The Assistant Principal Podcast

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Guest Links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amaz...

Guiding Change with Dr. Christie Cooper

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Guiding Change with Dr. Christie Cooper

Teaser:

Building on DiSC styles and how they influence change processes. 50-70% of change initiatives Fail!

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Inspiring is the word that best describes Dr. Christie Cooper! Christie’s energy, coupled with a passion for effective learning makes the workshops that she facilitates highly engaging and meaningful for the participants. Christie is the founder and president of Cooper Consulting Group, and her mission is to “inspire learning and leadership development to help leaders and teams be their best.” She has extensive real-world business experience that benefits clients; including senior positions as a Regional Manager and Corporate Trainer with Mars Inc. Christie holds an EdD in Organizational Leadership and a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University; is a Board-Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and the Center for Counseling and Education; Certified Trainer in Emotional Intelligence; and holds many other industry certifications and partnerships.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

2: Change, stages of evolution, the change curve. I do have my own model for driving incremental change, so I think we could have some great conversation looking at similarities and differences of our models.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Not everyone handles change the way you do, not everyone needs the same things you do.
There is a cost to failed change (human and resources – every yes is a no to something else)
Small change is the alternative to big change (work A-B)
If you are going to do this work (and you should):
- Free: Reach out to me for free leadership compass activity and directions, do it separately, then meet off site to debrief.
- Facilitated (better) but $3-10k (+125/person) for a day-long event (and can couple nicely with team coaching)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Christie’s Links:

https://www.lin...

Leadership Styles with Dr. Christie Cooper

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Leadership Styles with Dr. Christie Cooper

Teaser:

The leadership style activity I do with groups…

Show Intro

When students practice math over the summer, students learn and math scores go up. Join the growing list of schools offering at-home summer math enrichment through Summer Pops. If you are curious about what a research-based summer-math program looks like. Check out Summer Pops for free. Get your FREE workbook samples today at Summer Pops Workbooks.com. The link is in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

1: Leadership styles, why they matter, brief overview of DiSC styles and maybe some expert insights from you

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Value of having common understandings of leadership styles:
- I know myself better, the strengths to lean into and the overuse tendencies to guard against
- I better know what other people need from me
- Recognize individuals’ strengths
- I know our general strengths and weaknesses as a team
- We have common language to provide positive accountability
If you are going to do this work (and you should):
- Free: Reach out to me for free leadership compass activity and directions, do it separately, then meet off site to debrief.
- Facilitated (better) but $3-10k (+125/person) for a day-long event (and can couple nicely with team coaching)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/imchristiecooper/

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Christie’s Links:

Five Change Lessons

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Five Change Lessons

March 17, 2026

Show Intro

Friends/School leaders, When students practice math over the summer, math scores go up. So, what’s your summer math plan this year? Whether you have no summer math program, or are curious about what a research based program looks like. Check out Summer Pops for free. Get your FREE workbook samples today at Summer Pops Workbooks.com. The link is in the show notes.

Celebrations: Colleagues and the kindness of strangers

Key Points Part 1

I invest so much of my time helping people avoid making big mistakes in change initiatives that it is super-frustrating to make those mistakes myself.

I’m working with several schools on implementing my flywheel model to grow teacher capacity.

In brief the flywheel has three components:

Provide professional development/training
Follow up training with targeted observations to monitor results
Use data from observations to plan the next training

It’s a simple and powerful concept, but there are many places that implementing a flywheel can breakdown, and in my excitement to push some school leaders into implementing the flywheel, I made some critical mistakes.

In today’s podcast I describe five frequent mistakes we make when it comes to implementing change. This is sector agnostic – if you ever lead change, these five things are critical.

It can’t be my vision; it needs to be our vision. I think this is the most common mistake people (including me) make. Sometime we can trust too much in our own leadership.

Pilot with a willing group. One of the simplest mistakes to avoid is to force change. When implementing change, work with the willing by doing a pilot. Just because a thing worked somewhere else doesn’t mean it will work at your organization, so find the people who most want the change and enlist them in a pilot.

It’s so much easier to work with people who are trying to make the things work. They are more resilient when things go wrong (and they will) and will ultimately be better recruiters for expansion than you will be.

Work A-B – identify initial baby steps to generate winds and make things better immediately and build moment

Account for initiative fatigue - be a shepherd of attention. Remember every yes is a notice of something else. People are already working at max capacity and addition by subtraction.

Create clear and measurable success criteria (why are we doing this?)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Recl...

Make Every Moment Count with POY Jason Johnson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Show Title: Make Every Moment Count with POY Jason Johnson

Power Quote: Make Every Moment Count

Teaser:

The R word – relationships. Sometimes it feels like we talk about it too much but not enough. It doesn’t make sense, but I hope you know what I mean. In a digital world, it feels like relationships are an analog concept, but I think they are more important now than ever.

Sponsor Spot 1:- If you love travel, but your student trips are starting to feel a little… copy-and-paste, it might be time to level up.That’s why I recommend Kaleidoscope Adventures.They’ve been planning educational travel for more than 30 years. And the best part? No cookie-cutter itineraries. Every trip is built around your program, your budget, and your goals.Whether you’re dreaming of a trip to Universal’s EPIC Universe, a history-filled journey to Washington, D.C., or even an international adventure, Kaleidoscope Adventures can help you plan a trip your students will never forget.Get inspired today at mykatrip.com. Kaleidoscope Adventures - Travel Beyond Expectations

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Jason M. Johnson is the 2025 North Carolina Principal of the Year and serves as Principal of Orange High School in Hillsborough, NC. With over 28 years in public education, he has led impactful change in both middle and high school settings. Under his leadership, Orange High exceeded academic growth in 2023–2024 and 2024-2025 and improved its state performance grade from a C to a B. A proud NC A&T alumnus, Johnson holds graduate degrees from UNC Greensboro. He has served as Executive Director of Schools, School Transformation Coach (NC Department of Instruction), and principal of multiple schools, and he sits on several advisory boards and state leadership associations. Johnson believes in equity, opportunity, and high expectations. He is married to Heather and is the proud father of Jason, Addison, Ava, and Aidan.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

“It’s all about relationships” is a popular phrase and you spoke eloquently about relationships in your session this past December at NCPAPA. Can we go deep on relationships?
When we talk about “relationships” what do we actually mean? What are the indicators of healthy professional relationships?
Why are relationships so important? Has their importance changed from when you were early in your career?
Many administrators wind up leading the school they taught in, which leads to some complicated relationships. Thoughts?
How do you sustain a school that is too big (literally has too many people for you to know them all)? How do you build powerful relationships in a time with increased turnover?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Remind your teachers they can be a hero to kids – Look for strengths - one sentence matters
Remind yourself you can be a hero to your teachers (not by fixing but by supporting)
Make every moment count (cv=every moment matters)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- ...

Doing is Not Serving with Leah Marone

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Support, Don’t Solve

Teaser:

Becoming a strategic leader is a journey – a long one. It’s a journey full of stops and starts, and slow incremental improvement. But there are also some inflection points – places where leaders make a great leap forward. Those inflection points usually have more to do with changes in perception than the acquisition of knowledge or skills. Today’s topic is an inflection point. To get to the place where you are growing your teachers, you have to first stop trying to fix things for them. Don’t fix, grow. You can’t do both. Today’s wonderful guest is going to help us learn how to stop being a serial fixer. Before we dive into the interview, I’s like you to think about summer…

When students practice math over the summer, math scores go up. So, what’s your summer math plan this year? Whether you have no summer math program, or are curious about what a research-based program looks like. Check out Summer Pops for free. Get your FREE workbook samples today at Summer Pops Workbooks.com. The link is in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Leah Marone is a psychotherapist, Yale Clinical Instructor, and corporate mental wellness consultant with over 20 years of experience. A former Division 1 athlete, she specializes in high-achievers struggling with imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and performance anxiety. Leah has conducted over 20,000 therapy sessions and contributed to Psychology Today, Newsweek, and The Atlantic. She works with organizations on burnout prevention, boundary setting, and emotional intelligence. A sought-after speaker, Leah has presented her Support, Don’t Solve framework to leaders nationwide. Her new book, Serial Fixer, exploring the hidden patterns of over-functioning and how to break free.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Assistant principals are the ultimate serial fixers out of a desire to serve. Let’s begin by untangling this emotional piece of being a fixer.
One reason APs do too much fixing is they aren’t sure how to validate the person’s needs without fixing them. Can you talk about the hierarchy of steps that can lead us to being supporters instead of fixers?
What are some baby steps serial fixers can take to become supporters?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Control disguised as compassion (making them feel better makes us feel better)
Support don’t solve and creating dependencies
Use validation as the break and inquiry as the accelerator
Begin by being self-aware

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

...

When There are I's in TEAM with Chad Dumas

Frederick Buskey — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0500

When there are “I’s” in TEAM with Dr. Chad Dumas

Teaser:

I’m really excited about today’s episode. I had so much fun recording it and I think that lightness and positivity come out in the interview. It’s a great combination of high-level stuff and some really fundamental truths about teams and leaderships. This might be one of those episodes that you want to listen to twice and take notes. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording it.

Sponsor Spot 1:Friends/School leaders, When students practice math over the summer, math scores go up. So, what’s your summer math plan this year? Whether you have no summer math program, or are curious about what a research-based program looks like. Check out Summer Pops for free. Get your FREE workbook samples today at Summer Pops Workbooks.com. The link is in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Dr. Chad Dumas is a Solution Tree PLC at Work, Assessment, and Priority Schools associate and international consultant, presenter, and award-winning researcher. His primary focus is collaborating to develop capacity for continuous improvement. With a quarter century of successful leadership experience, Chad has led significant improvements for both students and staff. He shares his research and knowledge in his three books on PLCs, and his most recent book, the Teacher Team Leader Handbook. Chad’s consulting and training includes research, stories, hands-on tools, useful knowledge, and practical skills. He most recently was the executive director of elementary education in the Ames Community School District, a preschool thru grade 12 district of 5,000 students in central Iowa. Before this he was the director of learning for Hastings Public Schools in south-central Nebraska for nine years. Chad is one of the few three-time guests as he appeared back in episodes 202 and 246.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

The driving question will be: I have a 7th grade team who doesn’t get along. Each wants to do their own thing. Our 6th grade team collaborates and integrates ELA into multiple subjects and student achievement data is much higher there. Our 7th grade has a daily PLC time, but they do not use it well. Help!
Let’s begin with common teams dysfunctions:
- People?
- Processes?
- Purpose?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

- If you love travel, but your student trips are starting to feel a little… copy-and-paste, it might be time to level up.That’s why I recommend Kaleidoscope Adventures.They’ve been planning educational travel for more than 30 years. And the best part? No cookie-cutter itineraries. Every trip is built around your program, your budget, and your goals.Whether you’re dreaming of a trip to Universal’s EPIC Universe, a history-filled journey to Washington, D.C., or even an international adventure, Kaleidoscope Adventures can help you plan a trip your students will never forget.Get inspired today at mykatrip.com. Kaleidoscope Adventures - Travel Beyond Expectations

Summary/wrap up

“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”
Four root problems:
1. Why? (purpose)
2. What and how (processes)
3. Lack of trust
4. Illogical resistors
5. All => M=v/e
Cleaning snow off the wrong car - Collaboration has to be meaningful
Step 1: learn; Step 2: create more alignment

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Summer Pops: Summer Pops Workbooks.com

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

What a Ford Mav-Wreck Can Teach Us About Leadership

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0500

What a Ford Mav-Wreck Can Teach Us About Leadership

Sponsor Spot 1:Travel can positively impact students in a big way - but if your first thought is, “who is going to plan all of this?”, don’t worry because that’s where Kaleidoscope Adventures comes in.The KA team has been planning student group travel for more than 30 years! They handle the logistics from start to finish, so you can focus on your job in the classroom.Whenever you’re ready to plan a trip, Kaleidoscope Adventures can’t wait to help your group travel beyond expectations. Visit mykatrip.com today

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Key Points Part 1

Weigh the risk v reward and make the best decision you can with the information you have at the time
Stay in the present, especially stop worrying about problems you can’t solve in the current moment
Take good care of the things that keep you safe and watch for signs of wear (self-care)
Slow down
Own the results

Key Points Part 2

Be thankful
Leverage the thing we can do that AI cannot takeaway: be fully present!

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Reimagining School Leadership with Dr. Lindsay Whorton

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Reimagining School Leadership with Dr. Lindsay Whorton

Power Quote: “Leadership has to be a team sport.”

Teaser:

I hope you enjoy listening to today’s episode as much as I did recording it. It’s a wonderful combination of big picture thinking and exploring some new ideas but then also getting down and making some really specific suggestions about next steps so this wonderful blend of 40,000 foot thinking and then being right down on the ground doing the work.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Dr. Lindsay Whorton has served as president of The Holdsworth Center since 2019, leading its growth from seven Texas school districts to 89 districts serving over 1,900 educational leaders. A native of Independence, Missouri, Lindsay graduated from Drake University with degrees in secondary education and English. She captained the women's basketball team to a 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship, earning tournament MVP and First-Team Academic All-American honors. A Rhodes Scholar, Lindsay earned her master's and doctorate in social policy from Oxford University, where she also served as a Fulbright Scholar studying Finland's teacher education system. Her most recent book is A New School Leadership Architecture.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

What should be the job of school leadership? (ref my 3 responsibilities and Eisenhower Matrix)
What would the new architecture look like?
Is there a way to nibble at the margins?
What are some conversations leaders could have to plant the seeds of change?

Sponsor Spot 2:I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast… ● If you want to take the load off your teachers so they can do their best work, IXL can help. ● With IXL, you get a personalized online learning and teaching solution that helps you improve achievement, empower teachers, track progress, and more. This one platform for K to 12 helps teachers accomplish what normally would require dozens of other tools. · IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress. Studies show that schools that use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Studies on more than 70,000 schools in nearly all 50 states show that those who use IXL outperform others on state tests, and IXL has decades of expertise and is proven to be effective. Discover what IXL can do for your school. Visit ixl.com/assistant today.

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

· Do the org chart!

· Think about what it would look like if you could increase teacher development capacity (by leveraging different roles)

· And what would it look like of the principal took the lead in developing others’ capacity to coach?

· The AP role: leading through others (goes back to the five gives)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

· If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcompli...

Bonus-Preview with Dr. Lindsay Whorton

Frederick Buskey — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 11:00:00 -0500

Dr. Lindsay Whorton has served as president of The Holdsworth Center since 2019, leading its growth from seven Texas school districts to 89 districts serving over 1,900 educational leaders.

A native of Independence, Missouri, Lindsay graduated from Drake University with degrees in secondary education and English. She captained the women's basketball team to a 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship, earning tournament MVP and First-Team Academic All-American honors.

A Rhodes Scholar, Lindsay earned her master's and doctorate in social policy from Oxford University, where she also served as a Fulbright Scholar studying Finland's teacher education system. Her most recent book is A New School Leadership Architecture. The full interview will air 2/10/26.

The Five Gives

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0500

The Five Gives

Teaser:

It’s that time of the year for assistant principals when it just feels like you’re completely underwater all the time the thought you had at the beginning of the year of engaging in teacher development of doing observations and coaching those are kind of long lost dreams at this point, but there is a way out we don’t have to sit in the space today I am going to do a quick overview of five strategies that will free up a little bit of your time so that you can get back to doing that meaningful purposeful work of helping to support and grow your teachers now using the strategies isn’t going to save you hours a day. Remember all we’re trying to do is really nibble at the margins and if we can find you five 1015 minutes a day. Well, that's 1235 minute coaching sessions. Before we begin…

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Key Points Part 1

Six stages of reclaiming purpose

Stage three is about doing less and using five strategies to save a few minutes of time to invest in your priorities.

Sponsor Spot 2:I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast… Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions. And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more. It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Key Points Part 2

The five gives:

1. Give it up

2. Give it back

3. Give it away

4. Give it a C

5. Give it a bounce

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

When Things Didn't Go Well in the Fall

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0500

289 When Fall Didn’t End Very Well

Teaser:

“I would love it if you would consider doing a podcast episode on what happens when a principal gets off track and needs to get the trains back on track... Just as our students get off track around October (the honeymoon phase is over), I found myself last fall losing sight of our mission and goals for the year. My AP and I got excited and started getting buried in trying new initiatives, and I think it caused some frustrations with the staff. We started to focus on the noise instead of patterns. I didn't know if you had any tips or strategies that you could share to help stay focused on the path I designed back in the summer.”

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Family, home, routines and processes

Key Points Part 1

Common mistakes:

· Initiatives

· Popping green balloons

· Unilateral decision-making

· Coaching before building trust

Strategic v tactical level

· Strategic – it’s about culture (6 dimensions) Episode 179

· Cycle of relationships (tactical)

Other factors:

· Transparency and communication (4 types of decisions)

· Vulnerability

· Listen, listen, listen

Key Points Part 2

Getting things back on track:

· Transparency and vulnerability: “Last fall was tough. I made a lot of mistakes and I’m sorry I’m determined to be a better leader and a better servant that begins with listening. I’ll be asking each of you questions about the fall. What went well were there any surprises? Is there anything we should be doing differently. I will not give feedback it’s not a conversation. I just want to listen and learn so I can become a better leader.”

· Use the 5-mc process as a culture check in

· Learning about teachers: provide a list of reflective questions. Ask them to choose three they would like to talk about. Meet with them (preferably in their rooms) and create space for them to talk. You can paraphrase and answer direct questions but avoid adding your stories, justifying previous actions, or suggesting changes.

· Possible questions See episode 177:

1. What is your teaching superpower?

2. What is the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher and when you began?

3. If your you could make your students better at one thing, what would it be?

4. What is your proudest teaching moment and why?

5. How do you see yourself being different five years from now?

And these from ClaudeAI:

1. What part of your teaching day energizes you most?

2. When do you feel most connected to your students?

3. What's something you've learned from your students this year?

4. If you could spend more time on one aspect of your teaching, what would it be?

5. What does a really good day in your classroom look like?

6. What do you wish people understood about your classroom or your students?

7. What's a challenge you're working through right now that you feel good about tackling?

8. When you think about a student who really grew this year, what do you think made the difference?

9. What conditions help you do your best work?

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

· Be transparent and vulnerable

· Ask good questions and listen to build trust and identify pain points

· Support teachers by addressing pain points

· Reflect on programs versus people. My opinion: better people is more important than better programs, so focus on building people.

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidosc...

Oh, They are Mad! with Darrin Peppard

Frederick Buskey — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Oh, They are Mad! with Darrin Peppard

Power Quote: “Listen more, talk less.”

Teaser:

Here’s the email I received that inspired this episode: I’m wondering if you have an episode of your podcast focusing on dealing with unreasonable parents. This year has been exceptionally difficult regarding the attacks I’m receiving from parents. Either they are offended when I discipline their child because their child is innocent, or they are offended that I disciplined their child without contacting them prior to the discipline so they can solve the problem for me. I understand that discipline should not be the focus of my day and it typically is not. I also try really hard to make sure 20% of the kids do not consume 80% of my time. But how do I not allow the parents to consume me? In each case, the student has owned it, accepted the consequence and moved on… while at school. Then they get home and tell a different story about a big bad AP who is targeting them.I have some knowledge in this area but wanted some additional expertise so I’m partnering with my friend and colleague Darrin Peppard of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast and we are recording our conversation to be simulcast on both shows. Before we get started…

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

As a 'recovering' high school principal and former school district superintendent, Darrin Peppard draws from over 25 years of experience in education, including 13 years in leadership roles. Darrin is renowned for his expertise in school culture and climate, coaching emerging leaders, and his culture-first approach that emphasizes keen insight and a dynamic personality. His accolades include being named the 2016 Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year by WASSP/NASSP, the 2015 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year, and induction into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame in 2019. He holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Wyoming (2017). Through his book "Road to Awesome: The Journey of a Leader," Darrin shares strategies for maintaining a positive attitude, elevating others, and finding joy in leadership. Co-authored with Katie Kinder, his latest work, "Culture First Classrooms: Leadership, Relationships, and Practices that Transform Schools," provides proven methods for building transformative educational environments. Darrin also hosts the "Leaning into Leadership" podcast, where he discusses decision-making, cognitive biases, and more with industry experts.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

We could look at four phases:

· Building capital in advance (deposits before withdraws)

o Identify students and families who may need extra care

o Parents want to be heard

o Make early and positive contacts. Have the teacher do the same (teach them how)

· The meeting with the student

o Begin with care – Are you okay?

o Separate the behavior from the student

o Have them write their version

o Listen

· The post-conversation/information for parent

o Can have the student (with you) call the parent

o Make sure parent knows exactly what to expect

o End with optimism and affirm the value and dignity of the student

· Problem discussions

o Clarify what the problem is

o Do not take it personally (may not be about you) – DPs basketball example

o Remember parents may have prior negative experiences

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

· Think three phases: before, during, after

· Parents want to be heard

· Know the story you are telling yourself about the parent

Resources:

· The Assistant Principal Podcast: #199 “Are You Okay?” with Jamie Brown and #237 Helping Teachers Call Home

· Leaning Into Leadership: Episode 68: When Calling Parents isn't Your Calling with Crystal Frommert

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Three Resolutions and One Word

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Three Resolutions and One Word

Teaser:

The New Year is a great time to refocus and gain some clarity, but New Years’ resolutions feels to me like something that sounds good in theory but doesn’t work in practice. At least it hasn’t for me. Instead of resolutions this year, I’m using one word to help me keep my priorities straight, and three intentions that, if I work them daily, will lead me to my major goal of 2026. I’ll apologize on the front end if this episode comes off as narcissistic. I feel a bit awkward talking about myself and diving deep into how my brain works, but I’m doing it this way because I think if you can see what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, you will be able to take these practices and adapt them to your own lie and leadership. Notice the word “adapt.” Please don’t copy. Rather, think about how your context and needs are different from mine and how you might tweak the core ideas to better align with how your brain works and what your schedule allows.

