The Catholic School Leaders Podcast

Welcome to the Catholic
School Leaders Podcast.

My name is John Mahalio,
the President and Founder of

Elementary Advancement Solutions.

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

Well, recently I had a unique opportunity
to chaperone a field trip to a place that

I've always wanted to go, but someplace
I never really dreamed would be possible.

And how it just all came about was
really unexpected, But the experience

is something that I will never forget,
and it taught me a lot of things

about being a better Catholic school
leader that I want to share with you.

So I'm going to talk about where I went,
a very, very, uh, special place, unique

place, not just going to a zoo or, uh,
I don't know, wherever, uh, around town.

This particular field trip actually
involved an airplane, quite a distance.

So, first and foremost, before I get
started, just a quick favor to ask you.

If you like this podcast, if
you're enjoying this podcast,

please be sure to like, subscribe.

Uh, if you can drop a quick review in
there, share it with other Catholic school

leaders across, uh, the world and across
the country and those that you know.

Um, by doing that it really helps to
reach other Catholic school leaders

just like you and that helps us
grow Catholic education together.

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

Um, if you would just do that, take a
quick second to give it a like, give it

a share, give it a subscribe or a quick
review, I would be so grateful for that.

So let's talk about the field trip
that I chaperoned and what it taught

me about being a better leader.

And so this started back in February
when a former colleague of mine

called and said, Hey, uh, I'm going
to be taking a group of students on

a field trip and one of my chaperones
is no longer able to make it.

And I want to see.

If you want to join us for this field
trip, uh, and I said, sure, where, where

are you, where are you looking to go?

And he said, we'll be
going to Italy for 10 days.

And so my heart immediately just
got really excited right there

because Italy is a place that I've
always, always wanted to visit.

and so of course, after talking with
my wife, family, this became a reality.

so my daughter and I went
on this field trip, uh, with

this group from another state.

And so, As a leader and somebody who
had never been to Italy before, there

were some lessons that I learned, as
part of this field trip that really,

really taught me some lessons,
taught me some things about being a

better Catholic school leader, and
I want to share them with you today.

Uh, if you're not, this is not
going to be one of those pull out

the screen and show you 10, 000
photos of my trip kind of thing.

These are some real practical, pieces of
advice that I learned that I think you're

going to be able to apply immediately in
your job, no matter what it is, whether

you're a principal or assistant principal,
advancement director, uh, recruitment

and marketing, a dean, whatever the case
might be, but in your, in your leadership

role as a Catholic school leader, I think
you'll be able to apply these immediately.

So, here's my 10 things that I learned
from my trip to Italy that I hope

will make you, and I know will make
you, a better Catholic school leader.

Number one is I said yes to going
and a lot of people when they hear an

opportunity that presents itself in
front of them They go, uh, that that

sounds scary That sounds like something
that is just gonna be a little bit

too much and they shy away from it So
first and foremost when you're given

an opportunity and it looks like it's
an amazing one say yes Look into it.

Obviously discuss it with those
that are close to you but say yes

to those opportunities because
so many opportunities that, that

we have in life just pass us by.

you know, if you aim at nothing,
you'll hit it every time.

And so giving yourself that opportunity
to try something new, to put yourself

out there, uh, in a strange place where
you've never been before, it can be scary.

But, saying yes is that first
step to making it happen.

Number two, if you've ever been anywhere
in Europe, anywhere, uh, traveling

overseas or anything like that and
you're in the United States, You know

that, unfortunately, nothing like Star
Trek here or Star Wars exists where you

just boom and telepath somewhere else
or light speed or anything like that.

It takes a while to get there.

And usually there's connecting flights
and we're going to go here and go there.

It's a long trip to get there.

And I think that as leaders, we want
to just have things get to that place

that we want them to be immediately.

But we have to recognize that
it's a journey, and it's not

just going to happen instantly.

Those days are going to seem long, but
those years are going to go by quick,

just the same way as our flight over on a
plane, eight, ten hours, whatever it was.

the, the minutes were long, but once we
got there, the hours went by real quick.

