2023 Letter to the Ruckus Maker Tribe
π Hey Ruckus Maker, Iβm Danny and welcome to a π free π edition of The Ruckus Maker Newsletter. You can learn more about this newsletter here. When you become a paid subscriber you receive these benefits:
Micro-books (4000-8000 words) focused on how to Do School Differentβ’.
Stories and case studies of the worldβs most legendary Ruckus Makers of all time.
Tools and other resources that will help you produce positive results that will make you proud.
An ad-free version of the Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast β ranked in the TOP 0.5% shows in the world + bonus content not available on the regular podcast feed.
Coaching opportunities to take your ruckus making to the next level.
To The Loyal Members of Ruckus Maker Nation:
This is the 7th consecutive annual letter to Ruckus Makers. I started this tradition in 2017 as a way to update Ruckus Makers around the world and reflect on the year at Better Leaders Better Schools.
This practice is common for publicly traded companies, and although you donβt own shares of Better Leaders Better Schools, you invest something much more important that money: your time, attention, and effort β making a ruckus in education around the world.
Past letters:
Thank you for making 2023 the BEST year yet.
Where will you be in 2026?
In 2023 I completed my three year vision. Itβs amazing to see how much of it actually came true.
The process is simple: dream Β» execute Β» enjoy.
You throw a lot down when youβre considering the next three years. Some items rise to the top of importance and others fade away.
When working on a big vision itβs important to make sure itβs flexible and written in pencil, versus rigid and written in stone.
Trust the process.
A future post on OKRs and my updated vision will be coming to The Ruckus Maker Newsletter.
The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’
This is our flagship program helping leaders become even more effective and innovate β something I call Do School Differentβ’. More on that in the Category Design section.
We have grown to ELEVEN COHORTS, with a few exciting additions:
Two cohorts for women in leadership
One BIPOC focused cohort
And a cohort that meets Monday evening in Europe & Africa. Iβd love to launch cohorts in the future focused on leaders in Asia and one in Australia.
It has been two years since I left facilitating the mastermind cohorts. I wanted to prove that model worked and wasnβt dependent on me. I miss coaching/facilitating on a weekly basis, but I enjoy more that the mastermind is growing because the model works and the quality of our members β it doesnβt have to do with me!
How effective is The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’?
Iβve been told, βItβs not bragging if itβs true.β
That said, The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ is hands-down the best professional development available for Ruckus Makers who want to Do School Differentβ’.
How can I support such a claim?
Easy. I have the data to back it up.
According to our NPS, we provide a βworld classβ service.
NPS stands for Net Promoter Score. Youβve seen this before shopping online. A survey pops up and asks you to rank 1-10 how likely you are to recommend X product to a friend or family member.
Hereβs how Qualtrics describes the score:
As of writing this annual letter, 43 members have completed our 2023 survey.
1 member was a detractor π‘
8 members were passives π
34 members were promoters π€©
We need to collect data from 31 members, but these early results are very promising and something the BLBS team should be SUPER proud of.
Our members tell us itβs the best.
We ask our members the following questions on a 5-point scale (1 sucks and 5 is the best). Here are the results:
In the last 6-months, I can point to one (or more) meaningful ways my leadership has grown (4.6/5).
I regularly learn new ideas, approaches, tools, etc. that are helpful (4.6/5).
I feel that The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ is a safe space. I can "talk about what I need to talk about" without fear of consequence or judgment (4.9/5).
I value connecting and learning from my mastermind peers (4.9/5).
I am a more confident leader as a result of my Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ experience (4.7/5).
The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ is an essential part of how I grow as a leader (4.6/5).
Our members are outliers in the industry.
Iβll share a future post that details the qualitative data we collected recently that share what our members think of the experience in their own words.
The national average turnover rate for principals was around 16% going into the 22-23 school year. 0% of principals in The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ left their school last year.
A Texas study of 16,500 found that principals on average stayed at their schools:
Elementary School Principals: 4.96 years
Middle School Principals: 4.48 years
High School Principals: 3.38 years
Currently The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ members have stayed at their school an average of 5.11 years, yet again, beating a major benchmark.
They say that βthe proof really is in the pudding.β
I canβt remember the last time I ate pudding, but I can tell you The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ is incredible.
You really wonβt find a better leadership development program out there.
If you are growth-minded leader and consider yourself a Ruckus Maker, consider applying today.
And make sure you ask your district to support your membership!!!
Last week, I spoke to Jen who has been considering The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ for three years. She never thought of asking the district to pay, but this year she asked. The district said YES and we are thrilled to serve one more Ruckus Maker.
The answer is always NO unless you ask.
We have three levels of membership available:
If The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ is too much of a time or financial investment, then I recommend subscribing to this newsletter.
When you become a paid subscriber:
Micro-books (4000-8000 words) focused on how to Do School Differentβ’.
Stories and case studies of the worldβs most legendary Ruckus Makers of all time.
Tools and other resources that will help you produce positive results that will make you proud. These are usually reserved only for The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’ members.
An ad-free version of the Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast β ranked in the TOP 0.5% shows in the world + bonus content not available on the regular podcast feed.
Bonus podcast content that wonβt be released on the regular feed.
Coaching opportunities with Danny Bauer.
Not bad for just $20/month or $200/year. Thatβs very affordable and youβll be glad to have made the investment.