Show Intro

Celebrations:

· Caveat

· I can walk without a limp! And Christmas and New Years (families both born into and chosen)

Key Points Part 1

· Two “secrets” to being a great leader:

o Be present

o Priority management

· One word – overview

· One word helps us be more intentional

· Sharing previous one words

· How this year’s one word shapes my priorities and daily actions

Sponsor Spot 2:● With IXL, you get a personalized online learning and teaching solution that helps you improve achievement, empower teachers, track progress, and more. This one platform for K to 12 helps teachers accomplish what normally would require dozens of other tools.● As students practice skills, IXL automatically adapts to ensure each learner is always supported and challenged at the right level. IXL also provides every student with a personalized learning plan to help them close knowledge gaps effectively. ● As a school leader, you’re always looking for ways to make it easier for teachers to do great work. Why not take the load off your teachers so they can do their best work? IXL can help.It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Key Points Part 2

My three 2026 intentions are the daily actions that should help me achieve my goals.

My goal is to remake my body to maximize the time I have left to hike.

A key measurement for the goal is: Complete the 71-mile High Sierra Trail in August of 2026. The High Sierra is a stunning trail through the southeast Sierra Nevada range in California. It ends at the summit of Mt. Whitney (elevation 14,505), the highest peak in the continental United States. I am used to hiking mountains, but at 5,000 feet, not 10,000 feet. Half of the trail is at altitudes high enough to cause altitude sickness.

Notice my goal is not to hike the High Sierra Trail. It is the measurement. Do not mistake your measurement for your goal!

Three intentions I need to hold to achieve my goal:

Build my days around movement. Movement is the most important thing.
Move in different ways (resistance training, yoga, biking, hiking, water-aerobics) every day
Consume media that encourages me to move.

Notice:

● These intentions drive actions I can take every day

● If I act on these intentions each day, there is a very high likelihood of meeting my goals

● They keep me focused on movement and combat my own distractibility

In goal setting and strategic planning, the biggest mistake I see people consistently making is they do not operationalize the goal. They develop plans and benchmarks, but fail to identify the daily practices and actions that will inevitably lead to success.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

Reflecting on Leadership with Darryall White

Frederick Buskey — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Teaser:

At the end of each year, I re-air what I consider to be the best episode of the year, but my favorite episode for this year was released on Nov 11 (episode 279). Instead of re-airing something you’ve already heard, I decided to have my guest from that best episode, Darryall White, come back onto the show. I gave him some homework to complete the SWOT analysis and the Stop-Start-Continue-Consider process before we got together. In today’s show, Darryall is going to share what he found and I’ll serve as a reflective partner. As we work through the process, I’d like you to imagine being on both sides of the conversation. Imagine completing the reflections and sharing what you found. And then imagine being the reflective partner who can listen and ask clarifying questions. Before we get started…

Sponsor Spot 1:Do you love to travel but are tired of the same old student trip? Check out Kaleidoscope Adventures, our preferred planning partner! Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning educational travel beyond expectations for more than 30 years. They know the best destinations for student groups – they might even surprise you with a few hidden gems you’ve never considered!
Discover the Harry Potter connection in Portugal, plan an “epic” trip to Universal, or celebrate America’s 250th on an American Adventure!
Each experience is customized to fit your specific needs… never a “one-size-fits-all” cookie cutter trip! When you need a little inspiration, contact the experts at mykatrip.com for the freshest ideas for your next student trip!

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Today’s guest is a respected leader in education, Coach Darryall White, assistant principal and athletic director at Indian Land Middle School in Lancaster County, South Carolina.A proud Clemson graduate, Coach White has spent more than 30 years serving students as a teacher, counselor, and now assistant principal. He’s coached nearly every sport and recently made history as the first-ever Lancaster County School District Assistant Principal of the Year.Known for his energy, authenticity, and passion for developing champions from the inside out, Coach White helps students, teachers, and athletes strengthen the heart, the head, and the hustle.”

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Summary/wrap up

My desire coming out of this episode is for you to practice using both these tools and being on both sides of the conversation
With a colleague, friend, partner

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Guest Links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

10 Things I Learned

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Two weeks ago, I was at the North Carolina Principals & Assistant Principals’ Association Fall Instructional Symposium and had the great pleasure of meeting and listening to Jimmy Casas, who owns the company (ConnectEDD) which published A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose.

Key Points Part 1

My core values
Trade the to-do list for a to-be list (build this out: if I wanted to live my core values, what would that look like? Them either change behavior or change values to prevent inauthenticity)
The solution to every problem is for me to work on me (growth begins with us and “I’m the leader, it’s on me.”)
“This job will mess with you…”
You can change culture in 30-second moments
SLOW Down

Key Points Part 2

When identifying “look-fors” for observation, have teachers develop them
Decision chart (1-I decide, 2-I decide you advise, 3-We decide, 4-You decide)
Relationships are the first thing. Are they the most important thing?
Our validation is an external reward/motivation (Lavonna Roth)
Solving other people’s problems creates dependency. Why do we do this? To feel needed?

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

5-Minute Coaching

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

#284: 5-Minute Coaching

Teaser:

Today we are doing a deep dive into 5-minute coaching. This show is an adaptation of the 45-minute breakout training I frequently do at conferences, like NCPAPA earlier this month. I do have a handout that contains all of the information. If you’d like a PDF of the handout, just email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com and I’ll get it out to you. In this era of marketing, it’s fair to be suspicious and wonder, “Why not just put it on the website as a download and save everyone some time?” For this reason – knowing I am making a difference with people, and that I have connections with those people, fuels my work. Getting a message from you, and being able to respond and connect – for me, that’s what it’s all about. We’ll begin the show with a couple soapbox moments, then listen to a demo of 5-minute coaching. From there, we

Show Intro

Celebrations: Great conference!

Organization:

· Background knowledge

· Sample session

· Detailed breakdown

· Conclusion

Key Points Part 1

Key Points Part 2

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Listen More, Speak Less with Chris Horton

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Power Quote: “How does this make learning better?”

Teaser:

A couple weeks ago I had Simone Lieschke on. Simone is co-principal at the American International School of Lusaka in Zambia. I appreciated her different perspectives and it was a conversation that made me, and I hope you, step back and reflect more deeply on our own contexts. Today’s show is also with an international school leader, and, again, will offer some different (and not so different) perspectives to help us think.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Originally from London England, Chris Horton has worked since 2001 in International Schools. Starting in Washington DC and moving to Doha, Panama City and now Buenos Aires, he has worked in British and American international schools as a teacher and school administrator. Currently he is the assistant principal at Asociacion Escuelas Lincoln in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He has completed his NPQH (National Professional Qualification of Headship) UK, and presented at several conferences in the AMISA region (American International School Association).

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

The creative and problem-solving aspects of your work. We rarely talk about this on the pod and I think it would be great to do so.
What strategies are you using in the face of student transience?
What role does asset-based mindset play in meeting their needs? How do you do it?
(If time) What are you doing around teacher retention?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Everybody’s assistant (including your own)
Doing without doing (meta initiative) – Wu-wei
Listen more speak less
Help people solve their problems (teacher growth and change initiatives)
Remember the empty chair

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Guest Links:

LinkedIn profile: Link

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588...

Shared Leadership with Simone Lieschke

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Power Quote: “What’s the point if I’m not willing to grow?”

Teaser:

As you will hear, I began my teaching career overseas through a serious of serendipitous events. For reasons I myself don’t fully understand, I’ve been feeling the echoes of international education on my thoughts, so I decided to listen and invite on some international school leaders. We can certainly learn a lot from people who work in the same context as we do, and we can learn a lot from people work in very different contexts, who bring different perspectives. No matter what your leadership context is, there are some great takeaways from today’s show. This is a lively and enjoyable conversation – I guarantee you will smile. So I invite you to sit back, listen, and laugh with me…

Sponsor Spot 1:If you or your teachers have been thinking about planning a student trip, but don’t really know where to start, Kaleidoscope Adventures has you covered!
Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning exceptional educational travel for more than 30 years. They understand the unique needs of student groups and will handle all the details from start to finish – so you can enjoy the experience! If you still need some help getting the ball rolling, check out their great e-resources including The Ultimate Guide to Planning Student Travel, The Ultimate How-To Guide for International High School Travel, AND The Ultimate Financial Guide for Your Student Trip.
These are all FREE and packed with helpful tips and advice like how to get your parents on board, funding your trip, picking chaperones, and more.
Connect with Kaleidoscope Adventures at mykatrip.com for your free copy or to talk with a pro planner.
Kaleidoscope Adventures is travel beyond expectations!

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Simone Lieschke is the Primary School Co-Principal at the American International School of Lusaka, Zambia. She is deeply committed to empathy-driven, student-centered leadership and to fostering a connected, caring school culture. Simone is also passionate about developing sustainable and reciprocal community partnerships that create meaningful service learning opportunities for students. Now in her twentieth year in international education, Simone’s career has taken her and her family around the world, with previous leadership roles in Singapore, China, South Korea, and Australia.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

There is a tremendous variety of international schools, but I’d like listeners to have more context about your specific school:
- What should listeners know about your school and students?
- What do you love most your school
- What are your biggest leadership challenges?
I’m really excited at having you on partly because of your unique leadership situation. Can you talk about what you were doing last year, what you are doing this year, and how the transition came about?
As a result of the change, how have your leadership behaviors changed? What areas have you had to grow?
The structure of your leadership team is unique. How do you function together (thinking about strategies here)?
If there were listeners playing with the idea of teaching and leading at an international school, how would they know if that kind of life was right for them?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Reframing to yourself (before reframing to others)
Cultural expectations of leaders
Connection before correction
“What’s the point if I’m not willing to grow?”
Building leadership capacity also leads to more diverse perspectives
Being present

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:

Thankfully Thinking with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Thankfully Thinking with Frederick

Teaser:

I’m planning on this episode being a little light. Honestly, I’m not sure how many people will tune in given we are dropping in a week where many of us are thinking more about dinner than data. We are not going to do any music this show, just acknowledging sponsors and diving into two themes. In part 1, we’ll look at the motivation equation. I first covered this in episode 247 earlier this year, on April Fool’s day of all things. I received a call the same day from an assistant superintendent who said “I want you to do this as a keynote at my principal’s retreat.” I was already working with a speaking coach, so I pivoted from reclaiming purpose to The Motivation Equation. Since April, I’ve given the talk in several different formats, multiple times. All that to say, my thinking on motivation has matured since that episode way back in April. Today, I want to give you a concrete example of thee factors that significantly impact motivation: appeal, ability, and capacity. In part 2, we will pivot to a different motivation topic and I’ll share the results of my experiment with applying Tony Robbins’ 7 morning affirmations.

Show Intro

Celebrations: Shoutout to Brad Waid, Darrin Peppard, and Jeff Gargas for helping me get better and believing in me.

Also, my family, my Mom and her passion for life, especially for writing, my oldest daughter Gwen with whom I am becoming closer and closer, and who is doing a great job editing these podcasts and helping me think critically about how to improve the show, my sons Lance and Collin, who, in the midst of life transitions have been at home a lot more and bring me joy every day, and of course Mara who has evolved from being a cut-paste-post part timer to being an integral thought partner and, frankly, my business coach. Of course, I’m thankful for my wife Pam, the light of my life. This summer was rough as she fought kidney stones but she’s back to going strong. Pam retired from WCU at the end of June, and I’m enjoying watching her find herself again and looking forward to how she navigates and grows into this next phase of life.

Finally, I’m thankful for you. I know it sounds cliché but I mean it sincerely. You are doing the hard work, the vital work, every day. Those of you who reach out and let me know I’m supporting that work – you keep me going, you inspire me every day to grow and be better.

Key Points Part 1

1. M=V/E

2. Why important: Feedback=>Curiosity=>Collaboration

3. Lots of things influence Motivation

4. FH trail

5. Think of the reason

6. Appeal, ability, capacity

7. With others, for task, skill, or behavior, assess appeal, ability, and cpacity

Key Points Part 2

Listening to inspirational speeches.

“Words have power” The promise is we can make our days positive; training your brain

1. I am in control of my thoughts.

2. I can handle anything today brings

3. I am worthy of love and success

4. My effort creates my future.

5. I grow stronger every day

6. I live with purpose and passion

7. Today I choose to win.

· Writing in the morning

· Tony Robbins (OG motivational guy)

· Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBPymTZbmxE

· I see the upside. Is there a downside.

· Playing with other motivational speeches

I’ve got links to Tony’s speech as well as speeches by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Grant Taeff linked on my blog page at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/daily-emails

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

· Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com

· Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts...

We Don’t Know it All with Heidi Fagerness

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 10:21:35 -0500

Power Quote: I am a teacher

Teaser:

I’ve made an intentional effort this year to feature the voices of practitioners. I find the conversations to always be interesting and informative. Some guests are more high energy than others and I want to comment on that before we get into today’s interview.
I am hesitant to say “all leaders should bring the juice” as people need to be able to be authentic and different leadership styles work in different space and with different people. That said, we also need to recognize:People consistently look to their leaders for hopeThey look to leaders for cues on how to react to diversityThey look to leaders to inform if they should be focused on the good things or the bad things
In today’s interview, I want you to listen not only to what our guest says, but also how she says it. She is a 30-year veteran teacher and leader and she brings the passion and optimism of a first-year educator. She has an affirming presence that made me feel special even over Zoom.
Does every leader ne dot be positive, high energy, and inspiring. No? Maybe? I do know this – when I am in the presence of what I will call “lighthouse” leaders, I am more inspired, more confident, and more optimistic. And that, definitely, is what I want form my leaders. Before we begin,

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Heidi Fagerness lives in Southwest Washington and has served in education for 34 years—25 in special education and eight as an assistant principal. This year, she’s in her first year as principal at Chehalis Middle School. Heidi was honored as Washington State’s 2024 Assistant Principal of the Year. Her why is people, and the heart of her work is building connections that help every student belong and thrive.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

We have many listeners who are new APs or new Principals, so I thought it would be good to have someone on who could speak to the benefits of being a member of NASSP. From the 40,000 foot view, why belong to a principal association?
NASSP provides many PD opportunities for school leaders. What things have you participated in as a principal and what as an AP?
Part of leadership self-care is having a support network, and a key component of that support group is a group of peers. How has your involvement with NASSP helped connect you with other school leaders?
2020 was a year like no other and it feels like 2025 has been similar. No bets on what 2026 will look like. It is a hard time at so many levels. I don’t think it has ever been more difficult to lead teachers, teach students, or get an education as it is now. Two questions:
- How do you take care of yourself?
- How are you helping others take care of themselves?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Connection, human connection, making it locally, but also in a broader network
External connection provides perspective, support, and safety
Lean on people, ask for help, remember you are giving others purpose
Hope centered leadership and the internal algorithm
Look for what you want to see – as an antidote for a world shoving in your face what you don’t want to see

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on A...

Have Gratitude with AP of the Year Darryall White

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Power Quote: “My job is to remove the barriers that prevent teachers and students from being successful.”

Teaser:

We’ve had some very good episodes this year (and, yes, probably some not-so-good ones) and I think today’s may be one of the best. My goals for each show are that you finish listening feeling inspired and purposeful, and that you have some tool, technique, idea, or perspective that you can use to make your life and leadership better. Today’s interview checks all those boxes. Honestly, I think you may want to listen to it twice – there is so much goodness here. Before we get started…

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

One of the things you speak a lot about is passion, so let’s dive deep into it:
- How is your passion different today than when you first began teaching?
- The job of AP is demanding. How do you keep your passion fueled?
- If you are having a tough day (or week), what are ways you get yourself back on track?
- I think there can be a tension between serving students and serving teachers. There is only so much of you to go around. How do you find the right balance?
I’d like us to shift into processes. We haven’t spoken enough before for me to know for sure, but I suspect you are someone who is process driven. I like to say systems and structures support sustainability. So, what systems and structures are key to your success?
Finally, it’s hard out there…

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did
Motivation = gratitude and opportunity
Control/not control (E+R=O)
3 R’s to recover (reconnect with people, reflect, refocus on wins)
3 core “ways of being” (clarity, consistency, communication – in word and deed)
Be intentional about finding opportunities to uplift others
The job is about people, not tasks

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Support Network Coaching Call with Penny Connors

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Teaser:

I love talking with experts and we can learn a lot from someone like Elena Aguilar or Mark Shellinger, and from other consultants and thought leaders like my good friends William D Parker and Darrin Peppard. And – we also need to be hearing from the people who are doing the work. In today’s episode I do a coaching call with an aspiring administrator. She’s a member of my email list we decided to connect over some observations and questions she shared with me. I think, whether you are an aspiring leader, early in your AP adventure, or even working as the principal or at the district level, you’ll find some helpful things in here, especially around supporting up and coming leaders, which is something we all need to get better at. Before we get into the discussion

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Penny is a district-wide school social worker based just outside Buffalo, NY, with experience in both K–12 and higher education. She is passionate about supporting students and families while fostering collaboration and mental health supports within schools. Penny is currently pursuing an administrative program, and is dedicated to expanding her leadership and impact in education.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

5-minute coaching questions
Aspiring Leaders
- When am I ready to take that leap?
- What am I learning along the way?
- How do I build my own network of support?
- Advice on preparing for changes ahead, what I need to know outside of my current coursework, and any insights on moving from staff to admin within a district.
Interdisciplinary Supports in Schools
- How we utilize social workers, psychologists, support staff, marketing directors, and others to better support our students.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Delegation:
- There are other heroes in your building in addition to you
- Lean on others’ strengths
- Intentionally provide stretch opportunities (with support)
Penny’s big takeaway: Embracing our own journeys and building a support network aligned with both where we are and where we want to go.

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Guest Links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn:

Strive For Presence Not Perfection with Angela Maiers

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode is packed full of amazing information, ideas, and inspiration. We are going to conclude today’s show with a simple technique for putting everything in the show into practice. It is simple, and you can become competent in the technique with almost no practice, and it will take you less than five minutes a day. The result will be profound. Please, walk with me through this episode and you can step out the other side refreshed, renewed, and ready.

Notable Quotes

Angela Maiers:

“Every person has a sign on them saying, “do I matter to you?” This is not a hollow question… this is encoded in our DNA.”
“The drive to matter affects everything from the moment we were born.”

“We don’t have to guess anymore, these practices make the biggest difference with people.”

“Mattering is the sense that you have significant to others… We need others around us to know we matter.”

“We asked 500,000 thousand kids one question: what would make you run to school on your worst day? The results came back – they wanted to know someone was excited about their existence.”

“Three behaviors: Noticing, naming, and meaning”

“Your presence is what it takes to make a mattering moment, 2-20 seconds.”

“When you go through the world feeling invisible, it changes your state.”

“Connection before content.”

“How you greet people and how you leave people are the two most important parts”

2-5-2 (2-20 seconds, how you greet and how you leave):

· 2: Pause, smile, look at them, (quadruple bonus points for slipping in their name)

· 5: Five people a day to acknowledge

· 2: Wow moments: 2 seconds to share something that made you smile

“Every single day I pick 3-5 people and I share something I noticed about them.”

