Blog

. It’s been a while since this blog kicked off – 25 July 2019 to be precise when we published a post by Steve called, “Leave it At the Gate”. Every Friday of Term time since then we’ve pushed out some thoughts to people such as yourself somewhere in the multiverse. Mid 2019 . . […]

. Someone said at the end of last week … “Man, it’s been a long term!”. Yes at that stage we were only two weeks into the Term, and yes, that someone was me, but yup, it had been a long term already. Three weeks in and I’m already looking for my awesome trigger. Awesome […]

Photo by Vitolda Klein Luckily, I’m a teacher not a builder. I say this because while I’d love a new Ford Ranger (with EV stickers on it), I’d be so slow in my job that I couldn’t afford to run it. Why? Because I’ve realised I’ve got a problem – I like projects to be […]

. Have we been looking at this all wrong? I’ve been sitting at my keyboard for quite a while now. Waiting for inspiration to hit and for the words to begin to fly from my fingers. I’ve got this feeling that I want to write something epic! That I need to write something epic. Something […]

Photo by Fran on Unsplash We’ve all been younger versions of the person we are today. And most of us have been younger versions of the principal we are today. These two things are linked but not the same. Unless you are very young (and hence not likely to be a principal) there’s a lot […]

. The other day I found myself daydreaming. Or maybe it was procrastinating. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to tell. I was about to pick up the phone and have a difficult conversation with a parent. They’d already rung and told me they weren’t happy with something, and I’d told them “calmly” that I’d be […]

. There are plenty of tough bits in school leadership right now, but there are also gems of goodness that are shining through and need to be kept and built on as we move past the current challenges and onto the inevitable new ones. .   .   . Somewhat perversely, one of the perennial difficulties that […]

. Anyone who knows me even a little bit will be able to tell you that I love music. And I love lyrics. Both talk to me in a way that most things don’t. And when I grow up I want to be a rock star. I’ve been waiting to grow up for a very […]

Photo by Aren Nagulyan It’s been another interesting week to be a 40 Hour Principal. And as usual, the challenge is partly around the doing, and partly around the mental load of juggling too many balls at the same time. But there’s also another challenge that is becoming more and more evident in conversation with […]

. Now that our lives seem so dependent on wearing a mask every day and in almost every location, it got me thinking about the many masks, metaphorically, that we wear in our role. A mask is something that is there to protect and hide. Covid N95 masks protect us from the dreaded lurgy and […]

Photo by Nadine Shaabana (For those who would rather listen to this post, the 4 minute podcast is below.) It’s been a hell of a week for troubling news. Floods, war, pestilence – it seems everyone on the planet is experiencing some sort of disaster. At least that’s what you’d think if you skimmed the […]

.  Today we have a guest post from Danny Nicholls of Te Matauru School in Canterbury. Some of you might know him for the awesome mahi he does helping administer the NZ Principals’ Facebook page. This week Danny is offering up some very inciteful and timely suggestions for how to move past the present inertia […]

. Save your eyes – instead, try listening to this post at the bottom of this page. Mmmm, so the other day, as I worked through my Business Continuity Plan for the seventeenth time: adding more, making things clearer for the reader/readers, colouring in the blank spaces left by the Ministry’s faint lines …. Trying […]

. Last week Steve gave you a nice positive To Do List. A week after considering this excellent advice I’m going to give you another way to stay healthy, happy, and hopefully sane. I’m going to call out some things that you shouldn’t do – my plan could well be titled The Don’t Do List. […]

. Welcome back everyone! (And before you read another word, you can scroll to the bottom and listen to the post if you prefer.) By the time you read this you will (if you’re reading this in New Zealand) have just about navigated your way through the first week of term. Congratulations! Well done! You’ve […]

Photo by Lucas Davies   The Forty Hour Project is all about encouraging school leaders to think (and do) differently. To challenge the status quo and to provoke as much “what if” thinking as possible. Well, 2021 didn’t need much provocation. .   .   . Recently, I looked out my office window at the children playing […]

  . Eight things that you should read during the holidays: 1. Everything is F@#ked by Mark Manson …. This is the follow up to his much easier to read, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F@#K. It’s a bit of a gruesome read from time to time and there’ll be times when you […]

  . Even a hardcore, intentional ‘40 Hour Principal’, is likely to be fully stretched at this time of the year – particularly in this year! We’re in the sprint to the end with a deadline for everything and a lot of other people’s urgency crowding our days. There’s stuff that just simply has to […]

. Woah! I don’t know about you, but recently it has been a bit of a challenge. Ok, so I’m underselling that – it’s been a nightmare. Recently I found myself working with a boy who needed a hand. He had two “go-to” emotions that underpinned all of his own challenges. He was either angry; […]

