Turning Takeaways Into Momentum: CESA’s Month-Out Challenge

Tawanna Rusk, Associate Director of CESA

One month has passed since our CESA Symposium in Charlotte, and the impact of those energizing days still lingers. As we continue to “accelerate” in our leadership roles, now is the perfect time to recall what we learned together and commit to intentional growth for our schools and ourselves.

Accelerate: Reignite Your Takeaways

Remember the exhilarating theme of “Accelerate” — the sense of momentum —and the challenge to push beyond routine into bold, purposeful action. Each keynote, panel, and breakout was designed to help us not just gather knowledge, but to transform it into real change in our daily leadership.

Revisit Steve Buuck’s charge: “God’s work will not be made manifest by cowards. Exceed people’s expectations. Do what you love in service of those who love what you do.” These reminders to lead courageously and invest in people must underpin our efforts every week. Our work matters, and “Christian school faculty and staff don’t have that problem” of wondering if they’ve made a difference.​

Overcoming Friction: Are You Clearing Barriers?

Dr. Huggy Rao’s keynote pressed us to honestly identify the friction points slowing us down, policies, practices, or mindsets that create unnecessary drag. In the month since, what have you worked to simplify? Where have you cleared away resistance to empower your team’s best work? Even small steps, removing redundant approvals, encouraging direct feedback, can free surprising energy for mission-driven progress.​

Rao’s challenge went further, introducing three practical concepts to help leaders remove obstacles and accelerate lasting change:

  • Ridiculist: He urges leaders to regularly make a “ridiculist”—an honest ledger of everything needlessly ridiculous, frustrating, or time-wasting in your team’s routines, policies, and meetings. Make space in staff gatherings for everyone to call out what’s stuck on their ridiculist, and commit together to removing at least one item each month. Addressing these small absurdities can build trust and unlock new energy for mission-driven work.​​
  • Mowing the Lawn: Momentum isn’t a one-time event. Rao’s “mowing the lawn” metaphor reminds us that friction—inefficiencies, outdated rules, needless approvals—grows back unless we regularly trim it away. Set up a steady rhythm of “friction removal,” protecting team time and space for calssic maintenance.​​
  • Addition Sickness: Most organizations habitually add new rules, meetings, and processes to solve problems, rarely considering what could be subtracted. Rao encourages a “good riddance review” before adding anything—what can you eliminate to free capacity and focus? Honor the discipline of subtracting before defaulting to always doing more.

Put Growth into Action: What Have You Tried?

Breakout sessions at the Symposium offered practical tools ripe for fresh application. Consider one or more of these action steps:

  • Upstream Thinking: Dan Quist and Rudi Gesch challenged us to anticipate problems and address them before they occur. Have you revisited your team’s routines or delegated busywork to invest in areas that really move the mission? What urgent but nonessential tasks can you say “no” to, so strategic work can “accelerate”?
  • Advancement & Fundraising: The session with Lauren Race and Chad McDaniel reminded us that fundraising success is built on relationships, storytelling, and a mission mindset. Have you made that personal call to a donor or written a note of thanks? Are you articulating impact and inviting participation in ways that feel authentic and compelling?​
  • Difficult Conversations: Paula Brothers drew clear lines between being kind and just being nice. In the past month, have you bravely addressed a complex topic, given direct feedback, or taken steps to build healthier accountability in your school?
  • Family Partnerships: Consider the steps you’ve taken to partner with parents, encourage open communication, and support families through transitions. Where can hospitality and transparent dialogue become even more central for your team?​
  • Spiritual Rhythms: Nick Barker’s “Pit Stops” session urged us to rest, pray, and intentionally embrace Sabbath rhythms. Have you protected space from a simple daily breath prayer to faculty prayer walks for God to refuel and reorient your leadership? The health of your soul is still the engine behind every bit of progress.​

Challenge: Don’t Let Good Intentions Stall Out

The real measure of the Symposium is not the energy we felt in October, but the lasting changes we make now. A month has passed. Which lessons are becoming habits? Which bold conversations need to happen? Where is friction still slowing your work, and how can you address it this week?

Remember, leadership is about “learning while the answer is in the process of being decided.” Don’t wait for perfection; implement one tangible takeaway, and invite your team to do the same. Celebrate every step forward, and share the stories of what’s working-momentum is contagious.

Keep Accelerating—But Stay Rooted

As you look ahead, don’t forget the foundation beneath all this movement: strong faith development, academic excellence, and dedication to your mission. Protect your time for reflection, family, and prayer, knowing that the most significant acceleration can only happen when we’re rooted in what matters most.

Thank you for being the kind of leader who doesn’t just attend, but applies, grows, and leads Christian education in excellence – being better tomorrow than we are today.

You can access many of the Symposium presentations here.