Publics Schools Consulting, MI - 3 Keys to Keeping a Productive Attitude

Here are three keys to being more productive at work and at home.

1. Avoid the “I’ll be happy sometime syndrome.” In other words people who suffer from this malady are thinking that a better day will come when something in the future happens. For example they will be happy when:
•    they get a raise
•    spring finally arrives
•    they have their first child
•    their child starts school
•    their child finally graduates from college
•    when they go on vacation
•    when they retire

My point is, these people live their lives on “some day I’ll”. They  are always complaining about the present moment, and therefore, not capable of living in and enjoying the present moment.

2. Next avoid associating with members of the “Chicken Little Club”. These are the card carrying, dues paying bringers of doom and gloom. They will tell you about all the things wrong with your school system. They will go on and on about how bad things are, and how bad they are going to get.

3. Finally, remember there is no Lone Ranger coming to your rescue, but there are Tontos. What I mean by that is, there are people who will help you overcome the challenges your school district is facing. Tontos could come in the form of individuals on your team helping each other. It could come in the form of outside consultants that you hire. It could come from the business community. Tontos could come from a number of different places. My point is, there are people willing to help your school district,  but, no one who will just take away all you problems. 

Tom Borg Consulting, LLC works with public schools to help them increase student retention and

minimize student attrition. They do this through their consulting and training programs that  create better internal and external communication and a  more dynamic service culture. For more information on our services please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com

Public Schools Consulting - Keeping a Postive Sevice Attitude in Your School District

When it comes to sustaining a PSA, one thing for sure, thinking BIG is a lot better than thinking small. If you expect good things to happen and do what it takes to make them happen, chances are good things will have a much better chance of becoming a reality.

Many times what prevents a school district team from creating and sustaining a PSA environment is the individuals that play the “blame game.” One person from one department, looks at someone in another department and blames them for creating problems in their department. As a leader you must remind your team that “it’s not who is wrong, but what is wrong, and work together to find a solution to fix it.”

Tom Borg Consulting, LLC works with public schools to help them increase student retention and minimize student attrition. They do this through their consulting and training programs that  create better internal and external communication and a  more dynamic service culture. For more information on our services please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com

Public Schools Consulting - Watch Out for the News Media

The next area to be aware of, that can seriously affect your attitude in a negative way, is getting too much exposure to the news media.

A number of years ago I was the program chairperson for the Detroit Rotary Club. Being in Detroit, we had access to many major people of influence. On one occasion we invited the new editor and chief of the Detroit News-Free Press to come and speak to our club. He accepted and came and spoke to our group of business people. At the end of his talk he asked if there were any questions. One attorney in the group asked, “Why is it that your newspaper paints such a negative picture of the city of Detroit?”

The speaker, somewhat surprised by the question, took a step back, gathered his thoughts, stepped forward and gave this answer. “Well you see, what we do in our business is report on things that are unique. It just so happens that just about everything in Detroit that is unique is negative.”

That was his answer. Bad news sells; sad but true. It seems that the news media, be it, television, radio, on-line print or hard copy has a purpose, and that is to get as many people as possible to view, listen or read their news. The higher their subscription rate, the higher the fees that they will be able to charge their advertising clients.

It is not about providing the “news.” It is about providing the kind of news people will read.

Tom Borg Consulting, LLC works with public schools to help them increase student retention and minimize student attrition. They do this through their consulting and training programs that  create better internal and external communication and a  more dynamic service culture. For more

information on our services please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com

School of Choice-The Power of a Positive Service Attitude in Your School District

 Like all journeys of life, it starts from within. It begins with an attitude of realistic optimism. This means not dwelling on the past, but, looking ahead to the future and focusing on positive action in the present moment, that individually be taken by every member of your team. We refer to this as a Positive Service Attitude (PSA).

What is a good definition of a PSA? In the consulting and training programs we conduct, this is the first question we ask when we cover this topic. The answers we have received include:
“Looking for the best in every situation.”
“Having a ‘Can Do’ Attitude”
“Being a problem solver.”
“Looking at what could be, not what can’t be.”

Whichever way you slice it a PSA is going to position your school district to take advantage of the opportunities that come with change and transition. While everyone else is focusing on what they are losing, smart leaders help their team to focus on which opportunities are becoming available.

There are several benefits to having you and your team possess a PSA. Here are just a few.
    It is a more pleasant place to work.
    Students and parents like to be around people who have a “Can Do” attitude.
    Things get done more smoothly and effortlessly.
    Students and parents are attracted to and want to be part of this kind of school environment.

Between the optimist and pessimist
the difference is quite droll.
The optimist, the do nut she sees,
the pessimist, only the hole.

                 - unknown

Pessimists seem to enjoy it when things go wrong. They seem to have a rain cloud that follows them around. They seem to find glee in problems that overwhelm other people. As far as they are concerned, they are happily discontented with being negative about life.