Frederick:

“The purpose gets distorted… people matter and we need to start there,”

“Asking the second question, ‘no, really, how are you’ signals to you that I care.”

Angela Maiers Links:

Email: angelamaiers@gmail.com

Website: https://angelamaiers.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelamaiers/

Free Resources: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u205KzVYNdkYnLrtqD-GrvUV7-mTyQQr/view

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s ...

SWOT

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

SWOT! No, it’s not mosquito season – thankfully that is passing as we head into the amazing season of fall in the mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC). SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is a simple strategic planning tool. You might be thinking, “we did our strategic planning in July” but my friends, a lot has changed since July. The great plans you began the year with may not be working out, and as we move towards the end of October, it is a great time to pause and reassess. Today I’m going to walk you through the SWOT process. In the second half of the show, I’ll take you through a related process that focuses more on your leadership, rather than the organization. Together, these tools can help you adjust course and/or refocus in a short period of time.

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Processes and systems.
Fall in the mountains; why don’t we call it autumn any more?

Key Points Part 1

SWOT components
Ways to use the SWOT
- Together
- Individually, then together
- As program review (with gallery walk)
Example – walking through my own business

Key Points Part 2

SSCC overview (Credit to Darrin Peppard, Leaning Into Leadership)
Ways to use it
- Individual reflection
- Collaborate and do it for each other (with or without SWOT)
- Quarterly?
Example for my own leadership

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Strategic leadership isn’t an event
Turbulent times call for frequent course adjustments
Simple tools help us pause and be intentional

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Strategies to Support Lateral Entry Teachers with Amber Coburn

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Teaser:

First, a bit of context to today’s show: This year, Darrin Peppard (Leaning Into Leadership podcast) and I are partnering with the North Carolina Middle Level Educators Association to provide leadership development for a group of middle school principals, APs, and deans. We kicked off this Leadership Excellence Network in August and September with two 90-minute virtual sessions in which we focused on clarity of purpose and clarity of priorities. We will meet face-to-face in mid-November and in preparation for that meeting, Darrin and I are doing coaching calls to help leaders develop a goal to focus their efforts on. Today’s guest was gracious enough to have our coaching session recorded as a podcast episode as well and I think you are going to love this episode. Before we being…

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Amber Coburn is the Middle School Dean of Students at Eno River Academy, a K-12 Charter School in Hillsborough, North Carolina. A lifelong champion of middle school and all its quirks, she has spent the past 14 years helping students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. In her current role, she is honored to expand her impact on teaching, learning, and school culture at Eno River Academy Middle School!

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Supporting new teachers
Coaching stances
Check-ins versus coaching
Commitments

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

We covered a lot of ground, but here are the three things I hope you take away from the episode:

Be intentional about scheduling and blocking time to work with your teachers
Use informal check-ins to learn about your teachers and build trust
Be clear about why you are in a classroom so teachers know what to expect. Email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com for a copy of the 4 Patterns of observation.

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Guest Links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose:

When Work Follows You Home

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Let’s begin by looking backwards. On Sept. 16, Mara and I released an episode on three things you should be doing now to care for yourself. Mara took the lead on that one as we dove into designing your morning, clarifying your identity and mission, and building a sustainable habit of creating you time. As an aside, I’m still enamored with the idea of creating a “third space” in which you can be yourself, without trying to be something for everyone else, and a shoutout to listener and daily email reader Penny Connor for that concept.
Last week I did an episode on transitioning from work to home in ways that will make it easier to leave school at school. The three key components were investing time in reflection before walking out of school, listening to personal things (like music or audio books) on your commute home, and having specific practices when you walk in the door to home that signal your body to shift into home mode.
I acknowledged then that many of you do have duties that require you to work from home and that we would dive into that today, but before we go there…

Sponsor Spot 1:I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals.
And if you still need some help getting the ball rolling, check out their great e-resources including The Ultimate Guide to Planning Student Travel, The Ultimate How-To Guide for International High School Travel, AND The Ultimate Financial Guide for Your Student Trip.
These are all FREE and packed with helpful tips and advice like how to get your parents on board, funding your trip, picking chaperones, and more.
Connect with Kaleidoscope Adventures at mykatrip.com for your free copy or to talk with a pro planner.

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Fall: Leaves, great sleeping temperatures, and football

Key Points Part 1

The most significant barrier to turning off is when work intrudes into your home. This can happen for three primary reasons:

You have a duty that specifically requires you to work from home
There is a real emergency
Your work is your life (the issues you work on are the issues you live with)
You view yourself as a martyr

Let’s look at some general habits for when you MUST work from home and then address each of the other circumstances.

Limit who can contact you at home. If you have a work phone, shut it down and allow your boss/important person to reach you via your home phone. Or program your phone to only allow certain people to reach you at certain times (Hint: iPhone’s Short Cuts feature is super helpful).

Create (and enforce) strict boundaries about what duties are and are not off-limits for being interrupted at home and communicate those to people. If you are in charge of getting subs, control how people reach you and when you will check email. You can also do something like add all your teachers to your favorites and set your email to put all messages from favorites into a special folder. This way, when you open your computer to check email, you only need to look at the favorites folder so you aren’t getting sucked into other things. The technology has made it harder to be away from work, but we can also use it to flip the script.

Designate a location you go to when you must do work at home, whether that is phone calls, email, or something else. Maintaining physical separation from your normal living areas when you are working is critical! Bonus: make your home workspace uncomfortable so you won’t be tempted to spend extra time there. Closet anyone? 🤣

Going back to one of the questions I asked you last week: what happens if you are unavailable for six weeks? The school will keep functioning, even though some of the “critical” things you always did may not get done. Maybe they weren’t so critical after all?

Key Points Part 2

Three special situations:

There is a real emergency
Your work is your life (the issues you work on are the issues you live with)
You view yourself as a martyr

Emergencies

Create your boundaries and build friction to make it harder for people to contact you – unless it is regarding a very specific situation your team has already determined needs to go to you (fire in the building, death of staff or student). (hard talk: if your narrative is “I need to be there for my people” what does that say about how much you value your family?)
Have a clear funnel of who contacts you after hours and what constitutes an emergency
If there are always emergencies then confront the hard truth about what this job is going to do to you and then make a decision.

Your work is your life (eg addiction counselor in recovery, family of educators, a close family member is undocumented)

Out of my expertise, but need to acknowledge
Community, community, community?
Stealing minutes for me, for indulgence

You view yourself as a martyr

You may be a martyr if…
- You think your school will fall apart without you (it won’t)
- You cannot possibly do less than your best work, even on tasks that don’t deserve it
- You must respond to everything before you can end the day
- After 3:30, you spend more time thinking about work than you do about the people you love
There are a lot of cultural elements in education that push us towards martyr syndrome, but whether or not you walk through the door is up to you.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

The key is boundaries
- Who
- What
- When
Use technology
Create an uncomfortable home office
Don’t be a martyr (by definition, martyrs don’t survive)

Special thanks to my amazing son-in-law Ranford Almond for the...

When Your Work Follows You Home: Transitions

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Teaser:

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with APs and other leaders recently and one of the common themes is how overwhelming the work is right now and how hard it can be to invest in self-care. Mara and I discussed some self-care strategies a couple weeks ago in episode 271. One thing we did not talk about is how to unplug from the day so your time away form work is… well, time away from work. We are going to get technical and discuss specific strategies and habits you can adopt to increase the likelihood that you can leave your work behind. There are a couple caveats to this: For many of you, there are job responsibilities you have in the evening (subs and buses) – and we will look at how to work from home in the healthiest way possible next week. The other caveat is these techniques are helpful but they are not a panacea. We’ll touch a bit more on that as we dive into the show.

Sponsor Spot 1:I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. If you or your teachers have been thinking about planning a student trip, but don’t really know where to start, Kaleidoscope Adventures has you covered!
Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning exceptional educational travel for more than 30 years. They understand the unique needs of student groups and will handle all the details from start to finish – so you can enjoy the experience! If you still need some help getting the ball rolling, check out their great e-resources including The Ultimate Guide to Planning Student Travel, The Ultimate How-To Guide for International High School Travel, AND The Ultimate Financial Guide for Your Student Trip.
These are all FREE and packed with helpful tips and advice like how to get your parents on board, funding your trip, picking chaperones, and more.
Connect with Kaleidoscope Adventures at mykatrip.com for your free copy or to talk with a pro planner.
Kaleidoscope Adventures is travel beyond expectations!

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Mara is getting married! (wish her well at mara@frederickbuskey.com or marabuskeyllc@gmail.com)

Key Points Part 1

Let’s not sugar coat things – it’s hard right now
Things probably aren’t going to get much better in the near future
Burnout is an organizational problem (See also Helen Kelly in episodes 141 and 182)
That said, there are things we can do to make it “suck less.”
Today: transition home, next week: how to protect home time when you must work from home
Opening with encouragement to do 5mc (it is about reclaiming purpose and being able to say, today, I moved my school forward)
- Simple and fast
- Gets you critical insights
- Builds relationships
- Builds teacher capacity

Key Points Part 2

Begin with these three reflective questions:

If burnout is an organizational problem, what’s the problem?

Imagine 10-20 years into the future. If you keep working the way you are now, and your self-care habits remain the same, what word(s) pop into your head?

If you were out for three months, what would happen at work?

A leading cause of fatigue and burnout is the inability to leave your work at work. If you want to be successful - as a leader and a person/family member/friend - you must figure out how to leave your work behind. Yes, this is easier said than done (speaking from experience) but we can develop some practices to help.

Key components:

Concluding the work day
Transitioning to home
Entering home mode

Concluding the work day

Reflect on the day, including identifying:
- Regrets and missed opportunities
- Wins and celebrations
If there is a serious issue that will be difficult to let go of, journal about it and do as much processing as you can. When you close the journal, close your mind. Also, do your journaling in a personal notebook you take home with you, not on a work-owned computer. When the issue intrudes on your thoughts at home, acknowledge and let it go.
Identify the three most important priorities for the next day and time block them on your calendar.

Transitioning to home

Be intentional about what you do with the trip home.
You can use this as reflection time or professional learning (podcasts), but that undermines your transition. It is better to listen to professional podcasts on the way to work (that’s why we release at 6 am instead of 3 pm) and listen to music or something that grounds you in your non-professional life on your way home.

Entering Home Mode

As soon as you get home, change into casual non-work clothes
Create a specific routine to signal yourself that you are home, such as:
- Spend time checking in with a loved one (including pets)
- Imbibe your favorite food or beverage and do something relaxing
- Exercise (consider stopping at a park to walk on your way home – even for five minutes. One step – literally- better than nothing; drive straight to the gym, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 😉)

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

You may not be able to escape but you can make it better or at least suck less
It’s not your fault (burnout is an organizational problem)
Choose one thing: Reflection, trip home, walking in the door.

We’ll look at working from home next week.

Try this: turnoff this podcast now and reflect. What is ONE thing you could do to strengthen your transition home?

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmon...

Three Leadership Things You Should Be Doing Now with Frederick and Mara

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Quote: “What is one step better than nothing?”

Teaser:

No special intro, let’s just get into it!

Show Intro

Key Points

Recap of last week’s show
Reflect on this: Imagine 10-20 years into the future. If you keep working the way you are now, and your self-care habits remain the same, what words pop into your head?
Main points from today’s show:
- Do 5-minute coaching
- Be intentional about being fully present (or not)
- Block two 30-minute admin blocks each day to do all the stuff. Get coverage so you aren’t interrupted.
- Turn notifications off so you can be more fully present. Funnel communications through the front office.

Mara Buskey contact info:

Email: marabuskeyllc@gmail.com

Homepage: https://marabuskey.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-buskey-98321218b/

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Three Things You Should Be Doing for Yourself Right Now with Frederick and Mara

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Quote: “You are worthy of investing time in yourself!”

Teaser:

No special intro, let’s just get into it!

Show Intro

Key Points

You should not be your own afterthought
Design your morning
- Time is not the quality indicator, it can be short
- Design it for you and your preferences and needs
- Take a few moments to breathe, to set an intention, to check in with yourself
Clarify your identity and personal mission
Build a sustainable system for “me” moments
- Be you beyond just working
- Be playful
- Change the scenery
- You are worthy!
Stop filling all the quiet moments with noise!
- Our brains need quiet to process
- Deal with the worries or they will wake you up at night 😉

The Artisits way: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/349644/the-artists-way-by-julia-cameron/

Mara Buskey contact info:

Email: marabuskeyllc@gmail.com

Homepage: https://marabuskey.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-buskey-98321218b/

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

The Key Ingredient in New Teacher Support with Cathy Lacey

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Teaser:

The title for this episode is The Key Ingredient in New Teacher Support. We don’t actually use that language anywhere in the episode and I only decided on the title after we were finished recording. Instead of making you wait in suspense, I’m going to share the key ingredient right now – it’s you. You are the key ingredient to the success of your beginning teachers. You don’t control what the mentor teacher does, you don’t control what the district does, the only thing you control is what you do. And when the top reason teachers say they leave the profession is because of a “lack of support” they are talking about you. I recognize this is not a popular view, not because people necessarily disagree, but instead because we have some mistaken (my opinion) notions of who is responsible for supporting beginning teachers. I hope by the end of the show, Cathy and I will have convinced you that you are the key ingredient in your BTs’ recipe of success.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Cathy Lacey is a Curriculum Resource Teacher and professional learning leader in South Carolina. A Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, Fellow, Certified Coach, and South Carolina ASCD Emerging Leader, she creates practical, teacher-driven professional learning rooted in evidence-based strategies. She’s a national presenter and founder of Blazers, LLC, where she supports educators through coaching, training, and microlearning. Cathy was a guest back on episode 257 in June of this year.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Three biggest challenges new teachers face: classroom management, curriculum management, and feeling supported

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Three big needs, but we focused on feeling supported
AP is the frontline support person for new teachers!
Clarity of role
Four Patterns of Observation (episode 65, October 2022)
- Evaluative
- Formative
- Normative
- Performative

Special thanks to the amazing Ranford Almond for the great music on the show. Please support Ranford and the show by checking out his music!

Ranford’s homepage: https://ranfordalmond.com
Ranford’s music on streaming services: https://streamlink.to/ranfordalmond-oldsoul
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranfordalmond/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranfordalmond/

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Cathy’s Links:

Website: https://blazersinnovation.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathleenlacey/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/CathleenLacey

Frederick’s Links:

Website:

Building Bridges with Dr. Don Parker

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Description:

The number one thing is relationships – we’ve all heard that. It’s almost a meme. I think “the power of relationships” as an idea exists as two extremes where we tend to over emphasize and at the same time fail to appreciate the full power of relationships. I’m not sure I’m communicating what I mean, but I think it will become clearer in my discussion with today’s wonderful guest.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Dr. Don Parker is a transformational keynote speaker and professional development provider who specializes in social emotional learning and supporting teachers to build trusting relationships. He is a former principal and served at Posen School in Posen, IL and before that, he was the principal of Lincoln Avenue School, a K-8 school in Dolton, IL, wherehe improved the culture, implemented a resilience program for underprivileged youth.Dr. Parker has presented throughout the United States at distinguished educational conferences and has trained and inspired thousands of educators.
Dr. Parker is also a TedX speaker and is considered one of the top authorities on school discipline and an expert on helping teachers to build trusting relationships with students. He is also the author of two Best Selling books –“Building Bridges: Engaging StudentsAt-Risk Through the Power of Relationships” and “Be the Driving Force: Leading YourSchool on the Road to Equity”
I will add, after interviewing Don, I have found him to be a remarkably authentic and caring person.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

“It’s all about relationships.” This phrase feels both exaggerated and underappreciated at the same time. I’d like to hear your take on this phrase.
Your book “Building Bridges” helps teachers connect with students through the power of relationships. What are the foundational pieces of building relationships?
How does this translate for APs? How can they use your techniques to build bridges with their teachers.
2025 seems fundamentally different than the first 24 years of this century. School leaders are facing uncertain times and leading people who are experiencing disruption and turbulence both at home and at work. To support our people, what should leaders be especially attentive too right now?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

The impact of relationships on performance and achievement – its not squishy
We need to nurture relationships with adults the way we nurture relationships with kids
2x2 (2 minutes 2 days in a row); celebration, circles
Manage your priorities not your time, including closed door practice (to save your attention)
Supporting people in this moment: see, listen, give grace (there is so much you can’t fix)

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Guest links:

Frederick’s Links:

www.connectingthroughconversation.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

This is Going to be Difficult with Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

***Link to FREE Conversation Planning Guide***

Show Title: This is Going to be Difficult with Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns

Power Quote: “Remember the stated issue is often not the real issue.”

Description:

Today’s show is fun, interesting, and full of useful tips. I love how we discuss big concepts and then get into the nitty-gritty. If you’ve ever dreaded having a difficult conversation, today’s episode is for you. There are so many thing worth reflecting on in here, I encourage you to pause the episode and take time to think about how some of the key ideas apply to specific scenarios in your life. And, stay tuned to the end of the episode for a special tool available only to podcast listeners!

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we get started, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Erika Bare has been an educator for over 20 years, currently serving as the Superintendent in the South Umpqua School District in Oregon. A special education teacher by training, she is passionate about supporting all students through individual supports to reach their limitless potential. Tiffany Burns loves working with kids. In her two decades in education, she taught elementary, middle, and high school students. Tiffany has been an administrator since 2012 and an elementary school principal for the past nine years. This year, she is on a professional sabbatical, teaching university pre-service teachers, while also connecting with educators across the nation, helping to grow the Connected Communicator Movement. Together they wrote Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

What constitutes a difficult conversation? (Are there specific categories?)
Is there a clear framework to help leaders think about these conversations?
What are the “best practices” of having difficult conversations?
What are a couple key techniques?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Summary

The process: Reflection on self, preparation, flow, concluding
Are you okay?
“The story I’m telling myself” and recognizing our stories are often wrong.
Be humble – sometimes we are wrong.
Getting better is work and takes resources, and Erika and Tiffany are happy to help you…

Close

Guest links:

Online course discount: ctcpodcast

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090370647418&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/connectingthroughconversation/

Linked In Erika Bare http://linkedin.com/in/erika-bare-6a72a6215

Linkedin Tiffany Burns http://linkedin.com/in/tiffany-burns-90a50a274

Twitter https://twitter.com/CTCPlaybook.com

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@CTCPlaybook

Frederick’s Links:

facebook.com/NationalSchoolReformFaculty

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Bolstering New and Veteran Teacher Agency (with Natalia Mejia and Xavier Adams)

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

If there is a theme running through the late summer podcast episodes, it’s this: listen to your teachers. Everything becomes easier when we listen. Today, two former beginning teachers of the year help us elaborate on the why and how of listening.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Natalia Mejia is the NCCAT 2023 Empower NC Beginning Teacher of the Year. She entered education to increase teacher diversity and holds degrees from UNC Charlotte, including a Masters in Latin American Studies. Having studied abroad in South Africa and Germany, she teaches multilingual students with a global philosophy rooted in Ubuntu ("I am, because we are") and the Mayan expression In Lak'ech ("You are my other me"). Natalia has co-authored two book chapters about her South African research and co-founded the nonprofits 49ers for Puerto Rico and Knit-Together Prana.
Xavier Adams is the NCCAT 2022 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year. Known as Mr. Xavier to his students, he teaches World History, Honors African American Studies, Honors Latin American Studies, and AP African American Studies at Orange High School in Hillsborough, NC. He also leads the school's teacher-equity team, student-equity team, and Minority Achievers Program.
His pedagogical approach centers on using historical understanding to create a better world today. Xavier has co-presented with students at venues including the National Governors Association and North Carolina's General Assembly, and helped students publish op-eds. He holds two master's degrees from Duke University, and is quickly becoming a notable author on multiple education topics.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Prequel: The three questions:

What is your teaching superpower?
What is the biggest difference between who you are now as a teaching and who you were when you began?
What is one thing you wish your students would do differently?

Part 1

Thinking back, what was the most challenging thing about your first few years teaching and what could/did your APs do to help?
Are there things you did not know, but which others seemed to assume you did knew>
Thoughts on how APs can accelerate the growth of their ECTs (early career teacher)?
Anything else regarding ECTs?