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP From a 40 Hour Principal perspective, school leaders in New Zealand are currently operating right out near the middle of a very long tightrope and someone or something keeps giving it a playful shake. We’re not so much ‘leaders of learning’ but rather amateur psychologists with a side specialty in clairvoyance. And […]

. Last Friday when David published his awesomely simple “The Positivity Button” blog, I found myself with something that hasn’t happened in months. An empty calendar. It was hard to believe.  An empty calendar. Don’t get me wrong, there was still plenty to do, but an empty calendar is pretty rare these days. Unheard of […]

Photo by Moises de Paula Right now we all need a positivity button. In New Zealand, the shifting sand of managing this pandemic is taking its toll. The ‘rules’ change frequently, unpredictably, and quickly. Good people (that’s you) turn themselves inside out trying to lead their schools well in this climate. Lay over the top […]

Photo by Andrew Dunstan You’ve made it through the first week of term. Some of you are beginning Surplus Staffing processes, some of you are fending off vaccination demands, some of you are juggling bubbles in Level 3, some of you are arguing dollars in the budget cycle, and some are just finding it hard […]

Photo by Pablo Varela When talking with principals, particularly those who are ‘stuck’ with a particular situation/habit/need for change, the biggest road block is often themselves. They have rational possibilities (choices) clearly in front of them but those annoying “little voices” start chattering away and they don’t take action. You can read our post Voices […]

. Imagine if there was no “I” at your school. That would also mean, no me, no mine, and no my – not even a you, or a your, or theirs. Only a WE. What would your school look like? What would it look like from your perspective as principal?  For a start you wouldn’t […]

Photo by Stephen Hui   You’ve probably all heard the saying, “never waste a good crisis” which was originally attributed to Winston Churchill and has now been recycled a million times (particularly in the world of business where one person’s ‘crisis’ is another person’s ‘opportunity’ – e.g. no one is quibbling about the cost of […]

. Growing up, my Dad had lots of great advice for me. Two pieces have stuck with me through thick and thin. One he pulled out for the first time during our very first time playing golf together (and last as well now that I think of it). As he swung backwards and forwards wildly […]

  If you are feeling the pressure right now maybe you need to ditch your superhero cape for a moment and find some other heroes to help. It’s about distributing the load. Sort of like this –    So who are these other potential heroes in your school and why might they not be sharing […]

. Hey you! Yes you! The one reading this blog! Yes you! Now don’t be shy, I’ve got some questions for you – yes you! I’ve always been a big advocate of the Five Ways to Wellbeing model. Probably because there’s only five to remember, but also because it is so simple and makes heaps […]

Who gets the oxygen first? So here we are again . . . Those of us in New Zealand have just gone into a nation wide lockdown with schools closed and everyone expected to stay home unless an essential worker.  A fragment of the unwanted Delta COVID-19 variant has sneaked through our borders and for […]

. We offer something a little different this week – a link to a discussion we had with Justin Baeder from the Principal Center. Justin is based in Seattle on the Pacific Northwest coast of the U.S.A. where he is the Director of the Principal Center, an organisation that aims to help senior leaders build […]

  I’ve come up with a new medical term. Hell, I don’t even have a degree (although I do have a couple of useful diplomas, and some may say I have a degree in life), but this hasn’t stopped me coining a new affliction; a disease; a malady. Don’t bother looking it up – it’s […]

. This week we have a guest post from Stephanie Thompson who is the principal of Beach Haven School in sunny Auckland New Zealand. Stephanie has a wealth of leadership experience in many educational settings and graciously agreed to share some thinking about life in the swivelly chair.  I found the above meme when I […]

Photo by Marcel Strauß A couple of weeks ago Saira Boyle wrote a great guest post about what she called the “Green Focus Power Hour”. In a nutshell she described an early morning routine that energises her – you can read about it here. When I initially considered her method, a seemingly random thought popped […]

Photo by Petar Tonchev . Just recently I found myself talking with a colleague about the myriad of things that we end up doing in our roles. A recent example was when I found myself sweeping water out of the junior boys’ toilets for an hour or so. Lucky me! There’s nothing like sweeping water […]

. This week we are sharing a guest post from a fellow principal in New Zealand, Saira Boyle from Willowbank School. As an experienced principal, Saira has been become increasingly conscious of the demands that our leadership roles make on us, and has generously shared some thinking and tactics that are worth considering. In our […]

. 40 hours? 50 hours? 60 hours? 70 hours? . . . How many hours do you work in an average week? .   .   .   .   . Recently we shared some data regarding the work habits of New Zealand rural principals. One confronting statistic was that 47% of the group were working 60 hours or […]

