The School Growth team had the privilege of hosting the 2016 PAISBOA Small Schools Symposium in Philadelphia. In one intense day of professional development, the participating administrators and board leaders developed a plan for breakthrough growth over the next 90-days. They came prepared with a list of belief statements that provided clarity around each school's mission, enabling the participants to produce a strategy canvas that succinctly conveys their plans.
If you could show remarkable progress between July 1st and September 30th, would you expect your board, parents, and donors to be more energized and engaged? Highly likely, right?
This is a picture from the PAISBOA Symposium. They're as talented as they are good looking!
What was the Feedback from the Symposium?
* "We really like the concept of creating a 90-Day Plan as a way to chunk the larger strategic plan to identify areas of opportunity for short-term success."
* "Now we're going to focus on faculty as our first target market."
* "You've helped us understand that we don't have to start with a perfect plan--it can be innovated and changed as we learn and grow."
* "The School Growth system for choosing priority initiatives simplifies the chaos. I know exactly what to do with our accreditation recommendations."
* "I really liked being able to flesh out and articulate our unique value proposition, giving our team clear focus for a highly productive summer"
* "We learned how to measure successes and initiatives, with new clarity about how to get where we want to go."
* "It's powerful to think of ourselves as school designers rather than just school managers."
Entrepreneurial Thinking
Four important advantages are achieved by developing an entrepreneurial, growth mindset among your leadership team.
First, you're able to use the same tools and methods that have produced extraordinary growth for companies like Google, Apple, and Uber. If you want to truly be excellent at delivering on your mission, doesn't it make sense to emulate those who have already achieved world-class results in their own respective field?
Second, you have the ability to communicate more effectively with board members, donors, and parents who are ingrained in the entrepreneur culture, learning to speak their language and connect in terms of their interests. Those are valuable relationships when you want to grow enrollment and fundraising.
Next, honing this mindset will give you greater understanding of your target markets and your value proposition. This knowledge, coupled with with the ability to learn and adapt more efficiently, provides a competitive edge that is sorely needed.
Finally, the entrepreneurial, growth mindset produces a powerful source of energy and engagement because people will have more trust and confidence in your ability to lead even through lean times.
We're looking forward to tracking the results of the PAISBOA schools, and will be following them closely over the next few months. Hopefully we can share some exciting data with you in October.