Part 2

It feels like a disempowering time right now. Last week I had Elena Aguilar as a guest and she talked about how disempowering a time this is. There are so many ways that people - young and old - are being told they don’t matter, aren't relevant, have no power, and, worst of all, don’t belong. The most obvious and egregious arena is politics and society, but social media, the economics, and the climate also make us feel small. Elena talked about how listening, and asking questions that put agency into the answerer’s hands, were tangible ways to communicate to people they matter. I hope all our listeners will embrace that idea that we can use questions and listening to increase agency. I’d love to have a discussion around this - as it applies to all of us, students, families, teachers, admins.
- What’s your take?
- What questions can we be asking?
- How do we return agency to teachers and students?
We are all North Carolinians, a state with a Democratic Governor and almost a supermajority Republican Legislature. As in many other states, there has been a lot of legislative activity aimed at chilling discourse in classrooms, especially as it relates to history. The bills have not become laws, but there is a chilling effect nonetheless. It is a scary time to cling to our authenticity and to push the edge of our teaching.
- How do you nurture your own strength?
- How do you nurture student agency?
- What can school leaders do to foster courage and authenticity in their teachers?

Sponsor Spot 3:I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…
Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions.
And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more. It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 4:Before we wrap, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Summary/wrap up

Ask your teachers what they need (same message as last week)
Build connections
Affirm their value
Protect them (give them the power to not self-censor)

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Rich PD on Pauper’s Wages with Michele Mattoon

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Description:

Before recording this episode, I was very uncertain about how it would come out. Identifying strategies for doing professional development on the cheap had the potential to be disjointed and unactionable. Thankfully, I love how this discussion came out. There are some coherent themes running through the show, and doing great PD with few resources isn’t actually that difficult. But before we dig in…

Sponsor Spot 1: Are you ready to plan your next school trip? Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning exceptional student travel for more than 30 years. They know which destinations, activities, and attractions are perfect for your students! Contact the experts at Kaleidoscope by clicking the link in the show – and then let them work their magic! They’ll handle all the details from start to finish so all you have to do is enjoy the experience! Kaleidoscope Adventures….. travel beyond expectations! Link is in the show notes!

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Michele Mattoon has served as executive director of the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) since 2010, working with schools and educators nationally and internationally to implement Critical Friends trainings and collaborative learning initiatives. A national facilitator for over 25 years and CFG coach since 1996, she has developed numerous protocols and co-edited "Protocols for All" and recent CFG training handbooks.
Before joining NSRF, Michele taught for over 20 years and served as elementary coordinator at Harmony School. She received the Hoosier Educator Award (2000) and Dorothy Johnson Award for Excellence in Education (2001). Michele also owns Coltrain Group, providing Facilitative Leadership training to businesses and organizations.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Rich PD on pauper’s wages
Focus on the most important thing (understand what problem you are trying to solve and why it is a problem)
Increase differentiation for individuals and empower them to be responsible for their learning
How to get maximum value from external trainers and trainings
How to leverage internal resources (including teachers)
How to ethically use stuff from external sources

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Know your people! It all begins here.
Leverage expertise
Follow up!
Provide the structures

Sponsor Spot 5:

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Michele’s links:

Facebook >

Threads (new) > (logs in with FB)

threads.net/@nsrfharmony

Instagram >

@NSRFharmony

https://instagram.com/nsrfharmony

LinkedIN >

linkedin.com/company/NSRF/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Listening as a Form of Empowerment with Elena Aguilar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: I noticed… and I wonder…

Description:

Welcome to the third and final part of my interview with Elena Aguilar. Today we dive into how we can reconnect people with their sense of power – building teacher self-efficacy through reflective questions. Decades of research identifies teacher self-efficacy – the belief that what teachers do has an impact on student learning – as the bedrock for good teaching. Recent research suggest a large part of the leader’s impact on student growth (which is second only to the teacher’s impact) is a result of the leader’s ability to build teacher self-efficacy. So, today’s episode offers some essential information and techniques to unlocking teachers’ potential and fulfilling your leadership purpose.

Show Intro

Sponsor Spot 1:Being an assistant principal means that safety is a quadrant 1 activity – in your building and beyond its walls. So, when it’s time for the school trip, choosing the right planning partner is absolutely critical!
Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning travel beyond expectations since 1993. The Kaleidoscope team of experts has a robust understanding of what it takes to travel with students – including safety, liability, and parent concerns.
When you travel with Kaleidoscope Adventures, you can trust that your students are in good hands.
If you want to learn more about Kaleidoscope Adventures, check the link in the show notes Kaleidoscope Adventures…. travel beyond expectations!

Guest Bio:

Elena Aguilar is a writer, leader, teacher, coach and podcaster. She is the author of eight highly acclaimed books including: The Art of Coaching, The Art of Coaching Teams, The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development, and the newly released Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching. She has also been a frequent contributor to Edutopia, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and EdWeek Teacher.
Elena is the founder and CEO of Bright Morning Consulting, an organization committed tohelping individuals and organizations create the conditions for transformation. She has taught tens of thousands of folks how to have conversations that build a more just and equitable world. Elena can be heard demonstrating these conversations on The Bright Morning Podcast.

Elena was a guest on episodes 204 and 205, June 2024, and in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, episodes 260 and 261.

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Elena discusses it in Arise, but as part of the ACE section, and I would love to explore the idea further. What if all I did as an AP was recognize strengths?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Today’s environment: stress as disempowerment: listening and asking questions that empower the teacher to come up with the answers.
Strength based coaching (my version) centers the administrator. Get back to asking questions, even as simple as 5-minute coaching.
Provocative questions: “I noticed (fact)… I wonder what belief/action…?”
Beliefs and ways of being: deep, vague, and real => relationships (with self and others)
Delegating so I can focus on what I’m best at (and what only I can do)
Slow things down!

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Elena’s links:

Elena’s new book: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching

Specials for listeners: Pre-Order Bonuses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena_aguilar_writer/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-aguilar/

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-elena-aguilar/

Bright Morning: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/

The Bright Morning Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bright-morning-podcast-with-elena-aguilar/id1517537206

Newsletter: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/resources/newsletter

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

What’s Your Story? with Elena Aguilar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: Behind every action is a belief

Description:

Today we dive into part 2 of my interview with Elena Aguilar. Part 1 was a must listen and we released in back on July 1 (260). A link to that episode and my two previous episodes from 2024 are in the show notes.
In part 1 we talked about listening and I hope you’ve been able to exercise your listening muscle over the past couple weeks, and that you followed Elena’s advice to dig into your own story and beliefs around leadership and teaching.
Today we’ll talk about purpose – both the school’s and the teachers’, and how to support and grow teachers even in such a stressful and chaotic time. I love this episode because it contains a call to dig deeply into ourselves as leaders and give some very practical advice on how to help teachers. And, as with part 1, I include Elena’s closing words of wisdom – a call for us to slow down. It is so critical I wanted you to hear it again.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Elena was a guest on episodes 204 and 205, June 2024, and in Part 1 of this series, episode 260.

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Context: Stepping into a new school year, new leaders, new schools, new teachers

In 204, you talked about how an admin could be the person that helps teachers stay anchored to their north star…

how we help people grow when they are in the midst of trauma - and is that even possible. This is particularly germane given the chaos and otherization which is so prevalent right now.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Purpose requires knowing.
Intersection between teacher and school purpose (might be harder than it should be)
Can we better understand other people’s stories by knowing our own?
ZPD, meeting them where they are, AND helping them understand why they are where they are (limiting beliefs)
What do you wish your students could do better?
Incremental change and pain points (M=V/E)

Sponsor Spot 5:

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Elena’s links:

Elena’s new book: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching

Specials for listeners: Pre-Order Bonuses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena_aguilar_writer/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-aguilar/

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-elena-aguilar/

Bright Morning: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/

The Bright Morning Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bright-morning-podcast-with-elena-aguilar/id1517537206

Newsletter: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/resources/newsletter

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn:

Your First Year as an AP: Real Talk from the Trenches

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0400

I’ve been connecting with many new and nearly new APs recently and my conversations inspired me to put together a diverse panel of assistant principals to have a conversation specifically for those of you just beginning your administrator journey. And of course, there are some great tips here for experienced leaders as well.

Sponsor Spot 1:I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Being an assistant principal means that safety is a quadrant 1 activity – in your building and beyond its walls. So, when it’s time for the school trip, choosing the right planning partner is absolutely critical!
Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning travel beyond expectations since 1993. The Kaleidoscope team of experts has a robust understanding of what it takes to travel with students – including safety, liability, and parent concerns.
When you travel with Kaleidoscope Adventures, you can trust that your students are in good hands.
If you want to learn more about Kaleidoscope Adventures, check the link in the show notes Kaleidoscope Adventures…. travel beyond expectations!

Show Intro

Guest Bios:

Trish Thomas is a dedicated educator with 22 years of experience, including 21 as a 4th-grade teacher and 9 as a head teacher. Trish recently completed her first year as an assistant principal at a career magnet high school in Pennsylvania. Proud wife of 21 years and mom to two sons—one in high school, the other starting at Temple University this fall.
Dez Caldwell is an award-winning Massachusetts educator who's held every role from paraprofessional to principal with leadership experience ranging from Pre-K to grade 12. He's co-host of the After School with the Admin podcast. He describes himself as an ordinary guy who wants to help others do extraordinary things.
Marco Tirillo is a Connecticut based teacher and leader with 21 years in education. He’s served as a teacher and assistant principal in urban and suburban schools, grades 5–12. Marco is passionate about equity, SEL, and restorative practices, striving to create inclusive environments, empower students and staff, and build thriving school communities through advocacy, collaboration, and transformative leadership. Marco co-hosts the After School with the Admin podcast.
Mitchell Hall has spent his entire educational career in Maryland - 8 years on the Eastern Shore and the last 10 in Garrett County. He taught special education, social studies, and gifted and talented before becoming an Assistant Principal last school year. He’s beginning his first year as principal at Grantsville Elementary School.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

I will also solicit my audience for questions about being a year-one AP, but our discussion will roughly follow this outline:

Clarifying the role of the AP
Building a relationship with the P
Relationships with teachers
- Veterans
- Early-career
Staying true to your purpose
Getting support
It’s a tough time out there. What do we need to be especially mindful of in taking care of (a) others and (b) ourselves?

Summary/wrap up

Smoky the Bear (Trish)
Dez’ pro tip: learn when to “just walk by” teachers’ rooms during their planning so you can connect
Ask for help!
Know where the walls came from (Marco)
Belonging and acceptance (Mitchell)
Presence => trust

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Marco Tirillo’s links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Support and Grow (4 year anniversary episode)

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Teaser:

“Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to Improve the quality of life and leadership for assistant principals. Together we can achieve that by focusing on three things:Escaping the tyranny of the urgentEngaging in strategic behaviors each dayAnd, most importantly, becoming outstanding developers of teacher talent”
That’s how I began Episode 1 of APP back on August 26, 2021. It is a bit early to celebrate our fourth birthday but the content of this episode seems like a better fit for July, and as the podcast has grown by over 50% in the first half of this year, I think it is a good time to look at several of the foundational concepts I reference frequently.

Show Intro

Celebrations:

Happy birthday to the pod! And still excited about 100K and continuing growth

Key Points Part 1

Why redo episode 1?
- Quality (lol)
- My thinking has changed
- So many new listeners – need to share core beliefs
Strategic Leadership Consulting: the original value proposition
- Escape the gravitational pull of urgency
- Understand organizations and change
- Become a purpose-driven strategic leader
The three primary responsibilities of leaders
The Eisenhower Matrix (3 v 2, protect and sustain)
What does Support and Grow actually mean?
The six dimensions (dive into this in episode 179)
- People are the purpose
- Purpose as a battleground
  - Test scores
  - Individual leaders’ purpose
  - Unit level purpose
  - Contested purpose: New signs in national parks echoing or previewing the narrative and values that will dominate our schools (“any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”)
  - Why do we have schools?
    - Systems level – complex and messy
    - Human level – clear
- Structures
- Resources
  - Distinguishing between Static and dynamic
  - Time and attention as the most valuable resources
- External forces
- Internal forces – an actionable definition of culture!
Support
Grow
Change leadership = alignment leadership

Key Points Part 2

Strategic leadership
- Urgent leaders
- Strategic leaders
- Four questions strategic leaders ask:
  - Is this simply urgent, or is it important?
  - What’s the problem?
  - How can I make this better right now?
  - Who can I grow today?

What’s changed
- Now I have a book
- People before purpose (because people are the purpose)
- Support and grow as explicit concepts

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

People are the purpose
We support people by aligning the organization to make their work easier
We grow people by developing their KSDH
Leaders use change processes to align the organization
Support and Grow – it is the way we move our schools forward

*See also, Episode 179 from November, 2023

Sponsor Links:

153: Holding Up the Mirror

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Episode Links:

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

https://www.youtube.com/@withinourranks

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose:

Help Me Understand with Stand Tall Steve

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “Climate is the emotional state felt within the physical space”

Description:

I had so much fun recording today’s show. My guest stands tall (literally and figuratively) in the realm of helping school leaders develop positive culture and climate. If you are a regular listener, you know I have my own specific framework on school culture, so stay tuned to the end of the show where I will reflect on commonalities and differences between the approaches. I hope you have as much fun listening as I did recording, but before we get into it…

Sponsor Spot 1:As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about digiCOACH sponsoring this podcast. digiCOACH makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about digiCOACH at digiCOACH.com or click the link in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Stand Tall Steve (aka Steve Bollar) is an educational thought leader, former Superintendent of Schools, principal, author, and a school culture and motivation expert. He is a renowned speaker who has inspired countless individuals and organizations to achieve their goals and unleash their full potential. Drawing on his extensive experience in education and leadership, Steven delivers powerful and inspiring messages that challenge audiences to think differently about their lives and their work.
In 2023 Steve earned a place on Global Gurus World's Top 30 Education Professionals. He is the author of the book Stand Tall Leadership, the school culture and climate book series Ideas, Ideas, Ideas and a contributing author in Because of a Teacher.
Husband of one. Father of three. Owner of two dogs & 10 fish, Stand Tall Steve openly shares his knowledge, experiences, and creativity with others. He currently speaks to schools, organizations, businesses, and communities across the globe about how to think differently about schools, education, and life.
Ladies and gentlemen… Stand Tall Steve!

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Climate and culture
- Let’s define culture
- What do people get wrong when it comes to culture
- Simplest ways to build a better culture?
Leadership team
- How do we balance supporting and growing teachers with managing all the stuff?
Thinking big – how do we inspire hope AND acknowledge the real chaos and negativity out there?
It’s a rough time – what are you hearing from people in the field and what’s your message to them?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

There are a lot of great things in today’s show but I want to focus this summary on the core concepts Steve talked about of values, culture, and climate.

6 dimensions: overlap of people’s values and org. purpose = core values?
Inner forces (aka culture): similar and different from Steve’s “climate”
My climate experience… Building walkthrough
- Reception
- Facility (esp. art)
- Student – student
- Student – teacher
- Teacher – teacher
- Admin visibility
- Four quadrant door peaking

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Guest links:

Website: www.standtallsteve.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standtallsteve1330

www.withinourranks.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C...

The Listening Muscle with Elena Aguilar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “How do you want me to listen?”

Description:

Today’s guest is someone I consider to be a master at the art of coaching, which is appropriate as she wrote the best-selling book titled The Art of Coaching. I Had Elena Aguilar on the show a little over a year ago and we split the interview into two parts, episodes 204 and 205 (link in the show notes) because it was so rich and packed with powerful thoughts and techniques. This interview with Elena is even more dense – so much so that we are splitting it into three parts. In today’s section Elena and I dive into listening and there is so much packed into the span of fifteen minutes that I decided to release it as a full episode. If you listen closely, you’ll recognize that the discussion is embedded within the intro section of celebrations and stories. We didn’t even get to the main interview before Elena shared some wisdom that I wanted to put on its own, for your benefit.
After this conversation, I’ve added Elena’s thoughts on “the one thing leaders should take away.” It is consistent with today’s main topic, but I will also include it in each of the next two part of our discussion because it is so powerful I think we all, myself included, need to listen to it once a week.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Elena was a guest on episodes 204 and 205, June 2024

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

The first step to listening is to understanding self: our beliefs, our ways of being
Is the simple answer to everything listening? And asking good questions (which we dive into more in part 3)?
How do you want me to listen? Decreases power and increases trust.
Listening as a muscle (and how I exercised mine this morning).
We will release part 2 and 3 in back-to-back weeks at the end of July and first week of August, so consider today’s episode to be a teaser of more incredible part of our discussion. Links to my previous 2024 episodes with Elena (204 and 205) are in the show notes.
Our interview ended with “slow down” This July 4th week is a great time to practice that.

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Elena’s links:

Elena’s new book: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching

Specials for listeners: Pre-Order Bonuses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena_aguilar_writer/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-aguilar/

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-elena-aguilar/

Bright Morning: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/

The Bright Morning Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bright-morning-podcast-with-elena-aguilar/id1517537206

Newsletter: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/resources/newsletter

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategiclea...

The Pillar of Empathy with Jim Carlough

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Link to post on LinkedIn for book giveaway

Description:

Today’s interview will be a bit different as my guest is coming from four decades of leadership experience in the corporate arena. Despite the different setting, the leadership lessons will sound familiar to you. I think this discussion with someone coming from a different place invites us to reexamine fundamental leadership themes from a slightly different perspective.

Sponsor Spot 1:Administrators, you walk through classrooms, take notes, and you plan to follow up… but how much of that feedback actually reaches teachers in a meaningful way?With digiCOACH, you don’t just observe—you coach in the moment. Provide clear, specific feedback instantly and track progress over time. No more forgotten notes or lost opportunities—just real conversations that drive real change.With digiCOACH, you’re not just giving feedback—you’re building a system for growth. Track trends, measure progress, and give teachers the real-time feedback they love. Ready to make coaching more impactful? Start today at digiCOACH.com.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

With over 30 years of leadership experience, Jim Carlough is an accomplished business strategist, speaker, and author. Having successfully driven explosive growth for healthcare organizations—from start-ups to industry leaders — Jim is a trusted expert in building high-performing teams, revitalizing underperforming businesses, and guiding organizations through transformational change. Jim's core philosophy—leaders aren’t born; they’re developed—challenges the myth of innate leadership. In his book, The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership: A Roadmap to Success, Jim delivers a practical and inspiring guide for leaders at every stage of their journey. His approach focuses on six essential traits that empower individuals to embrace leadership as a skill that can be learned, honed, and mastered through experience, mentorship, and intentional growth.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

You’ve written a book based on your experiences and the leadership lessons you’ve learned from others. In The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership, you identify empathy and compassion as two of the six. I am really intrigued by this as my immediate reaction was, “aren’t these the same thing?” Help me understand…
You shared with me in our email exchange you had a story involving a middle school principal that related to empathy and compassion. Can you share it?
Your background is in the private sector and I noticed you were a VP of Client Development for Health Management Systems. I’ve done some work with corporate leaders and have been amazed at how similar being a VP is to being a school administrator. Corporate has their demands and the people you serve have a different set of demands, and you are right there in the middle trying to muddle your way through. Can you talk about this tension and then share some wisdom about how school leaders can navigate this?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Whether you are in a school or the private sector, you can’t lead from your office (MBWA)
Tasks versus people; tension between priorities
Transparency, honesty, information => trust (integrity)
Even during an end, your work matters (should be much easier in education, but we need to stay compassionate by supporting and growing our people)
Link in the show notes – free books to the first three who comment on our LinkedIn post!

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Jim’s links:

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/jimcarloughms

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimcarloughmotivation/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/jimcarloughms

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@jimcarloughms

Frederick’s Links:

Website: https://www.frederic...

Uncovering Rocks with Will Lepech

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “Uncover the rock”

Description:

If you haven’t begun reflecting on the year yet, today’s episode will get you in the mood. I encourage you to pause today’s show frequently – there are a number of moments that deserve some contemplation and pausing to think about what something looks or feels like in your context could be very beneficial. This is such a thoughtful conversation – I found myself feeling both reflective and uplifted by the end. I hope you experience the same feelings.

