Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators

For anyone in school leadership-or anyone who hopes to be-this book is a must read. Seasoned educator Laurel Schmidt tells it like it is about a principal's daily life. From the nitty gritty of hiring, evaluating, and firing staff, to navigating the intricacies of school politics, and managing crises in the glare of the media, she provides a long overdue tool to take control of your life as a school administrator.

Schmidt combines insight and humor with use-this-now practicality as she details creative strategies for surviving the daily grind, while honing your vision of a school that works. Follow her lead and learn how to:

• plant the seeds for your vision and maintain your course
• weed out the worst, hire the best
• nurture productive relationships with parents, board members, and staff
• cultivate effective strategies for improving instruction
• root out efforts to undermine your leadership
• stamp out stress with simple techniques that work at work
• master the communication glut-email, voicemail, and the in-box.

Gardening in the Minefield offers a refreshingly candid map through the landscape of leadership. As Schmidt confirms, it is a garden out there-if you know where to step.