Episode Details

Joe Sanfelippo, superintendent of Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin, walks a group of principals through how to tell your school's story. His three parts: be intentional with your work, open doors so people outside can see it, and build your staff so you are not the only one sharing.

Joe runs a 30-second exercise: write everything you have to do in a day, circle what you love, and see where those items land. They usually sit around five to ten. His fix is to move them up one level, and he now writes two notes to people before he reaches his office.

What you'll learn

• Write down everything you do in a day, circle what you love, and move those items up one spot instead of to the top.
• Write your two notes to people before you reach your office, because once you walk in everyone wants a piece of you.
• Respond to risk and failure the same way every time, so staff know what to expect and are willing to try things.
• When a teacher tweets about a student, retweet it, then call that student's parent to share it.
• Find a partner who will check that you posted the three stories you promised this week.

Chapters

• 4:20 Why school leaders have a target on their back
• 5:55 Three parts: be intentional, open doors, build staff
• 10:12 Why teachers stay quiet about their work
• 13:30 Start imperfect and respond consistently to risk
• 16:35 The 30-second to-do list exercise
• 22:04 Build staff by calling parents about teacher tweets
• 29:04 Changing the narrative to positive stories
• 34:21 Your pie exercise: what you do well

Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads.

Questions this episode answers

How do you get teachers to share what happens in their classrooms?
Sanfelippo says staff hold back because they fear what the person next to them will say. Leaders fix that by being intentional about creating a culture where sharing is okay, and by responding consistently to risk-taking and failure so teachers know how you will react.

How can a principal find time to tell the school's story?
Sanfelippo says it is mostly logistics. Do creative, people-facing work early in the day instead of email, and write your notes before you reach your office. He also suggests moving what you love one level up your list and being okay with checking email at lunch.

How do you keep negative stories from taking over how people see your school?
Sanfelippo says bad things still happen at Fall Creek, such as athletic code violations and angry parents, but they go on the back page and get dealt with in house. The school puts its energy into positive stories, like a community benefit for a staff member with cancer.

About Joe Sanfelippo

Superintendent of Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, and an author.

Links and resources

• Schedule a call with Jethro
• Best Year Ever

Working on this at your school? Get a free preview of a 10-week leadership pathway built from episodes like this one at transformativeprincipal.com/start.

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