When I graduated from the New York City Chancellor of Education's New Principals' Academy in 2003, the Department of Education (DOE) wasn't quite sure what to do with me - a multi-lingual, former U.S. military officer, born in South America, who had converted to Hasidic Judaism. Ultimately, I was named principal of Jordan L. Mott Middle School in the Bronx, which was gang-infested, failing academically, and had been through six principals in the last two years.

I rolled up my sleeves and went to work. My first priority was to create a safe learning environment for our students. We instituted a dress code, supported by 100% of our parents, prohibiting the display of gang colors. We then introduced an interdisciplinary curriculum and small learning communities within the school.

The improved school climate was gratifying, but came at great personal cost to me. I was logging seventeen-hour days, typically arriving home to my wife and children at midnight, sleeping four hours, and then returning the next day by 7:30 AM, only to be greeted by a pile of sticky-notes, each one indicating some new emergency. I spent most mornings responding to email. I barely found time to get into classrooms to monitor the instructional changes I had worked so hard to institute. I realized that I couldn't sustain the pace much longer.

When our regional superintendent brought in The Breakthrough Coach (TBC) to present a seminar entitled, How to Work Less, Produce More, and Still Get the Job Done in a Sensible Work Week, I was more than ready!

TBC's presenter, Malachi Pancoast, began by telling us, "The truths I am about to reveal to you will set you free. But first, they will make you really angry!"

He was right! Two hours into Day 1, I realized I was barely making it, either as an instructional leader, or as a husband and father. Yet, I found myself arguing with Malachi: "How can you tell me I'm not doing my job? I work really hard. I've been very successful. My staff knows I'm committed." As the seminar progressed, however, I began to see that my constant involvement in running the school wasn't giving me the wider perspective I needed to lead it.

I decided to give the TBC method a try, and I returned to school ready to go full speed ahead. My secretary and I applied TBC's methodology to rearranging both my office and our professional collaboration. She was empowered to do her job as gatekeeper and master scheduler, and I was no longer trapped in my office.

I used my newfound freedom to begin building leadership capacity across the entire spectrum of our school's stakeholders (parents, teachers, students, classified personnel, certificated staff, business leaders, etc.). I learned to delegate tasks, then supervise their execution, rather than do everything myself. Finally, I was the instructional leader I had been trained to be. I was able to work an eight-hour day, and spend 30% of my week in observing and coaching classroom instruction.

Our results speak volumes about the value of my TBC experience:

• Our students' math scores have doubled;
• Our English failing rate has decreased from 42% to 9%;
• Mott earned an "A" on its most recent NYC report card;
• The NYC DOE has removed Mott from its "Most Violent" list;
• Our average daily attendance is 93.4% - one of the highest in the South Bronx;
• We have 365 applicants vying for 30 slots in our next 6th grade class.

TBC taught me that I did not have to sacrifice my personal life to be a successful principal. The more I developed the leadership capacity of everyone around me, the more successful I became at work and at home. TBC changed my own life, that of my family, and the lives of everyone in my school community.

Learn about TBC Graduate Shimon Waronker's success in transforming a Junior High School in the Bronx, in an exclusive interview with MSNBC's Today.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23590816#23590816