#232: 2024’s BEST Podcast! Power Quote: “Every kid has a story” Jamie’s Student Debrief Protocol: 1. Are you okay? 2. What was the trigger? 3. How did the behavior impact others? 4. What could you have done differently? Description: This is a replay of my favorite interview form 2024, PLUS a few new minutes at the beginning with more wisdom from Jamie Brown. Guest Bio: Jamie is a champion of Student Leadership and Character Education. His passion for promoting student-driven leadership led to th...
Dec 22, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 232
A School Leader’s Guide to Building Culture Show Description: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter Drucker, Author “Culture is like the wind. It is invisible; yet its effect can be seen and felt.” - Bryan Walker, Partner and Managing Director, Ideo “Corporate culture is really hard to define; it’s the side effects of working for your organization.” - Jacob Morgan, Author, The Future of Work How can you build a great culture if we can’t see or define it? It requires hard work, but it is...
Dec 17, 2024•30 min•Ep. 231
#330: Email Sucks Show Description: Last week, Darrin Peppard and I went over some of our favorite time hacks. Towards the end of the show, we talked about email. Today, I’m devoting a whole show to email. I’ll share some tips and tricks, but how we manage email is as much about our mindset as it is the clock. As we get going, I want you to seriously play with an idea: what if email went away? What would your leadership and life be like? Celebrations: Recognizing the fragility and impermanence o...
Dec 10, 2024•28 min•Ep. 230
#229 Outline and Show Notes Show Title: 10 Awesome Time Hacks with Darrin Peppard Power Quote: Description: Time. The most limited resource (along with attention). Many leaders feel if they can better manage their time, they can become better leaders. Yes… and no. The big secret to time management isn’t actually about time. In today’s episode, my good friend Darrin Peppard and I discuss about 10 different tips for managing your time. We lead with the previously mentioned “big secret” so you don’...
Dec 03, 2024•53 min•Ep. 229
228: The Blueprint with Todd Bloomer Power Quote: The further you are from classrooms… the easier it is to become jaded. Description: If I said I knew a principal who was in classrooms all day Monday, would you believe me? I hope so, because you are about to know him too. Guest Bio: Todd Bloomer was born & raised in New York, He got to Texas as fast as he could. This is his 29th year in education and he has served as a building principal of a middle and a high school. Todd is Passionate abou...
Nov 26, 2024•50 min•Ep. 228
Should We Give Teachers Matches? With Alex Auriemma Description: Back in September I released episode 218 titled “Teacher Evaluation is Broken.” Before I recorded that episode I had been thinking about the topic, and today’s guest and I actually recorded the conversation you are about to listen to prior to me recording number 218. I’m not sure why I decided to hold onto this episode so long, but it is time for it to see daylight. This episode is a discussion, not an interview. I hope you will fe...
Nov 19, 2024•49 min•Ep. 227
Win the Morning, Win the Day with Johnathan Cranford Description: If your ISS program runs like clockwork and results in increased academic achievement and fewer misbehaviors, then feel free to skip today’s episode. If you attend one of the 99% of schools that struggle to fully leverage ISS, you will profit from investing some time in today’s show. Guest Bio: Johnathan has seven years of experience as a special education teacher at a therapeutic campus for students with severe emotional disturba...
Nov 12, 2024•51 min•Ep. 226
Silence is Golden Show Description: I teased this show on this morning’s daily email message, in which I suggested I might release a podcast episode that was all silence, to drive home the message that when it comes to helping people reflect, our silence is golden. Of course, the point would be lost if it was only silence as many listeners may not make the connection. That said, be forewarned, there are several chunks of silence in this episode. You see, I wanted to give plenty of time for today...
Nov 05, 2024•20 min•Ep. 225
#224: The Power of Reflection Show Description: We are over half-way through the Good Enough October Challenge. Remember, the big idea here is that you don’t have to be a great leader, you just need to be good enough. Specifically, good enough leaders consistently help the people around them grow by doing four simple things:· Intentionally choosing to show up· Being fully present· Asking reflective questions· Listening to the answers. Choose, Be, Ask, Listen. If you do those things consistently,...
Oct 29, 2024•28 min•Ep. 224
Presence Shouldn’t Wait for Christmas Power Quote: Once you embrace how valuable your full presence is, you will be more motivated to share it with others. Description: This week we continue looking at what it takes to be a good enough leader. Last week we established that being able to consistently observe and work with your teachers to grow their craft is great leadership, but so many of you listening do not have the luxury of observing, post-conferencing, and doing coaching cycles with your t...
