These articls are presented by Littleford & Associates in an attempt to provide relevant and important information to those who are concerned with providing an effective, efficient and economical educational atmosphere and experience.
We hope they are helpful to you.
This LETTER is an EXCELLENT INITIATIVE that enables heads to share your insight and wisdom with their Boards. I encourage you to keep these coming, and releasing articles that parallel the life cycle of schools (back to school, reenrollment, budget cycles, and etcetera) would be superb.
bySeth Hathaway, Head of School, Prince Avenue Christian School, Bogart, GA
Your article about head transitions was absolutely brilliant. Having just left a school, I can attest to the wisdom of every word of advice as well as the potential pitfalls that await the board of a school that is welcoming a new head. I almost felt that, unbeknownst to me, you had served as a consultant to the Board of my former school, as Trustees helped launch me onto my next school while welcoming my successor.
by Norm Colb, Head of School, Sage Ridge School, Reno, NV
- Renewing the Head’s Contract Or Benchmarking Mid-Contract October 15, 2024
- Head Evaluation Protocols Can Also Be a Potential Tool to Remove a Head of School September 26, 2024
- Why Take a Collaborative Approach to Faculty and Staff Salary and Benefits Systems Design? August 16, 2024
- PLANNING FOR YOUR NEW HEADSHIP WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS YOUR FIRST August 16, 2024
- MESSAGE TO BOARDS: DO NOT PANIC August 14, 2024
- WHY ARE CEO TYPES SO RARE ON OUR SCHOOL BOARDS? June 18, 2024
- Faculty and Staff Are Increasingly Feeling that Some Benefits are Discriminatory June 4, 2024
- What is “Political” and What is “Personal” about The Relationship of School Heads with their Chairs and their Boards? May 22, 2024
- Why is Head Tenure So Short? May 2, 2024
- The Head of School Search: Why Is Internal Succession Planning Working Better than External Succession? April 16, 2024
- Mobilize Your Parents For the Right Reason April 9, 2024
- Head of School Searches: Where Passion and Governance Meet February 27, 2024
- HOW YOU COMPENSATE TEACHERS HAS A PROFOUND EFFECT UPON THEIR BEHAVIOR OVER TIME February 20, 2024
- Faculty Compensation Continues to Roil the Waters January 20, 2024
- Head Compensation Tops the Charts January 20, 2024
- A Warning About Head of School Contracts January 20, 2024
- A Unique Predicament: Head Succession Following a Long-Term Head January 20, 2024
- The Basics of Healthy Board Governance: Honoring Channels and Boundaries January 20, 2024
- To Board Chairs Everywhere: Good, Unfortunate and Terrible Ways to End the Head’s Relationship with a School January 18, 2024
- A Warning About Head of School Contracts January 10, 2024
- WHAT IS A PHILOSOPHY OF COMPENSATION… AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? December 5, 2023
- Strategic Planning Initiatives Worldwide: What are Parents and Teachers Saying? November 2, 2023
- How Important is the Well-being of the Head’s Family to a Search? September 21, 2023
- How The Personality of a Board Chair Affects Board Governance September 21, 2023
- How to Engage Teachers in the Challenging Conversation about Money September 21, 2023
- Head Compensation Trends: Building a Retirement Asset Through Deferred Compensation Plans September 21, 2023
- Seeking The “Light” in the Polarized Environment in Independent Schools September 21, 2023
- Why We Will Have Failed Them: How to Regain Faculty Trust August 24, 2023
- Head of School, Stratford Hall School, Vancouver, BC, Canada, effective July 1, 2018 August 24, 2023
- Becoming And Remaining A Healthy Board: The Rules Of Engagement August 24, 2023
- Key Survival Factors for Independent Schools August 24, 2023
- How Political Capital Affects Executive Decision Making and School Culture August 24, 2023
- Director of Victoria Educational Organization (VEO), Hong Kong August 24, 2023
- Controversial Topics: 360 Evaluation and Executive Session August 24, 2023
- Strategic Governance Reduced to the Absurd: Lessons Learned August 24, 2023
- Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen and the Head was “Cooked”! August 24, 2023
- THE AWKWARD CONVERSATION: WHAT ABOUT MY COMPENSATION? August 24, 2023
- Short Term Solutions Can Lead to Long Term Problems August 24, 2023
- The Impact of the Pandemic on Mission and Governance August 24, 2023
- New Heads Arriving and the Dangers Ahead August 24, 2023
- Performance Bonuses for Heads or Not? August 24, 2023
- Salary Systems in Independent and International Schools August 24, 2023
- Marketing the Mission to Full Enrollment August 24, 2023
- The Entry Challenge August 24, 2023
- The Whole Package August 24, 2023
- The Key Questions to Ask when Undertaking Strategic Planning August 24, 2023
