90-day leadership planner

How it fits in the Leadership Cycle

In the Coach and practise step of each Playbook, you strengthen specific leadership behaviours through guided questions and deliberate rehearsal.

In the Plan step, you use this planner to apply those behaviours in the real world by choosing a challenge or improvement priority and identifying which of the 54 behaviours you’ll rely on.

Then, in the Lead stage of the Leadership Cycle, you use the Leadership Challenge Finder to test your approach against authentic examples and measure your growth.

How to use the 90-Day Leadership Planner

Each 90-day plan begins with a real leadership challenge, something that genuinely matters in your school.

The planner guides you to move from reflection to results in a structured, evidence-informed way.

1. Identify a Challenge or Priority. Choose a specific area of focus, such as improving consistency, strengthening team culture, or addressing a pressing issue. The aim is not to take on everything, but to work purposefully on one clear improvement priority.
2. Diagnose Relevant Behaviours. Review the 54 leadership behaviours or use the Leadership Challenge Finder to identify which ones will make the biggest difference in addressing your chosen challenge. These may include both strengths and areas you want to grow.
3. Define Success and Lead Measures. Describe what success will look like at the end of 90 days. Then identify lead measures, which are the small, consistent actions you can measure before success is visible. These are the daily and weekly habits that predict progress.
4. Create Your 90-Day Plan. Set three to four focused goals linked to your challenge and behaviours. Map out the actions you will take, who will be involved, and when key milestones will be reviewed.
5. Track, Reflect, and Adjust. Use the planner’s review checkpoints at 30, 60, and 90 days to evaluate what’s working, make adjustments, and record evidence of impact. Reflection keeps you accountable and responsive to feedback.
6. Apply and Share. Use the Leadership Challenge Finder to compare your experience with examples of similar challenges. This helps you refine your judgement and share insights with others facing comparable situations.
7. Decide What Comes Next. At day 90, look back at what worked and what you learned. Then deepen this focus, choose a new leadership challenge, or move on to your next focus behaviour.

Why 90 days?

Ninety days provides enough time to see meaningful change, but not so much that goals lose focus. It encourages urgency, clarity, and sustained action; this is the rhythm of continuous improvement.

By working 90 days at a time, you can apply behaviours purposefully, measure impact, and celebrate progress before moving to your next challenge.