Watch a movie, or read a book,
or whatever the case might be.

but, it's a journey.

It's a long trip to get there.

But it's worth it in the end.

So I guess my second lesson that I
learned as a Catholic school leader

for my trip to Italy was Don't rush.

Don't be in such a rush to get to
that final, uh, final finish line.

Okay?

We all want to get there, but it's not
going to happen without some hard work,

without some patience, and without some,
just that journey to get us to that point.

So, I know we want to get to the finish
line, and we want to get to what we

think is going to be our final goal.

but getting there is part of the fun.

Number three, and this was something
that, that was, really, really an awesome

part of, of this trip and that is meeting
new people and, and hearing their story.

I think sometimes in, in leadership roles,
we're constantly meeting new people and

we're constantly, uh, being bombarded,
but, but making new connections and

making those, uh, new friends and making
new acquaintances that we hadn't met

before can open ourselves up so much
to grow as individuals and as leaders.

Hearing their stories, laughing with them,
and just hearing who they are as a person,

and learning about them, and learning
about what makes them Uh, a unique person

of God is something that was so, so cool
and something that I, I hadn't expected,

uh, and so obviously when you're on a
field trip and you're there with other

adults and students and things like that,
there's time to connect with people over a

meal or over a bus ride or over, you know,
visiting in a group or things like that.

Just learning what other people are
all about and meeting new people.

Don't just kind of limit yourself to
those people that you know, especially

if you're going on something like this.

Obviously you're going there with
somebody that you, you know, uh, but

expanding out to kind of go, hey, I
don't know these folks, but I'd like

to get to know a little bit more about
them and, uh, and hear their story.

And so don't be afraid to put
yourself out there to meet new

people and to hear their story.

Now, the next one kind
of goes along with that.

But obviously when you're going
to a country where English is

not the first language, Italian
is the first language there, uh,

there could be a language barrier.

And oftentimes when we were
arriving there, there was.

I would want to say something
in English and the person I was

speaking to would only speak Italian.

And so we had to find ways
to break down those barriers.

And so many times when we are in our
schools, we may think that we're just the

most inviting school community possible,
but not realizing there may be people out

there who aren't feeling welcome, or who
aren't feeling like they can approach you,

or who don't feel like they can ask you.

Maybe there's a language barrier as there
was with me, And so, there's so many ways

that we found to break down those barriers
of, say, the language communication.

that were so amazing.

Uh, one night, uh, our, our bus
driver who was there, only spoke

Italian and, was being left out
of a lot of the conversations.

And so, he and I sat down next to each
other and, and I spoke no Italian,

uh, and he spoke very little English.

Uh, but by using my phone with
Google Translate and, and, uh,

the, the dictation of things, uh,
I was able to communicate with him.

He was able to communicate with
me and we had a great conversation

and some, and some laughs and
some, got to, to hear his story.

It turned out that, that he
did know some Spanish and I

know a little bit of Spanish.

So between my English and, and, and
his English and, and my Italian and

his Italian, and both of our Spanish.

Uh, we were able to have a great
conversation which brought him more into

the trip and really made it so that he
was part of our group and part of our

community from that point moving forward.

And so, breaking down those barriers
to find ways to communicate with

people within your school setting.

Maybe it's a teacher, maybe it's
a parent, maybe it's a student.

But looking for creative ways that you
can involve people in your school and

breaking down those barriers to make sure
that everybody is part of your school

community is something that was just so
important as a lesson that I'm going to

take with me for the rest of my life.

When you're in a different country,
and this is going to be my fifth

one with this, is to rely on
people who know more than you do.

And I know as leaders, sometimes
it's, it's hard to admit that

we don't know everything.

but I used to always say that, know what
you know, know what you don't know, know

who knows what you don't know and get
them on your team as quickly as possible.

And so when you rely on people who know
more than you about a particular subject,

That just makes your team stronger.

