What can a deejay teach us about the classroom? What does a superintendent do besides decide when to close school for snow? What makes someone a great teacher or a great principal? In this collection of essays, the author answers these questions by offering a model for compassionate, principled, and student-centered school leadership. In the process, this volume offers leaders a handbook for placing kindness, community, and diversity at the heart of successful education. Full of humor and resilience, the author's essays beam with as much range as they do insight. He dives right into issues like changing instructional standards, increased reliance on testing, and anxiety about social media in schools-and others-while providing collegial advice that new school leaders in particular will find indispensable. With an eye toward centering students, supporting teachers, and empowering communities, this book never loses sight of the human needs and connections that ultimately drive learning.