Dear Friends:
As we begin to get a taste of warmer weather, I can't help but be optimistic about the coming months.
While there is still devastating COVID news in the headlines, those stories are tempered somewhat by the slowly increasing number of people receiving vaccinations. More and more states across the country (most recently, Texas) are starting to prioritize school employees for vaccines, as well. With the recent jobs report, there are even a few shining data points about economic recovery. This is no time to be less vigilent, but perhaps we are starting to see a light at the end of the long tunnel?
Along those lines, I wanted to share a couple of book titles with you.
First, Scott Galloway's Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity is a good resource as we shift from the required tactical thinking of pandemic management back to the realm of strategic thinking (which our schools desperately need). Galloway reminds us that the pandemic was an "accelerant" of whatever trends we were seeing in our landscape (either positive or negative). He provides some practical guidance on ways to maintain and increase that all important value proposition for your school and to avoid disruption.
As you shift towards strategic thinking for the coming years, you will no doubt generate new ideas and new initiatives. As you already know, you won't be able to accomplish your goals by yourself. What are ways to build support for those ideas? If you attended the NAIS conference last week, you heard Suneel Gupta speak about his book Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance On You. In it, he studies what successful entrepreneurs have learned about winning support for their new ideas.
I think both of these books work well together--Galloway reminds us that the pandemic will not last forever and Gupta shares tips for how to bring people along with your new ideas. Both are important thoughts as we prepare for the years to come.
Stay safe,
David+
