I like a realistic snowman…
January at Talking Out of School and Stony Creek Strategy
Thank you for subscribing to Talking Out of School and for your interest in Stony Creek Strategy! If someone forwarded you this email, please join our newsletter community below - a free subscription gets you weekly wisdom about school leadership, right to your inbox.
A special thank you to those subscribers who came in on the ground floor last January!
It felt like a big risk to turn on paid subscriptions last January and it was such a delight to see support for this work come forward. To say thank you feels plain and inadequate but - thank you from the bottom of my heart!
New feature for paid tier subscribers starting in January 2025:
Top Five Tuesday
I have an ever-growing list of shorter topics - everything from optimizing reference checks to building better senior team agendas - that are too short for full articles so I’ve decided to turn them into this new feature. This will be five tips or links or thoughts on a topic, focused on delivering short, fun, practical goodness every Tuesday except for the Tuesday when the monthly happenings newsletter (which always includes one tip) is published.
(And remember - a paid subscription can be charged to your school’s subscription or professional development budget!)
The Talking Out of School podcast feed is coming soon!
I was already planning to return to adding audio narration of articles but I am very excited to announce that now I can post these narrations as its own podcast feed available in all of your favorite podcast locations. As a major podcast fan myself, I am super excited and I know many of you prefer to get your information through your ears, on the go. So stay tuned - more info soon!
January tip:
This one is simple: the spring will be here before you know it - get whatever changes you want to make for the 25-26 school year finalized now. Then you can start to prepare for what you need to do to set everyone up for success, as well as get any budget items included in that 25-26 budget the board of trustees is about to vote on. “Summer you” will be glad you did!
Speaking of next year… Leadership Coaching for 25-26
If you are considering leadership coaching for the 25-26 year, I’m looking to book a limited number of clients and I’d love to talk to you if you’re thinking about the next step in your leadership development. What are your hopes and your goals working with a coach and what are you looking for in pursuing the kind of personalized and specific professional development you can’t get from conferences or workshops. I view coaching as (1) a relationship where you (2) explore approaches to address immediate management dilemmas and (3) gain insight into your style, strengths and growing edge as a leader. Where do you want to go next in your professional journey?
As a head and senior leader, I had coaching relationships that were transformative to my work - and coaching relationships that never clicked into place. That was not the coach’s fault - it all came down to figuring out what I needed, realizing there were dilemmas I seemed to have on repeat and finding the right support to move to the next level. And that in and of itself can be the journey!
Generally, I offer year-long (or academic year) or six month engagements for individuals but I am happy to entertain shorter engagements depending on the situation.
Book a time here for a free 30 minute consultation or reach out over email at jfaulstich@stonycreekstrategy.com.
End of Year, Summer and Fall 2025 Workshop and Retreat Facilitation Bookings Open!
I have started booking Managing Complicated Parents workshops for both end of the year and Fall 25 back-to-school professional development - available both in person and virtually. (I renamed and tweaked the Effective Parent Communications workshop!)
I have also started booking Communications Skills for Trustees workshops for board retreats and new trustee orientations - available both in person and virtually.
Also booking for senior team or board retreats for summer and fall 25! More info as to my retreat facilitation approach here.
Upcoming Speaking Events
Honing Your Leadership Skills - Blackbaud Thought Leadership series webinar
With Peter Baron of Independent School MoonshotOS
January 14, 1pm (I’ll post the registration link in Friday’s newsletter)
Powerful Partnership: Skills and Tools for Head/Board Collaboration - NAIS Thrive 2025, Nashville, TN
with Moira Kelly, President, Explo
Will you be in Nashville at NAIS Thrive in February 2025? I’d love to see you! My presenting partner Moira Kelly and I were given a prime spot at 11AM on Friday, Feb 28th to present on the head/board partnership. I’m arriving around noon on the 27th and will be there all day on the 28th. If you’d like to have coffee and chat, just reach out.
More event booking in progress for the spring!