Retention is such a hot topic in our industry, but I’m going to tell you that the most powerful retention tool is very simple. It is relationship building. Relationship building determines the retention that you have. And especially in schools that have hundreds of students, retention can be a challenge. But at the end of the day, only you, as the headmaster and principal of your academy, can make such a powerful impact.

I want to give you a power that I call the power sessions. There are many one-on-one sessions right after class that literally take two to three minutes at the most. But you know, we do this here in person, and it’s such a powerful tool.

You can make a simple conversation with your students a step toward building relationships. You can also use little power sessions to help them feel more confident. You know, simple interactions like that are especially common at my school. You guys all know my position—you know, multiple companies—so I don’t get to spend a lot of time there. Even teaching an entire class can be challenging, you know, as the head school owner, because you have so much to do. But these little power sessions are how I keep track.

After I do this, I take the student card and I just put GMP and a date next to the card that lets me know that was the last time I interacted. So, my goal is to try to do like 10 of these a day. Okay, 10 of these are literally two minutes each? 20 minutes of your time, right? But how powerful is that?

Make sure you do these little mini-power sessions. It will have a tremendously positive impact on retention. But more importantly, that one-on-one interaction that you’re having I mean, think about it. The less the student knows how much you care about them, It lets parents know; it’s just so powerful. It’s the most powerful two minutes that you can spend with your students. Okay, and you could do this every day and make it a habit. And at the end, if you notice, I just took 30 seconds. “Hey, how’s he doing at home?” “How’s he doing in school?”

You know, the most powerful form of emotion is the emotion called love. Love is caring. And when your students and their parents know how much you care, that’s where the retention is—in the bond and the relationship.

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