What Mid-Level Leaders Need Most from Their Principals
Mid-level leaders don’t need more meetings or more initiatives. They need principals who are close enough to feel their work.
Not perfectly.
Not constantly.
Just consistently, about 80% of the time.
When mid-level leaders feel supported, trusted, and developed, everything shifts. They lead with more clarity, take stronger ownership, and build more effective teams.
So what makes the difference?
Not more oversight.
But proximity, consistency, and trust.
In this blog, we highlight four key moves principals can make to better support and grow their mid-level leaders.
Because when mid-level leaders are developed well, they don’t just manage the work.
They elevate it.
Why Principals Should Teach Every Now and Then
As the principal’s role continues to expand, instructional leadership can quietly move to the margins. This post explores a simple but powerful idea: principals who teach stay closer to the core work of schools.
When leaders step into the classroom, they experience the curriculum, the pacing, and the challenges students and teachers face every day. That proximity sharpens feedback, strengthens credibility, and keeps decisions grounded in student learning.
If the leader is the lever, staying connected to teaching and learning matters.
The Power of Consistency: Why Small Daily Actions Drive Big School Improvement
PIVOT explores why small, repeatable actions matter more than perfection for school leaders. Drawing on real coaching experiences and the idea of the “80% rule,” PIVOT shows how principals who consistently focus on the right work, classroom visits, feedback, PLCs, and follow-through, build credibility, strengthen culture, and drive meaningful improvement over time. The message is simple but powerful: real change happens when leaders stop chasing perfection and start showing up, steadily.
The story behind our name: Why and How We PIVOT
More than an acronym, our organization’s name represents one of the core skills that great school leaders need. In our newest blog, we explore how developing these skills are how we support leaders to pivot their leadership and their schools towards success.
PIVOT’s First Years: What We’ve Learned After 2 Years
When PIVOT launched its first principal cohort in 2023, our goal was simple: strengthen school leadership to drive student success. Two years later, that goal has evolved into a movement grounded in learning, reflection, and measurable results.
In our latest insights post, we share what these first two years have taught us—about the power of community among school leaders, the critical need for people leadership development, and the tangible outcomes that follow when principals grow. From improved student achievement and teacher retention to stronger school cultures, the data tells a clear story: when leaders thrive, schools transform
Five Ways Principals Drive Student Outcomes
One of the most frequent questions we get here at PIVOT is, “Why principals?” What does a school get by developing its leadership that it can’t get from investing in other areas? While interventions at every level have their place in schools, we’ve chosen to work with principals because of our own experience.