We're delighted to welcome you to the inaugural class of a new monthly offering. J.Marie and her trusted colleagues will share thoughtful leadership and communications expertise in a rotating selection of timely and relevant topics on the fourth Friday of each month. 

This month, we're going to look at strategies to help you intentionally and meaningfully engage your community during budget development season, with a special focus on how to navigate budget uncertainty and reductions.

We often undervalue good self-care because our culture places a greater emphasis on “doing things” / looking busy than it does on our underlying state of BEing. That’s unfortunate. Ultimately, the following equation is at play: Quality leadership makes the world a better place; good self-care supports quality leadership; therefore good self-care IS a strategic leadership decision.

This standing 4th-Wednesday session will give leaders an opportunity to learn, talk about, and practice a variety of techniques for brain management, self-care, stress reduction, and aligning our attention and action with our intentions – all with an eye toward maximizing our ability to be a positive influence within our circles of leadership, care, and service.

We often undervalue good self-care because our culture places a greater emphasis on “doing things” / looking busy than it does on our underlying state of BEing. That’s unfortunate. Ultimately, the following equation is at play: Quality leadership makes the world a better place; good self-care supports quality leadership; therefore good self-care IS a strategic leadership decision.

This standing 4th-Wednesday session will give leaders an opportunity to learn, talk about, and practice a variety of techniques for brain management, self-care, stress reduction, and aligning our attention and action with our intentions – all with an eye toward maximizing our ability to be a positive influence within our circles of leadership, care, and service.

School board members are often in the hot seat these days, and not just during formal meetings. In this two-hour session, we'll cover communication skills and strategies tailored specifically to help you grow your capacity and confidence as a school director.

We'll explore personal communication and leadership skills as well as organizational / process-related strategies that set your board up for positive, productive meetings. In particular, we will focus on strategies that support your ability to navigate conflict with dignity, efficiency, and civility.

Public agencies are ripe with the need for meetings. From routine staff, cabinet, and leadership team meetings to board, strategic planning retreats, open houses, and large public meetings, it can feel like leaders are always in meetings.

Basic, easy to implement facilitation techniques can elevate your meetings from dreaded calendar-fillers to productive, efficient, engaging opportunities to think well together and actually move work forward. Done well, meetings can actually energize your work! With more than 20 years proven experience bringing joy and effectiveness to meetings, J.Marie will help you seriously elevate your skills.

When most of us think about leadership communications, we usually focus on what’s being said. But listening effectively is a critical component of a leader's ability to build and/or rebuild trust. Taking it one step further, a good leader must also reflect back what they’ve heard, specifically noting how constituent priorities have helped influence their thinking. THAT is the secret in the sauce that elevates your listening from informative to truly strategic and trust-building.

You know that effective communication is vital for leaders to achieve any of your organizational goals. Developing a communication plan is an important first step, but it can feel overwhelming and time-consuming. The truth is that communication plans do not need to be large, complex documents. In fact, in organizations without a public relations professional on staff, a simple plan is more likely to be actually used.

Effective communication is critical to successful leadership. When communication skills are noted as an area of focus for professional improvement, J.Marie is often called in to support leaders as they build their skills and deepen their capacities.

We know how it goes. In smaller school districts, everyone is “wearing multiple hats.” This session is specially designed for anyone who is tasked with the communications function even though it is not their area of professional training.

Learn the basics of good organizational communications, and how to communicate effectively with your constituent (audience) needs in mind. Walk away with strategies and tips to get the most benefit from every message you write, how to bring consistency and efficiency to your efforts, and a handful of hot tips for navigating critical incidents with calm competence.

When hot topics catch your community's attention – things like disciplinary action, legal issues, labor/management conflict – one of the hardest parts is figuring out what to say when you can't say much. "No comment" just won't do, but what can you say?

The way you navigate the first 24 to 72 hours of a critical incident sets the tone for how your schools will get through the crisis.

When a serious issue is unfolding, staff and families are mad or traumatized, and the media is calling ... you want to convey calm competence. Handle the situation poorly, and the negative effects could live on for years. Handle it well, and your organization can actually grow stronger.