175. A Culture of Urgency: Creating the Calm

Have you seen Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and 40 Under 40 lists?

They feature the brightest, shiniest, hardest-working entrepreneurs. These individuals embody hustle, grind, and achievement.

It would be exciting to get on one of those lists, right?

Let’s step back for a moment.

When you’re 40 years old, or even 50, 60, 70, or 80, your school will still be there. You have your whole life to be an owner or director. As I like to say, “I’m playing the decades game.”

So who says you have to hit a certain level of success before a particular age?

Running your school may not be a finite opportunity, but being present for your current season of life is.

If you’re raising young kids, caring for an aging parent, planning a wedding, or anything else that’s important to you, you will only be in this season of life for so long.

Once the door on your current season of life closes, it will never open again. 

Treasure the season of life you’re in.

Meanwhile, the school will still be there. It’s a constant in your life.

Now, don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying you shouldn’t have big ambitions. 

In fact, this is an extremely common misconception among school leaders. 

They think that schools with a slower pace will achieve less. So they eat lunch at their desks, burn the midnight oil, and run themselves to exhaustion in order to meet their goals.

What they don’t realize is that rest, calm, and peace give you the breathing room you need to take stock, make intentional decisions, and take more meaningful actions.

Simply put, you can accomplish more, at a more sustainable pace, when you do less.

Last week on the Schools of Excellence Podcast, I talked about what causes a culture of urgency in schools.

In this week’s episode, I’m discussing how you can create calm and banish the urgency once and for all.

Join me for a conversation about:

• Why calmness is the key to meaningful progress
• Vital characteristics leaders need to adopt a culture of calm
• Techniques you can implement in your school to cultivate well-being
• Mindset shifts you can begin to embody today that will make a difference
• How a culture of calm opens you up to incredible opportunities

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/membership/ 

Creating the calm in your school won’t happen overnight. If you could use support, book a Leadership Day Intensive. You'll get a full day of on-demand, in-school training with me, plus various accountability check-ins, to help you and your center thrive during your transformation. https://schoolsofexcellence.com/leadership/

If you’re looking for ongoing, personalized support as you shift your school’s culture, apply for the Schools of Excellence Director’s Inner Circle or Owner’s HQ membership program. Inside, you’ll receive tools, coaching, resources, and access to a thriving community that will help you work towards building a school of excellence. https://schoolsofexcellence.com/leadership/

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life. 

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.