. A few years ago orange was the new black. Shortly afterwards anything that was new, exciting and a must have, was the new black. With this in mind I proclaim that in the world of leadership a thing called Stoicism is the new black. Well, I would proclaim that, if it was actually something […]

Photo by Leon The busier you are, the harder it is to find the time and energy necessary to reflect on even small things.  Which is likely the reason you usually buy a particular brand of toothpaste when at the supermarket. And also the same reason that it’s tough to step back and consider bigger […]

.   Recently I’ve been walking around thinking, “thank God it’s Week ten already.” The problem with this thought is that it’s simply not true. We are just about to complete Week 4, and it already feels as though a full term has been completed. It certainly didn’t help to have a very un-Forty Hour […]

We know you’re probably thinking, “is it Friday already?”  But not this time . . . the Forty Hour team are heading to New Plymouth to share some thinking at the NZEI Rural Principals’ Conference and thought we’d drop the second in our 5 Minute Roadie series to celebrate. This time Steve explains a phrase […]

. This week we are sharing a guest post from a fellow New Zealand principal, Michael Fletcher. Michael has worked in education for nearly 30 years, half of that in leadership positions. As the Principal of Chaucer School for the last 7 years he shared; “There are days when I can’t believe I’m getting paid […]

  This week’s post is a little different – it’s a short video. Steve and I had a chat about the difference between ‘a vocation’ and ‘a job’ while driving to Methven last week to share some provocations with the Canterbury and Westland Secondary Principals.  One take, done live – what could possibly go wrong?  […]

Charles Shultz It often seems that school leadership is a tight rope strung between the opposing realities of doing a job or living a vocation. There is a big difference between the two, but like many aspects of our roles, the edges are easily blurred. .   .   . Teaching as a whole used to have […]

. It’s the end of term! Time is short! And so is this week’s 40HP blog piece. The 40HP team have pushed the buttons quite a bit this term. We’ve tried to be provocative and we’ve tried to get people thinking about how they do their roles in a quest to leading a more balanced […]

Source pxhere.com   In New Zealand, school leaders are allowed to accumulate unused sick days. I’ve got zillions as have plenty of school leaders who have been lucky enough to have avoided a major illness or need for extended leave. Back in the ‘good old days’, it was considered perfectly acceptable to be ‘sick’ for […]

. Last time I wrote about how we often over think our roles and that this in turn creates problems that aren’t even there. It was part of a piece about slowing things down, especially at this time of term. Recently I was part of a discussion regarding the dilemma that we all face – […]

You’ve found the Forty Hour Principal blog page and that is a good thing! We’re glad you are here. Our aim is to create conversation about school leadership in an attempt to make the role more sustainable, healthier, and even more fun. We’re positive about our jobs and know that we are privileged to be […]

Photo by Christin Hume So you’ve got a fitness device that tells you how many steps you’ve done today. Awesome. But have you got a sitting widget that tells you how long you’ve spent on your principal butt? In fact, have you ever counted? Well maybe it’s time to start. There’s a lot of scientific […]

. We’re now well and truly into the busyness of Term. We’ve got seven weeks under our belts, and if you haven’t already hit the “rocky times” of the Term, then chances are you’re about to.  “Rocky times” tend to arrive when people are tired. Patience flows out the door like the outgoing tide, and […]

. “You can’t please all the people all the time”. These words are often quoted after a particularly drawn out or stressful event. They are a figurative shrug of the shoulders that signals an end point. But the truth is that for many of us there is a lot of angst that comes before this […]

Emotions are there to help us understand the stuff we’re going through. But it’s not always helpful. Emotions also help us convey to others what we are feeling. Jacinda Ardern being labeled by the Press as being “angry” about those not sticking to COVID-19 restriction expectations is a classic recent example. Who knows if she […]

Photo by timJ  The 40 Hour Project is all about making positive change, but often it seems really hard for people to do this. There are factors at play that leave people doing the same old/same old despite the reality that they have many options. There’s definitely the drag of the status quo at play, […]

  . Last week David wrote a great piece on the How being as important as the What. It’s a piece that has resonated with me a lot and is really the core of the Forty Hour Principal Project. To put no finer point to it, it’s the HOW that makes the difference between spending […]

. Right now, there are a whole lot of people just beginning the adventure we call principalship. Maybe you are one of them. When most people start a new job, the thing ‘on top’ is often, “what do I need to do?” This is completely understandable, but ignores the real choices that can be made […]

. 21 things to have a decent crack at in 2021: Around the turn of the new year, every new year, there seems to be an inordinate amount of self help lists published. Invariably the number of things on the lists tend to correspond to the amount of years in the new year. For example […]