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we dive in, I’d like to thank DigiCoach for sponsoring today’s show. As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited to have DigiCoach as one of our sponsors. DigiCoach makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about DigiCoach at digicoach.com or click the link in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Will Lepech has worked in various roles within a K-12 system level. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Group Science, a Master of Arts (MA) in Educational Leadership K-12, has a Michigan Elementary Teaching Certificate with additional endorsements in Music Education and Science along with a Michigan School Administrator Certificate. Prior to becoming the Continuous Improvement Consultant at Montcalm Area ISD, he taught in self-contained elementary classrooms at multiple levels, and was an elementary assistant principal at Kent City Community Schools in Kent City, Michigan. In addition, Will served as the Kent City Community Schools Director of Multi-Lingual and Migrant Education Programs and held multiple roles in the MTSS/PBIS process. Will is a member of the Michigan Continuous Improvement Facilitators Network (MCIFN), as well as the Michigan Association of State and Federal Program Specialists (MASFPS)

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

When you and I first talked, you shared some things you wish you had known while you were a building administrator. I’d like to have conversations around three of them, with you describing the “thing” and then the two of us digging into why understanding the “thing” is so challenging when you are in the midst of it:
- The power of influencing at the granular (individual) level
- Change process
- Not having to have the answers
If there is time, we can dive a bit more into the change processes.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 3:Before we wrap, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Summary/wrap up

Individual versus systems focus (ultimately, does change happen at the individual level?)
People are the purpose
Uncover the rock = what’s the problem?
Resistance is feedback – misalignment in the system and M=v/e
Systems and structures support sustainability – good summer investment
Strengthen what is, this is not the time for new stuff

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

DigiCOACH: digiCOACH.com

Guest links:

Email: wlepech@maisd.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/will-lepech-4a05b3342

Frederick’s Links:

Email:

Teacher-centric PD with Cathy Lacey

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 03:06:00 -0400

Power Quote: “If we want better outcomes for students, we have to create better outcomes for teachers.”

Description:

I hope this doesn’t sound too egotistical but I LOVE it when a guest echoes my own preaching, especially when that guest is a current school leader. This episode is full of foundational ideas as well as some simple actionable strategies. It’s the kind of show I love to do where two friends dive deep into a central theme of school – growing teachers.

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we begin, I’d liketo thank digiCOACH for sponsoring today’s show. As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about DigiCoach sponsoring this podcast. DigiCoach makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about DigiCoach at digicoach.com or click the link in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

1. What does teacher-centric professional learning look like in action—and how is it different from traditional PD? What small shifts build real momentum for teacher growth?
2. What are some of the most common barriers schools face when implementing meaningful professional learning—and what are realistic ways to overcome them?
3. How can leaders personalize professional learning without creating more work—for themselves or their teachers?
4. In what ways can assistant principals evaluate whether their PD is making a lasting impact—and what tools or strategies can help with that?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Big theme: The Flywheel (Links to episodes 75 and 76: part 1 and part 2)
- Teachers choose and get quality actionable pd
- Leaders follow up with targeted observation and support
- Observation data and teacher inform next PD
- Consistent cycles
Supporting and growing
Work with the few and the willing (episode 8 link about how to choose)
Evaluating PD: Guskey or something (NN activity)
“If we want better outcomes for students, we have to create better outcomes for teachers.”
Ask!!!!

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Guest links:

Website: https://blazersinnovation.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathleenlacey/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/CathleenLacey

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Two for the Price of One (!) with Frederick and Darrin

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Two for the Price of One (!) with Frederick and Darrin

Link to the NCMLE Leadership Excellence Network: https://ncmle.org/cohort-home

Description:

Today’s show is actually two shows in one. I recorded it with my good friend Darrin Peppard at Road to Awesome and we are releasing this episode on his show, Lean Into Leadership, in addition to releasing it here on The Assistant Principal Podcast. Darrin and I are collaborating on a project we reference in the show and thought this would be a fun way to let people know what’s going on. That doesn’t mean the show is an infomercial. We really want you to think about the coming year and how your strategic plan can be as meaningful in March as it was in August.

Sponsor Spot 1:As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about DigiCoach sponsoring this podcast. DigiCoach makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about DigiCoach at digicoach.com or click the link in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Darrin Peppard is an author, publisher, speaker, and consultant focused on what matters most in leadership. Darrin’s an expert in school culture and climate as well as coaching and growing emerging leaders. He is known for his keen insight, culture-first leadership style, and dynamic personality.

In 2016, Darrin was named Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year by WASSP/NASSP and was the 2015 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year. In 2017, Darrin earned his Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Wyoming. This past summer, Darrin was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame.

Darrin shares his experiences from over 25 years in education, specifically those learned as an education leader during the past 13 years. As a ‘recovering’ high school principal, Darrin talks about lessons learned and effective strategies to help leaders of all experience levels become more effective at their craft.

Key points:

Middle school focus, frame the work from the start
- Share the NCMLE work, focus on middle but applicable to all
  - Elem want and need you
  - HS don’t want and don’t need
  - MS: don’t want but need
Purposeful planning that brings you back to the plan throughout the year
Elements of the cycle of the work
- Prepare
  - Clarity - DP
  - Strategies - FB
What can we do each day?
Can’t be once a week or once a month
Example -
Speaking/presenting
Instructional leader
Relationships - DP
Perform
- Manage priorities - FB
Block (schedule) your priorities
Leverage help (ref SAM)
Create focus time
People are our priority! Take advantage of opportunities
Leading for instruction - DP
Culture building - DP
Refine
- Barriers - FB
Ask why?
Look at systems, not effort
What can only you do? (support and grow teachers)
Reflection - DP
Check in with stakeholders - FB
Our super power should be asking questions, not developing answers
Renew
- Evaluation - FB (swot)
- Reorienting the plan - DP (start, stop, etc)
Maintaining the plan, keeping the focus
- Use NCMLE work as an example
- Be intentional with this work

Summary/wrap up

· There’s one thing that ties everything in this podcast together. We mentioned it a couple times, but probably not enough: collaboration.

· Your likely an AP, but maybe you’re a principal, IC, or district leader, regardless of the position you hold, leading schools is a collaborative endeavor.

· When we lose sight of that, we forfeit our greatest strengths and misplace our purpose.

· That’s what I love about what we are doing with MS leaders in NC: we’re magnifying the collaboration. If you are in NC and would like to join us, please go to https://ncmle.org/cohort-home

· If you are super interested but don’t live in NC, drop me a line and we’ll figure out a way to support you.

Thank you to our sponsors!

· IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant

· Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

· digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Darrin’s links:

website: https://roadtoawesome.net/

Linktree:

SAM I Am with Mark Shellinger

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Description:

“Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and ham!” Our guest today is not Dr. Seuss, but he does talk a lot about SAM, not the peddler of a strange breakfast, but rather a process for helping instructional leaders reclaim their purpose.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Mark created the SAM Process for school leaders with help from his wife, Carol, and colleagues and mentors from across the US. Research and development was funded by the Wallace Foundation for eight years. The National SAM Innovation Project was incorporated in 2010 and now serves over 1,200 schools in twenty-four states employing 56 coaches, techs and support staff members. External research confirms SAM principals spend more time on instructional work, are happier, work a shorter day, are better liked by staff and see improved learning results. Mark was a classroom teacher for seven years, principal for ten and a superintendent for ten years. Mark and his wife, Carol, live in Louisville, Kentucky during the school year and return home to Alaska for the summers. They have one daughter, Jessica, son-in-law, Gino and granddaughter, Aurora.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

I teach assistant principals to stop managing time and start managing priorities. You shared with me your thoughts about reclaiming purpose and managing time being two sides of the same coin. What do you mean by that?
What is the SAM process?
What are the fundamental issues of school leadership that SAM addresses?
I tend to talk about reclaiming purpose as an individual process, but you approach it as a team effort. Every leader’s context is different. How do the people you work with choose who they will go on the journey with?
For leaders who want to learn more about the process, what should they do?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Summary/wrap up

Expressing instructional leadership as a value but not acting in it (see epiphany 3) leads us to be real with ourselves
My ALT education experience
Pause (be present, be intentional)
Teacher evaluation is broken – episode 218
If you are interested in SAM
- As a P
- As an AP

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Mark’s links:

www.SamProcess.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

SWOT!

Frederick Buskey — Wed, 21 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400

SWOT

***Free SWOT and STCC tools available for download here: https://adept-experimenter-3588.kit.com/0cd1576fe5

Teaser:

We are half-way through May and hopefully you have begun thinking about next year. A couple weeks ago I took several district leadership teams through a simple process to facilitate conversations around next year. We did two activities – the SWOT analysis and the Stop-Start-Continue-Consider process. These are meant to be high level starters for discussion of priorities. I think the two activities work well together as the SWOT identifies the what and the SSCC focuses on the how. In today’s show, I’ll walk you through the process we went through and I’ll try to be explicit enough that you’ll be able to facilitate the activity with your team if you so desire. This also might be a show you want to pause or save for a time when you can think and write, but of course that is up to you and your individual context.

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we get to the meat of the show, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. In your leadership role, you’re responsible for the thousands of details it takes to make your school function like a well-oiled machine! So when it’s time for the school trip, let someone else do the heavy lifting! Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning exceptional travel experiences for more than 30 years. They handle ALL the details from start to finish so that you don’t have to worry about a thing. Online registration and payments, convenient crowdfunding options, impeccable customer care, and an expert team make planning your school’s student trip so easy! Get in touch with the pros at Kaleidoscope Adventures at the link down in the show notes and cross one more thing off your never-ending to-do list!

Show Intro

Celebrations: Pam retired!

Key Points Part 1

Way to supercharge this: engage stakeholders!

SWOT

● Overview of quadrants

● What it’s good for:

o Remembering what’s going well

o Confronting gaps

o Thinking about external resources

o Being mindful of what could go wrong

● How to:

o Do individually and then discuss

o Discuss through as a team

● Three reflection questions

● Can also be used as an individual planning tool

Sponsor Spot 3:I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast… Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions. And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more. It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Key Points Part 2

SSCC

● Overview

● Considerations:

o Do less (more stops than starts)

o Consider ways to improve current things rather than beginning new ones

o Strategic abandonment

o Pay special attention to processes

o Addition by subtraction

o Leverage strengths

o Mind the threats

● Probably do this as a team

● Can also be used by individuals

● Can be done for each other (e.g. Will and I)

Following up

● Stakeholder participation

● Facilitated discussion

● Strategic action cycles – root cause, incremental change

SponsorAdministrators, you walk through classrooms, take notes, and you plan to follow up… but how much of that feedback actually reaches teachers in a meaningful way?With digiCOACH, you don’t just observe—you coach in the moment. Provide clear, specific feedback instantly and track progress over time. No more forgotten notes or lost opportunities—just real conversations that drive real change.With digiCOACH, you’re not just giving feedback—you’re building a system for growth. Track trends, measure progress, and give teachers the real-time feedback they love. Ready to make coaching more impactful? Start today at digiCOACH.com.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

● Less is more

● Stakeholders (they should drive change)

● Process over product

● Where do we need more data?

● Strategic daily action

Sponsor Links:

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

DigiCOACH: digiCOACH.com

Close

● Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

● You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

● I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

● If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html

● Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

● Remember the secret to good leadership...

Just Say “No!” with Charles Williams

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 13 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “Somebody has to be able to say “pause!”

Description:

Have you ever listened to one of those podcasts where the host asks a question, the guest gives an answer and it goes back and forth in a way that feels more like a school lecture than a discussion? This Is not that episode! It’s almost the opposite. It took me 10 minutes to get to the first question. This interview went in directions I hadn’t expected, but each time I began to wonder if we were going down a rabbit hole, I would find us back at base camp. Listen carefully – there is a lot of wisdom in today’s show and it all leads back to the same place, a place I’ll try and explore a bit more in the wrap up.

Sponsor Spot 1:As we get started, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Charles Williams is an educator, speaker, and consultant with nearly 20 years of experience. As a Chicago school leader and founder of CW Consulting, he specializes in culturally responsive practices, equity, and mental health. Through keynotes and workshops, Charles empowers educators and leaders to "Learn, Grow, Lead," driving innovation, inclusion, and resilience in schools and communities.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

In helping leaders move from being urgent to being strategic, I share three Epiphany’s. The first epiphany is that we can’t get everything done. The second Epiphany is if we can’t do everything then we choose what does and doesn’t get done. You talk about this a lot in your book, Learn, Grow, Lead. Why is the idea the we can choose so difficult to embrace?
Every yes is a no to something else. It seems like if we could just remember this, it would go a long way in helping us to make better decisions about where to invest our time. Thoughts?
Are there techniques or considerations for saying no?
The third Epiphany is that our choices reflect our values, so if I’m not making decisions based on my values how can I get back on track?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 4:Before we wrap, As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about DigiCoach sponsoring this podcast. DigiCoach makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about DigiCoach at digicoach.com or click the link in the show notes.

Summary/wrap up

We don’t have to have all the answers!
Adults work to solve problems they face – PD implications
Task versus person focus
Saying no to bad processes
Ignore bad role models (set the vision, all the answers, do everything)
If I wasn’t already doing it, would I start today?
“Somebody has to be able to say “pause!”
Intention

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
SummerPops: https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Charles’ links:

Book - Amazon

Podcast - Spotify / Apple

Website

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

National High School AP of the Year Saani Perry

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 06 May 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “If I make them better, that makes me better”

Description:

Today’s guest is the 2025 NASSP National High School Assistant Principal of the year – how cool is that! This was such a fun interview. You are going to hear Saani talk about a number of things he’s done as an AP and I want you to pay attention to how each thing is interconnected with each other thing. I’ll say more about that in the show summary, but listen for the connections.

Guest Bio:

Saani Perry, from South Carolina, serves as Assistant Principal at West Florence High School. A visionary and servant leader, he champions academic growth, student wellness, and mentorship. Known for impactful initiatives and community engagement, Perry is dedicated to creating inclusive, success-driven school cultures. He proudly represents Phi Beta Sigma.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Think about who you were in your first year as an AP and who you are today. What are biggest differences? What has not changed?
We are in the people business, but the assistant principalship is a task-driven job. How do you keep people first?
You’ve been innovative and led several key initiatives at West Florence. Can you talk about the implementation process, especially how you worked with teachers and the community? (May need to tweak this question – I’m basing it off what I read)
The last few years have seen a lot of political turmoil, which has only accelerated in 2025. Every community, and therefore every school, is impacted differently, but between the “otherizing” of specific groups of people (young and old), rhetoric around DEI, and unpredictable federal funding how is your school impacted?
At the close of the school year, what will you do to 1) recharge yourself and 2) plan for your own growth?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 3:In your leadership role, you’re responsible for the thousands of details it takes for your school to function like a well-oiled machine! So, when it’s time for the school trip, let someone else do the heavy lifting! Kaleidoscope Adventures has been planning exceptional travel experiences for more than 30 years. They handle ALL the details from start to finish so that you don’t have to worry about a thing. Online registration and payments, convenient crowdfunding options, impeccable customer care, and an expert team make planning your school’s student trip so easy! Get in touch with the pros at Kaleidoscope Adventures at the link down in the show notes and cross one more thing off your never-ending to-do list!

Summary/wrap up

Trust – presence (visible and listening)
One piece at a time, but each piece is related
Intention
“If I make them better, they make me better.”
We are on the same team

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Sanni’s links:

Email: saaninperry@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahsaan-perry-ba6381317/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

On Trust and Kindness with Dr. Chris Culver

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: We are wired to belong

Description:

You’ll hear me compliment today’s guest on his affirmative presence. He’s the kind of person you want to be around. It was only at the end of the show that I was able to pinpoint why and it is this: he makes me feel seen, valued, and heard. Stay tuned and you’ll find out why this was an “aha” for me.

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Dr. Christopher Culver is a highly sought-after, dynamic, and engaging speaker. He is a proud product of Oklahoma public education. Raised in a divorced family, he split his time between Tulsa during the week, a 300-acre farm in Wyandotte, OK, and several times throughout the year in Fayetteville, NC. For more than a decade, Dr. Culver has served educational communities as a classroom teacher, secondary principal, and, most recently, as a cabinet-level administrator. He is the former President of the Oklahoma Association for Bilingual Education and the current Vice President of the Oklahoma Citizens for Education non-profit. Today, he serves as a speaker and consultant with expertise in kindness, culture, and understanding Gen Z/Gen A, and as an part-time professor at Oklahoma City University, where he teaches future teachers and leaders. Earning an EdD through research on culture and the collective impact on motivation, Dr. Culver is dedicated to spreading kindness, improving mindsets, cultivating culture, and educating about Gen Z/A. He believes that if you cannot find the light, be the light!

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Let’s start at 20,000 feet. Are there sweeping generalities that can shed some light on the differing strength needs and expectations of educators and leaders from the different generations?
For 30+ year old leaders working with new 22-year-old teachers, what should they be most mindful of?
For Young (26- to 35-year-old) APs or principals, what should they be mindful of when working with 25+ year veteran teachers?
In developing trust between any combinations of generations, are there any universal elements?
Is there anything so drastically different in developing trust that we need to remember?

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 3:As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about DigiCoach sponsoring this podcast. DigiCoach makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about DigiCoach at digicoach.com or click the link in the show notes.

Summary/wrap up

The moral of the story – listen
Seen valued heard
Simple does not mean easy
Building trust may take longer (based on me and you)
My ACE is 9/10 – we only know people’s stories if we see, value and listen

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Chris’ links:

All social media is @DrChrisCulver

Website: www.orangesparrow.org

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

They Want to be Heard with Principal Todd Shadley

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: “I’m still learning, but we will figure it out together.”

Description:

You are going to LOVE today’s show! As with last week, you may want to take notes. Today’s guest, a practicing principal, shared with me that he has been a listener of the show for several years, and you will hear how many of this show’s core themes he echoes and has internalized. This is going to be fun and real!

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we get into the main show, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Todd Shadley is in his 17th year in education, serving mostly at the middle school level. Todd was a classroom teacher for 13 years, primarily in the 6th grade with short stints in 7th and 8th grades. About 3 years ago, he stepped into his first administrative role as a MS/HS assistant principal and then MS principal in a different district before coming back to the district he taught in as the MS principal this year. Todd has coached basketball and soccer. He's been married for 10 years and has 3 children who are 17, 8, &7. Todd’s wife Megan was also an educator for 9 years before staying home to raise and educate their two younger children.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Five-minute coaching session for first-year principal
How you are working with your leadership team.
Part two: I describe culture as the intersection between people-purpose-structures-resources. Can we reflect on your school’s culture using this framework?
If we have time, in part three we’ll dig into the specific issue of kids being mean to each other.

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 3:Before I summarize some of the key points from today’s interview with Todd, I want to thank our sponsor digiCOACH. Administrators, you walk through classrooms, take notes, and you plan to follow up… but how much of that feedback actually reaches teachers in a meaningful way?
With digiCOACH, you don’t just observe—you coach in the moment. Provide clear, specific feedback instantly and track progress over time. No more forgotten notes or lost opportunities—just real conversations that drive real change.With digiCOACH, you’re not just giving feedback—you’re building a system for growth. Track trends, measure progress, and give teachers the real-time feedback they love.
Ready to make coaching more impactful? Start today at digiCOACH.com.

Summary/wrap up

They just want to be heard!
Listen (not do) to build trust
They will tell you what they need, but you must be patient
Being present (can’t grow a school from your desk)
Modeling vulnerability
Modeling and establishing boundaries (we, not me)
The power of one person’s belief in another!!!

Sponsor Spot 4:

Thank you to Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring this episode.
When students practice math over the summer, students learn and math scores go up. Join the growing list of schools offering at-home summer math enrichment. If you are curious about what a research-based summer-math program looks like. Check out Summer Pops for free. Get your FREE workbook samples today at https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/

Todd’s links:

Instagram

Frederick’s Links:

www.connectingthroughconversation.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

A Culture of Connection with Erika and Tiffany

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Power Quote: You are who you eat lunch with

Description:

Today’s show is so packed with gold nuggets, you might want to take notes or listen twice. You will hear many of my core themes filtered through a slightly different lens. Our guests are accessible and real, so perk up and hold on! (and ignore the leaf blowers outside my window)

Show Intro

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

How to build strong connections with the educators you support
How to de-escalate frustrated adults
How to understand and navigate the contagion of emotions
How to apply specific communication techniques (acknowledge, validate, coach and compassionate communication)
How to plan for a difficult conversation

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsor Spot 4:Before I summarize some of the key points from today’s interview with Erika and Tiffany, I want to thank our sponsor digiCOACH. Administrators, you walk through classrooms, take notes, and you plan to follow up… but how much of that feedback actually reaches teachers in a meaningful way?
With digiCOACH, you don’t just observe—you coach in the moment. Provide clear, specific feedback instantly and track progress over time. No more forgotten notes or lost opportunities—just real conversations that drive real change.With digiCOACH, you’re not just giving feedback—you’re building a system for growth. Track trends, measure progress, and give teachers the real-time feedback they love.
Ready to make coaching more impactful? Start today at digiCOACH.com.

