RG175 Blog

Being a search consultant often means working both sides of the same street: finding the best candidate for the school and finding the best fit for the candidate. It should be obvious that a school can be a wonderful place without its being right for a certain candidate; and the corollary is equally... read more

Superlative Country Day School is looking for a new Head of School. There at the end of the “God-on-a-good-day” list of wished-for traits for its new leader is “sense of humor.” Really? Indeed, Superlative’s earnest search committee is serious about this list of traits, and they’re deadly serious ab... read more

A good checklist can change everything. Atul Gawande gave us a great gift in The Checklist Manifesto when he documented the value of a checklist for performance. From industries as varied as aviation, health care, and skyscraper construction, Gawande proved incontrovertibly that a good checklist is... read more

In the rush to form a search committee, many board chairs fail to consider some important factors that can ultimately determine if the search is successful or not. When one considers that the selection of a new head of school and the subsequent management of the leadership transition is the most imp... read more

After her appointment in the late autumn, a future head was invited to a January board meeting of the school she would eventually be leading in July with sincere assurance from the search committee chair that she would be there just to watch and observe. It seemed like a helpful opportunity for the... read more

At the end of his lengthy tenure, a school head significantly reduced attrition, doubled the number of applications, increased enrollment by 55%, completed three successful capital campaigns, and helped his school become a “player” in a very competitive independent school market. Before he arrived,... read more