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School leadership, streamlined.

We help administrators eliminate unnecessary work and create more efficient, effective systems school-wide.

Enroll in this course now

You can reduce staff workloads WITHOUT sacrificing the quality of instruction!

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The ever-increasing demands on principals & teachers are NOT sustainable.

40 Hour Leadership will help your admin team figure out how to cut through bureaucracy and inefficient processes, so everyone can focus on what TRULY makes an impact for students.

We believe a procedure is not best for kids if it causes the adults in the building to quit or burn out and underperform. If we want to reduce the teacher attrition crisis, we have to center wellbeing and work-life balance. So, we identify the overlap:

What's Best For Kids / What's Best For Teachers

Fortunately, great teaching and school leadership is NOT achieved by working harder or putting in longer hours...rather, by prioritizing what's most impactful. 

The “40 Hour” in our program name refers to getting the bulk of your core tasks done during the contractual workweek (which is around 40 hours for teachers and slightly more for admins).  We help you ensure that any additional work hours are planned in a sustainable way and focused on tasks that make a meaningful difference.

YOU can take unnecessary work off the plates of staff and your administrative team, creating expectations that are reasonable and sustainable...WITHOUT sacrificing the quality of instruction.

Learn how to free up time for teachers’ most impactful practices, and create sustainable workloads through a humanized school culture centered on wellbeing.

40 Hour Leadership is for everyone doing leadership work at the school level

* Principals
* Assistant principals/vice principals
* Guidance counselors
* Those who unofficially take on administrative duties


Your enrollment in the program includes the entire team (up through 3 administrators) so you can work together to create change.

An investment of

7-10 hours

will transform your entire leadership philosophy

Work at your own pace with forever access to the course 

Simply read the PDF or listen to the MP3 for each module. We'll guide you through individual and admin team exercises to create and implement your plan.

This is a 60 minute investment of time to give you a shared vocabulary and vision of what’s possible prior to working out the specifics of how to adapt the ideas for your school and implement them. You can read the PDF or listen to the MP3 version. Use the reflection questions at the end to prepare you for a team discussion in the next module.

This is a 120 minute investment of time to help you identify where teachers' time is being spent currently and where you’d like staff to focus in the future. With your admin team, you will be uncovering the time cost of various school initiatives and weighing priorities to create a shared vision and united front. This is also a time to unpack your thoughts, concerns, and adaptations for the mindset module content.

This is a 60 minute investment of time. Read (or listen to) the strategies for building rapport, protecting planning time, reducing time spent on email and meetings, etc. Make notes about any ideas that may be workable for your school to help address the problems and priorities you uncovered in Module 2.

This is a 60-90 minute investment of time to help you find the quick wins that are possible right away. Share the notes you’ve made from the last module, and brainstorm alternatives to school norms that are most efficient and effective. Create a plan for tackling simple things that improve morale and gain momentum for more difficult long-term changes later on.

This is a 60-90 minute investment of time to help you tackle the larger problems in your school, including district mandates and bureaucratic expectations that create unnecessary work. In this final step, you will ensure that the start of long-term solutions are in place.

BONUS #1: A Target Number Planner to help you decide how to allocate your own work hours each week

This process will help you decide at the start of each week when you will go in early and when you will stay late so that school doesn’t expand to consume every free moment.

BONUS #2: A list-making system to help you organize and prioritize your own tasks

This will enable you to plan what you’re going to work on in each time block. The lists you’ll use are part of the same system 40 Hour teachers and instructional coaches are trained to use through our programs so everyone has shared processes and vocabulary.

BONUS #3: A time audit system for your own tasks to uncover where to streamline

Similar to the time audit you conduct in Module 2 for your teachers' time, this exercise will help you figure out where your own time is slipping away and how to focus more of it on what truly matters.

BONUS #4 Tips for creating more efficient systems and processes

Use this resource to help you brainstorm low-hanging fruit and long-term systemic change in various aspects of your daily and school routines.

BONUS #5: Ongoing access to a private message board community

Use the discussion forums to ask questions of a 40 Hour Leadership Coach and get input from other administrators. These conversations are held in our own network (not on social media) and you can participate with a nickname if you’d like to stay anonymous.

BONUS #6: Monthly meeting templates with guiding questions for your admin team to discuss progress and make adjustments.

We provide the 30 minute meeting outline and agenda each month for you, so that your team can circle back to ideas, implement change over time, and make sure you are approaching this work through a long-term lens.

BONUS #7: An ever-expanding collection of 10 minute trainings on productivity, work-life balance, supportive school culture, and effective leadership

These resources are available in video, audio, and PDF form to help solve your biggest administrative problems. We also include discussion questions to help you take action on the trainings with your team.

Be the start of a true reimagination of school.

The entire program is released as soon as you join, and you can work at your own pace.

Option 1

$599

  • 40 Hour Leadership course for the entire admin team (up to 3 people)
  • Discussion community

Option 2

$2,799

  • 40 Hour Leadership course for the entire admin team (up to 3 people)
  • Discussion community
  • 4 private hour-long virtual consulting/coaching sessions for your team which you can schedule anytime over the next 12 months

Option 3

$5,799

  • 40 Hour Leadership course for the entire admin team (up to 3 people)
  • Discussion community
  • Private monthly team virtual consulting (10 hour-long sessions total) so your team receives ongoing, regular coaching and trouble-shooting support as you streamline
  • 3 half hour individual coaching sessions (to be split among your team however you’d like)


The purchase order process is simple. You can pay immediately, or later once you receive an invoice.


Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, 40 Hour Leadership is available 365 days a year.

