I’ve got a bit of a treat on the podcast today. I’m bringing you an interview with somebody whose work I’ve become very familiar with lately, and it’s been truly wonderful to find somebody exploring the same path that I am.

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath is a neuroscientist and educator who specializes in human learning, memory, and brain stimulation. There is literally no one better to undertake the mission of improving our schools than Jared. As well as conducting research and lecturing at Harvard, he has worked at over 50 international schools, and I can’t wait for you to experience the value he has to offer all you educational leaders.

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I was in New York recently for a networking event with some amazing people. They were the kind of people that when you are speaking to them, they really care and they want to know absolutely everything about you. Just the way these people were was so eye-opening to me and I came back with a ton of realizations around influence to share with you guys.

This experience really got me thinking about one of the tools available to us as school leaders which, to be honest, underserves the needs of our schools. Professional development could be incredibly useful to our schools, but the system is broken. I can’t tell you how many times I was told to attend PD courses that simply were not inspiring as a teacher – and nothing has changed.

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We are now into June, and that means that most of you, if not all of you, are at the end of your school year. That’s amazing, you did it! But you and I both know, it’s not long before you have to really focus on what’s to come next year.

Last week, we discussed how to gain influence as a school leader. In this episode, we’re taking a good hard look at the process of reflection so we can really analyze what worked this year, what didn’t work, and how you can learn from everything that happened this year to be a more influential leader when summer is over and it starts all over again.

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We’re are officially into June now, and the topic that I have for you this month is absolutely critical for any effective leader. We’re talking about influence and how to be an influential leader. Some people think of influence as being manipulative or consider it a somewhat dirty word, but that attitude is not going to get you anywhere.

Being an influential leader is more than just being able to shock people into action. It’s an amalgamation of being consistent, trustworthy, fair, and in integrity in every decision you make. You don’t need everyone to like you to have influence over them, and likewise don’t need to be some obnoxious know-it-all who people are afraid to disagree with.

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