Principals Learning Together

Garth Brooks has a country song called, “Friends in Low Places”. Maybe you’ve heard of it?!? It’s also the name of his bar in Nashville, which was the setting for the Principals UNITED Conference this year (not the bar LOL, but the city), jointly organized by NAESP and NASSP. As I sit on my front porch and reflect on the week, I cannot help but find Garth’s song title ironic because I am thinking about how lucky I am to have friends in *high* places. Spending the week surrounded by some of the most brilliant and dedicated educational leaders was pure joy in so many ways. I am such a better person and leader because of them.

In our book, What Makes a Great Principal: The Five Pillars of Effective School Leadership, George Couros and I share that one of the five pillars is “Continuous Learner”. I saw that exemplified over and over at the Principals UNITED Conference. It gives me such hope for the future of our nation when I look at who is leading the charge of educating our children.

I left the conference exhausted, inspired, energized, renewed, and reconnected. I am so grateful to my principal friends from Michigan and across the country for sharing their hearts and wisdom with me. I was a principal of all levels, so seeing secondary and elementary principals learning together was a huge highlight. Being able to share What Makes a Great Principal (link to slideshow) on the national stage was incredible. And, several of our contributing authors were at the conference with us, including Marcus Belin, Liz Garden, Brad Gustafson, and Ryan Daniel. George Couros was not able to be at the conference because he was busy lighting up the stage at the California MTSS Professional Learning Institute, but he was cheering us on from afar.

Additionally, I partnered with my good friend Jessica Gomez to present “Five Advanced Approaches to Dynamic Meetings“. She always makes me laugh, challenges my thinking, supports me, and helps me become a better leader and person. Jessica and I co-authored Lead with Collaboration: A Complete Guide to Transforming Staff Meetings, and we are now realizing that ALL meetings could use some transforming to better serve the students, families and staff in our schools.

It’s fascinating to me because the colleagues I learned with this week are not just friends; they are more than that. We believe in each other and in our potential to improve. Through our mutual support, we know we can become the best versions of ourselves as both individuals and leaders. Isn’t that the true definition of “collective efficacy”? I am already excited for the Principals UNITED Conference in July 2025, in Seattle. Will you be joining us?