- The Importance of Healthy Faculty Cultures August 24, 2023
- Why Heads are Wary of Executive Sessions August 24, 2023
- Never Ignore Head Compensation Planning August 24, 2023
- John Littleford Featured in Taipei American School’s Fall 2019 Window Magazine August 24, 2023
- When the Board Becomes the Problem August 24, 2023
- Building Morale: The Importance of STAFF not Only Faculty Compensation August 24, 2023
- Head Search Committee Behaviors and How They Affect Outcomes August 24, 2023
- Healthy Boards and Strategic Planning Go Hand in Hand August 24, 2023
- Engaging Independent School Parents in the Time of Covid-19 August 24, 2023
- The Search…The Transition… and then the Succession August 24, 2023
- Mission Based Compensation: THE Key to Financial Sustainability August 24, 2023
- "Managing School Climate-And Not Letting It Manage You!" August 24, 2023
- Common Mistakes In The Search Process August 24, 2023
- The Core Principles Of A Successful Search: Advice For Boards And Heads August 24, 2023
- The Head Search, School Culture and Trust in the Consultant August 24, 2023
- Fascinating Facts About Internal Succession August 24, 2023
- The Search and the Departing Head: Valued or Forgotten? August 24, 2023
- Doubts At The Altar: When Searches Fail August 24, 2023
- Retirement Planning For Heads Of School: Some Useful Tools To Get There August 24, 2023
- Powerful Elements of the Head Search Process: The Risks of Transitions August 24, 2023
- Every Board Has a “Personality” August 24, 2023
- Up to 85% of Your School’s Budget August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning: Taking Appropriate Risks August 24, 2023
- What IS a Philosophy of Compensation? August 24, 2023
- Faculty Salary System Designs: Becoming More Innovative August 24, 2023
- What “Rogue” Board Members Can Accomplish August 24, 2023
- Board Structures: The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly August 24, 2023
- Head of School – Chinese International School in Hong Kong – Profile August 24, 2023
- Compensation, Collaboration and Culture: A Winning Story August 24, 2023
- Premature Dismissals: Overlooking Head Transition August 24, 2023
- The Next Generation Of Heads August 24, 2023
- Understanding Faculty And School Cultures August 24, 2023
- Improving Faculty Cultures: Touching The Heart And Soul Of Schools August 24, 2023
- Unhealthy School Climate: Common But Seldom Improved August 24, 2023
- Why a Leadership Coach?* August 24, 2023
- The Governance Game III: The Importance of Transitions August 24, 2023
- Mission “Tugs” August 24, 2023
- Following a “Founder” and Can You Survive? August 24, 2023
- The Theory AND Practice of Board Governance August 24, 2023
- The STILL Sad State of Head Departures August 24, 2023
- Section 4958 – “Intermediate Sanctions” August 24, 2023
- Threading the Needle: Addressing Faculty Compensation Challenges While Avoiding Major Risks August 24, 2023
- IT, Brutus! August 24, 2023
- School Cultures: An Interesting Model And Then Some August 24, 2023
- Compensation And Tuition Setting: The Message Is Mixed August 24, 2023
- Beneath The Surface: What The Numbers Reveal August 24, 2023
- More Marketing Bang For The Buck August 24, 2023
- Beneath the Surface: Trends in International Schools August 24, 2023
- Branding is Powerful: Proven Strategies August 24, 2023
- Is It "The End"? And If So, Then What? August 24, 2023
- Strengthening Parent Associations August 24, 2023
- How To Get A Handle On Controlling Expenses And Increasing Income In Difficult Economic Times August 24, 2023
- The Qualities That Schools Desperately Need In A Board Chair August 24, 2023
- The Need for Bi Lingual Boards and Heads: Understanding and Sharing a Common Language in the Board Room August 24, 2023
- Board Policy Manuals: When Do They Create Problems? August 24, 2023
- Head Transition/Entry Plans: Risks And Opportunities August 24, 2023
- Managing Crises: Dealing With The Unexpected August 24, 2023
- Board Governance And Teacher Evaluation: Where Do The Two Meet? August 24, 2023
- Broadening Governance Training: A Lesson to Be Learned August 24, 2023
- Effective Coaching For Heads Of Schools And Board Chairs: Cases Of Encouragement August 24, 2023
- Which Comes First? Search Or Governance? August 24, 2023
- How To Fire the Head, AND More than Once! August 24, 2023
- The Strategic Planning Process: August 24, 2023
- Protecting Our Schools Through Strategic Planning August 24, 2023
- The Strategic Decision: Choosing a Planning Process that Fits the School's History and Culture August 24, 2023
- A Mission That Resonates in a Soft Admissions Market August 24, 2023
- Managing The Bottom Line: August 24, 2023
- Profit Centers: Has Your School Tapped These Revenue Sources? August 24, 2023
- Income Opportunities In Tight Economic Times August 24, 2023
