The Private School Leader Podcast

The Private School Leader Podcast

Hosted by: Mark Minkus

The Private School Leader Podcast exists to help you go from SURVIVING to THRIVING as you lead your school. Do you ever feel lonely and isolated in your role as a private school leader? Do you wish that you could get...

All Episodes

Episodes

Episode 139 Prioritizing Problems: Elephants, Wolves and Termites

My daughter is a birdkeeper at the Jacksonville Zoo. She gets to work with some pretty amazing birds and do some really cool things. One day, a few months ago, I got a text from her along with three pictures of her...
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Episode 138: Bosses Make You Feel Anxious, Leaders Make You Feel Safe

I want you to think back to your first job. Was it McDonald’s or another fast food place? Maybe it was as a cashier at a grocery store or babysitting or camp counselor or washing cars at a car dealership. Now, I want...
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Episode 137: The Secret Struggle: Mental Health And Private School Leadership

In July of 2021, the summer Olympics were taking place in Tokyo, one year after being cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. You may remember that Simone Biles withdrew from the gymnastics competition citing mental...
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Episode 136: 4 More Powerful Leadership Lessons From Atomic Habits

Back in October of 2023, I recorded Episode 53 of this podcast: “5 Powerful Leadership Lessons From Atomic Habits”. Since then, that episode has become one of the most downloaded episodes in the history of the...
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Episode 135: Do 1 Of These 4 Things This Summer To Have A Better 25/26 School Year

One of the most famous opening lines in classic literature is, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Do you remember the book?  If you guessed A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, then you were...
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Episode 134: "‘My Child Is Not the Problem’: How To Handle Defensive Parenting

“My son doesn’t lie.” “My daughter would never do that.” “My child has gotten straight A’s since Kindergarten, so if he got a C it is clearly a problem with the teacher.” “He’s only acting this way because he is...
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Episode 133: Do These 4 Things Before Your Body "Pulls The Emergency Brake"

Whenever the word “emergency” is in the title of something, you probably hope that you don’t ever need to use it. Emergency Room. Emergency Exit. Emergency Fund. Emergency Brake. I hope that you have never had to pull...
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Episode 132: 5 Strategies to Avoid Getting Sucked Into The "Tyranny of the Teacher Drama"

Has this ever happened to you? You are sitting at your desk and a teacher appears at your door. The teacher asks, “Do you have a minute?” The teacher is very upset and they start ranting about another teacher at your...
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Episode 131: Leading Your School While Caring For Aging Parents

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average age of a Head of School in America is 52 years old. That means a lot of private school leaders have parents in their 70’s and 80’s. My mom was 86...
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Episode 130: The 5 Keys To Making Sure That The Parents Don't Steal Your Joy

During the early 1990’s, I coached boys varsity basketball at the school that I led. At the time, we didn’t have a full-size Gym on campus, so we rented a Gym that was a 15 minute drive from our school. One Friday...
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Episode 129: Does Your Spouse/Partner/Best Friend Have "Listening Fatigue?”

For 33 years, I did the same thing almost every day. I came home from school and immediately started venting to my wife about my day as a private school leader. I am ashamed to say, it wasn’t until after I retired,...
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Episode 128: Do 3 Things Now And 4 Things Later To THRIVE During "The 100 Days Of May"

When I was a kid, I learned the following poem: 30 days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except for February, it’s the one Which only has 28 days clear, And 29 in each Leap...
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