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FURTHER THOUGHTS ON HEAD MENTORSHIP

Leadership Transition | Date : Jun 15 2016 | Author: Thomas P. Olverson

Recently I heard about the struggles of two first-time heads of school. Their missteps are a reminder of the importance of a head’s on-going professional development that focuses on the practical skills of leadership.Within a year and a half of begin...

“AT THE EDGE OF INSIDE.” WHERE HEADS NEED TO BE

Management | Date : Jul 01 2016 | Author: Thomas P. Olverson

One of the most powerful tools an independent school leader has is perspective, an ever-evolving practice of seeking deeper and deeper insights into the landscape of reality. Those insights can lead to better strategic thinking and better strategic d...

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WHAT WE NEED IS ONE IDEA: MAKE YOUR VISION REAL

Management | Date : Aug 16 2016 | Author: Thomas P. Olverson

Early in my tenure as a 34-year-old Head of School, a small group of trustees, the athletic director and I were chatting about the many ways in which we could make the school better. We were on a roll, one idea leading to another. After about ten min...

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MITIGATING BIAS IN DECISION-MAKING

Head of School Leadership | Date : Sep 19 2016 | Author: Thomas P. Olverson

I used to assume that quality decision-making was an innate leadership skill, more a matter of instinct and personality rather than something learned. Turns out, I was wrong.Recently, I read Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s book Decisive, which explores th...

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NOTHING SPEAKS SO LOUDLY AS YOUR ACTIONS

The Head of School Search Process | Date : Oct 18 2016 | Author: Thomas P. Olverson

Published originally in Independent School Magazine, Fall, 2016The statistics are alarming. According to Marc Levinson, Executive Director of MISBO, in his study “Evaluating the Head of School Transition” from 2009 to 2014 there have been 102 head tr...

As part of our on-going effort to cultivate and support independent school leadership, our RG175 consultants take turns writing a monthly blog on issues ranging from Strategic Thinking, Governance and Management.