The Catholic School Leaders Podcast

Welcome to the Catholic
School Leaders Podcast.

My name is John Mahalio,
president and founder of

Elementary Advancement Solutions.

The goal of this podcast is to
connect Catholic school leaders Bye.

from across the world to
grow Catholic education.

Visit us at www.

elementaryadvancement.

com to see how we can help you
make advancement seem elementary

at your Catholic school.

Well, today I want to talk to our new
Catholic school leaders out there.

Now that might mean a Principal, an
Assistant Principal, an Advancement

Director, a Dean, Recruitment Directors,
Athletic Directors, any leadership role

in your school, talking to you today.

Now maybe you've been hired to lead
a school for the first time, maybe

you're shifting to a new school, maybe
you're leading a Catholic school for

the first time after spending a lot
of time in a public school setting.

Whatever your story is, you're now
in charge of a Catholic school, or a

particular area of a school, and all
the responsibilities that come with it.

So we're going to be talking
about those things today.

Before I get into this, I want to say,
please, please, please, a quick favor

to ask you, if you enjoy this podcast,
if you benefit from this podcast, Please

be sure to like it, subscribe, leave
a review, share it with other leaders.

Maybe you know a principal who is
just starting out this year, or

an Advancement Director, somebody
who's in a new role to Catholic

education, and uh, share it with them.

By doing this, it helps us reach other
Catholic school leaders just like you,

which helps us to grow Catholic education
together, and that's a win for everybody.

So I can't say thank you enough for this.

Uh, if you know somebody, like I said,
please share it with them, like it,

and if you have 30 seconds to drop
a quick review and, uh, let others

know how much you enjoy it, it just
helps us reach a wider audience,

and that's an amazing thing to do.

So, you're new in your role as a
Catholic school leader, and I want

to first and foremost say this.

Congratulations!

Taking on a leadership role in
a Catholic school is a vocation.

It's more than just a job, and you
said yes to this vocation to lead the

future of your school, which is amazing.

It shouldn't be taken lightly.

So first and foremost, let's
celebrate for a minute.

Congratulations as you step into
this new role in your school.

Second, I want to say thank you.

Uh, by saying yes to this vocation,
saying yes to this new role, you

are taking on that challenge of
Catholic education to keep that

light shining for future generations.

And so Thank you for saying yes to
this vocation and your new role at

the, at the school that you're at.

I'll be praying for you for nothing
but success, uh, and just, to just

have Christ's light shine through you
and, and just to keep that light of

Catholic education alive and well.

So, congratulations.

Thank you.

That's the first thing I want to
say to you because I know that the

business is going to pick up really
quickly for you if it hasn't already.

and so let's just take a minute
to congratulate and to say

thank you first and foremost.

So here's some things that as I
look back, I've led three different

schools, things that I learned
from stepping into a new leadership

role that I hope will benefit you.

And I'll try to make these so
that they are applicable to

no matter what role you're in.

Uh, but please know that my
responsibility and my vocation, my

job was as a building principal.

And so the reflections I'm going
to give here are kind of going

to be from that perspective.

But I will incorporate it into some of the
other roles within the school community.

So here's some things I learned from
taking over a school and from leading

a school that I think are going to
really help you in your new role.

Number one, get to know
the culture of your school.

First and foremost, get to know
what your school community is all

about because By now, you've gone
through the interview process, you've

answered all the questions, you've
met with the committees and the search

committees, and they've told you what
a great place their school is, and

it, and it likely is an amazing place.

But you're going to learn that,
what's important in the culture could

either be something that's really,
really great, or something that

really needs to be improved upon.

and so getting to know the culture of
the school is something that, I can't

stress to you enough, asking people,
sitting down with people, talking to

people, just asking a lot of questions.

And so, I would recommend getting
to know the culture, Make yourself

accessible and available to people,
that, that want to sit down with you

and that want to talk to you and ask
them lots of questions and then listen.

If there's one piece of advice I can
offer you, it's listen, listen, listen.

God gave you two ears and one mouth.