Uh, we were blessed enough to have a
wonderful tour guide over there who could

tell us, Hey, this is where you want
to go, or this is what time you want to

visit this exhibit, or this is something
that's really not worth you going to see,

or this is something that you're going
to be waiting a long time to go for, but

if you go at this time, you'll be able
to get right in, or these are some hidden

fees, or whatever the case might be.

Even being able to tell us, hey, this is a
city where there's a lot of pickpocketers,

so you're going to want to make sure that
you Don't bring anything valuable or don't

bring this or make sure you have this in
your front pocket, not your back pocket

or things like that to help us navigate
through those dangers that might exist

out there that we don't even realize.

So finding other people that know
more than you or that can support

you in the journey is something
that I think is so important.

I think this is why I love
our Mastermind Group so much.

A shout out to our Mastermind Groups, our
Principals, and our Advancement Directors.

Getting together with them is such
an awesome thing each week because

we all learn from each other.

And so relying on people who can help us
navigate through some waters that maybe

we don't know about, uh, is something
that we can You all, all benefit from.

And so, talk to the people and,
and let them help guide you through

these areas, uh, that's gonna
make your school a better place.

You don't need to know everything.

Spoiler alert, nobody expects
you to know everything.

Rely on those people who can help you
and who can get you through things.

One of the things that I also learned
from this was to say, I said earlier,

say yes to going, but also saying
yes to unexpected opportunities.

one of the days that we were
there, it was a travel day.

There was nothing planned.

And the opportunity came up for
us to visit this little town that

I had never heard of in my life.

Lucca, Italy was, was
the name of the town.

And the opportunity came and I said,
Hey, We can visit this town, it's not

on the tour, but if we want to go, uh,
you know, this is how much it'll be,

if we want to do this, because it's
kind of deviating away from things,

and so, yeah, okay, we'll do it.

And I didn't really know what to expect.

It turned out probably to be one of
my favorite places that we visited.

And it was something that I had totally,
totally not expected to even do.

it was a small town.

It was a, uh, a little town with, the
cobblestone streets and, just different,

beautiful, beautiful scenery, little
markets, shops, things like that.

I chuckled because as we're walking
through this, this little, town, uh,

we heard music in the, in the distance.

And, and apparently there's a music
festival that happens here every year.

And Ed Sheeran was getting
ready to perform the next night.

And so, it's a well kept secret, but I
guess over there, it's something that,

uh, a lot of people go and visit and it's
a great place for concerts and, things

of that nature, but had we not said yes
and no, we got to stick to our schedule.

We got to stick to what it is that
we're doing, and not said yes.

So in response to this unexpected
opportunity, we would have missed

probably what turned out to be
a lot of people's favorite place

to visit while we were there.

And so obviously, we want to evaluate
the risks if we're going to do something

new and evaluate what it is that, you
know, we're going to benefit from it.

As you would in a Catholic
school leadership role.

But, saying yes to something that seems
like it's a great opportunity and saying

yes to, as I went back before, work.

People who know more than you
in terms of a particular area.

Our tour guide said this
is a beautiful area.

It's going to be one you're
going to want to see.

We took advantage of that and it turned
out to be something that really, really

was an amazing experience for everybody.

So don't be afraid to say yes
to unexpected opportunities.

If there seems to be something there
that's going to make you a better school.

One thing that I learned very quickly,
if there's one thing that I didn't

like from the trip, it was we visited,
I think, eight cities in ten days.

That's a lot.

And for anybody that's been to Italy,
you know that's a lot of time in

a bus, that's a lot of time in the
car, uh, that you're missing out.

And one of the things that I looked
back on, I said I would have liked it

more if we would have spent three or
four days, or three or four cities, and

focused on those a couple of days each.

And so I think as we look at this, one
of the things that I would advise, or

that I would learn from this trip, that
I would advise to all Catholic school

leaders, is don't try to do too much.

There's things that we all want to
get done, but we have to focus on just

a couple of areas and put all of our
energy into that, because if we're

spreading ourselves too thin, uh, we're
not going to accomplish any of them.

