Over the holiday break, my Twitter feed blew up with superintendents everywhere tweeting out the latest Newsweek article about the “Great Exodus” of superintendents from public education. Why? Because they know it and they feel it: To their very core. 

When it first came out — and for a time following its debut — social media was fun. Given how negative it has become, though, it can be hard to remember those days.

Imagine it, some Monday morning you hit your Facebook app on your phone and ... nothing. What? Nothing? How can that be? Well, it happened - Facebook and Instagram went down. For SIX hours! 

When someone wants to talk about the financials, it is all too easy to use a spreadsheet as the starting off point. Said another way: A bonafide snoozefest.

Do you know what is tough? Being a leader. Do you know what is tougher? Having your leadership style shine through to your communication style.

School leaders around the country are feeling caught in the middle of differing opinions and perspectives. It can feel overwhelming even under normal circumstances - but as we all know, we are not in normal circumstances. 

Listen: Your next crisis is right around the corner. And it is going to require communication.

When I ask the question it makes school leaders pause. And I mean really pause. Why? Because they are squarely in the middle of the culture wars (on top of a pandemic) and, well, it is exhausting. So exhausting that it is nearly impossible at times to accomplish or find joy in the work. 

There has never been a more difficult time to be a school educator. I am not going to take us down the road of why. We all know why and we are still living it. 

Yesterday’s ways of communicating are not built for today. It’s like riding a horse on a highway. Things have simply changed too much and especially in these last few years.

Since the pandemic, time and change are happening at a breakneck pace. Good things are happening, too.

The best and most admired superintendents did not roll out of bed one day and emerge to greatness. They were not born to it any more than anyone else. No, what they do is they tend to the garden of their personal brand and to that of their school system. Those two brands are tied together and...