“So, what do you do?”  A common question, right?

If asked in an elevator I might say “I work for non-profit consulting firm that delivers workshops on collaborative decision making for school leaders.”

But given more time that nice succinct statement would expand to include….

I work for a non-profit consulting firm that was borne out of a desire the founder had to share research driven rational problem-solving and decision-making skills with the education sector.  I joined this firm after many years of working in the financial services sector in roles ranging from change management to investment banking to commercial real estate and then switching to work for K-12 education when I realized that I wanted to work in an industry that had impact on something other than the bottom line.  To be on a team…

…that delivers workshops on collaborative decision making for school leaders who, I realized after working amongst them for a few years, face seemingly insurmountable challenges that would become more manageable when armed with a structured processes with which to tackle their issues and a common language upon which to do so.  And whose success ultimately will translate into success for their students.

How do I help those leaders help students succeed?  I do so by teaching school administrators how to conduct a root cause analysis which can help them figure out things like what caused student math scores to improve at one school so that others can replicate its success or why a certain population of students did not meet expectations, so that they can put a plan in place to address their needs.   I teach district CFOs how to use the SCAN process to prioritize end-of-year spending so that funds are allocated to the resources most critical to student achievement or to sort out the complexities of implementing a new program so it is done right.  And to further help those school leaders responsible for implementing programs – I teach them how to anticipate what could go wrong so they can minimize the likelihood of it happening and put a plan in place just in case it does anyway.

So, I guess what I’m really saying is I can help leaders make and implement better decisions, I work to help students succeed.

How has your leadership helped students succeed?