First off, a huge thank you to all of you who took part in my recent pulse survey to rank and comment on the business competencies for independent school leaders.

Your feedback has been instrumental in helping me refine these competencies to serve you better.

Here’s a breakdown of what I discovered and how I’m incorporating your input to iterate and improve.

Why I Ran the Pulse Survey

I conducted this survey to refine the content and professional development resources inside and outside Moonshot Lab.

The eight business competencies for independent school leaders, which I shared in an earlier newsletter, served as the foundation for this survey.

Your insights ensure that these competencies align with your needs and priorities, and I’m excited to share the results with you below!

Survey Results Analysis

The survey asked you to rank eight key business competencies in order of importance for your role. Here’s how school heads and director-level leaders ranked them:

Heads of School (40% of respondents):

1. Strategy & Change Management

2. People Management & Development

3. Financial Acumen & Data Informed Decision Making

4. Entrepreneurial Mindset

5. Adaptability & Continuous Learning

6. Advancement & Enrollment Management

7. Marketing Strategy

8. Operations

Directors (29% of respondents):

1. Strategy & Change Management

2. Financial Acumen & Data Informed Decision Making

3. People Management & Development

4. Advancement & Enrollment Management

5. Entrepreneurial Mindset

6. Adaptability & Continuous Learning

7. Marketing Strategy

8. Operations

These rankings clearly emphasize strategic leadership, financial acumen, and effective people management.

It’s fascinating to see that both heads of school and directors prioritize similar competencies, underscoring the universal importance of these skills across different leadership levels.

Key Takeaways

1. Strategy and Change Management tops the list for school heads and directors, highlighting the critical need for strong strategic leadership and adaptability.
   

2. People Management & Development and Financial Acumen & Data Informed Decision Making also rank highly, pointing to the importance of nurturing talent and maintaining solid financial oversight. I’ve written extensively about the challenges associated with finding and retaining teachers and staff, and this further emphasized the point.
   

3. Lower rankings for Operations and Marketing Strategy suggest these areas, while important, might be viewed as less critical compared to strategic and people-focused competencies. I want to explore this more over time. In many parts of the country, enrollment is a critical focus, and marketing strategy, in particular, is essential to differentiating and building enrollment interest.

Updating the Competency Framework

Based on your feedback, I’m making some adjustments to the competency framework:

1. People Management & Development is now Culture. This change broadens the focus to include building a positive school culture alongside effective talent development.
   

2. I’m taking into account the feedback on the importance of Board Governance and Empathy and looking at ways to weave these elements into the training and resources. More details on this will follow.

Looking Ahead

I’m committed to constantly improving the offerings based on your insights.

My goal is to equip you with the tools and knowledge to lead your schools effectively and drive positive change.

Thanks again for your participation and invaluable feedback. Stay tuned for more updates and resources to support your leadership journey.