I personally would rather accomplish
three or four things and do them well,

rather than try to take on ten things.

And only one or two of them get done well.

if you tackle two, three, four things, and
you're gonna focus on those things right

there, and do them well, and make them
part of your culture, I guarantee you that

your school's gonna be a lot better place.

Besides, if you try to focus on 10
things, even if you get eight of them

done, what are gonna be the only two
that everybody's gonna talk about those

things that didn't get accomplished?

So by focusing on a smaller amount
of things and getting really, really

good at them, and making them really
part of who you are as a school and

part of your culture is just gonna
make your school community better,

not just for now, but for the future.

So next trip for my, or next advice for my
trip to Italy is don't try to do too much.

Number eight is to expect
unexpected challenges.

And I know that kind of sounds
like, well, yeah, we run a school.

Of course there'd be
unexpected challenges, but

you don't know what's coming.

You don't know what's, going to be
around the corner and how are you

going to react to those things?

one of the days that we were
traveling, we had about a three

hour bus ride to go from, where
we were at to our next location.

And as we're traveling through,
this area, uh, a tunnel.

Uh, there was an accident
up in front of us.

And so here we are in a tunnel,
with 50, people in a bus, and the

road ahead of us is shut down.

So that 3 hour trip turned
into almost an 8 hour trip.

And we got to our location that we had
planned to be at significantly later.

And so when those unexpected challenges
come up, how are we going to handle them?

Uh, yeah, okay, we can, we can get upset,
we can get mad, hey, we didn't miss our,

but what are we going to do as leaders to
say, okay, this is a problem, this is a

challenge that we, we, we hadn't expected.

How are we going to
respond to this challenge?

And so, You may have a fact.

You may have a full faculty right now,
and in August, somebody may walk into

your office and say, Hey, Hey, We're
moving, uh, and, and, and I'm going

to have to resign, and now you have
an unexpected challenge ahead of you.

How we handle those challenges as
leaders really says a lot about

us, but it also sets the culture
for what we want for our schools.

And so being prepared, know that
unexpected challenges are going to

be part of what we do as leaders.

Much the same way as these unexpected
challenges, we're going to be part

of this trip for us kind of kept our
attitudes in a good place as opposed

to being rather grumpy from sitting
in a bus for as long as we did.

I think the other thing that I really
learned, and this would be number nine,

and, and before I left, Father Luke
Riewicki, who I interviewed on a previous

podcast, if you hadn't had a chance to
listen to that, it's an amazing interview,

uh, with the chaplain of Cardinal
Gibbons High School in, in Raleigh.

And I said, what advice, he studied
over in Rome, and I said, what,

what advice do you have for me as
somebody who's never been to Italy?

And he said, make sure every church
you pass, you go into it, because

they're just different architecture,
different, you know, the holiness

of them, but you also don't know
which person may be buried there, or

may be named for, things like that.

Uh, and so, as I did this, as we were
walking through each of these areas,

I was sure to follow Father Luke's
advice in making sure that I visited

every church that we possibly could.

some of them were cathedrals and
basilicas, others, uh, smaller churches.

But I think what I learned from this is,
you can find holiness all around you.

even in places that you're, you're
not, uh, expecting to see it.

Uh, I mentioned Lucca and being this, the,
the small, uh, area that it was as, as

you compare it to Rome or other big cities
that you, you hear all about in Italy.

and as we were just walking the streets
with, with nowhere particular to be,

uh, we stumbled upon a, a, church, and
walking into this church, you know,

discovered, you know, a lot of, of, of
amazing history within this church, and

a lot of, just amazing, uh, architecture,
history, began talking with, uh, with a

nun who was there playing the organ and
had a wonderful conversation with her.

and so learning all about these
different saints, these different,

people that influenced, the particular
church, the particular basilicas,

uh, was just an amazing experience.

And, and if you've ever been to Italy,
you know that the churches there and the

basilicas there are something to be seen.

