It’s the People Who Make the Magic: A Reflection for School Leaders

Leadership isn’t about managing systems; it’s about shaping lives.

To my fellow administrators during National Principals Month…

Disney Imagineers often say, “It’s the people who make the magic.”

You can have the most beautiful story, the most immersive space, and the most engaging experience. But none of it matters without people. It is people who breathe life into ideas. It is people who make others feel seen, valued, and inspired.

The same is true in our schools. We can create new programs or redesign classrooms. Yet the real magic happens in the relationships we build with students, teachers, and staff. That is the heart of education.

Leadership in schools is not simply about managing people and processes. We are leaders of lives. Lives entrusted to us. Students who show up every morning, teachers who pour themselves into their work, staff who keep everything running.

The mission is bigger than test scores and budgets. Our calling is to inspire others to see beyond their current circumstances. To believe they are capable of becoming more. To step into something greater, even when what they already have is good.

Walt Disney captured this when he said, “Around here, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

So let me ask you what I often ask myself… 

What new paths are you exploring? What drives you to rise each morning and take on one of the most challenging jobs in education?

Whenever I need a reminder of my “why,” I think back to when I was in the classroom and the students I was fortunate to teach, like my 2nd Period Ancient History class at Mauldin High. My job was not for me. It was for them.

As I grew as a leader, I learned from mentors that despite the challenges, leadership is a gift. It is a sacred trust. The chance to lead others into the fullness of who they can become is one of the greatest responsibilities and blessings we will ever know.

Have I always been successful at it? No. Do I want to be? Absolutely. That means when I fall short, I keep going. I keep growing. I rise, I fall, I rise again. Because every day is another opportunity to change a life.

Marty Sklar, one of Disney’s legendary Imagineers, used to hand new Imagineers a blank sheet of paper. He told them there are two ways to look at it:

“It can be the most frightening thing in the world, because you have to make the first mark. Or it can be the greatest opportunity in the world, because you get to make the first mark. You can let your imagination fly in any direction. You can create whole new worlds.”

Every one of us is given that same gift. Each day is a blank sheet of paper—our schools, our classrooms, our lives. We get to decide what gets written, what gets created.

So today, what will you create?

My encouragement to you, and to myself, is this: make it incredible, make it magical, make it something that changes lives and shapes the future in powerful ways.

You’ve got this.