The Ten-Minute Principal

Rebuilding your day--How ten minutes can make the difference between ordinary and fantastic leadership

A principal’s enthusiastic vision is often thwarted by daily demands. There never seems time for carefully laid plans. But what if you made the most of ten-minute blocks scattered through your day? Could you make progress?

This book says Yes! and will help you improve, but not overwhelm yourself or staff. It will show you how to intentionally use ten-minute opportunities to consider, kickstart, and execute your vision. Based on six pillars of school leadership, vision, relationships, trust, efficacy, student-centeredness, and instructional knowledge each chapter will:

• Introduce a leadership topic
• Offer a ten minute opportunity to consider where you are and what you might change
• Give a ten minute tip on how to get started, as well as overcome challenges
• Provide ten minute collaborative opportunities to gain buy-in and participation

Discover how to build the foundations of effective leadership and be a school [helping teachers and students grow and improve] despite daily demands. Make the most of chunks of time to refine your craft and become a reflective and intentional leader.

Each chapter opens with the big picture of leadership in a school relating to the chapter’s topic through a personal example and story. In order for there to be a strong foundation in place so a person can be an effective school leader, he or she needs to reflect on the pillars of school leadership. Each one of these pillars needs to be understood for a person to be able to lead a school and for the ideas in this book to work. This part will reference research relating to the six pillars of school leadership:

1. Vision

2. Relationships

3. Trust

4. Efficacy

5. Student-Centered

6. Instructional Knowledge

Chapter sections will follow this structure:

• The Topic: in heading
• Ten-Minute Opportunity
• Ten-Minute Tip
• Ten-Minute Collaborative Opportunities
• Principal’s Perspective: Each chapter will have a section where another experienced principal shares his or her insight on the topic and how they have found success.

The book also includes vignettes, case studies, questions to reflect on, infographics, and checklists.