Do twice as much listening
as you do talking when you're

learning about the school and the
culture at your school right now.

Learn So that you can know where
those areas of focus are going to

be, and so it helps you get caught
up to speed as quickly as possible.

Identify some easy wins as you're walking
into this, as you're meeting with people,

as you're asking a lot of questions,
as you're doing a lot of listening.

I'll bet you that you're going to have
some repeating and reoccurring themes.

that keep coming up over
and over and over again.

Maybe it's something like, hey,
our carpool's not real smooth.

Maybe it's something like, hey, our
master schedule isn't real great.

Maybe it's something like,
nobody's ever here on time.

I don't know, whatever the case
might be, but I'll bet you that

you're going to find some reoccurring
themes over and over and over again.

Now, certain ones might take
you some time to get to.

you know, hey, we need to build a
new gym and that's going to take,

I don't know, 25 million dollars,
whatever the case might be.

Obviously, unless you have somebody
that's a really generous donor on day

one, it's probably going to take you some
time to get that 25 million for that gym.

But, I'll bet you that there are some easy
wins out there and low hanging fruit out

there that you can jump on right away.

To get yourself some wins to show
people that, hey, I'm listening, I'm

taking these things seriously, and
I'm looking to improve our school

to make it better for everybody.

Now, one thing I want to caution
you on is make yourself available,

make yourself accessible.

But, something I will caution you on,
and it's not to, uh, look at the negative

or anything like that, but I guarantee
you that you will have somebody who just

has to get your ear right away They just
have to talk to you about something.

They just have to come see you
to tell you everything that was

wrong with the school before.

be weary, listen, respect their opinions.

But, uh, sometimes that's somebody
that is looking to create drama

within your community and somebody
that you need to be wary of.

Not always, but I have found
that sometimes that's the case.

And so, uh, just know that you're
going to do a lot of listening.

You're going to want to do a lot of asking
questions, but you want to make sure

that you're So, protecting yourself and
not listening to the wrong person right

off the bat, uh, that's why I say make
yourself available and spending time with

a lot of different people, because that's
going to give you a lot of different

perspectives to hear what themes keep
coming up over and over and over again.

Now, I mentioned earlier in
the podcast, the website, www.

elementaryadvancement.

com.

If you go there, you can get a free
download, our six keys to create

a successful Catholic school.

Uh, it's yours for free.

Um, hopefully it'll help you.

I think it's a really great tool because
it really gives you, uh, Some areas

to focus on the six characteristics
that I believe every strong Catholic

school has, but also allows you to look
at some questions, maybe to, uh, some

key questions to evaluate where your
culture is in that particular area.

So, um, if you go to www.

elementaryadvancement.

com, uh, you can click on the,
the link there, it's a little pop

up, it'll say, Hey, receive this.

you can, you can get that for free.

Again, uh, I think it's really helpful
to you, especially new, being new to

your role, as a leader, no matter what
it is, because no matter what area

you're focusing on, whether you're a
principal, president, uh, advancement

director, assistant principal, these
things going in, in these key areas

that you have as a school, make your
school a stronger place, which is then

going to make your job a lot easier.

and your role within the
school, be more effective.

Um, if your school is doing a great
job in these six areas, your job as

an Advancement Director is going to
be to tout those areas, those things

that you're doing in those areas.

Uh, if you're recruitment and you're
trying to recruit new students,

knowing where you sit in these areas
is going to be something that's

really, really beneficial to you.

Because it's areas that you
can tout to new families.

So check it out, elementaryadvancement.

com, and you can get that for free.

It's something I think you'll be
really helpful and really a great

tool to have in your back pocket.

the other thing I would say to
you, or the next thing I guess I

would say to you is, Don't assume
that all the schools are the same.

chances are that you may have
come from a different school.

Maybe you've spent time in another school.

Maybe you were leading a different school.

Maybe it was a public school.

Maybe it was another Catholic school.

Maybe it was a private school.

Uh, maybe you were an
assistant principal someplace.

Whatever the case might be, But you know
what your culture was all about there.

Don't assume everybody's
culture is the same.