Oct 22, 2024•20 min•Ep. 223
222: How will you show up? The Big Idea What if the person you are trying to grow knows more about what they need than you do? This is perspective shift #1: They know more than you ● Stop trying to diagnose what’s wrong ● Assume people want to be really good at what they do ● Ask them what outcomes they want to see improve ● Help them develop the knowledge and skills to get those outcomes Perspective shift #2: You aren’t very good at coaching people ● You probably have not had in-depth training ...
Oct 15, 2024•16 min•Ep. 222
Show Title: What is Leadership? with Mara and Frederick Helene Rebuild Collaborative link: https://hurricanehelenewnc.com/gallery Description: Leadership takes many forms. In this episode we discuss some of these different forms. We’ve tried to highlight a variety of ways people lead, especially those leadership forms that aren’t always recognized or valued. Guest Bio: Mara Buskey is the Inclusion Strategist at Strategic Leadership Consulting, as well as being Frederick’s daughter and a genuinel...
Oct 08, 2024•34 min•Ep. 221
#219 Good Enough October Challenge If you'd like to donate to Helene relief, here is the link to Lance's team: https://hurricanehelenewnc.com/ Facebook page to learn more: https://www.facebook.com/lance.buskey Show Description: The difference between great, good enough, and not good enoughUpdate from AppalachiaMVP show – we’ll see how deep we go! The Big Idea Leaders three responsibilities The Six Dimensions of organizations: support and grow Urgent versus strategic leadership Limited time in qu...
Oct 04, 2024•16 min•Ep. 220
WNC Links: Accurate Local News (radio): https://www.bpr.org/ Local donation options: https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2024-09-28/list-ways-to-donate-and-help-flood-victims-in-western-north-carolina-after-hurricane-helene Lance Buskey Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lance.buskey Lance’s Venmo: Lance-buskey Frederick’s links: frederick@frederickbuskey.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting/...
Sep 30, 2024•10 min•Ep. 219
Teacher Evaluation is Broken Show Description: Assuming you were a teacher, and assuming you were evaluated from time to time:· Did your evaluations ever result in termination?· Did the ever result in you getting a big raise or promotion?· Were they part of a process that helped you grow into a better teacher?For me, the answers are no, no, and no. If your experience is similar, then we need to ask ourselves, “what’s the point of the teacher evaluation process?” The Big Idea · My experience · Te...
Sep 25, 2024•21 min•Ep. 218
Show Title: O Captain, My Captain with Michael Miller Power Quote: “Let there be joy!” Description: Today’s show is like a voyage. We’ll begin in one port, set a course, examine the voyage, and anchor at our destination. This episode is expansive and there are lots of wonderful insights into leadership. We use the metaphor of being a ship captain, so without further introductions, let’s set sail! Guest Bio: Mike (or Michael) Miller has been an educator since 1996 and has held positions in school...
Sep 03, 2024•51 min•Ep. 217
Show Title: The Principal’s GREAT Assistant Principal with John Hinds Power Quote: “There’s a system for that” Description: You’ll hear the word “systems” quite a bit in today’s show. Today’s guest will paraphrase a quote attributed to Edwards Deming, one of the titans of process improvement from the 20th Century. The quote goes "Every system is perfectly designed to get the result that it does." Today’s show isn’t about systems, but the things we discuss can’t be achieved without systems. I’ll ...
Aug 27, 2024•41 min•Ep. 216
10 Ways in 10 Days Part 2 Grab the PDF guide of all 10 Ways: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/d58fd6430f Show Description: According to a recent ASCD article synthesizing the recent research on early career teacher retention, 29% of first year teachers will leave the school they are in , to either exit the profession or go to another school. Three common challenges emerged from the research:· Classroom management· Insufficient curriculum guidance· Unsupportive environment Quoting: “More t...
Aug 20, 2024•22 min•Ep. 215
10 Ways in 10 Days: Easy Activities for Supporting New Teachers, Part 1 Grab the PDF guide of all 10 Ways: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/d58fd6430f Show Description: According to a recent ASCD article synthesizing the recent research on early career teacher retention, 29% of first year teachers will leave the school they are in , to either exit the profession or go to another school. Three common challenges emerged from the research:· Classroom management· Insufficient curriculum guida...
Aug 13, 2024•22 min•Ep. 214
Seven Favorite Things Today’s show covers seven favorite of my favorite parts of the book! One for the introduction and one for each of the six stages. The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520 Monthly nudges : A single email each month to highlight a single stage ( link ) Frederick’s Links: Email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com Website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadersh...