We have some beautiful cathedrals and
churches here in the United States,

but to see some of these churches and
basilicas and cathedrals in Italy, was

an unbelievable, unbelievable sight.

And so, there's holiness all around you.

There are so many saints that we
don't even realize are out there.

and so this is a great opportunity, even
as a school leader, to introduce those

different people and different saints,
to our kids, you know, having a saint

of the day or having a, celebrating
a feast day or things like that, uh,

to really bring these saints to life.

You know, bring awareness to
our kids and our faculty and our

families is something that, just
is, is, is beyond my wildest dreams.

And so, there's so much out there.

Uh, it's such a holy, holy place.

Assisi is, is probably one
of the most beautiful cities

I've ever been in in my life.

to get to, Acutis is, is, is, laid to rest
and be there was an amazing experience.

And so there's so much
holiness all around you.

and just stopping to not pass by
any churches or not pass by any,

uh, basilicas or cathedrals as
Father Luke recommended to me.

is something that really
helped me learn that even more.

And I guess the last one I would
say, is to appreciate what you have.

Um, when you go to Italy, one of
the things that I was told going in

is, is that the hotels are not like
they are here in the United States.

most of the hotels are very small.

Most of them don't have air conditioning,
uh, and so when you're in a hotel room

that's maybe, I don't know, 12x12,
and the bathroom off to the side of

it, which is also really small, you
start to appreciate those things that

you have here in the United States and
those things that we take for granted.

And so, as you look at your
school, and you say these are

things that we really want to fix.

Maybe it's a parking lot
that needs to be paved.

Maybe it's a room that
needs to be fixed up.

Or something that needs to
be done, and you're trying to

figure out a way to get there.

Um, just appreciate first
and foremost what you have.

And yes, hey, there's
improvements that we want to make.

We're not just going to
rest on our laurels here.

We're going to make sure that we continue
to improve as a Catholic school leader.

But let's also be appreciative of
what we have within our schools, first

and foremost, to even allow us to
have a Catholic school for our kids

and our communities to be part of.

By being grateful and being appreciative
of those things that we have, I think

it's especially brings it to light when
we don't have those things or when we

see Some things that others may not
have that we just take for granted.

Like I said, uh, when you're in Italy in
June and you're in a hotel room that has

been closed up without air conditioning,
uh, it's a little uncomfortable.

And so, uh, but by doing that, learning
that, it just makes us appreciate the

things that we do have so much more.

So.

That's just a quick recap
of my trip to Italy.

Like I said that I was just so blessed
to be able to take and have the

opportunity to go with my daughter
and we spent this time over there.

It was a wonderful, wonderful father
daughter experience, but also made

some great friends along the way,
some wonderful experiences, some great

laughs with students from multiple
states that were part of our trip.

It's an experience I'll never forget.

It was a wonderful
experience, but by saying yes.

By getting that long trip to go
there, meeting the new people, and

hearing their story, breaking down
those language barriers, relying on

those people who knew a whole lot
more than me, saying yes to unexpected

opportunities, not trying to do too much.

Expecting the unexpected and
appreciating what we have and

finding holiness all around us.

I think this trip would make me a
better Catholic school leader and

I hope maybe vicariously living
through my trip will help make you

a better Catholic school leader.

Thank you so much for listening today.

Again, if you would, please like,
subscribe, share this with others.

If you've been to Italy and you've
had the same experience, I would love

to hear maybe some of your favorite
memories or some of the places you

visited that you really enjoyed.

just such a beautiful place.

It's someplace I can't wait to go
back to someday, and I hope you get

the chance to experience it as well.

So thank you so much for listening.

Uh, www.

elementaryadvancement.

com if we can help you with any of your
school's needs in terms of advancement,

leadership, um, organizational structure.

Anything along those lines to help
you with the business of education.

We're here for you and, take a look
at our mastermind groups as well.

Great opportunity to get part and get
connected to a community that can help

you grow as a Catholic school leader.