Don't assume that, uh, everybody's
experiences are the same.

that's where that listening piece
of things come in, and really

hearing what others have to say.

to know where your strengths
can really lend itself to making

the school a better place.

It also kind of gives you that opportunity
to identify the areas that maybe you're

not, you don't necessarily have the
strengths in so that you can try to get

connected with others who can give you
some perspective on those strengths.

You know, that's a great reason.

Our mastermind groups that we
do are a great reason for that.

Hey, I know how to do this, but
I don't know how to do this.

And I'm being asked to do this.

Does anybody have experience with this?

It's a great way to get
connected with people.

Maybe you have a support system
within your own diocese that

you can ask questions to.

Whatever the case might be, but don't
assume that all schools are the same

and don't assume that every school
is dealing with the same issue.

You may have come from a school that
had Uh, high tuition rate and, and

no, uh, student assistance being
given for tuition to a school where

75 percent of your families are, are
dealing with tuition, uh, assistance.

And so, each school has
its own unique challenges.

as I've always said, that when things
are, are great, they're probably

not as good as you think they are.

And when things are not great, they're
probably not as bad as you think they are.

Um, know that the, somewhere in the middle
there, and something that you're always

striving to get better, you're but don't
assume that all of the schools are the

same, uh, in terms of the challenges,
in terms of what it is that they're

dealing with because those preconceived
notions that you have, maybe, uh, those

scars that you're carrying from your
last school, bringing them to your new

school immediately could put you behind
the eight ball and, and, and almost

present as, as making you unapproachable,
which is certainly something that you

don't want to do in this new role.

If there's one partnership
that I can tell you.

to make sure gets off on
the right foot immediately.

Uh, and chances are that in this
new role, uh, and especially for

principals, I'm going to talk to you,
especially for principals, is that

relationship and that partnership
that you have with your pastor.

That is something that the two
of you should be lockstep on

everything that's happening.

Uh, making an opportunity to sit down
each week with, with this person to,

just talk about what's going on with
the school and, and, and how things are

going, challenges that you're facing.

Insights that they may have, um,
what direction do they want to see?

What's the vision that they
want to see for the school?

Um, but just creating that
open partnership, those open

lines of communications early.

I guarantee you, if you show me a
school that is succeeding, I will show

you a pastor and a principal that are
walking lockstep with one another.

Establishing that partnership with your
pastor is one of the most important

things you can do as a building principal.

If you're in a role of assistant
principal, dean, development director,

advancement director, recruitment
officer, whatever the case might be,

establishing that partnership with your
building principal or your building

president is equally as important.

They are the person that's going
to be supporting your goals.

They're the person that's
going to be supporting the

initiatives that you're doing.

Thank you.

as well as you're going to be
bringing forth the initiatives that

they want to see you, uh, doing.

Maybe it's an enrollment goal.

Maybe it's a development goal.

Maybe it's a fundraising goal.

maybe it's a, putting a new sport
into play, whatever the case might be.

Establishing that partnership with either
your principal or your pastor is something

that cannot be stressed enough that doing
that early to establish trust, to build

that partnership, not a relationship,
but a partnership between your role and

that leadership role is something that
will pay off for you in the long run.

But get on that early.

Don't wait for things to get
rocky and things to, problems to

exist before you start to do that.

Get on it early.

Get on the same page early.

Create that time.

Uh, for me, as a principal, I would want
to meet with my development directors,

advancement directors, recruitment
directors, at least once a week for a

minimum of a half hour to 45 minutes
so that I could be supportive of them.

But they would also be able to keep
me in the loop of the things that

we were working on together to meet
the longterm goals of our school.

So that really comes into play of what you
want your schedule to look like each week.

And we can do a whole other episode on
time management and things like that.

But the bottom line is establishing
for our principals, establishing that

partnership with your pastor right away.

And for those other school leaders,
establishing that partnership

with your principal right away
is something that's only going to

help you be better in your job.

I think one of the biggest things for
new leaders is that they are sometimes

afraid to invest in themselves.

And they're afraid to admit
that they don't know everything.