Photo by pan xiaozhen The Forty Hour team are officially declaring 2020 over.  We won’t waste your time reflecting on what has happened since this time in 2019 – suffice to say it was unexpected, unique and life changing. As you go to perhaps the most well-earned Christmas break ever, make sure you give yourself […]

Photo by Nathália Rosa I like Post-it notes. I like the way they let me capture a task then park it until I’m ready to take action. Way back at the beginning, I had a principal who carried a small notebook in their top jacket pocket. Anytime you started talking to them they took it […]

. When I worked in the Hanmer Springs State Forest in the late 80’s I knew at the end of the day where I had been and what I had done. I could look back at a row of pines and see a line of freshly pruned trees. It was that simple. It was the […]

. Last week someone stole my mailbox. I was driving out the gate on my way to work last Friday and a part of my brain slowly registered something was wrong – my mailbox was gone! It’s the weirdest feeling to suddenly realise a familiar feature of your world has inexplicitly changed. And right behind […]

. I wonder if, after all the dust has settled, and we take a look back at 2020, that we’ll look back on the year as one of fantastic personal growth. No doubt it’s been a crap year. We’ve all been pushed to the ends of our collective tethers. There have been times when we’ve […]

. It’s been a helluva year! Suffice to say 2020 has been a year right out of the box. It’s certainly been full of challenges, frustrations, false dawns and even a bit of heartache. In New Zealand we find ourselves in a position that life is pretty much back to normal, but there’s always an […]

. Leading with fulfilment “Fulfilment is a feeling of satisfaction that you get from doing or achieving something, especially something useful.” – Collins Dictionary This week Steve and I are talking with a group of school leaders in Rolleston (just south of Christchurch). The theme for the discussion is “leading with fulfilment” and I have […]

. There’s something about writing a blog about principalship, and leadership in particular, that gives a certain air of “worldliness” about the writer. It appears that the writer somehow flies above all the crap and has a view of life that soars a number of clicks above the insane level that those who don’t write, […]

Photo by Lê Tâ Here in New Zealand we have just launched into Term 4 – traditionally a time of high intensity and looming deadlines. A time when things can get a little bit crazy more often than we would like. So right now is a time when you need to manage your energy. We’ve […]

. There are certain times of the day when just about anything can happen, and it most likely will. I call this ‘Alice in Wonderland’ time. These are times when you can easily find yourself figuratively following some furry creature down a rabbit warren with no idea where you’re going or what’s going to happen. […]

Photo by Natalie Daley It’s great that we are in a Term break at last (at least for those of us in NZ). This year is proving to be anything but business as usual and the challenges just keep coming. We’re been operating in a “hoping for the best, but ready for anything” type mode. […]

. This term I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about communicating. In particular about how I communicate with my school staff of around forty adults. The most recent staff appraisal of me suggested that communication wasn’t always my strength. A little bit inside me yelled back sarcastically – “give me strength!” Communication of course […]

Photo by David Holifield   You probably know the metaphor of “the carrot and the stick” where a stubborn donkey needs to be encouraged to move. There are two basic options (as donkeys are hard to push around). You can dangle a carrot just in front of its nose and, if hungry, the donkey will […]

Photo by Devon Divine Just like a song, every blog article needs a great line to pull you in right from the start. Something that’ll catch the imagination, and won’t let go.  I’m trying to find something that’ll make the term “psychological detachment” sound enticing and thrilling. Something that’ll get your attention and not let […]

Photo by Markus Spiske   Humanity  When people are giving their all, when the pressure’s on and they are stretched too thinly, that is when it is very easy to be hurt by others.  And there seems to be a lot of educational leaders feeling that hurt at the moment.  These are good people doing their […]

. You take a look at the bedside clock. It’s glowing 3:00am and, truth be told, you’ve probably been awake for an hour already. There are nigglings, plans, and plain old emotions in the form of concerns rushing around your head.   Your mind is alive with thoughts. Many are worries. You lie there knowing […]

Photo by Raul Varzar Those of you back in the land of Level 3 lockdown (NZ context) have my utmost sympathy. There’s no easy way to run a school under these conditions and you have a massive task on your hands. Kia kaha – you are in my Level 2 thoughts! This week I’m “piggy […]

. To be honest I wondered if my topic for this week’s article, reflection, was still appropriate now that New Zealand is being re-visited by the COVID-19 virus and parts of our country are in lockdown.   I was going to start off by painting a beautiful picture. You see in South Westland, just near […]

Photo by Selin Şahin   You probably know the classic “conscience” model of decision making where you have a small Angel on one shoulder and a small Devil on the other. A decision needs to be made and they compete with each other to convince you which path to take. Each takes turns to whisper […]