- The Nine Sacred Cows Of Financial Management: August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning: Leading and Not Following the Process August 24, 2023
- Fall Out from Strategic Planning August 24, 2023
- Transitions, Strategic Planning and.. Failure: How to Avoid the Trap August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning And Why The Process Generally Frustrates Boards August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning: A Wise Political Investment August 24, 2023
- Efficient And Effective Strategic Planning August 24, 2023
- When Schools Go to War August 24, 2023
- Who Fires The Head? August 24, 2023
- The 20% Rule August 24, 2023
- Why Board Chairs Serve? August 24, 2023
- The “Ji Huey” Moment: Turning A Crisis Into An Opportunity August 24, 2023
- The Boards You Should Not Emulate August 24, 2023
- The Value Of Age Induced Wisdom August 24, 2023
- Developing Healthy Board Governance: What to Do about the Parent Driven Board August 24, 2023
- The View From 50,000 Feet: The Perspectives Of Executive Directors Of Independent And International Associations Of Schools August 24, 2023
- Intelligent Governance In Challenging Economic Times August 24, 2023
- Managing The Errant Trustee August 24, 2023
- Elephants in the Board Room August 24, 2023
- Drama in the School House and the Board Room August 24, 2023
- Leadership Transitions: Strategies To Support A New Head And Maintain School Stability August 24, 2023
- Head Evaluation: The Risk Of Not Doing It Or Doing It Poorly August 24, 2023
- When And Why Teachers Decide To “Organize” August 24, 2023
- Mission And Money: Or How To Make The Most With What You Have August 24, 2023
- Designing A Politically Safe Process For Changing Faculty Compensation Systems August 24, 2023
- Update on Performance Pay: Gaining National Attention August 24, 2023
- Teacher Evaluation And Accountability: When Entitled Parents Meet Entitled Teachers August 24, 2023
- “Fuzzy” Salary Systems August 24, 2023
- The Explosion of Extra Pay August 24, 2023
- Fortress Head, Fortress School: Attacks from Within and Attacks from Without August 24, 2023
- Strong And Stable Boards: Wise, Committed And Loyal! August 24, 2023
- Transitions, Strategic Planning and.. Failure: How to Avoid the Trap August 24, 2023
- Board Governance: Where Is The Baby Elephant? August 24, 2023
- “Extreme” Board Behavior But Sometimes The Norm August 24, 2023
- Problem Trustees ( And How to Help Them): Part II August 24, 2023
- Dealing with Problem Trustees (Or Their Problem Spouses) August 24, 2023
- Making (Or Breaking) The Chair/Head Partnership: August 24, 2023
- The Longevity Of Heads And The Effectiveness Of Schools August 24, 2023
- The Role of the Chair: The Promise and the Price August 24, 2023
- The Risks And Stress Of Transition August 24, 2023
- Yes: A Successful Model of Teacher Evaluation – The Importance of Leadership, Culture, Attitude and Training August 24, 2023
- The Faculty Salary Challenge: Not Just How Much, But How? August 24, 2023
- Trends from the Trenches – Patterns in Faculty Benefits August 24, 2023
- The Professional Growth "Trap" August 24, 2023
- Faculty Salary Systems: Rapid and Systematic Changes in Schools Worldwide August 24, 2023
- Performance Pay Can Work In Independent Schools August 24, 2023
- Leadership Of Schools And The Longevity Of Heads August 24, 2023
- The Governance Game – Part I: What’s At Risk For Independent Schools August 24, 2023
- The Governance Game – Part II: The Role of Change in School Instability August 24, 2023
- The Governance Game – Part IV: Board Subcommittees – Their Role In Supporting The Mission and Stability of the School August 24, 2023
- Board Structure: The Plight of the International School August 24, 2023
- Evaluation Of Boards: Self-Reflection In A Healthy School August 24, 2023
- Faculty Salaries: Doing More Than Talking About It August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: The Process, The Product and the Reporting August 24, 2023
- In Defense Of Head Compensation August 24, 2023
- The Truth About Statistics: Why Head Compensation Information Fails to Deliver August 24, 2023
- The Intermediate Sanctions Act: The "Next Level" of Compliance August 24, 2023
- Income Opportunities In Tight Economic Times August 24, 2023
- The Safe Harbors Act: The Necessity Of Demonstrating Annual Compliance August 24, 2023
- What Is “Deferred Compensation?” And Why Do So Many Heads Have It Or Want It? August 24, 2023
- Salary System Modeling: Thinking Through Your Decisions August 24, 2023
- Selling Your Benefits: What Teachers Need To Know August 24, 2023
- The Danger Of Inequities In Faculty Workloads August 24, 2023
- Ensuring Rational Faculty Salary and Benefit Systems: Time for a Dialogue August 24, 2023
- The Latest In Faculty Compensation: Allocating Resources Among Your “Buckets” August 24, 2023