Summary/wrap up

“I’m telling myself this story…”
Relationships is an investment, not an expenditure (proactive v. reactive)
Be curious – problems aren’t our purpose, people are our purpose
Being realistically positive (not toxic) = helping others address their problems
You are who you eat lunch with
Wait time (11 seconds)
Four questions (What’s going well, what is one thing we could do differently, what do I need to know to be successful, what are you really good at)
More of that in episode 177 (link) where AP Alex Auriemma actually asked these questions of her staff and shares her experiences.
Like I said at the top of the show – so much gold!

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
SummerPops: https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Tiffany and Erika’s links:

Online course discount for listeners: ctcpodcast

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090370647418&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/connectingthroughconversation/

Linked In Erika Bare http://linkedin.com/in/erika-bare-6a72a6215

Linkedin Tiffany Burns http://linkedin.com/in/tiffany-burns-90a50a274

Twitter https://twitter.com/CTCPlaybook.com

Youtube

Is Your Best Good Enough? With Leigh Ann Alford-Keith

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Description:

How are you? I confess to having mixed emotions about how to respond to this question. On the one hand, I’m having fun in my business and everyone around me is healthy. On the other hand, I have a lot of friends worried about losing their jobs to anti-DEI policies, my favorite national forests are less safe because of ranger firings, and there are people in my community worried about being deported. I felt this similar mix of emotions during COVID. Today, my guest and I will dig into how to lead yourself and others in this fragmented and disconcerting time.

Sponsor Spot 1:
Before we get started, I would like to thank Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring today’s show. The team at Summer Pops are educators with a passion for preventing the backwards summer slide in math, and Summer Pops is a unique and engaging approach to summer enrichment. I encourage you to connect with Summer Pops for free workbook samples. Go to https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/ to get your free copy and of course, the link is in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Alford-Keith is a central services leader at one of the nation's largest school districts. Her areas of expertise are in strategic planning, innovation, equity, and family engagement. She's joining me today to talk about what it's like right now to be navigating our latest round of "uncertain" times as public schools leaders.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
How are you?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Pre-question: What’s the range of impact on leaders’ emotional states based on the uncertainties out there?
It’s a wild time to be an educational leader. We preach about self-care, now more than ever, but it is easy for those suggestions to ring hollow. I’d like to talk about the ways we nurture our own resilience. I want to break this down into a couple areas:
- What we do for ourselves outside of the work.
- How we build intellectual and technical resilience
- How we nurture our own resilience in collaboration with others.

Sponsor Spot 4:
Before we wrap, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Closing thoughts:

Connection and community sustain resilience
Focus on what you control and ignore the noise
You can’t do everything – take time to invest in your well-being
The mode of your response dictates the mode of access

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
SummerPops: https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Leigh Ann’s LinkedIn

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

The Motivation Equation

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Show title and release date: The Motivation Equation

Note on Sponsorships:

Help cover the cost of producing the podcast
Motivate me to produce a better product
Give you access to some beneficial services
I will work to keep sponsorship ads under 3 minutes total
If you are interested, using the affiliate links in the show notes helps the show

Teaser:

Are students really lazy and unmotivated?When teachers resist implementation of a new initiative, what are they telling you?Any time people aren’t doing what we want them to do, we tend to see them as lazy, unmotivated, cantankerous, or “not a team player.”But there is another explanation, and it is, at its essence, an issue of economics. Today, we dive into the motivation equation.

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we get started, I would like to thank Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring today’s show. The team at Summer Pops are educators with a passion for preventing the backwards summer slide in math, and Summer Pops is a unique and engaging approach to summer enrichment. I encourage you to connect with Summer Pops for free workbook samples. Go to https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/ to get your free copy and of course, the link is in the show notes.

Show Intro

Celebrations: 4 days, 60 miles, 12,000 feet of elevation gain

Sponsor Spot 2:As a loyal listener to this show, you know I am a big advocate for short, targeted observations, so I’m excited about digiCOACH sponsoring this podcast. digiCOACH makes it easier to follow up on observations with meaningful feedback. I love that you can focus on specific elements and that there is a ready-made bank of items to use for telling teachers what they are doing well! You can learn more about digiCOACH at https://digicoach.com/ or click the link in the show notes.

Key Points Part 1

Thank you Cathy Lacey, Professional Learning Leader at Richland 1 in SC and founder of Blazers, LLC.
Defining the formula
- The verbiage
- Example: $$$
- Real versus perceived
- Each individual’s unique context
- Shifting the perspective from blame to challenge
Ways to increase value
- Immediacy of benefit
- Relevance: solving their problem
- Priority of need (think Maslow)
Ways to decrease effort
- Smaller chunks (A-B)
- Skill development
- Safety (to take risks)
- Community and collaboration
- Streamlining
- Scaffolding (SOP)
- Differentiating (leveraging others’ expertise)

Key Points Part 2

Example 1: Student and tardiness to math class

Example 2: Teacher not implementing classroom procedures

Example 3: Change initiative - resisting new computer-based assessment program

The Big Idea

Empowers leadership
Get’s us out of the judgement game
Let’s us view resistance through a positive lens
Help’s remind us to ask “why?”

Thank you to our sponsors!

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant
SummerPops: https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/
Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

(Teacher) Team Leadership with Dr. Chad Dumas

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0400

(Teacher) Team Leadership with Dr. Chad Dumas

Description:

If you’ve been listening to me or following my daily email, you’ve heard me talk about 5-minute coaching, the series of three questions we can ask teachers to help them become more reflective practitioners. The value leaders provide during the process is I creating space by NOT talking. Today’s guest helped me learn how to make 5-minute coaching even more powerful. But that’s not all. Today’s show is packed with practical tips to help you immediately become a better communicator – without saying a word! Before we get started, I would like to thank Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring today’s show. The team at Summer Pops are educators with a passion for preventing the backwards summer slide in math, and Summer Pops is a unique and engaging approach to summer enrichment. I encourage you to connect with Summer Pops for free workbook samples. Go to https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/ to get your free copy and of course, the link is in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Chad Dumas is a Solution Tree PLC at Work, Assessment, and Priority Schools associate and international consultant, presenter, and award-winning researcher. His primary focus is collaborating to develop capacity for continuous improvement. With a quarter century of successful leadership experience, Chad has led significant improvements for both students and staff. He shares his research and knowledge in his three books on PLCs, and his upcoming Teacher Team Leader Handbook, Chad’s consulting and training includes research, stories, hands-on tools, useful knowledge, and practical skills. He most recently was the executive director of elementary education in the Ames Community School District, a preschool thru grade 12 district of 5,000 students in central Iowa. Before this he was the director of learning for Hastings Public Schools in south-central Nebraska for nine years. Dr. Dumas' new book, The Teacher Team Leader Handbook has just been released!

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Let’s celebrate your new book!

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

· What’s the story behind the book?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Who did you write the book for?

· What problem were you trying to solve?

· What should the reader know and be able to do after reading the book?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

I hope you got as much out of today’s show as I did. If we were together right now, I would pause there to let you reflect…

Remember, in addition to the three magic moves (pause, paraphrase, 3rd point) you can get seven sweet strategies by clicking on the “3 and 7” link in the show notes.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· My book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is now available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Chad’s links:

Website: www.NextLearningSolutions.com

3 and 7: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1liaCOU9bE28ubqPGjdnviozQ0dIa1a3U/view

Purchase the book from Solution Tree: https://www.solutiontree.com/teacher-team-leader-handbook.html?utm_source=ST&utm_campaign=1261110&utm_medium=online

Purchase the book from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Team-Leader-Handbook-Collaboration/dp/1960574981

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Follow up Questions for From Fires to Fulfillment

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Today I’m digging into some questions I received from participants in my recent GAMSP training on moving from Fires to Fulfillment. Podcast episode 242, released two weeks ago, is an edited audio of the presentation and you can find the full presentation on a hidden website page at frederickbuskey.com/gamsp25. The themes I address in today’s show should be familiar to you, but I think the value add comes from the context. I think by the end you will have more insight into how 5-mc fits into different aspects of your leadership. Okay, let’s go!
Before we get started, I would like to thank Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring today’s show. The team at Summer Pops are educators with a passion for preventing the backwards summer slide in math, and Summer Pops is a unique and engaging approach to summer enrichment. I encourage you to connect with Summer Pops for free workbook samples. Go to summerpopsworkbooks.com to get your free copy and of course, the link is in the show notes.

Celebration: The luxury of time

Questions:

How would the 5 min coaching strategy work from adult to student
How this extends to the central office level
How to pivot/Leadership time management
Other ways to grow teachers/More coaching tips
How to delegate
More info on how to dig out negatives when asking what went well and it goes dark.
Effective Assistant Principalship mindset
How to balance tasks and people/ How to decide what does get done

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

The First Step to Great Relationships with Joe Pettit

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s show is high energy with lots of thoughts and concepts that will grab your attention and your intention. My guest and I talk a lot about the power you have as a leader to transform your reality, and I want to be clear – it’s tough out there right now, some of us are working in more challenging situations than others, and some of us have fewer opportunities than others. I say that to temper the sense that maybe today’s discussion is a bit too optimistic. I don’t think it is, but I recognize our context vary and those contexts matter. I will do a wrap up with some additional thoughts after the interview, so keep listening to the end. Let’s go!

Guest Bio:

Please welcome a true pioneer in leadership development and emotional intelligence, Joe Pettit. With over two decades of hands-on leadership experience, Joe has not only authored the impactful book 'Seeds to Success,' which has sold thousands of copies, but he has also personally impacted the lives of over 10,000 leaders in the past four years. His unique approach is grounded in real-world application, and his sessions are renowned for their activity-based, tangible takeaways.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Show 1:

We were discussing relationships on a previous call. Frequent listeners to this show know I view relationships as having four phases: learn, empower, support, and grow. You shared that you begin from a very different space and it has caused me to reflect critically on my own model.
I’d like for us to dig into your thoughts about relationships, where we begin, and where we go.
First (or most important) step in relationships (self)

Closing:

Relationships begin with the inner work
Understanding how your lived experience colors your assumptions and judgement
Understanding what you feel, and why you feel that way
Being curious – seeking to understand more than to be understood
Being vulnerable – share your feelings and the why – I wonder, maybe, one of the strongest connection points is around our common fears and challenges

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Joe’s links:

Website: https://joepettitinspires.com/event-planners/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoePettitInspiresWW/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSjvOK6r5RPbbAr6VNGo65A/featured

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-pettit-9592b917b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joepettitinspires/?hl=en

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Final Questions First with Joe Pettit

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0500

#243: Final Questions First with Joe Pettit

Description:

This is just a short tease for the full interview coming out on March 11th, 2025. I had forgotten to ask Joe the four closing questions, and when I shared that with him, he was kind enough to answer the questions and send me an audio file. I found it so inspiring, I decided to make it a standalone mini-episode. Enjoy!

Guest Bio:

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Joe’s links:

Website: https://joepettitinspires.com/event-planners/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoePettitInspiresWW/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSjvOK6r5RPbbAr6VNGo65A/featured

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-pettit-9592b917b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joepettitinspires/?hl=en

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

From Fires to Fulfillment

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0500

If you read my daily email, you likely know that my big goal for 2025 is to give 25 keynotes and presentations. On Monday, February 24, I gave my first ever keynote at the Georgia Middle School Principals’ conference – big shoutout to Cheryl Riddle who organized the conference and was so wonderful to work with. I organized this as more of a working session than a straight speech so participants could leave the session with concrete skills and a plan to reclaim their purpose.
Today’s episode is a condensed version of the session that includes all of the content. At the end of today’s show, I’ll share the link to a hidden webpage where you can watch the speech and grab copies of the materials.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

8 Actions to Lift People Up

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Today’s episode is inspired by a book study I did last week with 25 building and district school leaders. The focus of the book study was stage 5 of A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, which is all about 5-minute coaching.

We began with celebration
We did 5-minute coaching
We reflected in small groups
We recapped in a large group
We took 15 minutes (!) for our closing circle
Participants left feeling grounded, connected, and hopeful. I left wanting to dig more deeply into what happened, and to identify some important things we can consistently do as leaders to help those around us. To help me do that, I’ve asked Mara Buskey to come onto the show. It’s been a while since Mara was on – she is now 26 (off my health insurance) and has her own business helping entrepreneurs move from chaos to clarity. Mara’s undergraduate degrees are in women and gender studies, global studies, and Spanish language. Those educational experiences and her own empathetic disposition give her a unique ability to understand how our emotions and work inform each other, and I think that makes her a perfect guest for today’s show on 8 actions we can take to lift people up.

Celebrations:

The Big Idea

Turbulence exacerbates urgent leadership (tasks) but requires greater degree of strategic leadership (people)
People are impacted by turbulence to the whole organization, parts of the organization, and their own lives
Roles of leadership in turbulent times:
- Provide stability (the rock in the storm)
- Realistic optimism: drawing on our values, faith, trust, and determination
- Confronting the brutal reality: defining and naming the problem, not just the symptoms
- Expressing our values, even as they are under attack

8 Simple things to do:

Create an internal mantra that puts people first
1. Survival first, growth second
2. Community
Celebrate (together) everything, no matter how small
Take time for the close (and for community)
1. Primary function of meetings during turbulence is building community
2. Openings and closings are opportunities
3. Meaningful discussion, sense-making, and comradery are requirements
Check in frequently to communicate value and provide support
1. Send a text or email
2. 5-minute coaching
3. Tell me one good thing
4. How are you? (x2)
5. I’m so glad you are here
6. I care about you, I value you, I believe in you.
Use value-laden language and don’t censor yourself
1. If you value working with the diverse communities that make up your school, then say it
2. If you believe in providing opportunities to people who haven’t had them, say it
3. If you believe every student should have access to the general curriculum, say it
Choose to show up
1. Be intentional
2. Be a lighthouse
Take care of yourself
1. Peer support
2. Morning time: move, ground, check in and set intentions
3. Reflect
4. Put a box around working from home
5. Create healthy transitions (especially work to home)
Be realistic and determined
1. Acknowledge real challenges
2. Identify real strengths
3. Talk about what you can do, not about what you can’t do

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Mara’s Links:

Email: mara@frederickbuskey.com

Homepage: https://marabuskey.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-buskey-98321218b/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Turbulence

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500

We are in a moment of significant change. There’s a lot of instability and unpredictability and people don’t know what’s going to happen – good, bad, or indifferent. We don’t know what all of the announced or teased policy changes mean or if they are going to take effect. This environment creates a situation where we have lots of turbulence in schools, so today we’re going to unpack what turbulence is, how it fits with the six dimensions model, and start to think a little bit about how as leaders we respond to keep everybody safe and create better outcomes for kids.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Be the Mirror with Tequila Lamar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Description:

Today’s guest is Tequila Lamar. The name should be familiar to you because I just featured my first interview with Tequila as the “Greatest Episode of All Time.” And now she’s back and now this episode may be my new favorite of all time. We will of course build on our previous discussion of imposter syndrome, but there is so much more in this episode. It is packed with wisdom, humanity, joy, and love. Today’s show will leave you feeling inspired and optimistic.

Guest Bio:

Tequila Lamar is the NYC Partnerships & Outreach Lead at Google.org, and is a driving force behind New York City's social impact initiatives related to knowledge, skills, and learning. A passionate advocate for excellence and equity in tech education, Tequila actively addresses disparities in AI, computer science, and digital skills education.
With a focus on improving access and fostering a sense of belonging in computer science, she designs and executes programs that aim to amplify the representation of underrepresented groups in the tech industry. Known for her exceptional communication skills and ability to build strong relationships, Tequila is not only a mentor and coach but also a sought-after speaker and panelist on education, technology, and leadership topics.
Tequila holds a Master's degree in Education and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Florida A&M University. Her well-rounded approach and unwavering passion for education make her an invaluable asset in advancing social impact.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
What have you learned at Google (or new job) that you wish you had known as a principal?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

how we fill in the blanks of why something happened or why somebody did something, or ignored us, or whatever. Digging into how destructive it can be when our imposter begins creating stories to explain things that we simply don't have all tho info on.
Supporting others with imposter syndrome

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Tequila’s links: Helpful resources for combatting imposter syndrome

The Imposter Cure: Beat insecurities and gain self-belief by Dr. Jessamy Hibberd
Own Your Greatness: Overcome Imposter Syndrome, Beat Self-Doubt, and Succeed in Life by Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin
Impostor Syndrome Institute

Frederick’s Links:

www.JamieBrownLeadership.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

#238: Can Adults Just Act Like Adults? With Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0500

| A couple weeks ago in one of my daily emails I asked for people’s experiences, perspectives, and questions about culture. A reader responded:
As far as culture, my main frustration is a lack of initiative I notice in some of our adult, professional faculty members... Behaviors like not arriving on time for a duty, being unwilling to contact parents (or reply to parent contacts), and walking past litter on the hallway floor are my frustration. My question is how to make it the norm in our school to be proactive and to take initiative?
So, what does this mean when the adults aren’t behaving like… well, adults?
The question to begin with is not “what can we do?” The question to start with is “Why is this happening?”

Celebration: Weather over 60 degrees and sunny enough to make hiking a joy!

Prelude: Who is a leader

One challenge many leaders and potential leaders face is they don’t “seem” or “feel” like leaders. This comes from a relatively narrow conception in our culture about what makes a leader. An overreliance on decision-making and charisma, as well as our culturally engrained images of the leader archetype, hamper our ability to encourage and develop leaders with a diverse set of skills.

A participant in one of my recent trainings shared a 2020 article from Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. (link in show notes). The authors (Mueller, Jennifer S., Goncalo, Jack and Kamdar, Dishan) stated in their abstract:

Study 1shows creative idea expression is negatively related to perceptions of leadership potential in a sample of employees working in jobs that required creative problem solving.

Study 2 shows that participants randomly instructed to express creative solutions during an interaction are viewed as having lower leadership potential.

A third scenario study replicated this finding showing that participants attributed less leadership potential to targets expressing creative ideas, except when the “charismatic” leader prototype was activated. In sum, we show that the negative association between expressing creative ideas and leadership potential is robust and underscores an important but previously unidentified bias against selecting effective leaders.

Simple translation: Creative people aren’t perceived as leaders unless they have high charisma…

Full disclosure: I did not read and evaluate the entire article but their thesis is consistent with other research and my own observations and experiences.

Stepping back, I wonder, in what context would creative problem solving not be a big advantage? And yet, the research suggests we are not inclined to view creative problem-solving as a desirable leadership characteristic.

Maybe it is the same for people who are really good at asking questions?

Or for people who are great at helping people collaborate with each other?

Or maybe people who are great at helping others learn to lead?

The challenge we face is that we have a narrow set of criteria we use, at a cultural level, to determine what leaders should be like. We have been conditioned to think about leaders in terms of a few specific characteristics like vision and decisiveness.

In pre-defining what constitutes leadership, we limit the possibilities for nurturing leadership in the majority of people around us. The point I’m trying to make is that if we can look at people’s strengths and seek to put people in position to leverage those strengths, we all win. I hope this all makes sense – it did to me when I write it but now, I’m not so sure 🤣

The Big Idea

Recap the situation

Symptoms versus problems

Pause: have you ever had a job, or a period of time, when you were just going through the motions? And if you have not, have you had people you respect take their foot off the gas and coast?

What would explain this?

Physical health
Trauma
Responsibilities outside work
Feeling hopeless at work
Feeling lost at work
Feeling like you don’t matter

How we respond depends on the underlying problem.

Let’s look at what could be going wrong from an alignment perspective, in other words, let’s think about the negative behavior as being a reflection of a poor culture. We know culture is a translation of the degree of alignment, so what could be out of alignment?

Purpose
- Mission/purpose feels broken or hollow’
- Mission is not focused on kids
- Friction between purpose and leaders’ actions
- A personal purpose that trumps the school’s purpose
- Understanding the purpose behind the activity
Structures
- Schedules are too tight
- Excessive duties and tasks (also a purpose and resource problem)
- Structures inhibit certain behaviors, like finding opportunities to call parents
- Lack of support or clear expectations or processes
Resources
- Time – too much to do
- Attention – too many different things to do
People
- Knowledge and skills: how to call home
- Dispositions: maybe it doesn’t matter if I’m late; or a way of demonstrating dissatisfaction
- Health caused by poor working conditions or stressors outside of school

But… we don’t know the cause, and of course it may be different for different teachers.

So now what?

Sponsor spot…

The way to answer why is to learn. There are many ways, but I might begin this way…

What’s going well
Have there been any surprises?
Is there anything we could be doing differently?

