What Matters Most for School Leaders: 25 Reminders of What Is Really Important

Preface: Why This Book? Why Now?
Introduction: Some Things Never Change
1. What You Do Is Special
2. Primero Los Ninos: Children First
3. There Are No Throwaway Kids
4. Strong Schools Make a Strong Nation
5. Schools Are Sacred Places of Hope
6. Teaching is the Greatest Profession
7. Passion is the Engine That Drives School Leadership
8. What Matters Most Costs the Least
9. Schools Are Only as Strong as the Community Allows
10. When It's Your Own Kid, It's Different
11. That Pesky Golden Rule Still Works
12. Someone Has to Be the Grown-Up
13. Good Leaders Learn to "K.I.S.S." and Enjoy the Happiness of Subtraction
14. You Can't Have Too Much Integrity
15. Commonsense is Better Than a College Degree: The Grandma Test
16. Sometimes Kids Need Candy More Than Milk
17. A Chicken Doesn't Stop Scratching Just Because Worms Are Scarce
18. The Reverse Side Has a Reverse Side
19. The Best Leader Is a "Servant Leader"
20. Your Mother Didn't Raise You to Be a Bureaucrat
21. Politicians and Armchair Quarterbacks Don't Get It--So You Have To
22. If You're Not Having Fun, You're Doing It Wrong
23. Things Are Never as Bad as You Think They Are; and You're Braver, Stronger and Smarter Than You Imagine
24. You Work to Live, Not Live to Work
25. It's Worth It!
A Final Word: The Ouija Board Effect
Resource A: What Others Say About What Matters Most (In School and In Life)
Resource B: Other Books About What Matters Most
Resource C: Other Lasting Truths That Couldn't Be Squeezed Into This Little Book
Index

Robert D. Ramsey is a lifelong educator who has served as a "leader of leaders" in three award-winning school districts in two different states. His frontline experience includes positions a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, curriculum director, assistant superintendent, acting superintendent, and adjunct professor. Most recently, he has served as associate superintendent in the St. Louis Park (MN) schools, where every school has been designated by the federal government as a National School of Excellence. Ramsey is now working full-time as a freelance writer in Minneapolis.

"This compact guide of 25 fundamental insights and baseline beliefs offers a common-sense approach to school leadership, providing practical tips and strategies."