Jethro Jones on Breaking the Robot Principal Playbook
The Ruckus Report
Quick take: Most school leaders are trained to lead like emotionless robots. But students aren’t spreadsheets and staff don’t need a boss with a checklist — they need a human being. Time to reject the premise that logic alone should run our schools.
Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Danny and Jethro are back riffing on the idea that Ruckus Makers Reject the Premise as they work on their first collaborative book. Catch older Reject the Premise content on the Better Leaders Better Schools and Transformative Principal podcast feeds.
Breaking Down the Old Rules
Key Insight #1: Emotions Are Your Leadership Superpower
- What’s broken: The robot principal mentality that emotions should be locked out of work
- The shift: Embrace emotional intelligence as the very thing that makes leadership work — connection
- Impact: Leaders build authentic relationships instead of being terminators hunting for data points
Key Insight #2: From Sage on Stage to Compass Among Us
- What’s broken: Teachers controlling every learning moment as the “sage on the stage”
- The shift: Become a “compass among us” — pointing to true north while students navigate their own path
- Impact: Students take ownership of learning while teachers focus on what computers can’t do: the human connection
Key Insight #3: Discipline Matrices Are BS
- What’s broken: One-size-fits-all discipline charts that treat every situation identically
- The shift: Use the smallest possible intervention that changes behavior — sometimes just a look
- Impact: Fewer office referrals, more authentic relationships, and students who actually learn from mistakes
Quotable Ruckus
Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
- Tomorrow: – Check in with someone by asking “How are you?” instead of “How did your students do on that assessment?
- This Month: Replace one discipline matrix consequence with a restorative conversation
- This Semester: Audit your teaching staff — how many are still stuck in “sage on the stage” mode?
Connect & Continue
Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act
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