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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Ep #130: 6 Steps to Real Transformation

6 Steps to Real Transformation

Over the course of June, we’ve been talking about belief here on the podcast. Last week, I showed you the technique I teach for how to move from a place where you don’t believe something is possible, to truly believing it is possible by changing your thoughts one step at a time. This week, I want to show you how to take that belief and make it truly transformational.

Whether you have dreams of being a new principal within the next few years, or you’ve been a principal and want to move onto something else, this episode is for you. There are 6 steps to real transformation and I’m taking you through each one so that you can make a plan, take massive action towards your goals, all while showing up as your best self in your current day-to-day.

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Ep #129: Rungs of Belief

Rungs of Belief

Over here in the month of June, we’re discussing the potential and possibility that can come out of this crazy uncertain time we’re living in. We can consider what is possible if we apply ourselves, but we have to be willing to do the thought work that takes our mindset from where it is now to where we want it to be.

I see this especially with new leaders. You want to believe you are competent and you can be confident in your role as a principal from the get-go, but just telling yourself that you can do the job flawlessly is not going to create a true belief in your abilities. And this is where the Rungs of Belief come in.

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Ep #128: Social Emotional Learning, Trauma-Informed Care, and Equity with Diana Patton

Social Emotional Learning, Trauma-Informed Care, and Equity with Diana Patton

I have a guest for you this week who is an absolute powerhouse and I can’t wait for all of you to hear what she has to say. Diana Patton consults with junior highs, high schools, and colleges. And the reason we have connected is because she wants to help educational organizations through her RISE program, speaking on leadership, social emotional learning, diversity, and inclusion.

Diana is a speaker, social justice, and integrative health advocate, through her work as a coach and as an attorney. And she’s also the author of her memoir Inspiration in My Shoes and she recently published a book called This Yogi’s Journey. Diana wants to help the nation’s youth step into their empowerment as they move towards adulthood, and I just know you’re going to love her.

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Ep #127: Possibility

Possibility

We are into the month of June, and because of the uncertain and challenging times we’re facing in our schools right now, I want this month to be all about what is possible. So many school leaders are dreading what the return to campus learning will look like, but I want you to look at this as a time of opportunity and innovation.

Throughout history, society has faced problems, and somebody has stepped up and devised a solution in the face of the seemingly unsolvable. Everything that we value, whether it’s something we use physically or a teaching method, was originally just an idea that didn’t exist outside of the innovator’s mind. So, I’m posing today that now is the time to use your thoughts wisely and make the impossible possible.

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Ep #126: Saying Goodbye to the End of the Year

Saying Goodbye to the End of the Year

I’ve been hearing from a lot of my clients and my friends in the industry lately about the immense sense of sadness that they won’t be able to see out the school year, see their students move on, and generally say goodbye to another chapter in the normal way. This unusual time has brought up a lot of emotions, but this is a crushing one that so many teachers and school leaders are dealing with.

For a lot of people, this situation is manifesting itself as grief, saying goodbye to the end of the year before they were ready. And what’s worse, because we didn’t get a chance to prepare, allowing ourselves to experience these emotions is extremely difficult, and instead, we find ourselves resisting, which only makes things worse in the long run.

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Ep #125: Staffing from a Distance

Staffing from a Distance

Now that all of my clients have settled into running their schools from home, more and more decisions are having to be made away from campus. And as a lot of my clients are new school leaders or are aiming to become a principal in the near future, they’re dealing with a lot of these decisions for the first time, and the distance isn’t making things any easier.

I want to share with all you listeners what I’ve been coaching my clients through the past few weeks. I’ve had clients interviewing for their first principal position, giving interviews to candidates for teaching jobs, helping new staff settle into their jobs, and even having to fire people. I’ve been coaching on all these things for years, but social distancing has brought a whole new dimension to all of this.

 

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Ep #124: Balancing Home and Working from Home

Balancing Home and Working from Home

As a principal, balancing work and home life has always been incredibly tricky. But now that we have found ourselves working from home, this balancing act has become pretty much impossible. Even when we get some sense that we’re moving in the right direction, something always seems to come up and we feel misaligned.

This is even worse when your own kids are involved. You’re trying to engage your students in learning, and you have your own children in the background who have their own needs, and feeling like you’re taking care of both of these areas is a tall order. So, what can we do about this?

 

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Ep #123: The Myth of “Behind”

The Myth of “Behind”

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are many discussions surrounding education at the moment. Everything is changing, so I’m going to use the podcast this month to walk through some of the issues that are coming up in the media and the conversations on social media and offer some more positive and productive ways to approach leading our schools now and into the future.

I was reading one article this week and the theme running throughout it was that, because of the circumstances born out of this pandemic, our schools and students are behind. This is a word that the educational world has always used to describe underperforming schools or kids who are struggling, but does the notion of being behind really help anyone?

 

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