And so my next piece of advice to you is,
don't be afraid to invest in yourself,

and don't be afraid to get better in the
areas that you want to get better in.

there's a lot of opportunities out there.

There's conferences.

There are, I had the chance to attend
the NCEA conference this past year.

I know the next one is, I think
it'll be in Orlando this coming year.

It was in Pittsburgh this past year.

If that's something you're able to
do, to, to attend something like that,

to make connections and to, um, hear
some first class speakers, all about

Catholic education, uh, invest in
yourself, make yourself better in areas

and continue to grow and to learn.

Uh, I mentioned before about
the mastermind groups that,

uh, I run for principals.

We have one starting here in the fall
for new principals that we're going to

have where you're able to just to connect
with other new principals and really

get a network going across the country
to help you be better in your job.

your development director, advancement
director, coming together to learn

new strategies, uh, from others.

Getting connected with people to make
yourself better and investing in yourself

is going to be an investment in your
school community which is only going

to make your school better, which is
going to make you better as a principal.

And so, don't be afraid to
put on your oxygen mask.

Don't be afraid to invest in yourself
because when you invest in yourself,

it says to others that it's okay
for them to invest in themselves.

But that's just going to make your
school a better place for your students,

for your families, for your faculty.

It's going to grow Catholic education.

So Get better.

Don't be afraid to invest in yourself.

And just because you say, Hey, I
need to get better in this doesn't

mean you're not good at your job.

It just means that you want to get
better in areas and we all have them.

We all have them.

And so, uh, invest in yourself.

Don't be afraid of that.

like I said, there's a lot
of opportunities out there.

So, I think another one is identifying
the core values of your school.

Now I'm going to say this so that
I'm going to slow down on this one

and say what are the core values
at your school versus what do

you want the core values to be.

Okay, for example, a core value at
your school might be that everybody

comes late and everybody leaves early.

Okay.

That's not one that you
really want to, to have.

maybe it's not a core value, but it's
a, it's a trait, I guess I should say

of, of teachers, but maybe the core
value that you want is to establish

professionalism and that trait that
everybody is having of leaving early,

cutting their late, whatever the case
might be, is something that you've

identified as something that is a problem
with professionalism or something that's

a core value maybe in a negative way.

So when you're looking at your core
values and you ask people, what

are our core values at our school?

be sure to get clarification of is
that a core value or is that what

you want the core value to be?

It's going to tell you something
either way about your school community.

If it's something everybody says,
Yeah, we'd really like this to be it,

but it's just not there right now.

It's going to tell you just as
much as if you say, listen, this

is a core value of your school.

And, and I'm going to say this
when it comes to core values,

and I'm not saying this to upset
anybody or anything like that.

If your core value is we all love and care
for each other because we're a Catholic

school, to me, that's a Catholic school.

That's what you're expected
to be as a Catholic school.

That better be part of your core values.

But to me, that's like saying we
teach the faith in our school.

That's an understood for me.

What else do we have that's a core value?

And if that's not one of your core values,
put that on your list as something that

you need to take note of and bring to
your school community is making sure the

faith is something that's very much a part
of your school and making sure that your

community cares about their kids, that
your kids know that you care about them.

So, identify those core values.

What are they versus
what you want them to be?

As a new, uh, administrator, as a new
leader walking into a school, I remember

one of my assistant principals used
to tell people when they were coming

in that you gotta earn your stripes.

And I think this is so true that
sometimes we walk in and maybe we've

been a principal for 25 years somewhere.

Maybe we've been a
principal for 15 minutes.

Maybe we've had a lot of
success as a teacher somewhere.

Maybe we've had a lot of success
in another role as a coach or

whatever the case might be.

And And we're bringing this success,
that we've had in our previous roles to

our new, uh, vocation and our new job.

But you still have to earn
your stripes as a new leader.

And so that's great that
you can rely upon that.

That's great that you can
build upon those experiences.

You can rely upon those experiences
to, uh, help you through your new role.

Um, but, you know, people might
not know you all that well.

