The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Professional Development: Real Talk with Daniel Bauer

I have a very special returning guest with me on the podcast today! Daniel Bauer is the founder of Better Leader Better Schools, and has mentored thousands of school leaders through his blogs, books, podcast, and powerful coaching experiences.

Daniel is back on the show this week to talk us through his new book, Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader. This book is all about reimagining what professional development for school administrators looks like in order to meet the needs of all school leaders who currently feel isolated and overwhelmed. And after the last year we’ve had, I think we could all use some real talk about the value of professional development.

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Bonus #2 (Morale as the Priority)

In the first episode of this bonus series, we talked about shifting from the frustration and resentment that so many people are experiencing around COVID still being a factor in how we run our schools, into feeling and allowing the disappointment that the pandemic is still with us. And this week, I’m sharing how to move forward as a leader after you’ve processed those emotions.

Your entire staff is just as frustrated as you are right now. And so many of them will be newer to their positions than you are. Your job is to help them through this. Morale is at an all-time low, so what can you do as a school leader to help your staff process their experience during this challenging time?

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | How to Be New

One thing I see a lot in my work is adult resistance to being new. As adults, we find being new uncomfortable. Whether it’s at a party, or in your job, we don’t like being the new person. It feels clumsy and embarrassing, and it brings up a lot of negative feelings. So, what can we do in those moments when we are a new school leader or the leader in a new environment?

Especially as a new leader, it’s so difficult to know where to focus your attention. It feels like everything is a priority. So, we’re trying to make a good impression, running around saying yes to everything, putting out every fire, and by the end of the day, we’re understandably exhausted and we don’t have much to show for it. But it doesn’t need to be this way.

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Bonus #1 (COVID is Not Over)

I have been working with so many school leaders lately facing similar problems, and I felt compelled to put together a three-part bonus series for you guys throughout the month of September so we can discuss what you are currently dealing with: the inevitable emotional tsunami of students and staff returning to campus.

We all expected this pandemic to have subsided by the start of the 2021 school year. However, the reality is that COVID is not over. There is a sense of urgency around getting kids back into classrooms. Parents want it to happen so they can get back to work, the kids want to be back with their friends, and as leaders, we don’t want them to miss out on any more of their education.

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Your Top Leadership Assets

I’m taking this episode to show you how you can maximize your top assets as a school leader. I’ve talked about all of these things before, but I want to deepen your understanding and show you how to sell your mind on why these tools are your top assets when it comes to creating the results you desire as a leader.

There are four leadership assets I believe we should all be implementing and constantly evolving in our role as a leader. And doing so will allow you to create bigger and better results and transformation in your school and your life in general at a faster rate. And who doesn’t want that?

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | How to NOT be a Busy Principal

School is back in session, and after preparing over the summer and getting ready to have an amazing year, I’m now seeing a lot of overwhelm starting to creep in. And how am I seeing people deal with this overwhelm, especially new school leaders? They’re overworking and keeping themselves busy, and we need a different approach.

I’m speaking with a lot of new principals and they’re telling me that their workload has increased since they started in their new role, and they have way less time to do it all. So, what can we do to make sure we’re getting everything done without spinning in the busyness of it all?

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Slowing Down on Purpose

I’ve been having several conversations with my clients lately where they’ve voiced their struggles about summer coming to an end and getting back into full work mode again. For some of you, this time of year gets you revved up and filled with energy, but for others, you’re finding yourself on edge and overly exhausted.

So, this week, I’m inviting you to slow down on purpose. This might sound strange, considering you’re just getting back to work and probably feel pumped and ready to be super productive, but I promise this is going to be the perfect episode to keep coming back to when you inevitably feel like you need a reset.

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Building a Resourceful Staff

Wouldn’t it be so great if we had staff and teachers who weren’t solely dependent on us for the answers and solutions to every problem on campus? 

As leaders, it’s our job to empower our staff and create a culture of resourcefulness. But while this sounds great in concept, it doesn’t happen often enough. We want teachers contributing new ideas and being valuable members of our schools, in turn enhancing our legacy as a leader, but there are a few obstacles that get in the way, and I’m laying them out today. 

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Leading Untrustworthy Colleagues

Last week, we talked about building the school year on trust as a leadership tool, and we’re continuing on our topic of trust this week. The reality of trust is that for some of us, trusting others comes naturally and easily, while for others, it’s a real challenge. So what do we do when there are untrustworthy colleagues in our work environment? 

The truth is that you do not have to trust every single human on campus in order to be an effective leader. If there is currently distrust between you and your colleagues, peers, district admin, or anyone in your sphere, faking it is simply not going to work. But I’ve got an alternative solution for you this week. 

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The Empowered Principal Podcast with Angela Kelly | Trust as a Leadership Tool

Over the summer, so many of my clients have been coming to me saying they were revved up, riding a wave of adrenaline while they finished out the year. They experienced peace over the beginning of summer break, but now we’re toward the end of summer and their minds have started worrying about next year. And some of my clients could not turn it off at all.

So this got me thinking, what is the opposite of worry and fear? How can we enjoy our summer without responding to the urge to work? And I realized, in those moments when I’m not worried at all, it’s because I’m trusting that things are going exactly the way they’re supposed to. And the best part about all of this is that you can intentionally create this trust and use it as a leadership tool. And I’m showing you exactly where to start with this work.

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