About Marco Cirillo
Educator, speaker, and author, with two decades spent learning how people really connect, communicate, and lead.
It all comes back to one idea: everyone is still in middle school.
I've led schools on three continents, survived staff meetings that lasted longer than some international flights, played rugby in fields that were 90% mud and 10% optimism, and spent a lifetime supporting a football team that has taught me more about managing expectations than any leadership course ever could.
I've spent more than 20 years studying leadership. I've read the books, completed the degrees, attended the conferences, and learned the theories. They've all been valuable, but if I'm honest, the lessons that shaped me most didn't come from textbooks. They came from the people I met and the situations we shared.
From muddy rugby pitches where everyone thought they were captain. From getting gloriously lost in countries where I couldn't read the road signs but somehow always found interesting people. From school corridors, family dinner tables, and watching perfectly intelligent adults throw the kind of tantrums that would earn a twelve-year-old detention.
The more people I met, the more one pattern kept appearing.
Whether they were twelve-year-old students, teachers, CEOs, parents, or politicians, they were all asking the same questions.
Do I belong?
Do I matter?
Am I good enough?
Will people accept me?
The playground had changed.
The emotions hadn't.
That's when it hit me.
Everyone Is in Middle School.
Not because we never grow up.
Because we never stop being human.
That simple idea started conversations.
Those conversations became keynote speeches.
The keynotes became workshops.
The workshops became coaching, consulting, leadership development... and eventually, a movement.
Today, Everyone Is in Middle School is more than a phrase. It's a different way of looking at leadership. A reminder that behind every job title, every school uniform, every business suit, and every LinkedIn profile is a human being who wants to belong, to matter, and to be understood.
It's a movement built around one simple belief:
When we understand people better, we lead better.
Today, I work with schools, businesses, and organizations to build stronger cultures, healthier relationships, and better leaders, not by teaching people to become someone else, but by helping them better understand the people they're privileged to lead.
Because leadership isn't about having all the answers.
It's about understanding the people you're leading.
Welcome to Middle School.
Behind the Work
Experience Behind the Stories
The humor and the stories rest on two decades of real work inside schools and organizations, across three continents.
In the Press
Featured In
A Partner in the Work
Hila — Wellbeing & Family Engagement Consultant.
Student Wellbeing & Family Partnerships Consultant
If Marco's job is to explain why adults are still in middle school, Hila's job is to work out what we should actually do about it.
With a background in counseling and student wellbeing, Hila brings the calm, thoughtful perspective to the partnership.
Hila works with schools and families on the complicated human stuff: parent relationships, student wellbeing, belonging, difficult conversations, emotional safety, and those meetings where everyone arrives saying, “I just want what's best for the child,” before things become surprisingly less simple.
She contributes to parent workshops, faculty professional development, wellbeing initiatives, culture reviews, and selected consulting projects, helping schools understand not just what people are doing, but why they might be doing it.
Marco brings the leadership stories. Hila brings the counseling lens.
And between them, they have spent enough time around schools, parents, children and each other to confirm the central theory:
Everyone really is in middle school.
What Guides This Work
Three Ideas Behind Every Engagement
Belonging Comes First
People do their best work when they feel safe enough to be honest. Every session starts by building that safety, not assuming it already exists.
Honest Conversations
The best workplace moments begin with an honest conversation. Marco's work gives leaders the language and the confidence to start them with warmth.
Growth at Every Level
A new teacher, a seasoned executive, and a school principal all deserve the same quality of attention. The work adapts to the person, not the title.
Ways to Work Together
How Marco Works With You
Keynote Speaking
A single stage moment that sets the tone for a conference, staff day, or corporate event.
Leadership Workshops
Hands-on sessions where teams practice the harder skills together, not just hear about them.
Executive & Leadership Coaching
Ongoing one-to-one sessions for leaders ready to work on how they lead, not just what they lead.
“We grow older, but we never stop being human. Every team is full of people who still want to belong, to be seen, and to matter. Everyone is still in middle school.”
This idea anchors Marco's forthcoming book, Everyone Is in Middle School, and every keynote, workshop, and coaching relationship he leads.
Bring Marco's Perspective to Your Team
Start with a conversation about your school, your organization, or your next event.