Once we find out what’s wrong we:

Support teachers by bringing purpose, structures, and resources into alignment
- Purpose
  - Check the alignment of our language and expectations around purpose? Are we prioritizing growing kids, or has a different set of priorities (test scores) crept in?
  - Do we talk about and act on the idea that teachers are central to student success, that teachers have the power to change kids’ lives?
- Structures
  - Review our discipline processes - make the expectation of parent contact clear and explicit
- - Implement school-wide common procedures
- - Build in times to contact parents
- Resources
  - Eliminate non-essential tasks
- - Hire playground and lunch monitors to free up teacher time
- - Protect teachers from time-consuming new initiatives
- - Shave time off meetings to allow teachers to invest in parent contacts
Grow them by helping their knowledge, skills, dispositions, and healt...

Helping Teachers Call Home With Jamie Brown

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0500

In May, on episode 199, I had Jamie Brown on the show and he took us through a very simple but effective script for having a restorative conversation with a student. That show was re-aired at the end of December as my favorite show of 2024. After the show, Jamie and I discussed how APs can help new teachers become better at conversation – not just with students, but also with parents. We decided to dedicate an episode to helping you to help your teachers by modeling how to teach your early career teachers to make a positive call home.
You will here some repetition throughout the show as we have the same basic discussion in three different relationships: Administrator to student Teacher to student Teacher to parent
By the end of today’s show, you will have a script to share with your teachers and the main points you will need to model and teach the technique to your teachers.

Guest Bio:

| Jamie is a champion of Student Leadership and Character Education. His passion for promoting student-driven leadership led to the development of the 1st District-Wide PEER Leadership program in NJ Public School education. Jamie earned a National Promising Practice from Character.org for ACCEPT University, a three-tiered Character Education assembly series promoting inclusion, acceptance, empathy and citizenship in schools. Jamie’s career includes working at a State and National School and District of Character, where he earned Teacher of the Year. He has served as both a building and District-Level Administrator, collaborating with the New Jersey Department of Education. Jamie is a proud author for Road to Awesome Publishing & Assistant Principal at Bluffton High School, SC.

Warmup questions:

We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Making a positive contact home
Script
Model
Supports for getting it done
- Choose - who/how to identify
- How APs can help
The final layer – debriefing with the teacher

Closing questions:

What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.
My new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is now available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.
Cheers!

Guest links:

LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube: (@JamieBrownLeadership) Twitter: @leadership_jb

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Culture Questions From Claude Part II

Frederick Buskey — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0500

236: Culture Questions From Claude Part II

Show Description:

| Last week I asked Claude AI to give me 12 questions I could answer that would help elaborate on school culture. We answered the first six questions last week and will do the second batch of six this week.
I have to say, I was quite impressed by the quality of the questions. As was the case last week, I have not read or prepped for the questions, so we will see if Claude can continue to impress.
As a reminder, here was my prompt…
…I'd like to do this show as a Q and A. I would like you, Claude, to represent my assistant principal (AP) listeners. Pretend you are a panel of several APs and you are interviewing me. Please come up with 12 questions related to school culture. Please include some questions that make it easy for me to give examples, and make suggestions for remedying common issues in a school's culture.
Okay, let’s go!

Celebrations:

My Ohio State Buckeyes: From fear to fun

The Big Idea

I am answering these questions cold, because I wanted to feel like I was being interviewed.

"Dr. Buskey, we hear a lot about 'culture' but it seems really abstract. How do you define school culture in a way that actually helps us understand what we're dealing with?"

"I'm seeing low morale among our teachers, especially the veterans. What are some warning signs of culture issues that we should be looking out for?"

"Can you give us a specific example of how misalignment between different parts of a school system creates culture problems? Maybe something you've seen in your work with schools?"

"As a new AP, I feel like I have very limited authority to make changes. What are some small but meaningful ways we can start influencing culture from our position?"

"We're dealing with a lot of new teachers who came through alternative certification. How does this impact school culture, and what can we do to support them while maintaining high expectations?"

"I've noticed that different grade levels or departments in our school seem to have their own micro-cultures. Should we try to create one unified culture, or is some variation okay?"

"When you talk about aligning resources, what does that actually look like in practice? Can you walk us through an example?"

"We implemented several new initiatives this year, and teachers are overwhelmed. How can we tell if we're asking too much of our teachers?"

"What role do you think physical spaces play in school culture? Our building is old and not very inspiring - how much does that matter?"

"Can you share a success story of a school that significantly improved its culture? What were the key steps they took?"

"Sometimes it feels like external pressures - testing mandates, parent complaints, district initiatives - really damage our culture. How can we protect our teachers while still meeting these demands?"

"How do you balance being supportive of teachers with maintaining high expectations? Sometimes it feels like focusing too much on teacher well-being means accepting lower standards."

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

How I think Claude did with these questions…

If there is a question you have about school culture, that you think maybe Claude missed, I would love to hear it. If you think I got something wrong, please let me know. I appreciate you investing your valuable time with me, on our journey together. I have written the introduction to A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Culture and I’ve posted it on a hidden page on my website. If you are interested, you can go to https://www.frederickbuskey.com/culture and read it. It’s just the intro, so nothing earth shattering, but it is a way I can say thank you for listening.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0...

Culture Questions From Claude Part I

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0500

235: Culture Questions From Claude Part I

Show Description:

Two weeks ago, I did a show that described how school culture is a byproduct of the degree of alignment between people, purpose, structures, and resources. High alignment – good culture. Low alignment – poor culture. I also shared in that episode that I have begun working on my next book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Culture, so you are going to be getting a heavy dose of podcasts related to building a strong school culture. I think that is a good thing.
I had originally planned to do a more detailed podcast focused on the six dimensions of organizations, but I haven’t been able to get excited about that. So instead, I turned to my friend, Claude AI, with the following prompt:
Claude, I host a podcast for assistant principals. Many of my listeners are in years 1-3, so they are still inexperienced leaders. I want to do a show about how to influence school culture. I will be using the framework I've developed called the Six Dimensions or Organizations, which says that inner forces result from the alignment or misalignment of people, purpose, structures, and resources.
Instead of just laying out the frameworks, as I did in the Building Culture Whole Show Transcript (in the project knowledge), I'd like to do this show as a Q and A. I would like you, Claude, to represent my assistant principal (AP) listeners. Pretend you are a panel of several APs and you are interviewing me. Please come up with 12 questions related to school culture. Please include some questions that make it easy for me to give examples, and make suggestions for remedying common issues in a school's culture.
What questions do think Claude will ask on your behalf? Stay tuned.

Celebrations:

Snow days and giving ourselves permission to breathe and Gwen editing the pod.

The Big Idea

I am answering these questions cold, because I wanted to feel like I was being interviewed.

"Dr. Buskey, we hear a lot about 'culture' but it seems really abstract. How do you define school culture in a way that actually helps us understand what we're dealing with?"

"I'm seeing low morale among our teachers, especially the veterans. What are some warning signs of culture issues that we should be looking out for?"

"Can you give us a specific example of how misalignment between different parts of a school system creates culture problems? Maybe something you've seen in your work with schools?"

"As a new AP, I feel like I have very limited authority to make changes. What are some small but meaningful ways we can start influencing culture from our position?"

"We're dealing with a lot of new teachers who came through alternative certification. How does this impact school culture, and what can we do to support them while maintaining high expectations?"

"I've noticed that different grade levels or departments in our school seem to have their own micro-cultures. Should we try to create one unified culture, or is some variation okay?"

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

How I think Claude did with these questions…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Remember the secret to good leadership:
- Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
- Be fully present
- Ask reflective questions
- And then just listen
- Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
Have a great rest of the week!
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

https://nasonlollar.wordpress.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Leading an Ethical School with Dr. Nason Lollar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0500

#234: Leading an Ethical School with Dr. Nason Lollar

Description:

Today’s guest has developed a framework and language around professional conduct, which he defines as “my contribution to our culture of learning.” Cool. And what else is cool, is that you will hear, in slightly different terms, some of my core talking points around supporting and growing teachers, being present and listening, and, of course, working in quadrant 2 by managing your priorities, not your time.

Guest Bio:

Having served twenty-four years in the field of education, Dr. Nason Lollar has leveraged those experiences into his first book, The Five Principles of Educator Professionalism. Nason began his career in the classroom, serving as a high school math and social studies teacher and as a baseball coach for fourteen years. He then transitioned to administration, serving as a high school assistant principal for nine years. He currently serves as a principal of the Madison Career & Technical Center in Madison County, Mississippi. His journey as a student of Educational Leadership began with graduate work at Mississippi College, and culminated with a Doctorate of Education from William Carey University in 2018. In 2023, Nason was honored by the Mississippi Association of Secondary School Principals as state Assistant Principal of the Year.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Brief overview and discussion around each principle

o Teaching and learning always come first.

o Remain vigilant to safety concerns.

o Understand the power of communication.

o Seek balance.

o Take ownership of your morale.

Discussion on how administrators help teachers follow the principles

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Guest links:

On X: @nasonlollar

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Greatest Episode of All Time: Imposter Syndrome

Frederick Buskey — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

#233: Imposter Syndrome (Greatest Episode of All Time)

There is a very brief intro to this, my favorite episode of all time!

Originally released in May, 2023…

Let’s face it, you aren’t cut out for this job. You are in over your head, and soon everyone will discover it! What were you even thinking? You can’t help your teachers grow. You should never have done this, and you will certainly never make it to the next level.

Ouch – such terrible thoughts! There is a diagnosis for this kind of negative thinking and it is called imposter syndrome – the feeling that, despite everything you have achieved, you are somehow not fit to do the job you are doing.

If you, like me, are one of those afflicted souls, stay tuned. We are going to turn imposter syndrome on its head! If you have never suffered from imposter syndrome, you need to listen to this episode because many of your colleagues do suffer from it.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Guest links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tequilalamar/

Frederick’s Links:

www.JamieBrownLeadership.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

2024’s BEST Podcast!

Frederick Buskey — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

#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 the development of the 1st District-Wide PEER Leadership program in NJ Public School education. Jamie earned a National Promising Practice from Character.org for ACCEPT University, a three-tiered Character Education assembly series promoting inclusion, acceptance, empathy and citizenship in schools. Jamie’s career includes working at a State and National School and District of Character, where he earned Teacher of the Year. He has served as both a building and District-Level Administrator, collaborating with the New Jersey Department of Education. Jamie is a proud author for Road Awesome Publishing & Assistant Principal at Bluffton High School, SC.

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· In moving from a “traditional” approach to discipline to a more restorative approach, how has that impacted students, teachers, and you?

· You have a wonderful protocol for having a conversation with a student who is “in trouble.” Could you take us through the basics and explain your rationale behind each step?

· I think teachers could also use this protocol. How might you adapt it for them and how would you teach them how to use it?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

I’ll include the student interview questions in the show notes. Copy, print, and try them out. If you try nothing else, begin your next discipline conversation by asking, “Are you okay?”

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Guest links:

LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube: (@JamieBrownLeadership) Twitter: @leadership_jb

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

A School Leader’s Guide to Building Culture

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

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 not as complicated as it seems. Today, I will demystify organizational culture by helping you define it, understand the components, and learn the process for improving it. If you are a regular listener, and/or read my daily email, and/or have read my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, then you will hear several of my most common themes and ideas woven together in a way that I have not really articulated previously.

The Big Idea

How do we build a better culture?

· Why is culture important?

o Easier to do great work in a great culture

o Culture is the rising tide that lifts all boats

o Recruitment, development, and retention

· What is culture?

o A reflection of the degree of alignment within an organization; a sum of the inner forces

o The six dimensions of organizations

· MVP path to growing your culture: Align the purpose, structures, and resources to make it easier for people to do the work AND help people develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and health they need to be good at what they do.

· What do we mean by alignment?

o Clarity and consistency of purpose, driven by the people

o Structures make focusing on core work easier

§ Teacher lesson plan example

§ ILT example

§ Flow of information (district example)

o Resources are invested in the core work, distractions are eliminated, attention is protected

o People receive training in the areas they need (KSDH)

· How do we get there?

o Relationships (four phases)

§ Learn: Purpose, aspirations, strengths, barriers, pain points

§ Support

· Align to decrease barriers and ease pain points

§ Empower

· Provide opportunities to use strengths

· Empower decision-making

· Help them identify and focus on their growth goals

· Trust them

§ Grow

· They lead

· We support

· KSDH

· What we get:

o People know why they do what they do

o Policies, rules, schedules, make it easier to do the work and

o Most time and attention is focused on the most meaningful work

o People consistently get better at their craft and experience success

o People feel valued and trusted

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Email Sucks!

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

#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 of this life

The Big Idea

My history with email:

· 1988: no such thing

· 1993: first “real” computer in my room

· 1999: Few emails each day as district EC Coordinator

· 2006: PC for online program

· 2018: HE exit leads to lack of email

· 2025: the slow creep

Take what you want from today’s show…

· Be serious in playing with the ideas

· Consider what is realistic

· Push the boundary

What if the principal did not respond to email?

Priority management versus time management:

1. Turn off alerts; email is not an instant communication tool! If email is being used for time-sensitive communications, then it is being misused.

2. Don’t respond to “urgent” emails via email. Pick up the phone. At the end of the call, tell the person to call you next time it is urgent.

3. Teach and condition others regarding reasonable response times.

4. Do not answer email outside of business hours! If you need to work on email at off times, use an autoresponder to send out replies during working hours. This is critical for conditioning and teaching people to use email wisely.

5. Don’t look at email after work hours. If you must, then adhere to the following:

a. Only specific times

b. Only when you are in a specific location (like a desk, not your couch)

c. Only from certain people

6. Stop caring about your inbox. Everyone gets too much email. Many people just don’t respond to 90% of what they get and they don’t care anymore. You can join them.

7. Post in a prominent area where you do your email, a note that says “If I spent 10 minutes less on email each day, I would invest that time doing…” and fill in the blank. Read it every day, multiple times.

Was going to call this show “Email Time Hacks” but…

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Email isn’t as important as you think it is.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

https://toddmbloomer.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Email tips: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/email.html

10 Awesome Time Hacks with Dr. Darrin Peppard

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 07:52:28 -0500

#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’t need to wait long for that. Also, near the end of this episode, Darrin is going to share a couple of complimentary resources that I think you are going to want to have. Okay, let’s go!

Guest Bio:

Dr. Darrin Peppard is a dynamic keynote speaker, leadership expert, and consultant with a passion for transforming organizational culture and developing the next generation of leaders. As a former high school principal turned leadership coach, Darrin draws from nearly 30 years of experience in education to inspire leaders to embrace clarity, purpose, and joy in their work. He is the best-selling author of Road to Awesome and hosts the popular Leaning Into Leadership podcast, where he shares actionable insights on leadership, team development, and creating thriving, purpose-driven cultures. With his engaging and authentic approach, Darrin helps organizations reimagine their culture, cultivate strong leadership, and foster environments where people and teams can truly excel.

Note: Darrin appeared previously on Ep 139, July 4, 2023

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Our favorite time hacks:

· Frederick

o Manage your priorities before managing your time

§ Every yes is a no to something else

§ Priority list versus to-do list

§ Time block your calendar

§ Three essential priorities (safety, legal, grow people)

§ The only way to create a great school is to grow your teachers (priorities)

o Be fully present

§ Allows you to be proactive

§ Builds relationships

§ Improves culture

o End the day right

§ Reflect on today (celebrate)

§ Plan for tomorrow

o Begin the day right

§ Move

§ Ground

§ Set an intention

o Develop your SOPs to offload/improve common tasks (especially discipline)

o Email:

§ Archive (don’t file) your email

§ Block time to check (attention cost)

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Darrin's links:

Principal Academy Link: https://www.theprincipalacademy.com/

**Discount Code for $100 off APPODCAST

Principal Planner link: https://mailchi.mp/roadtoawesome.net/principalplanner

Our website: roadtoawesome.net

Social Media: Facebook X TikTok Instagram LinkedIn

...

The Blueprint with Todd Bloomer

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500

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 about student voice, hiring, & advocacy at the state level. He has a wonderful wife and five incredible children.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· An underappreciated cornerstone of administrative success is systems.

· What are the various systems that assistant principals should pay close attention to?

· How can APs reflect on their systems – as they now exist – and leverage the reflection into improving their systems?

· You’ve developed a blue print for school administrators. As they head towards winter break, what elements of the blueprint should APs be thinking a lot about?

· For leaders who want the blueprint, how can they best use your book for continued growth and success?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Guest links:

@bloomer_sa (X)

@toddbloomer (link)

The Blueprint on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-Survive-Thrive-School-Administrator/dp/B0DCJLG7LS

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Should We Give Teachers Matches? With Alex Auriemma

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500

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 feel like you are a part of this discussion. Hearing to leaders tear into the teacher evaluation and teacher growth processes should be healthy for you. By the end of the discussion, my hope is you have increased clarity on how you support and grow your teachers.

Guest Bio:

Alexandra Auriemma is a New York based educator and leader with over 10 years of experience working in the NYC public school system. Formerly an English Language Arts teacher, Department Chair, and Instructional Coach, she now works as a Co-Principal at 6-12 school in Queens. In addition to her service to New York City, she also has written and implemented curriculum for a private tutoring company in Shanghai, China. She is passionate about curriculum and instruction, empowering educators within their classroom domain, and investing capital in human relationships.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· In our pre-conversation, we each came at the issue of teacher growth from opposite sides. You took the role of the AP who just wants to help her teachers get better. I took the role of the teacher who is resistant.

· Let’s each share our own starting point, the assumptions we made about why we were there, and about the other person.

· Before we begin working towards the middle, let’s define where it is and why it is important. What does the middle look and sound like?

· What are the barriers for each of us in getting to the middle space?

· What do I, as the teacher, need to know and be able to do to get to the middle?

· What do you as the leader need to know and be able to do?

· What processes and frameworks can help us continue this journey?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· My new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is now available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

LinkedIn: Alexandra Loredo Auriemma

Email: Alexl.Auriemma@gmail.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Win the Morning, Win the Day with Johnathan Cranford

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500

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 disturbance and five more years as an in-school suspension teacher at two middle schools. After discovering how in-school suspension programs are failing to meet the needs of our most at-risk students, Johnathan created a trauma informed in-school suspension program to address the current disciplinary, academic, and SEL requirements of our student populations. After successfully establishing ISS programs on multiple campuses, he created a roadmap for others to follow in his book The Art of In-School Suspension, and recently released a digital training to help schools transform their in-school suspension programs from a holding tank to an intervention for both behavior and academics.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· ISS is great in theory but often not in practice. Before we dive into the elements of making ISS a positive thing, what is the mindset shift that school leaders and teachers need to make?

· Run through the list of ten elements

· We can hone in on some of them

· Explicit “next steps” for school leaders (fine to promo your course and book)

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

If you have any links you would like us to share, please add them below.

Website: www.theartofiss.com

Training Link

Book on Amazon

Frederick’s Links:

o Examples of Five-Minute Coaching #109

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Silence is Golden

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500

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’s special guest to reflect. And that special guest, is you! Are you ready to be coached? Let’s go.

Celebrations: Crickets. Seriously. I’ve included their subtle chirps into today’s episode so you know we are still rolling 🤣

The Big Idea

Silence is golden because it is rare.

You likely give out more advice than silence. That isn’t meant to be a dig, just a reflection of our society’s expectation that our leaders will be problem solvers and should always have the answer. Or at least an answer 😉

When you ask the reflective question, it is the silence that invites the answer.

Just be quiet.

In case nobody has coached you recently, I thought it would be great to provide YOU with an opportunity to reflect. I am actually going to do two rounds with you today, and here’s how it will work:

· I will give you a prompt on what to use as the subject of our coaching session

· I will ask you what went well,

· If there were any surprises,

· And if there is anything you would do differently

· After each question, I will play 90 seconds of crickets.

· Then we will do a quick debrief and then do one more round.

I’m completely serious in doing this and there will be no surprises.

I hope you are super-excited at being given an opportunity to reflect. Being transparent, I’m also a bit nervous that you might think this is a waste of time and be reaching for your phone even now. Before you turn me off, please ask yourself two questions:

1. If you won’t reflect now, then when?

2. What have you got to lose?

Okay, that’s enough of a sales pitch. Take a deep breath. Let’s go…

My colleague, welcome to the show. I’m so glad you are here, because the truth is that without you, there is no show!

I’d like you to think of a recent event or situation for which your leadership played an important role in achieving a positive outcome. (repeat and pause).

