CEO Notebook

CEO Notebook  

  • Communication
  • | Enrollment

Are We Obsessed with Quantification?

My first administrative role in education was in student affairs at The Ohio State University. As an undergraduate, I had enjoyed an incredible four-year residential experience, and I wanted to work in a profession that
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Human Resources
  • | Planning

Collegiality and Goal Clarity Abound at NBOA's Conference on the Business Office

Last week, more than 30 business officers from across the country gathered to discuss the issues of greatest importance among their peers at NBOA's Conference on the Business Office (COBO). "This event symbolizes the nat
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Governance
  • | Leadership

High-Performance School Leadership

One of the compelling ideas to come out of NBOA's Spectrum Project Report is that leadership, plain and simple, quite often makes the difference between a high-performing independent school and all others. The report, wh
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Leadership
  • | Technology

A Call for Digital Leadership

Here's a litmus test on online and blended learning in independent schools: Do you consider technology a tool that brings individuals together or keeps them apart?
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Culture
  • | Risk Management

The Break You Deserve, the Answers You Need

Sometimes our busiest times are also our best times for breaking out of routines. This is apparent to me now, as I (like all of you) merge into the jam-packed agenda of the new school year. Two weeks ago, while speaking
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Communication
  • | Technology

Have You Disrupted Your Classes?

At the 2011 NBOA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Michael Horn wowed hundreds of business officers with provocative predictions about technology's imminent impact on the delivery of education at independent schools. Y
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Human Resources
  • | Membership

Unforgettable Leadership

As summer ends, I find myself thinking about the school year ahead and, by association, the NBOA year ahead. More than the programs, webinars and new initiatives NBOA will undertake, I'm struck by a significant detail of
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Communication
  • | Culture

A Different Perspective

I have been surprisingly moved by the loss of Robin Williams. While my personal favorite performance was the Genie in Aladdin, I was most inspired by his 1989 role in Dead Poets Society. His character, English teacher Jo
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Culture
  • | Risk Management

Risking Failure, Rethinking Progress

Last month I attended the NACUBO Annual Meeting in Seattle. It was a coming home of sorts, as I worked for the association for nearly a decade before joining NBOA. Besides re-connecting with former colleagues and friends
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Technology

There's No Escaping This New Reality

I admit it. I've become a "tweeter." In fact, the other day an NBOA member commented, "You tweet A LOT." I took it as a compliment. Here's why.
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Budget
  • | Culture

Opened Books, Engaged Faculty and Staff

It takes a village ... you can’t go it alone ... swim with a buddy ... the list goes on and on. If we know we are stronger as a group than individually, why do we so often insist on keeping key information in the hands o
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Communication
  • | Employee Benefits

The "Different Time" of Summer

As summer approaches, many of you will see the energy and excitement of students replaced with the very different energy and excitement of campers. Your calendar for the coming months is filled with year-end closings, fa
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Culture
  • | Governance

A Model Partnership, by Way of Boston

"Only the head of school and the business officer leave school each night knowing the good, the bad and the ugly of what went on that day."
3 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Boards and Trustees
  • | Communication

Be Guilty of Leadership

I’ve been reading a lot of articles, blogs and social media posts to help identify information for NBOA’s own social networks—information that I think will resonate with our membership. Sometimes I come
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Leadership
  • | Planning

Being Decisive

Each year, as part of our ongoing professional development, the NBOA staff selects a book to read and discuss “book club” style. The book can be about association management, education, business or some other
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Budget
  • | Leadership

A College President's Commentary on Costs

As I discuss the future of independent schools with thought-leaders and colleagues across the country, we often look to higher education—particularly small, independent, liberal arts colleges—to see what less
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Communication
  • | Culture
  • | Professional Development

Ripley and Roam: a Doubleheader that WOW-ed

Between sessions at the 2014 NBOA Annual Meeting two weeks ago, I was stopped time and time again by attendees who thought Amanda Ripley’s Monday Opening Keynote was outstanding. Punctuating these hallway conversations w
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Culture
  • | Leadership

I’m Listening …

It is LOUD here in Orlando, but despite the cacophony of voices at the NBOA Annual Meeting this week, I am determined to listen to every conversation I join and every presentation I attend.
2 min read

CEO Notebook  

  • Technology

NBOA.org: Actually, It Is Different

NBOA recently launched a brand new website to better serve members and the independent school business officer community. Since NBOA’s inception in 1998, our website has been the most highly valued resource among o
2 min read