And, you know, sometimes within a
school community, maybe you were

the, a great teacher who's now been
assigned or now been promoted to

be the principal of the school.

you were a great teacher, but now
you've got to earn your stripes

as the leader of that school.

Uh, and there's challenges
that come with that.

Now you're responsible for overseeing
and, and managing and leading

people that were colleagues before.

And, and that's, It can be
great and there can be some

challenges that come with that.

Um, but either way, you're going to have
to earn your stripes as a new leader.

maybe you're moving into a role of
a, of an advancement or development

director or recruitment director.

Uh, and people are looking at
you going, well, why did that

person get the job and not me?

Um, and, and there's an immediate, uh,
Black Cloud over your, your office from

somebody in the school because they didn't
like it that they didn't get that job.

you gotta earn your stripes, you gotta
show results, and I think by, again,

going back to partnering with the key
leadership people within your school

community, whether it be your pastor or
your principal, is only gonna put Those

things to rest and it's just going to
show how good you are and how what an

amazing choice you were for this job.

but also help you to overcome those things
quickly by forming that partnership.

Um, the naysayers are
going to be the naysayers.

You can't do anything about that.

Uh, there was some great advice that Kirby
Hasselman gave on a marketing podcast.

They did a few weeks ago a few months ago.

talking about how to deal
with those kind of things.

Uh, it's a great listen so recommend
that but You you, you do you.

Partner with your principal, your
leadership, your pastor in moving

and advancing the goals of the school
forward, um, which is just going

to make the school a better place.

I said this one before, and I'm
going to say it one more time

because I think it bears repeating.

Listen, listen, listen.

Uh, do a lot of listening as a new leader.

Learn about what things, how, how
were things before you got there.

You're going to see that the
previous, person in your role, if

your role is not a brand new, position
at your school, that there were

things that maybe went very well.

They're going to talk about things
that maybe didn't go so well.

Some opportunities for improvement.

what are those things?

Learn about those things.

If you're walking into, this is not
uncommon, unfortunately, but if you're

walking into a, uh, role where you're
a fundraiser, you know, head of the

fundraising officer, uh, maybe the,
the person that was before you wasn't

exactly a good steward of, of the money.

Maybe there were communication issues.

Maybe there were, reporting
issues, whatever the case might be.

and you've got to build
that trust back up again.

And so.

Listening, listening, listening, and
learning the story of your school,

um, and knowing, just where those
opportunities are for you to make

improvements and get those easy
wins with that low hanging fruit is

something that I can't stress enough.

So, do a lot of listening, do a lot of
talking, do a lot of asking questions.

I remember a former, um, A boss of
mine told me once, he said, ask as many

questions as you can within the first
couple of months that you're in this job.

Because if you ask them in the first
couple of months that you're in the

job, people are going to think, wow,
this person is really, really sharp

and they really want to get better.

If you don't ask those questions,
everybody's just going to make

the assumption that you know it.

And when it comes time a couple months
later that you don't know it, and

you're asking those questions that
you should have been asking before,

people are going to say, how did this
person even get this job if they don't

know the answers to these questions?

So don't be afraid to ask as
many questions as you can.

At the beginning to really help you
get to know your school culture and to

really just get to know, you know, the
history of your school because, you

know, you're taking over a school that
might be a few years old, might be 100

years old, and you're now responsible for
stewarding that for the next 100 years.

Uh, so listening, listening,
listening goes a long way.

Establishing those partnerships
with your key leaders on

campus, is so very important.

The last thing I'm going to tell you is,
I think, uh, I always say this, I appeared

on a podcast a couple months ago with,
uh, President Jethro Jones, and I told

him that I felt a lot of Catholic schools
come down to three, three words, okay?

Now, obviously, I'm going to just
say that the Catholic faith is, clear

far and away the reason that we exist
in terms of being a Catholic school.

So when I say my three C's, uh, that
Catholic faith piece to me is overlying

and overarching on all of these areas.

So, but if you have Clear communication,
you have consistency in your policies,

and you have great curb appeal.

People are going to see that, and it's
probably going to knock out 90 percent

of what you're doing as a school, and
give confidence in you as a leader.

