Jeffrey Zoul and Anthony McConnell know from personal experience that the role of school principal is one of the most challenging and the most rewarding in education. Using relatable stories and real-life examples, the authors reveal ten core values that will empower you to work and lead with excellence.

In the era of #metoo, &‘fake news' and &‘alternative facts' few would dispute that we face a global crisis around trust in the workplace and more broadly in society. When the CSIRO released its Australian National Outlook 2019, it identified trust as one of the future key challenges the nation faces in relation to governments, business, non-government organisations and the media. It is less likely that a company will be able to innovate and remain competitive if trust is low or absent. Prominent Australian educator Paul Browning faced this situation when the school he led became embroiled in The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Principled draws on Browning's first-hand experience of navigating an organisation through this highly public ethical crisis and outlines the challenges he faced as a leader. Bringing together evidence-based research and over 20 years of management experience, Paul Browning offers timely advice on the 10 key practices that can help executives build and develop skills to become more trustworthy leaders.

An inspirational and practical guide to leadership from the New York Times–bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, named one of Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans, is a renowned authority on leadership, whose insightful advice has helped millions. In his follow-up to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he poses these fundamental questions: How do we as individuals and organizations survive and thrive amid tremendous change? Why are efforts to improve falling so short in real results? How do we unleash the creativity, talent, and energy within ourselves and others? Is it realistic to believe that balance among personal and professional life is possible? The key to dealing with the challenges that we face is to identify a principle-centered core within ourselves and our institutions. In Principle-Centered Leadership, Covey outlines a long-term, inside-out approach to developing people and organizations. Offering insights and guidelines on how to apply these principles both at work and at home, Covey posits that these steps will lead not only to an increase in productivity and quality of work, but also to a new appreciation of personal and professional relationships as we strive to enjoy a more balanced, rewarding, and ultimately more effective life. “There seems to be no limit to the number of writers offering answers to the great perplexities of life. Covey, however, is the North Star in this field . . . without hesitation, strongly recommended.” —Library Journal

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Significant...The book is both instructive and surprisingly moving.” —The New York Times Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals. In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success. In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve. Here, from a man who has been called both “the Steve Jobs of investing” and “the philosopher king of the financial universe” (CIO magazine), is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.

WIN Time: Fearlessly Transforming Your School is an action-driven, practical leadership playbook and roadmap that provides a proven path to success so you can create your own WIN system in your school. The authors break down the steps of defining WIN and "what" and "why" you need to provide interventions and enrichments for your students. WIN Time will equip you with ideas and inspire you to take action to transform your campus. These very ideas transformed our school from low-performing to being awarded the prestigious National Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education for our progress in closing the achievement gaps. This book is designed to be a practical-based approach to leadership, designed around a proven learner-centered approach. The proven learner-centered "What I Need" intervention system is outlined in detail within the book and sets the stage for how this book is designed for your leadership solutions. Lessons learned from seasoned administrators are discussed and outlined throughout the book to help the reader reflect and apply scenarios to their own schools. Each chapter concludes with a problem-based scenario that allows the learner to walk through a provided roadmap to help design a solution to an issue in their school. This book will hopefully be "What You Need" to spark a thoughtful solution to an area of struggle on your leadership journey. True professional growth is acquired through reflection. We feel this book provides the spark for reflection in some common areas where we have struggled in our leadership experience. A true learner-centered school is composed of professionals with a passion for learning. If we, as educators, can model a love for learning, it sends a powerful message to the students. I have learned many lessons over the past twenty years as an administrator. Hopefully, some of the lessons shared in the book will make your journey a little easier. Remember to be your best self, build relationships, be grateful, lead with passion, and always model a love for learning. - Morris Lyon, Superintendent, and Author I believe successful schools must have strong and effective leaders. The fundamental purpose of writing this book is to assist you as you transform your school into a true, high-performing school and to help you improve student achievement and learning. I hope that by sharing our experiences and what we have learned, we can help you on this journey. - Stephanie McConnell, Principal, Author, and Owner of Principal Principles

The role of the school principal has become more complexed and demanding in recent years. Where once, the site administrator was viewed as no more than a building manager, the numerous tasks of the principal can now range from monitoring daily attendance of the students and staff, to mediating and advocating for at-risk students and their families. Few would disagree, for example, that at least part of the reason administrative vacancies are growing has to do with unrealistic working conditions. Nearly half of new principals leave their schools after three years and nearly 20 percent leave every year (Superville 2020). The need for effective leadership continues to be one of the most important issues facing many schools and districts across the nation. Parents are seeking schools in which their children are nurtured by competent and qualified administrators and teachers. In pondering over what I wanted to share in this book, I began to think of the many different articles and published writing on the subject of effective school leadership. Volumes have been written on what great principals do and don't do. And so, rather than write another book filled with the many ideas written about leadership theory, in this book, I instead recount the many life lessons I've learned regarding the characteristics of a principled leader. My goal is to share what I've learned, with the hope that I might inspire those of us who have been at this for a while as well as what I believe might be very useful ideas to new and future school administrators who desire to be principled principals. "Dr. Todd's easy-going personality and joy for leading comes through in every page, making it seem as if you're having a conversation while enjoying a cup of coffee with a colleague, a mentor, or a friend." -Dr. Clara M. Guerrero, Principal, NEW Academy Canoga Park "Dr. Todd shares heartwarming anecdotes about his personal and educational life that shaped his administrative leadership style. His subsequent principles, reflective of these experiences, can be useful to future administrators and educators anywhere." -Dr. Ronald W. Solórzano, Professor of Education, Occidental College "A Principled Principal is a glimpse into the daily application of beliefs and values in a school setting. Most compelling is that Dr. Todd shares his life's journey from humble beginnings through his milestones to the emergence of being an effective leader." -Dr. Marta E. Sanchez, Professor of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Loyola Marymount University

The principal's value system should guide every decision that is made in the school. This book shows that the ways in which school leaders influence student achievement are guided by their philosophical and cultural beliefs and their value systems.