind members to create exponential value on their campus. You can use it now too here.

• 📕Popular: This custom gpt will help you answer the 6 necessary question to create your Ruckus Maker Playbook (and align your team).

DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT

Advice for New and Aspiring Ruckus Makers Part 1.

If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are the students really learning?

Look, being a new principal is terrifying.

The district hands you keys and says "Good luck... don't change a thing." Meanwhile, you're watching students' eyes glaze over in classrooms, knowing something has to shift.

Here's the thing most new principals don't get: You're not here to manage. You're here to Make a Ruckus.

Stop Managing, Start Leading

Your identity determines your impact — and right now, you're thinking too small.

• Rewrite your job description: Cross out "manager" and write "campus creator." Post it where you'll see it daily as a reminder of who you really are.

• Change your morning question: Instead of "What fires need putting out?" ask "What bold move will create the most positive result today?"

• Introduce yourself differently: Next time someone asks what you do, say "I create a campus experience worth showing up for …" instead of "I'm a principal."

The moment you shift from managing the status quo to leading transformation, everything changes.

Burn the Binder

If it comes from a manual, it's probably maintaining mediocrity.

• Audit your policies: Pick one outdated rule this week and either eliminate it or flip it completely—document what happens when you stop enforcing yesterday's solutions.

• Question the sacred cows: Challenge three "we've always done it this way" practices by asking "What if we did the opposite?" and testing small experiments.

• Create your own playbook: Start a "Ruckus Maker Experiments" document and track what happens when you break from conventional wisdom.

There's no manual for reimagining education, which is exactly why you're needed to write the new one.

Ask the Question That Changes Everything

The most powerful tool in your arsenal isn't a policy — it's a daily disruptive question.

• Make it your morning ritual: Before checking email, ask yourself: "If my approach today isn't making someone slightly uncomfortable, am I really preparing students for tomorrow?"

• Share it with your team: Pose this question in every staff meeting: "What would we do differently if we cared more about student growth than test scores?"

• Use it as your filter: When facing any decision, ask "Does this move us toward yesterday's classroom or tomorrow's learning experience?"

One question, asked consistently, has the power to transform an entire school culture.

Build Your Ruckus Maker Network

Leadership isolation is a choice — and it's the wrong choice.

• Join the right room: Connect with other Ruckus Makers through masterminds, communities, or cohorts where innovation is celebrated, not silenced.

• Find your thinking partners: Identify 2-3 principals who challenge your thinking and schedule monthly "ruckus sessions" to solve problems together.

• Become the connector: Start hosting informal gatherings where local innovative educators can share what's working and what they're testing next.

Community doesn't just fuel confidence—it multiplies your impact exponentially.

Protect Your Attention Like Your Career Depends on It

Busy principals manage chaos. Effective principals create calm.

• Implement the Focus Funnel: For every request, decide to eliminate, automate, delegate, defer, or do—saying yes to everything means saying no to what matters most.

• Kill the open-door policy: Set specific office hours for drop-ins and protect blocks of time for strategic thinking and relationship building.

• Track your energy, not just your time: Notice what activities drain you versus energize you, then restructure your week to maximize high-energy work.

Leadership starts with protecting your attention so you can focus on what actually moves the needle.

Next Week: The Missing Half

These first five shifts lay the foundation, but they're just the beginning.

Next week, I'm sharing the remaining five strategies that separate good principals from legendary ones:

• How to turn your school into an innovation laboratory (without getting fired)

• The storytelling secret that moves people more than data ever will

• Why repeating yourself isn't boring—it's brilliant leadership

• The legacy question that changes how you make every decision

• And the future-focused approach that makes students excited to learn

Here's what I know about you: You didn't get into education to maintain the status quo. You got in to make a difference.

The strategies I'm sharing next week will show you exactly how to do that … even in the most traditional systems.

Don't miss it. I’ll share the next five shifts a week from today.

Because your students deserve better than yesterday's classroom. And you deserve the tools to give it to them.