We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Jeanne Ford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Jeanne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

As a former principal and school district-level leader, I understand the demands placed on these leaders. Much of the job is out of their control and they don’t take time to destress, When they are over-stressed, they are unable to provide the support needed by their staff and students. Many are becoming discouraged and burned out – and they are leaving education. One of the superintendents in a large district shared with me that he puts everything he can into training and mentoring his leadership team and staff, but because of his position, he has no one to train and mentor him. As John Maxwell (the top recognized leadership expert in the world) says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” This feeling of discouragement trickles down to the staff, then to the students.

I am passionate about equipping these leaders with the awareness and skills needed to raise their “leadership lid” and become servant-leaders. They are developing themselves and their district leadership teams. The teams of principals and coordinators are developing teams and leaders within the schools. The school staff is learning strategies for training and developing student leaders. Nothing prepares a student more for a fulfilling life and career than to learn how to add value to others through servant leadership. The educational system must start training and developing leaders at all levels – beginning at the top.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I never even considered going into education. As a teenager, I played lead guitar in a rock band and dreamed of going on the road and making a fortune. (Oh, the minds of teenagers!) As I got older, I realized that I wasn’t very good at playing the guitar and definitely couldn’t sing! So, even though my proud mother told me I was the best, that dream was out.

I married when I was 18 and enrolled in our community college a few months later. All I wanted to do at that time was have fun and waterski, but my 19-year-old husband and I had promised my parents that I’d get an education. My grades during my freshman year in college were terrible because I had no idea what degree I wanted to pursue and never studied. I was bored to death!

Things began to change during my sophomore year. I had an algebra teacher who made learning come alive. I’ll never forget him saying that he loved teaching kids in the schools, but nothing was better than being able to teach teachers. Instead of reaching a few classes of students, he was able to reach thousands through the upcoming teachers he taught every year. I don’t know why, but this lit a fire under me. I set my career path for education with my sights on becoming a principal so I could impact an entire school. Never did I dream that after over 30 years of serving in all areas of leadership, I’d be able to start my own business working directly with district-level leaders who mentored principals, who impacted teachers, who reached students!

I’ve worked to combine my knowledge and experience in schools with John Maxwell’s personal mentorship, training, and philosophy. This allows me to provide system-wide improvement by helping to build and develop leadership capacity at all levels – from top leadership to students.

Through my business, JFord Equips, LLC, I provide personalized professional development, keynote speaking, onsite training with ongoing support, and individual and/or team coaching and mentoring. I also train and work directly with teachers on Classroom Management and Differentiated Instruction through The Center for Teacher Effectiveness.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Building relationships and providing personalized, quality resources and service! I’m passionate about working with educators and they know it. My greatest joy is ensuring that we provide the best education possible for our students. School leaders have such an important job, and I want to help lessen their stress by developing their leadership capacity, raising their leadership lid, and equipping them to raise up leaders by developing their team and staff.

I’ve been fortunate to continue serving my schools year after year and gradually grow clientele through personal recommendations and word of mouth.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Anything that John Maxwell has written! John is an internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, trainer, coach, and author who has studied under and been mentored by some of the top leaders in the world – including Coach John Wooden. He is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of over83 books with more than 24 million volumes sold in fifty languages and is continuing to write more as we speak! Of John’s books on leadership, two of my favorites are “The 5 Levels of Leadership” and “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.” I would also recommend subscribing to his free podcast called “Maxwell Leadership Podcast.”

John’s philosophy is simple, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

Contact Info:

• Website: jfordequips.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jford328
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanne-carol-ford-edd-bb421775/