From the Training:
Certified Safe & Loved Practitioner

I was presenting in Connecticut.

Early that morning I took a hot shower and stood in front of the foggy mirror tying my tie. Written in the steam in the mirror in big letters was one word: 

Time

I remember staring at it. 

Was it a reminder to hurry?
A warning that time was slipping away?
A quiet reassurance…you still have time. Don’t worry.
Or a statement that time is invaluable? 

Whoever wrote it believed it, and for whatever reason, it must have been the most important thought they needed to see. 

Time. 

My mind went to preventing violence.

As leaders, we talk a lot about managing time. And managing time matters—but that’s about efficiency. Getting more done. 

Preventing violence is about leveraging time. That’s about influence. Changing outcomes. 

That’s a big difference. 

In school safety, we have three goals: 

Prevent. Delay. Minimize. 

Prevention is the goal.
If you can’t prevent it—delay it. Delay almost always works to our benefit.
Minimize is what we do when it’s already in motion.

Delay is not failure. Delay is leveraging time. And time gives you options. Options give you an opportunity for a better outcome. 

Here are six practical ways to leverage time in your building:

1. Get there early instead of late
   Don’t wait for problems to fully form. Step in when something feels off. Early conversations are easier, shorter, and more effective.
2. Own the first few seconds
   The first moments of a situation—good or bad—set the direction. Be visible, be present, and be ready. Those seconds matter more than people think.
3. Use small engagements to buy time
   A quick check-in, a simple question, a short conversation—these don’t feel like much, but they extend your window to influence what happens next.
4. Interrupt negative trajectories
   When a student or situation starts drifting, don’t watch it play out. Interrupt it early. The longer it runs, the harder it is to change.
5. Invest time where it compounds
   Time spent building relationships, trust, and visibility pays you back later when things get difficult. It makes hard conversations easier and outcomes better.
6. Pull staff back in
   Burnout shows up in less engagement. Less presence. Fewer conversations. When staff start pulling back, they’re not seeing, not responding, and not helping—that’s not good for them or your school. 

Low engagement equals low leverage. Support them. Help them re-engage in small, realistic ways so they can get back to being present, seeing what matters, and responding when it counts.

As an exercise, write the word Time on a piece of paper and put it on your desk. 

Look at it daily. Not as a reminder that you’re busy. 

But as a reminder that if violence hasn’t happened then you still have time and if you still have time then you have leverage. 

Use it to your advantage.
Leverage gives you an opportunity to change outcomes…take it.