Mastermind Groups for School Leaders

​By Jenn David-Lang, Co-Facilitator of School Masterminds

School leaders are indispensable for school success, and yet they receive the least professional learning in the building. While schools were closed during the pandemic, I had an idea: why not involve groups of administrators in Masterminds, an online version of accountable, results-focused teacher PLCs? The term Masterminds was coined almost 100 years ago by author Napoleon Hill but has only recently found its way into the world of K-12 schools.

At the invitation of the Fordham Professional Development Resource Center for Religious and Independent Schools (PDRC), my colleague and co-facilitator, Mitch Center, facilitate Leading with Presence and Care, a mastermind group that engages educational leaders in conversations on problems of practice that they bring to the group and discussions on articles of critical education issues.  The one-hour meetings go quickly, following this structure:

• Check-ins – Everyone briefly shares a struggle or a win. Getting an inside view of how everyone is doing and what is going on at each other’s schools builds trust. Principals are rarely given space to share how they’re honestly doing without the need to put on their ‘principal face.’
• Goal sharing – In two-person breakout rooms, members report on a goal they committed to in a shared Google Doc at the end of the previous session. This provides continuity from meeting to meeting and keeps people accountable for actions to which they have committed.
• New content – Each session we share a one-page summary of ideas or research and everyone reads it silently. Recent examples include research on what makes an effective leadership team and in another we share five key mindset shifts needed for more equitable schools. We then facilitate a discussion of the ideas, sometimes regrouping into two breakout rooms, or participants fill out a shared graphic organizer.
• Think Tank – One member presents a real-life dilemma, including the background and context of the problem (one example: dealing with a new assistant principal who is not garnering respect from colleagues). Other members ask clarifying questions, and then the presenter remains silent while the rest of the team discusses the issue and suggests possible solutions. Finally, the presenter recaps those ideas and thinks out loud about the ones that seem most likely to work.
• One Big Thing (OBT) – Finally, we open a shared Google Sheet with a row for each member, and they write their biggest takeaways from the session or a commitment for what they would like to do with this new learning. This makes available to everyone the collective learning from the reading, discussion, and problem-solving. This is inspired by John Dewey’s insight that true understanding comes not from doing, but from reflecting on what’s been done.

When we examined the criteria for effective professional development compiled by Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues, we found that our Mastermind groups were meeting every one of them:

• Focused on content;
• Incorporating active learning;
• Supporting collaboration;
• Using models of effective practice;
• Providing coaching and expert support;
• Offering opportunities for feedback and reflection;
• Sustained over time.

While my co-facilitator and I have coached school leaders individually, we were immediately struck by the exponential power of coaching that comes from all members sharing their own learned strategies and diverse perspectives… It is the collective wisdom, energy, and passion that truly distinguishes Masterminds from other forms of PD for educational leaders.

​While the sessions have been particularly valuable during the disruptions of the pandemic, we will continue to run these groups in the new normal as a way to bring together groups of leaders for their own professional learning. We look forward to meeting you as part of the upcoming spring program of Leading with Presence and Care Mastermind Group.

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