- Persistence Pays Off August 24, 2023
- In an Economic Downturn: Intelligent Ways to Make Compensation Go Further August 24, 2023
- Mission Based Compensation and Flexible Pay: The Challenge Confronting Boards, Heads and Teachers August 24, 2023
- Performance, Compensation And Evaluation: They Are Always Related August 24, 2023
- Recent Trends In Faculty Compensation – And Some Cautionary Notes August 24, 2023
- Faculty Salary System Designs: Tradition and Innovation August 24, 2023
- What About "Merit" Pay? August 24, 2023
- A Changed World For Head Recruitment And Compensation August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: The Race to the Top August 24, 2023
- The Importance Of The Head Compensation Process August 24, 2023
- Surprising Facts And Figures About The Head Compensation Process August 24, 2023
- Tools to Recruit, Retain and Reward Heads of School: Why They Are Even More Important Now August 24, 2023
- The Big Dig: Digging Your Way Through The New Form 990 August 24, 2023
- Ties That Bind or Wound: The Power of the Contract and the Contract Process August 24, 2023
- Executive Compensation: The Process, Pitfalls And Opportunities August 24, 2023
- The Need To Focus On The Intermediate Sanctions Act And Conflicts Of Interest August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: Understanding The Changing Rules August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: It Is Difficult To Be Your Own Advocate August 24, 2023
- The Politicization of Boards on Re-opening our Schools August 24, 2023
- Navigating a Head of School Search in Rough Waters August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning is Crucial but Proceed with Caution! August 24, 2023
- Board/Head Collaboration: The Stress Points and the Rewards August 24, 2023
- Nurturing Your Head: A Five-Point Paradigm August 24, 2023
- Governance in the Trenches: Some Solutions August 24, 2023
- Marketing the Mission is More Important than Ever August 24, 2023
- How Much Communication is Too Much? August 24, 2023
- The Pandemic: What We Will Have Learned August 24, 2023
- Is the Timing Right for Strategic Planning (or Not)? August 24, 2023
- The Governance Perspective: Time to Renew the Head’s Contract: Well, Not So Fast August 24, 2023
- Transparency, Collaboration and Engagement: Boards, Faculty and Administrators in Salary System and Benefits Design August 24, 2023
- Managing Stakeholder Discontent: A Rising Tide August 24, 2023
- Walking In the Shoes of a Head of School August 24, 2023
- How to Provide Teachers with Fairness and Predictability of Compensation…and the Ability to Influence Their Own Future Earning Power August 24, 2023
- For the Skeptics on Faculty Compensation: Salary Systems Compared August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: The Law and the Process August 24, 2023
- The Parental Onslaught on School Governance and Its Toll on Heads of School August 24, 2023
- Managing Head of School Transition and Succession August 24, 2023
- Head Compensation: The Lay of the Land August 24, 2023
- Succession Planning: The Time Has Come August 24, 2023
- The Vaccination Wars Continue: How Do our Schools Respond? August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning: Managing Rising Stakeholder Voices and Expectations August 24, 2023
- What Did We Forget and Why? The Consequences of Rapid Board Turnover August 24, 2023
- Following a Long Term Head August 24, 2023
- WHAT OUR TEACHERS VALUE August 24, 2023
- Executive Coaching is not Small Potatoes August 24, 2023
- How Can We Turn the Corner Towards Better Governance Practices? August 24, 2023
- To Boards of Trustees: Is It Time for a Head’s Sabbatical? August 24, 2023
- Faculty Anxiety and Disgruntlement Can Be Turned Around August 24, 2023
- Published or Non-Published Salary Systems: The Pros and Cons August 24, 2023
- WHAT ABOUT THAT HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH? August 24, 2023
- Some Key Indicators of Strong or Weak Board Governance Behaviors August 24, 2023
- Yes, Our Teachers Deserve More Money but HOW to Deliver It? August 24, 2023
- What happens when salary systems become corrupted? August 24, 2023
- Salary Mania: The Pace of Increases in Teachers’ Salaries is Moving Faster than the Philosophy Behind Them August 24, 2023
- HOW DO YOU SPOT A “ROGUE” BOARD MEMBER? August 24, 2023
- HOW TO PARTNER EFFECTIVELY WITH PARENT ASSOCIATIONS August 24, 2023
- A Major Risk in Strategic Planning: What If Your Mission May Have Changed? August 24, 2023
- The Board Subcommittees You Need (and the Ones You Don’t) August 24, 2023
- Head of School Compensation: The Gap Grows August 24, 2023
- RECRUITING MISSION DRIVEN TEACHERS August 24, 2023
- Head of School Evaluation and Unexpected Consequences August 24, 2023
- Strategic Planning and a Cautionary and yet Upbeat Tale August 24, 2023