Aug 08, 2024•25 min•Ep. 213
Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline Show Description: In 2007 I lead a group of six professors at Western Carolina University in a total redesign of our masters of school administration principal licensure program. I was the coordinator of a program that had jest become fully online, our admissions were skyrocketing and our students were becoming much more diverse. The old program just didn’t work, so we collectively decided to trash it and begin anew. It was a long process, buil...
Aug 01, 2024•33 min•Ep. 212
Show Title: Presence and Passion for Living with Lindsay Titus Power Quote: “Emotions are energy in motion” Description: How do you take care of yourself when you are so busy taking care of others? How can you be present when there is so much to do? What’s the meaning of life? Okay, we won’t go quite that deep in today’s show, but we will explore ideas around being authentic and loving your life, and we will give you six techniques for practicing being present. Guest Bio: Lindsay Titus is a pass...
Jul 23, 2024•49 min•Ep. 211
The Three Epiphanies Maybe you are a new admin this fall. Maybe you are headed to a new school. Maybe you are staying where you are, but new people are coming to you. In today’s abbreviated episode, we’ll play with this idea of newness. The Big Idea · What this podcast was going to be…. · BB King · 3 epiphanies · Can’t do everything on the front end of new… · What are your values? · Mayeroff On Caring (help them grow in their direction) · Trainwreck lesson by Mr. Jones · Ad · Find out his pain p...
Jul 16, 2024•17 min•Ep. 210
Show Title: 42 and Stuff with Dr. Steve Miletto Description: Today’s conversation is like a meandering stream that is destined to end in a specific place. What are the meanders, and where do they lead? Stay tuned! Guest Bio: Dr. Steven Miletto has been an educator in Georgia(US) for 37 years. He has served public school families as a history teacher, assistant principal, high school principal, and as a Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) Executive Director. In 2009, he was the Georgia Princ...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 209
Show Title: Authentic Parent Partnerships with Ari Gerzon-Kessler Power Quote: Description: Imagine that we have some time scheduled to meet together. What would you want to talk about? And how would I know what you wanted to talk about? You would either have had to tell me, or I would have had to ask. And if neither of those things happened before the meeting, we might both be a bit disappointed after the meeting. Now think about the classic parent-teacher conference:· Do all families want to k...
Jul 02, 2024•47 min•Ep. 208
Supporting Early Career Teachers – a Systems Approach Show Description: With all the challenges we face, it can be difficult to focus on just one thing. In fact, it often feels like we do the opposite – throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. In today’s episode I detail how we can make important gains by focusing on one thing – helping early career teachers build positive classroom cultures. I also reference my own program for doing this important work, which you can find on my websit...
Jun 26, 2024•37 min•Ep. 207
Show Title: “One-offs Matter” with Jen Manly Power Quote: “One-offs matter.” Description: Do you remember being a teacher? Or maybe you are an aspiring AP and you are still in the classroom. Either way, I want you to think about the relationship between the evaluation process, professional development days, and teacher growth. It seems like these are three related things, but in much of my experience as a teacher and administrator, evaluation, PD, and teacher growth were disconnected from each o...
Jun 18, 2024•51 min•Ep. 206
Show Title: Coaching and a Culture of Learning with Elena Aguilar Power Quote: “To normalize growth, we must normalize making mistakes.” Description: Before we get started, I need to give a shout out to Dr. Pam Buskey. Today is our anniversary and though the years have flown by too quickly, every one of them has been filled with special moments, big and small. Marriage is a partnership and I am so tankful and blessed to be walking this journey with you. Okay, now we can get started. Today we con...
Jun 11, 2024•34 min•Ep. 205
Show Title: The Coaching Relationship with Elena Aguilar Power Quote: “We are social beings.” Description: In 2013 Elena Aguilar wrote The Art of Coaching . I came across the book soon after and it has shaped the way I view and do coaching. Today’s show is part 1 of my discussion with Elena in which we focus defining coaching and identifying the foundations of coaching. There are some great pieces of wisdom in today’s show, so please pay close attention. Guest Bio: Elena Aguilar is a writer, lea...
Jun 04, 2024•51 min•Ep. 204
Ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the pain?) Show Description: Last week you listened to Chad Dumas and I discuss PLCs. When we began talking, I had in my head the idea of a PLC being a discrete thing – group of teachers collaborating around honing their teaching skills. I suspect that most of you listening also had similar ideas – that PLCs were things we could drop into schools and have teachers “do.” However, as the conversation unfolded, Chad reminded me of some things I had forgotten, foremos...
May 28, 2024•26 min•Ep. 203