The Podcasts
The Better Leaders Better Schools podcast has unique 2,453,052 βuniqueβ downloads.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has created an industry leading way to measure downloads that is different than a βuniqueβ download. IAB started in 2019 from what I can see (who knew?!?) and my IAB downloads since 2019 are 1,574,222.
The show has obviously been a success so Iβve long stopped looking at these numbers (I used to obsess over them in the early days).
I now focus more on telling better stories and facilitating better conversations and itβs paid off.
Read the below screen shot from Libysn to see the difference between unique and IAB downloads:
Thank you for being a loyal listener and helping this show be such a success β€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
Sponsors
Organized Binder and TeachFX are still strong partners. They have been for years and I am so thankful for that continuous partnership.
We have one sponsor slot open and if you own a biz and are interested in advertising one of the worldβs most downloaded podcasts, you can learn more here.
Books
I teamed up with my favorite editor of all time, and now writing partner, Ariel Curry.
She was the editor of my first best seller: Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader.
Now, weβre on a mission to create books that are practical, to the point, avoid fluff, and get you a result.
You can read these new books in an hour.
And if you schedule a 3-4 hour βdeep workβ block of time, you can read the book and then implement the ideas for a positive result in a short amount of time.
We are targeting areas that are critical to Ruckus Maker success, but not taught in grad school or within districts.
So we wrote a book on effective 90-day entry plans β¦
And one on how to create a βremarkableβ 3-year vision.
By the way, when you become a paid subscriber to this newsletter, you get those books in their entirety:
Entry Plan Posts
3-Year βRemarkableβ Vision Posts:
5+ hours of coaching videos on creating your vision:
Iβll be posting future books here as well :)
Category Design
One coaching program I joined in 2023 is the Category Design Academy led by the Category Pirates.
You can see Iβve modeled my work here after them. Iβve been reading about Category Design for years and doing my best to implement the ideas.
But reading and taking action is not the same as being coached by the experts in a given area. Over the years Iβve learned there is tremendous value in coaching and cohort-based programs. So when the Category Pirates announced they started an academy, I jumped at the change to learn from the best and take my understanding/execution to the next level.
Two months in I can easily say this is the BEST investment Iβve ever made in myself.
Category Design is about changing the world and playing in a competition-free space.
Category Designers earn the majority of market share in a given industry (up to 76%). Think: Netflix, Uber, AirBnB.
Copycats come around: Hulu, Lyft, Vrbo, but they are always playing catch up to the category designer.
Hereβs how it looks in education:
Better Leaders Better Schools could compete in βexecutive coachingβ or βprofessional developmentβ in terms of mega categories.
Or smaller niches like βprofessional learning communitiesβ or βculturally responsive pedagogy.β
These are crowded spaces with tons of competition and proven leaders in each area.
But I donβt want to fight over limited opportunity. I also donβt want to do whatβs already been done.
I want to innovate, create, and dominate spaces that serve a very specific kind of educator: A Ruckus Maker.
Better Leaders Better Schools introduced the idea of βmastermindβ to education in 2016. Now there are a number of masterminds out there, but if you want the original, the best, and one that is constantly reinventing itself, there is only choice: The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’.
Now Iβm designing the category of Do School Differentβ’ which is essentially about shifts from an OLD to NEW way of thinking and educating.
I am very excited to partner with Ruckus Makers who want to make these kind of shifts (and more) on campuses and within districts.
Thereβs a meta lesson here too β¦
Category Design works for business (remember: Category Designers capture up to 76% of the market share in a given category).
Category Design will also work for schools.
Schools and districts often compete over students, staff, resources, and so on β¦
But the schools and systems of the future that apply a Category Design lens will create exponential results.
Reach out if this sounds exciting to you, me and the Ruckus Maker team are here for you π
Did I accomplish what I set out to do in 2023?
Yes and No.
We had great success in 2023, but looking back at last yearβs letter, the things I *thought* I wanted to accomplish werenβt really the priority.
I learned that one of my super powers is incredible intuition and vision. I kinda already knew that, but now itβs been validated. My Kolbe score is 3-3-9-3 ideal for visionary leaders and entrepreneurs.
Taking this assessment was a game changer because it game me permission to be me. The Koble report told me to lean more into my gut or βintuition.β
So I decided to do more of that in 2023 and for the most part it worked out quite well.
I got out of tracking every minute little detail (which I hated) and learned to paint in broad strokes and BIG IDEAS.
This is what works for me based on my personality, your Kolbe score (and strengths) are probably different. They key is to know who you are and be that version of you 100% of the time. No exceptions.
I encourage you to check out the Kolbe here. I donβt make any kind of commission if you follow that link. I am recommending it because itβs useful.
Some examples of the data you get back in your Kolbe report:
Whatβs in store for 2024?
Continue to innovate, add value, and grow The Ruckus Maker Mastermindβ’. Ideally, Iβd like an average of 5 leaders a month joining us. That would be 60 new leaders in 2024 for a total of 134 members. We could easily fit in the new members to our existing groups.
Host a live event in Nashville, July 12-14. More info coming soon β¦
Consistently add value here in The Ruckus Maker Newsletter by creating micro-books, tools, new podcast content, and coaching opportunities for paid subscribers. Make sure you subscribe today!
Hold speaking with an open hand and charge a premium when I do decide to travel β live events are truly my super power.
Begin Do School Differentβ’ design work with a few campuses or school districts.