Ep #140: Anatomy of a Decision

Anatomy of a Decision

Over the month of September, we’ll be discussing the power of decisions. As school leaders, you are all the ultimate middle manager, caught between the two worlds of teaching and upper admin. Decision making can be so challenging when you’re in this no man’s land where you’re feeling isolated, fearful, and worried, so today, I’m breaking down the anatomy of a decision to help you understand how to make empowered decisions.

We all know the urge to take lots of action whenever an uncomfortable feeling arises. I often see principals getting stuck in a cycle of seeking the temporary relief a decision gives them, and then feeling those negative emotions again when a new situation is presented. But the solution is simple, and I’m sharing it all with you here.

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Ep #139: Other People’s Emotions

Other People’s Emotions

Over the month of August, we’ve been taking a deep dive into the topic of emotional resiliency and increasing our capacity to feel difficult emotions. Today, we’re going to discuss other people’s emotions and how to handle them to the best of our ability as school leaders.

When people around us express intense emotions, it can be really tricky to navigate and figure out how to respond. We tend to get triggered by other people’s emotional experiences, and I’m sharing the two reasons why this happens. While these responses are completely normal, my goal today is to show you how to respond in an intentional way and decide how you want to address the situation.

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Ep #138: Now Is the Time to Re-Evaluate and Act with Dr. Julia Barrow

Now is The Time to Re-Evaluate and Act with Dr. Julia Barrow

I am so excited to share yet another interview with you this week. With me today, I have Dr. Julia Barrow. She’s been an educator for the last 30 years and she’s really done it all. She’s been a teacher, instructional coach, principal, every role you can think of in the field of education. And now, she’s transitioned into life coaching and she’s sharing some of the ways she’s aspiring to make an impact for educators.

Julia has such a deep well of knowledge and experience that she’s gained throughout her time in education, and she’s bringing so much wisdom to today’s conversation. We’re diving into the importance of self-examination in this historic time of our lives, why emotional resiliency is so crucial for school leaders and teachers to have, and why Julia sees 2020 as a year of opportunities.

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Ep #137: Allowing an Emotion

Allowing an Emotion

As the new school year looms, I know many of my clients are feeling anxious. There’s a lot of uncertainty about whether schools are going to open or what changes are going to be implemented, and so it’s no surprise if your brain is spinning right now. We all want to have plans and feel prepared ahead of time, and our brains are constantly having to reassess and shift priorities as new information comes in.

Last week, we talked about what emotional resiliency is and why it’s important for us school leaders to expand our capacity to feel emotion. Today, I’m diving into the process of what this actually looks like and how to start allowing your emotions. We’ve been taught to sidestep negative emotions because they undoubtedly feel awful, but my goal today is to show you why we need to unlearn what we’ve been taught about emotion and start a practice of processing them all the way through.

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Ep #136: What Is Emotional Resiliency?

What is Emotional Resiliency?

Where has 2020 gone? It’s already the first week of August, the summer is coming to an end soon, and we’ve got a new topic we’ll be diving into this month: emotional resiliency. I am so excited to coach you all on this topic because it is going to mentally and emotionally equip you for the coming school year, through all the trauma we’ve all experienced on some level from COVID.

Life is 50/50, school leadership is 50/50, and I want to help you all become emotionally resilient with the 50% that is hard and that brings up all the negative emotions. If you’re familiar with the STEAR cycle, you’ll likely want to just think a better thought to make the negative feeling go away, but you’re missing out on some huge opportunities by doing this.

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Ep #135: Valuing Your Own Opinion

Valuing Your Own Opinion

So many school leaders are going through a time of conflict right now. There are discussions going on about how to best approach reopening our schools for next year, and chances are, you’re coming up against a lot of opinions from a lot of different angles about what you should be doing.

These decisions are made between a lot of people, and even as a principal, it’s easy to feel like your opinions are being drowned out by the powers that be. So, this week, I want to share a conversation I had with a client recently who was going through exactly this. Valuing your own opinion doesn’t always seem like the easy option, and it’s not always the right option, but it’s important to put this in perspective for when you just know your opinion is of huge value.

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Ep #134: Inclusivity for Every Student with Nelson Peralta

Inclusivity for Every Student with Nelson Peralta

I have another interview for you in this episode. I’m joined by Nelson Peralta, an LGBTQ advocate and the founder of Brown Ambition, which offers mindset coaching to persons of color, specifically helping leaders and entrepreneurs destroy doubt, master their mindset, and level-up.

Nelson is sharing his experience as a student, along with the work he’s currently doing in one of his former school districts. Everything he talks about in this interview is going to be enlightening to you as a school leader, and it can help guide you as you navigate what a fully inclusive school environment can look like for all students.

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Ep #133: Racial Equity in Our Schools with Natalie Wilson

Racial Equity in Our Schools with Natalie Wilson v2

I have a special episode for you this week. To kick start the conversation around equity and race in education, I have a very special guest on the show to discuss her experience as a student and teacher and coach-of-color, and how we can make our schools inclusive and equal environments.

Natalie Wilson is a former teacher who has moved into the field of coaching, helping women who want to find long-term loving relationships. Natalie and I met at an event a few years ago, and we bonded over our shared passion for education. Natalie has a unique perspective on the impacts of racial biases in our school system and the impacts they have on students. This is something I believe the field needs to hear right now.

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Ep #132: A Different Kind of Action

A Different Kind of Action

Summer break is here, which means you have some time to prepare for next year. And truthfully, with everything that’s happened so far in 2020, next year is going to be a completely different experience in so many ways, and the weeks leading up to it are going to be filled with uncomfortable emotions.

Now, as school leaders, we know how to take a lot of action when these uncomfortable feelings arise. But I want to encourage you this week to get used to the idea of taking a different kind of action that will prepare you to face the challenges of starting a new school year in a truly changed world.

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Ep #131: Decisions from Possibility

Decisions from Possibility

I had an email exchange recently with a potential client that really caused me to have a hard think about how we, as leaders, make decisions. When making decisions, there are several different roads we go down, and I’m outlining them here today.

When we’re making an important decision, our brain often wants evidence and guarantees that what we are deciding will definitely yield our intended result. Or worse, we want to say decisively yes or no, but we feel like we should go the other way. This is not how we make empowered decisions as the leaders of our schools.

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