As school leaders and educators, your summer break often serves as a time for recharging, reflection, and strategic planning for your students and teachers to return to the halls. But what if your “game plan” for the upcoming year needs to extend beyond curriculum and schedules to include your most valuable asset: yourself?
We’ve all heard stories, perhaps even lived them, of leaders pushing themselves to the brink—skipping lunch, working through exhaustion, or
even feeling on the verge of fainting in the relentless pursuit of their mission. Scott A. Laliberte, author of The School Leader’s Game Plan: Strategies for Maximizing Your Capacity to Tackle Daily Challenges, understands this struggle intimately. Got questions about school leadership? Learn from Scott!
We were able to sit down with him and ask questions about school leadership, his go-to strategies, and his thoughts and motivations behind writing the book. He champions a revolutionary perspective that views personal well-being not as an indulgence, but as the foundational strategy for sustained, impactful leadership.
Dive into the why, how, and what-to-dos with Scott Laliberte.
Q: What’s one “go-to” strategy from The School Leader’s Game Plan that you use regularly—even in your own leadership work?
SL: Since writing the book, I have become much more aware of the benefits of actively managing my energy levels. Maintaining active awareness of and attention to my physical, cognitive, or emotional energy allows me to maintain levels of performance in more demanding tasks while conserving it in areas that are less taxing. This doesn’t happen intuitively—it demands self-awareness and commitment to optimal functioning, as opposed to just surviving difficult times. Just as is the case with competitive athletes, it’s about prioritizing my own output to optimize my performance over time.
Q: You outline several key “plays” leaders can use to manage their capacity. Which one tends to surprise readers the most or challenge their usual approach?
SL: Chapter 5 of The School Leader’s Game Plan addresses sleep and intentional de-escalation of our stress response. This seems to be an obvious area of need, but it is also an area frequently neglected by school leadership. Oftentimes, we take stress activation and sleep deprivation as just a ‘part of the job,’ and yet the long-term impact on our capacity and our health is dramatic. Sleep and stress are high-impact areas for school leaders, particularly if they’re just starting on an effort to address their capacity.
Q: What was your motivation behind writing the book? What gap did you see in leadership support that this book is aiming to fill?
SL: I believe there are quality books that address leaders’ well-being, and there are great books that offer strategies for increasing leadership performance. What I haven’t seen a lot of are books that connect the two. Wellness for wellness’s sake can sometimes be the first thing to fall off of a full calendar—whether due to competing priorities or a feeling that leaders’ own health is ‘indulgent’ and easily postponed. My hope with this book is that leaders come to recognize what athletes already know—that our bodies, minds, and spirits are our greatest asset in carrying out this crucial work over time.
About the educator
Scott A. Laliberte is a career educational leader, presenter, and leadership coach with over 35 years of experience. He believes passionately in the impact school leaders have on both student learning and the long-term sustainability of educational systems.
Are you concerned about your capacity as a school leader and educator? Remember Scott’s advice: You need to prioritize your own output. For more ways to cut down on exhaustion, improve school leadership, and optimize classroom time, check out these hand-picked resources!
