Setting Leadership Priorities

Suzette Lovely is the deputy superintendent of personnel services for the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, CA. She has spent 24 years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, elementary principal, and director of elementary operations. Lovely also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University, teaching courses in educational administration. Author of two previous books: Setting Leadership Priorities: What's Necessary, What's Nice and What's Got to Go (Corwin Press, 2006) and Staffing the Principalship: Finding, Coaching and Mentoring School Leaders (ASCD, 2004), Lovely is also a staff writer for Master Teacher publications.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. The Information Invasion Global Communication: Friend or Foe? Overshooting the Mark California's Billion-Dollar Experiment Learning to Set Limits Conclusion: Turn Off the Spigot 2. Teaching Leaders to Let Go Beef Up Communication "Selective Abandonment" at Work Make Room for the Essentials It Takes Courage to Say No Conclusion: Hope Is on the Way 3. Business As Unusual Getting Into Gear Building Organizational Fitness Deposit Time in the Bank The Battle of Blind Accumulation Stop the Madness Conclusion: Don't Catch the Ball Every Time It's Thrown 4. The Power of One, the Impact of Many Loading the Bus With the Right People P(3) = Persistence x Passion x Practice One Principal, Many Leaders Delegation Without Guilt Conclusion: Bring Home the Yellow Jersey 5. Getting a Grip on Data Excavating Quality Data Take the Plunge Turning Data Into Knowledge Sow the Seeds of Success Conclusion: It's Elementary 6. Is the Sky Really Falling? Distinguishing a Bona Fide Crisis From Make-Believe The Story of Urgent Ernie No Need to 'FUD' About It Fighting the Adrenaline Rush School Leadership Is Not an Emergency The Throes of CoDependency Conclusion: Blow Out the Candles and Move On Epilogue: Let the Odyssey Begin Balance Inside Disequilibrium Courting Successors Pass the Mate If at First You Don't Succeed, TRI-TRI Again Just Do It Resource A. Sample District Complaint Policy Resource B. Testing Your Organizational DNA Resource C. Who's Riding Our Bus? Personal Inventory & Team Activity Resource D. Leadership Lessons in 30 Minutes or Less Getting Results Through Time Efficient Meetings The Classroom Walk 'Bout Passing Out Psychological Paychecks: 50 Ways to Recognize Employee Performance and Boost Morale References Index

"Lovely gets right to the heart of what a principal needs to do--and not do--to avoid being overwhelmed by our all-consuming profession. This lively book encourages--no insists--that school leaders make room for the essentials in their professional lives, delegate without guilt, and have the courage to say no. Sprinkled throughout are personal checklists, scripts, and examples of disasters and great successes in the education world. There's something valuable in Setting Leadership Priorities for every principal." -- Vincent L. Ferrandino "Suzette Lovely has synthesized a number of best practices and offers an easy-to-read resource--especially for central office leaders." -- Pam Robbins "A definite must-read for principals who are interested in improving their own work and enjoying it more." -- David McVicker, Principal "Lovely has written a valuable and highly practical guide chock full of helpful hints and common sense wisdom. Written in a breezy and easy-to-read style, this book skillfully separates the essential from the tangential in a sea of competing priorities that face principals every day. The book will benefit the struggling new principal as well as the veteran school leader. I wish I'd had this book when I was a principal." -- Terrence Quinn, Associate Professor "Sustainable leadership in today's schools goes beyond short-term gains on standardized tests. School leaders need to produce lasting and meaningful improvements in student learning. This book provides valuable and insightful tools that the talented and dedicated leaders of our schools want and deserve." -- Dr. Austin G. Buffum, Senior Deputy Superintendent "The perspectives and resources in this book will help principals to make a genuine difference for their students, and to maintain balance in their lives. Suzette Lovely shows how the principalship can be re-shaped into a position that is both powerful and possible." -- Gary Bloom, Associate Director "Suzette Lovely challenges traditional school reform efforts and leadership nostrums with a fresh and compelling alternative. From the practical elements of meetings and delegation to the personal priorities of health and family responsibilities, the author provides a comprehensive approach to leadership priorities that will help struggling leaders survive and will help successful leaders achieve greater heights." -- Douglas B. Reeves, Ph.D., CEO "Most school administrators are familiar with such adages of leadership as 'Effective leaders do first things first' or 'Work smarter not harder.' But knowing how to recite adages is much different from knowing how to apply them. This book offers specific, practical, and valuable tips that can help harried peripatetic school administrators improve their effectiveness." -- Dr. Rick Dufour, Educational Author and Consultant "A fascinating and practical set of ideas and strategies, useful to effective leaders." "A highly practical approach to coping with the daily realities of leading schools." -- Kent Peterson, Professor "Anyone who feels overwhelmed at work will find that this book is a wake-up call; Lovely offers a plentitude of strategies to prevent burnout on all levels: intellectually, emotionally, and physically." -- NACADA Journal, Fall 2006