On the other hand, the realistic optimist, despite what seems negative, looks for what is positive and then persistently takes action to get the kind of results that benefit all involved.

When one stops to think about what it takes to get and maintain a PSA, it is like using the analogy of an old fashioned balance beam scale to weigh beans. The more beans you place on one side the more it will tip it in that direction. So it is with a PSA. The more positives you put into your mind, the more it will cause your mental balance beam scale will tip in the direction of being positive. If you put more negatives into your mind, it will tip your mental scale in the direction of being negative.


Tom Borg Consulting, LLC works with public schools to help them increase student retention and minimize student attrition. They do this through their consulting and training programs that  create better internal and external communication and a  more dynamic service culture. For more information on our services please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com
 www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/lori/higgins

Student Attrition-Two Factors that Must Be Addressed by Public Schools

Two of the most important factors that must be addressed are the areas of attitude and action. Public school leaders and their teams must acquire and maintain the right attitude in response to the sea of changes in which they are immersed.

Dr. Hearsill Wilson said, “The things we do that we do not have to do will always determine what we are when it is to late to do anything about it.” In other words the things you and your staff do now will influence where you end up later. The choices and actions taken in the present moment will define where your organization will be in the future. 

Can your efforts totally change the direction of the movement of parents and their children to a school district other than yours? No, they can’t, but what you and your team can do, by thinking the right thoughts and making the necessary changes, is that you can keep many more students in your school district and attract new ones.

Whichever way things go in the future, the school districts who satisfy and even exceed the needs and wants of their parents and their children will be in far better shape than those school districts that do not.


Why is this so important? Because keeping students in your school district means revenue from the state. To understand the full impact this has, let’s look at what the lifetime monetary value of just one of your students really is.

Here is a formula that you can use for determining the lifetime monetary value of a student. In this scenario we will use the amount of $7,000 to represent the amount of state funding per student.

Determining the Lifetime Dollar Value of one Student:

     $7,000 per student per year  X  13 years = $91,000

Ideally you would like to retain that student for the full 13 years they are attending elementary, middle and high school.

When you take into consideration the potential financial contributions as a lifetime alumni, it could far exceed this amount of $91,000.

The loss of just 25 students in one year would equal $175,000. When you multiply that times the 13 years they would have been part of your school system it equals the staggering sum of $2,750,000.

Needless to say, it is imperative that you and your team do everything possible to exceed the expectations of your student and parent base and retain them as lifetime clients.

For more information on how Tom Borg Consulting, LLC can help your school district attract and retain more students, please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at:
www.tomborgconsulting.com

 2. Source: The U.S Postal Service Nears Collapse, Bloomberg Business Week, May 26, 2011
 gomasa.org

Student Retention - Public Schools Are In Transition

Public schools in the United States are in transition. Government funding has been and will continue to be cut. The expectations of the parents and their children have been changing. As all organizations that are in a transition, public schools can try and resist the changes or they can become part of the changes. The latter is a much better approach.

For more information on how Tom Borg Consulting, LLC can help your public school district attract and retain more students please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at
www.tomborgconsulting.com
gomasa.org

How to Build Relationships by Using Names

Do you know the names of all of your teachers in your school district? Or how about all of your volunteers who serve on your PTO? How about all the members of your city council? Why not? As Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” Research has shown that there is a particular chemical reaction that takes place in our brains when we hear our name.

An easy way to experiment with this idea is to walk into a crowded mall and call out in a loud voice a common name like Bob or Linda. You’ll see many people by the name of Bob or Linda turn around and look at you. Why? Because it belongs to them.

If you or your staff and teachers are not regularly using the names of your students, parents or community members, you are missing out on a strategy that can help build a lifetime relationship with them. An easy way to get and use the person’s name, if you don’t remember it, is to read it off of any available source. If they are phoning you, it could be off of your caller ID. In some cases they may even have a name tag they are wearing from their place of employment. When in doubt, simply ask. A simple way to do this is to use the fill-in-the-blank method. It would work like this: “Hello, my name is Tom Borg, and your name is …..?

Once you get that person’s name, use it in the conversation a few times. It helps to write down the names of the people you have trouble remembering. Review the list from time to time. You’ll be surprised and delighted at how easy you will be able to build a sincere rapport with the people you come into contact with on a regular basis.

By the way, a critical place to provide name tags to parents is at all school functions. One reason, is so you and your staff will know their names, but another major reason is that parents will be able to initiate conversations with the other parents.

I remember one particular school orientation session where the administrator did not provide name tags to the parents. Afterwards I asked why he didn’t provide them. His answer was that parents didn’t need to know each others’ names, and besides, it would take too much time to write them out or print them off in advance, not to mention the expense.
This is a good example of how to miss an opportunity to create a positive experience for the parents of your students attending a school function.

So in summary, names are important. Take every advantage of any opportunity to remember and use them with the people with who you come into contact. Your benefit will be that it will help you to build the relationships and support that will help your school district thrive.