Our 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program starts only in the summer because it is a full year program dripped out over 12 months, and teachers complete the course with a cohort of other educators for support. However if you want to purchase licenses for your teachers, we have a special school-wide cohort we offer which you can have teachers begin anytime.


No, we don’t collect any of your course work, as its purpose is solely to support you in reflecting and creating systems.

No. All of the materials are released to you up front, and you never lose access to the course.

You can purchase additional licenses for $97 each. Email [email protected] and we’ll customize your purchase order to reflect that.

The 40 Hour Leadership program is about systemic change, not just about your own individual workflows and processes. So, your results may be limited if only one person on the admin team is committed to examining school-wide routines and culture.

The best thing you can do is approach your team to gauge their interest, then try to secure district funding for it (or at the very least, split the cost so you’re not paying for it on your own). We have a brochure you can pass along to your admin team to help them see the value and what results they can expect:

If you’re not able to convince your principal to try this, email us with an explanation of their response, and we'll see if there are other approaches or resources that might help them get on board. We need bold, visionary leadership to get the kind of results that educators and kids need so much right now, so don't be afraid to advocate for yourself and your faculty!

That said, we understand that not every administrator will be able to get their entire team on board, and we don't want to leave anyone stuck. You can purchase a license for one administrator here, and work through the collaborative elements with other admins in our discussion forums.

Unlike our 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program, we do not have an exploratory period in 40 Hour Leadership in which you can request a refund. This is because all 40 Hour Leadership materials are released up front (rather than dripped out slowly over the course of a year). If you are unhappy with your results in the program, send us an email and we’ll do what we can to offer support and make it work for you.

No, the entire program is in both audio and PDF resources so you can listen or read whenever it's most convenient for you.

Your admin team should plan to invest about 7-10 hours, with a massive return on that investment of time.

You can space out the following steps over the course of a lengthy or shortened time period, at any pace that you’d like.

Here are 3 approaches we recommend:

  • OPTION A: Complete all 5 steps over the course of 2 half days. Mornings are often best for concentration (i.e. 8 am-12:30 pm, followed by a shared lunch debriefing and the remainder of the afternoon free for other tasks). The two half days can be consecutive or with a few days break between them.

  • OPTION B: Complete one step each day for 5 days. Plan to meet for about 60-120 minutes daily over the course of the week, depending on the recommended time commitment for each step. Summer is the ideal time for this approach, but early morning meetings during the school year can also work.

  • OPTION C: Complete one step each week for 5 weeks. Plan to meet once a week for about 60-120 minutes, depending on the recommended time commitment for each step. This approach can work well for those who are implementing the program during the school year when a slower approach is needed.


No, your leadership team can work at your own pace: the program does not start or end at any specific time. All of the materials are released to you up front, and you never lose access to the course.

(This is different from our 40 Hour Teacher Workweek program, which begins each July and ends each June. Teachers all join together at one time so they can collaborate in a shared cohort, and the materials are dripped out over the course of the year for ongoing PD.)

We use a private discussion community similar to message boards (not social media.) There you can collaborate using your real name, a nickname, or anonymously. You'll be able to connect with like-minded administrators as well as our 40 Hour Leadership coaches.


We’ve worked hard to create a program that can be implemented by school leadership without the support of a professional development consultant. We want our tools to be accessible for any school that wants them, and we know most are lacking the budget for ongoing, personalized support and training.

And yet consultants are often the difference between good results and great results. These experts can help you see your blindspots, think through more efficient processes, and advise you on specific systems tailored for your school’s unique circumstances.

If you want additional support and accountability for the program, you can purchase a consulting package outlined above. Additional 1-1 and/or team educational consulting hours are available for purchase separately at $650/per or 3 for $1250).

In-person professional development is also available--please email [email protected] to inquire about rates.

Yes. Use the purchase order button above to begin your custom order. This will enable all staff to have shared visions and vocabularies for shifting school culture.

We created this program for administrators who want real talk and practical solutions, and partnered up with respected leadership consultants to help deliver top notch professional development.

40 Hour attracts visionary, revolutionary school leaders who refuse to settle for the status quo.

Here are our 8 core beliefs behind the program:

1. We believe that to reduce the teacher shortage and attrition crises, we have to prioritize educator wellbeing and work-life balance.

2. We believe there is an overlap between what’s best for kids and what is sustainable for the adults in charge of them.

3. We believe in personal development as well as professional development.

4. We believe that great teaching and school leadership are not achieved by working harder or putting in longer hours, but by prioritizing things that make the biggest impact.

5. We believe that by rethinking inefficient systems and challenging the status quo, we can reduce the workload for all staff, so they can enjoy their jobs and keep making a difference for years to come.

6. We believe teachers do their best work when they are given time autonomy and have unstructured blocks of time during their contractual hours.

7. We believe there are no workflow problems which are insurmountable, and we don’t settle for inefficient, ineffective practices because “that’s how things have always been done.”

8. We believe that an organized, efficient school leadership team has a tremendous positive impact on the entire school.

If you are ready to push back against harmful norms in education and truly reimagine the way we do school, 40 Hour Leadership can support you in that (and connect with other school leaders who have the same mission.)


You can now get graduate-level credits toward your masters degree for completing any of our 40 Hour programs!

Learn more about our NEW partnership with the University of the Pacific–Benerd College.

Though we don't have accreditation through any state departments of education, many of members have been able to use the editable professional learning log provided and the PD certificate we provide.

You may be able to use 40 Hour as support in meeting your personal PD goals, and we'll help you provide documentation for your supervisor to show that you have made progress toward those goals.

Don't settle for survival mode.

If you are ready to push back against harmful norms in education and truly reimagine the way we do school, 40 Hour Leadership can support you in that (and connect with other school leaders who have the same mission.)


Want a downloadable PDF brochure with more information?