PATRICK McCRANN | LEADERSHIP COACHING Let's talk

Leadership coaching & training for mission-driven leaders in our public schools

Even the most seasoned school boards and district leaders can get stuck at a critical inflection point — the kind that can define an academic year, and sometimes a tenure.

The moments that define a year
A leadership transition.
A strained superintendent relationship.
A major public decision.
An impending bond or capital investment.

A seasoned counterpart who has sat on your side of the table.

In these moments, what helps most is someone who can diagnose the real challenge and help you build an action plan — one that accounts for your key stakeholders and your strategic plan. The work is proactive by design. You set the direction early, on your own terms, rather than managing the fallout in public after a decision has already gone sideways.

I'm an independent, confidential sounding board for school leaders in exactly those moments — six years of school board experience, two as chair, alongside my work coaching founders and executives.

I understand these situations from the governance side of the table: what belongs to the board, what belongs to the superintendent, what has to happen in public, and what a board leader may have to carry privately.

Patrick

Patrick McCrann speaking at a school board meeting
Patrick McCrann — board chair, coach, operator
On the governance side of the table
  • Six yearson a school board
  • $255Mconstruction bond secured
  • Two yearsas chair, plus building subcommittee chair
  • COVID-19navigated the pandemic and related lawsuits
  • Superintendent searchled the search to replace the district superintendent
  • Athletics investmentproud partner on the upgrades to the Victory Field complex
When to bring me in

If any of these is your week, we should talk.

  • 01 You are stepping into the chair and want your footing quickly.
  • 02 You are navigating a superintendent search, departure, or leadership transition.
  • 03 The board and superintendent relationship is strained and the path forward isn't obvious.
  • 04 A consequential bond, budget, personnel, or public decision is coming and you want an experienced outside read.
  • 05 You know the board needs to act, but governance, politics, personalities, and public scrutiny are pulling in different directions.
  • 06 You need to pressure-test a decision with someone who understands the role but isn't part of the local dynamics.
Ways to work together

A confidential place to think clearly before you act

I help you separate the governance question from the personalities around it, weigh the options, anticipate how a decision lands with the board and the community, and get clear on what happens next.

For the board

A decision-framework session

A working session delivered to your board that gives everyone a shared way to think through the decision or inflection point in front of you. It counts as professional development, and it can stand on its own or lead into follow-on leadership support.

For the leader

One-on-one leadership support

Direct work with a chair, a member, or a superintendent. Part professional development, part live coaching through a real decision — on your timeline and in confidence.

Facing a difficult decision?

It all starts with a call.

If you're a board chair, board member, superintendent, or an advisor helping a district through a consequential moment — reach out for a free, confidential consultation to see if this is a good fit for your situation.

Talk with Patrick

Confidential by default. Nothing said in these conversations leaves them.