So being a good communicator,
communicating with your families,

communicating with your faculty,
what's happening at your school.

If you are responsible for the
advancement work at your school,

communicating where dollars were spent.

I just did a great podcast recently about
communicating ways that, uh, how you

can communicate, how funds were used to
give people confidence in your office.

just honoring what people's requests
are, creating trust, and just over

communicating what's happening
at your school is so important.

Being consistent in your policies.

you know, we're going to let this
person do this, but not this person.

We're going to do this, but not for this.

there might be a reason that you're
creating inconsistencies in your

policies that nobody needs to know about.

Maybe your family has
a special circumstance.

That's not what I'm talking about.

But when you're giving different rules for
different people, uh, this person gets a

uniform violation, but this one doesn't
and they're doing the exact same thing.

Uh, that consistency in how you
operate as a school to keep people

from guessing how you're running
your school is so important.

And so, consistency, curb appeal,
communication, the last one being the

curb appeal that I just mentioned, what do
people see when they come to your school?

When people walk up for the first time,
this was a great exercise that I did

with my leadership team was I took them
outside and I said, I want you to walk

up to our school for the first time.

Don't say anything, but just
write down what you see.

Look around like you're looking
at this school for the first time.

Is the sign that welcomes people
to the school old and rusted?

Does it need to be replaced?

When people come up and they ring the
doorbell or what are they greeted with?

Or what do they see?

Do they know it's a
Catholic school right away?

What's that curb appeal that people have?

Think about a new family who's visiting
your school for the first time.

They may be on your campus for 15
seconds and it doesn't matter what you

show them because the curb appeal that
they were met with when they pulled up

to the school is something that really
turned them off and they said, Yeah,

we're probably not going to do this, but
we're going to go on the tour anyway.

You're playing from behind at that point.

Communication, consistency, and
curb appeal are going to help you

in so many ways, no matter what your
responsibility is at your school.

These are just a couple things, like
I said, that, that I have learned,

if I can help you in your role as a
principal, as an aspiring principal,

as a development director, as a
recruitment director, this is why I exist.

This is why my, my company exists at
Elementary Advancement Solutions is to

help you grow Catholic education, www.

elementaryadvancement.

com.

There's a lot of resources on there.

There's some articles on there.

very much.

Uh, old podcast, but also times that
you can set up just to set up a consult

with me, uh, at no charge, just to see
if I can help you in what it is that

you're doing as a school community.

Um, that's the goal of this is to
really help grow Catholic education.

I just, was so saddened to see so
many Catholic schools closing, uh,

over the past 10 years and, and wanted
to make sure that, you know, moving

forward that I took an active role in
making sure that we could help and.

make Catholic schools thrive, not
just survive, but we want to see them

thriving again in your community.

So if that's something I can help
you with, if you're new to your role,

um, there's a lot of opportunities
out there, that I'd be happy to

help you with and talk to you about.

Uh, like I said, mentioned about our
mastermind groups that are out there.

It's a great way for you to get connected
with leaders all over the world, not just

in the United States, but over the world.

to learn new strategies and new
skills and just bounce ideas off of.

It's a great thing to do.

Our mastermind groups are rock stars.

So big shout out to them.

you know, hey, if that's something
that you think could, could be

in your future, reach out to me.

Let's set up a time to do a virtual cup
of coffee on zoom and hear more about

your school and what your goals are.

So thank you so much again for listening.

Again, I remind you that if
you like this podcast, if you

think this is something that.

Would benefit others.

Be sure to like it, subscribe, uh, leave
a comment, leave a, uh, a review on there,

or share it with others, share it with
colleagues, whatever the case might be.

Uh, I want to say thank you
in advance for doing that.

praying for you in this new role.

You've been blessed.

said yes to a wonderful, wonderful
vocation of working in a Catholic school.

And I promise you it's something that's
really, really rewarding and something

that is just going to fill your heart.

So, for all of our new leaders out
there in Catholic schools, we're praying

for you and, uh, wish you nothing but
success in the year moving forward.