Ask the three questions…

Debrief:

· Did it feel good to reflect on what went well?

· Did you examine the event from a different perspective when I asked about surprises?

· Did you end early, but then “fill the silence” with additional reflection?

· Did 90 seconds seem like a long time?

· Do you understand the situation more deeply now than you did five minutes ago?

· Did you identify anything you might do differently?

· Notice I did not paraphrase. Yes that sounds silly given the situation, but this is a serious point. Many of us have had it drilled into us that paraphrasing shows we understand and are listening. It does, but that isn’t the point of 5-mc. It doesn’t matter if we understand, it only matters that they understand. That understanding grows in the quiet space, and as soon as I begin paraphrasing, I have taken that space away. No paraphrasing. Shhhh…

Let’s do one more. This time, I’d like you to think of a situation in which your leadership was important, but things did not turn out as you planned. Maybe they turned out differently, maybe poorly, choose whatever you are comfortable with. Ready?

I know things didn’t go as planned, but tell me…

Ask the three questions

Debrief:

· Because things didn’t go as you hoped, you’ve likely already reflected on this event, but it was probably focused on what went wrong.

· I hope in noting what went well, you were able to feel a bit better about the situation. Stating the positives may also have helped you do a more realistic reflection on the entire situation, and/or approach it from a more productive perspective.

· Even if you have reflected before on this situation, you likely had not thought about from the surprise perspective. What did you glean from this?

· Finally, I’m wondering how the identification of what you might do differently impacts your perception of the entire situation. Maybe one change would have made a big difference. Maybe there is nothing you could have done to change the outcome.

*Insert conclusion music

I hope the moments of quiet were valuable for you. I hope you experienced the power of silence. Most importantly, I hope you are committed to sharing this powerful gift with others.

Before we go, I have two questions for you.

First, what part of your own leadership are you trying to get better at?

Finally, who will you coach today?

Thanks for being my special guest today, you have been and continue to be amazing!

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· ...

The Power of Reflection

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:25:32 -0400

#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, you will help the people around you grow, and that is leadership that is good enough, because better teachers = better outcomes for kids. Today we’ll recap where we’ve been and dive into my favorite part of the process – asking reflective questions!

Celebrations: SCATA

Recapping where we are in the Good Enough October Challenge

The Big Idea

Began with three perspective shifts:

· Perspective shift #1: They know more than you

· Perspective shift #2: You aren’t very good at coaching people

· Perspective shift #3: Reflection is enough

Choosing to show up

· We can choose to show up as our best self

· We can “not choose” how we show up, with varying results

· We all face barriers that can make it difficult to be intentional

· The choice we make is not as important as making the choice. (example)

· It is good enough that you make the choice.

Being fully present

· Say their name

· Look at them

· And think, “this is the most important person in the world at this moment.”

New Content

Asking reflective questions

· The role of reflection in growth (the cube of development)

· The three 5-minute coaching questions

· 5-mc demo

o You can hear her voice brighten when she reflects on what’s going well

o Hear the pause and then puzzling out the possible explanation for a student’s hesitancy to dig more deeply

o Differently: “I need to give them more time to find their voice… have I cut too much out of their time?” – this is something worth coming back to or at least listening for in the future. There might be a worthwhile discussion to be had about the value of content versus the value of voice. Also, I hope you could hear that this awareness was unfolding as we did the session.

o I don’t give much reaction, I could be more affirming, but there is a danger as too much affirmation can feel like we are approving and approving means we are judging, I usually err on the side of “nod and smile” and go light on affirmations.

o This five minutes created space for her to reflect when she otherwise might not have. The actual coaching session lasted 4:30.

o Note what Pam says about hew new colleague who had never been asked to reflect on a lesson!

o **After describe how she paused on surprise and though about different, even though she knew we were going to do this.

· Check APP for additional demos

o Can Frederick Hike and Coach at the Same Time? #201

If you want to go deeper, you can ask these questions:

· Can you say more about that?

· What would that look and sound like?

· Why do you think that is?

Five-minute coaching is great for debriefing a teaching lesson. It can also be used for:

· Doing a culture check (extending “how are things going?”)

· Building trust

o Lean in and Listen with Alex Auriemma #177

§ What is your teaching super-power?

§ What’s the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher, and who you were when you began?

§ If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be?

· Debriefing a meeting

· Or a presentation

· Reviewing a difficult conversation

· Asking your spouse of significant other about their day

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o A...

Presence Shouldn’t Wait for Christmas With Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 teachers. You wind up spending your time on tasks instead of investing time growing your teachers, and we know that not growing your teachers isn’t good enough. So, if we can’t be great, and we don’t want to be not good enough, that leaves us with one option – to be just good enough. The wonderful thing about being good enough is that it is incredibly simple and takes very little time! Being good enough requires three perspective shifts, and four commitments: · Actively choose how you will show up for people· Be fully present· Ask reflective questions· Honor the answers Today I’ll recap the perspectives and the choice we face in every interaction. Then we will dive into what it means to be fully present. Let’s go!

Celebrations:

I’m presenting at SCATA on Wednesday and Thursday (October 23 and 24, 2024). I’m super excited and want to thank my colleague Dr. Anna Brink of Greenville County Schools for providing the opportunity. If you are heading to SCATA, please reach out to me on LinkedIn or show up to my sessions. I’ll be sharing how to build a turnover-proof ILT at 10:30 on both Wednesday and Thursday, and we’ll get some practice with 5-minute coaching on Wednesday at 2:45. Please do connect if you are going to be there!

The Big Idea

Recapping last week:

This is perspective shift #1: They know more than you

Perspective shift #2: You aren’t very good at coaching people

Perspective shift #3: Reflection is enough

Choosing to show up

· We can choose to show up as our best self

· We can “not choose” how we show up, with varying results

· We all face barriers that can make it difficult to be intentional

· The choice we make is not as important as making the choice. (example)

· It is good enough that you make the choice.

Choosing to show up consistently takes us to the second step in being good enough: being fully present.

Consistently being fully present unlocks the door to being good enough.

What does full presence look like?

One: Time. It doesn’t need to be long

· My friend Bill Newsted…

Two: Attention

· Dr. Jacobs

· Maggie

· Natalia Meija: I’m so glad you are here! (episode 147)

Remember the Six Dimensions… time and attention are the most precious resources.

***Insert sponsor***

It’s easy to fake presence by showing up physically, but not being fully focused.

Let’s be real though – the only person we are fooling is ourselves!

Think about the last time you needed to have an important conversation with someone and they were only halfway paying attention. We all know what that looks like. We all know what that feels like. And it isn’t a good feeling.

Once you embrace how valuable your full presence is, you will be more motivated to share it with others.

Establishing full presence is simple.

Say their name.

Look at them, and think, “this is THE most important person in my world right now.”

It isn’t always easy, but it is simple.

Every interaction, you have the opportunity.

Whether you were fully present in your last interaction has no bearing on whether you will be fully present for the next one.

Every interaction is a new beginning.

How beautiful is that?

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Three perspectives:

1. They know more than you

2. You aren’t very good at coaching people

3. Reflection is enough

Four steps

· Choose to show up

· Be fully present

· Ask reflective questions

· Honor the answers

Three parts to being present:

· Say their name

· Smile

· Think “this is THE most important person in my world right now.”

Next week we will dig into asking reflective questions. If you listen regularly or subscribe to my daily email, you already know the three most common questions I like to ask, but I’ll include a few others as well.

And a BIG shout out to Ranford Almond. Our theme music is his amazing song “Old Soul.” To me, the song captures what being a leader is all about. You can find Ranford on Spotify and the link is in the show notes. If you enjoy this show, consider checking Ranford Almond out and following him.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

...

How Will You Show Up?

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 on how to coach

● You probably don’t have a process for coaching

● You probably don’t have the time and attention needed to consistently follow up on coaching

Perspective shift #3: Reflection is enough

When we think about professional growth, we tend to think of training, but the best way for people to grow is through reflection.

If you can become good at helping people to reflect, you will be a good enough leader.

Choosing to show up

· We can choose to show up as our best self

· We can “not choose” how we show up, with varying results

· We all face barriers that can make it difficult to be intentional

· The choice we make is not as important as making the choice.

· It is good enough that you make the choice.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember the secret to good leadership:

o Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others

o Be fully present

o Ask reflective questions

o And then just listen

o Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.

· Have a great rest of the week!

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

What is Leadership? with Mara and Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 genuinely bright soul.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Reach mara at: mara@frederickbuskey.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Why be great when you can be good enough?

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:24:33 -0400

#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 quadrant2

Great leaders build systems or support

Inadequate leaders are too busy to grow their people

Just growing your people is good enough

Better people = better school
Good is the foundation of great

Growing using an MVP

There are four keys to being a good enough leader:

Autonomy: make intentional choices about how you show up for people
Consistency: be fully present with people
Simplicity: ask simple questions that help people reflect
Fidelity: be true to the process by listening, not talking

This culminates in five-minute coaching

Sponsorship…

Good enough October Challenge: Coach every day!

Simple, right?

Choose to show up.

Be fully present.

Ask a good question.

Listen.

Are you good enough to do that?

I think you are!

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.
My new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is now available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.
Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

frederick@frederickbuskey.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

If you want to help Western North Carolina please listen!

Frederick Buskey — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:13:57 -0400

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:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting/

Teacher Evaluation is Broken with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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

· Teacher evaluation is a broken waste of time

· Two options:

o Go through the motions, wasting as little time as possible and doing as little as possible to frustrate teachers

o Leverage an irrelevant proves by creating some relevancy:

§ Let teachers set a teaching goal before the observation

§ Collaboratively identify the elements of the observation that provide important data related to the goal

§ Focus you observation on the agreed upon elements to the greatest extent possible

§ In a post conference, collaboratively debrief the relevant data and help the teacher develop some strategies and a path for meeting their goal

· Caveats:

o If you don’t trust your teachers’ professionalism, there is nothing you can do to help them grow. Except to begin believing your teachers want to enjoy teaching and treating them as if they did.

o You don’t know as much about your teachers’ teaching as they know about their own teaching.

o Critical feedback, unasked for, and with a lack of consistent support, is counterproductive. (

o Acknowledge that past observations may (probably?) have ben traumatic for teachers.

· Closing thought: Would you leave a job where your principal trusted you, where they helped you continually grow as a leader, and where you increasingly experienced making a positive impact on the people around you?

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

O Captain, My Captain with Mike Miller

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 schools from classroom assistant to PE teacher, and from bus driver to principal. He taught second grade and fifth grade students in the classroom as well as elementary PE. He's been an assistant principal in an elementary and intermediate school, and principal in a PK-8th grade school. He's a graduate of UNC and Western Carolina University and is a Tarheel through and through. He is married to his wonderful wife, Kathy and between them they have four children and seven grandchildren. He is now working as an assistant superintendent and cannot wait to support schools from this level.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· In a previous conversation, you used the analogy of the harbor captain. I’ve structured our discussion around the idea of the principal as a boat captain, but before we dig in, can you explain the analogy and why it resonates with you?

· One paradigm we can use for thinking about leading a school is as a sea voyage.

o Leaving port and taking stock of your ship – checking what’s “ship-shape” and where the problems might be.

o Sailing into stormy weather (or perhaps transitioning form first mate to captain in the midst of a storm). What does leadership need to focus on in rough times, and how do you do that?

o After the storm, transitioning to high speed and making progress.

o The next transition – knowing when it is time to head to port and turn the ship over to a new captain.

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Mike Miller’s email: mdmiller@rcdoc.org

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

The Principal’s GREAT Assistant Principal with John Hinds

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 be back at the end of the show to hit some key takeaways, but as you listen today, I would like you to think what systems need to be in place related to the different aspects of leadership we will talk about. SO, enjoy the discussion, but be mindful – what systems make it all possible?

Guest Bio:

John Hinds is a recently retired principal of 17 years. He was principal of three totally different types of schools and has mentored scores of assistant principals over his career. He now owns his own leadership consulting company where he works with campus leaders to implement systems, analyze data, and focuses on positive climate for the employees and students.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Is there a difference between being a ‘great AP’ and a ‘great AP for your principal?’

· How does an AP take care of the managerial and disciplinary responsibilities but not lose sight of helping grow teachers?

· If being a great AP is, in part, about managing priorities, not managing time, what are some of the best strategies you’ve seen?

· How does an AP balance “staying in their lane” and be a force for a positive school culture?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Highlights:

· It really is about fit

· Establish a system for learning from each other

· You don’t manage buses, you help students achieve more by making sure the bus system works well. Every system is an opportunity to make teaching and learning more or less problematic.

· You need a mentor. Actually, you need four things…

· How manage priorities instead of time – that’s a system.

· Every day you have the opportunity to make a positive impact. Even on crappy days, you have an opportunity.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Website: https://www.jlhindsconsulting.com

Email: jlhindsconsulting@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jlhindsconsulting/?viewAsMember=true

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4CaU3hZgvP7JIAHJAzvbiw

Resources: https://www.jlhindsconsulting.com/freeresources

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

10 Ways in 10 Days Part 2

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 than anything else, novice teachers often appear to yearn for, yet seldom receive, meaningful feedback on their teaching from experienced colleagues and administrators.” The ten strategic behaviors in this guide are designed to:· Build trust· Support teachers’ classroom management· Provide curricular guidance These strategies can be completed in less than 10 minutes a day!

Jen Manly’s website: https://learningandteachingblog.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

10 Ways in 10 Days: Easy Activities for Supporting New Teachers, Part 1

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Seven Favorites with a Special Guest!

Frederick Buskey — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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:

-George Bernard Shaw, 1949

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Vision with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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, building a program from the ground up – exhilarating, motivating, but also, at times, grueling. Once we had agreed to scrap the old program, our first step was to go offsite for a day and a half and develop a vision and core goals. What we came up with was this: Live your leadership journey courageously. I share all this as an introduction to an episode focused on vision, and when it comes to vision, I think many of use get it wrong.

Celebrations:

Ranford Almond is my future son-in-law. He’s a talented musician and has a remarkable gift to write songs that tap into our inner most being. Ranford had a big show at Floyd Fest this weekend and then traveled four hours to share a couple days with Pam and I, and his fiancé – my daughter Mara. I’m celebrating family, and the addition of a special person. I should mention that Ranford wrote and played the music for our show, and today I’ll close the show with a full version of Old Soul. I encourage you to listen.

The Big Idea

I’m building this episode off a series of daily emails I wrote back in October and November 2021. I’ll likely resurrect them as part of this show and send them out to my readers in a week or so, so if you are into daily leadership emails and don’t already subscribe, head to https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ and hit a sign-up link.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

You see things; and you say “Why?”

But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

I have a love/hate relationship with vision.

I used to be in love with the idea of creating a great vision.

Then one day, a “leader” came into the organization I worked in and imposed his vision on all of the people and programs that had been there before him.

Three years later, the “leader” was gone, but most (not all) of the people were still there. Those people were left to pick up the pieces of a painful and contentious series of changes.

Vision is a double-edged sword.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

-Proverbs 29:18, King James Bible

Vision can be a powerful tool for good. Here is the challenge as I see it…

The vision must be a shared vision. Leaders are servants first, and part of their job is to articulate the goals, dreams, and aspirations of the people within the organization. Where things are unclear, limited, or confused, leaders work to educate, clarify, and build consensus.

Every organization should have a vision, but the genesis of that vision should lay at the intersection of the purpose of the organization and the people within it.

So how do you sell a vision? You don’t!

People shouldn’t have to buy someone else’s vision. Instead, they should be investing in the collective vision – in the creation and implementation.

Instead of selling, what if we focused on serving?

Bring people together and help them clarify their values, aspirations, and beliefs.

Then help them identify the common pieces and articulate a vision – the impact that they want to have on the world.

This is a shared vision. It is what we agreed to. There is no selling. And because we agreed to it, we hold each other accountable for pursuing it.

Yes, it takes more time to create a shared vision. It also takes more skill. However, in the end, a shared vision is so much more powerful.

The final kicker is that even after you leave, the people will still share the vision. How cool is that?

Creating a shared vision is not always simple. A vision really begins with dreams, and a group of people need four conditions to be able to dream:

1. Safety. This is best achieved by creating a community in which people can:

a. take risks

b. share divergent thinking

c. trust each other

2. Space.

a. A physical space to gather together

b. Mental space to think and reflect

c. Emotional space to be authentic

3. Permission to dream without the limitations of current realities

4. Perspectives. Shared knowledge, experiences, and values need to be identified. Alternative experiences and views need to be embraced and included.

Meeting these conditions lays the ground for developing a shared vision that works for the organization and its people.

Leaders don’t create visions. They help people to clarify and articulate a shared vision.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Let’s walk through an example of what a collective vision-defining workshop might look like. I am the board chair of a local non-profit focusing on meeting the most urgent needs of our most vulnerable and highly stressed youth. We’ve experienced a lot of growth coming out od the pandemic and the future looks unpredictable. We’ve stepped in to fill lots of gaps in supporting kids, which has brought in new people, new priorities, new opportunities, and new directions.

We decided we needed to g...

Presence and Passion for Living with Lindsay Titus

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 passionate, inspirational educator specializing in behavior change and teacher wellness. She is driven every single day to teach other educators how to transform connections and relationships with all students. Over the past 18 years, Lindsay has worked in many different educational settings, all helping her realize one foundational truth to behavior - that behavior change is an inside job! As a speaker, coach, podcaster, and directly working as a behavior specialist today, Lindsay helps educators to define who they are and bring their authentic purpose and passion inside and outside of the classroom!

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· I invited you on because I enjoy your weekly email, especially its emphasis on presence, reflection, and self-care. We will dive into these, but first I want to ask about something I read on your website. When you say “fall back in love with your life”, what do you mean?

· What are the major factors in falling “out” of love with ourselves?

· Let’s talk about presence, what is it, what forms does it take, why is it so essential?

· What is the role of reflection in loving your life?

· It’s easy to say “take care of yourself” but how do people make the mindset shift to actually prioritizing it?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Lindsay’s links:

Website: www.defineyouniversity.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaytitusedu/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

The Three Epiphanies

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 point…

· Coaching requires trust

· Build trust by leanring, empowering, supporting…

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

https://stevenmiletto.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

42 and Stuff with Dr. Steve Miletto

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 Principal of the Year and a finalist for NASSP/MetLife National Principal of the Year in 2010. As a teacher he taught US and world history, was a yearbook sponsor, theater sponsor and soccer goalie coach. Additionally, he was the teacher of the year at Southwest DeKalb High School in 1989. His focus in education is to help kids achieve their dreams.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· What you are hearing are the biggest challenges for school admins right now and some suggestions for handling them?

· What should returning admins be doing to prepare for next school year?

· What should new admins be doing?

· Three pieces of advice for brand new APs

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenmiletto/

https://twitter.com/SRMiletto

https://www.instagram.com/srmiletto/

https://www.pinterest.com/smiletto/

@smiletto on YouTube

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Authentic Parent Partnerships with Ari Gerzon-Kessler

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 know the same thing?· How do teachers know what families want to know?· If we get it right, what are the implication?· If we get it wrong, what are the implications? We talk about presence a lot on this show, and today, we are focusing our presence on families.

Guest Bio:

Ari Gerzon-Kessler is author of On The Same Team: Bringing Educators & Underrepresented Families Together, which won the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2024 IPPY Gold Medal for outstanding education book. He is a speaker, trainer, and coach working with schools and districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships. Ari also leads the Family Partnerships department for the Boulder Valley School District (CO).

Ari has been an educator since 2000, having served as a principal and bilingual teacher. His leadership efforts to strengthen partnerships with underrepresented families and dismantle unjust practices was featured in Education Week in 2015. Ari regularly presents at national and international conferences on Families and Educators Together (FET) teams and other innovative family partnership best practices. He received his bachelor’s in African American Studies from Wesleyan University and a master’s in instruction and curriculum from the University of Colorado.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Big picture paradigm shift of what family partnerships actually mean
Systems requirements for making the shift (FET)
“The” first step an AP can make in this direction - could be internal or external, but I like for people to have one or two things they can take away from the episode and apply immediately.

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Thanks again to our show’s sponsor, IXL: http://ixl.com/assitant

Ari’s links:

Website: https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/current-projects/families-and-educators-together-project
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/arigerzon-kessler

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ari.gerzonkessler/

Book link and free reproducibles: https://www.solutiontree.com/on-the-same-team.html

Solution Tree link for professional development requests: https://www.solutiontree.com/ari

Ari’s Edutopia article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/positive-family-communication-schools

***School-family partnership resource: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RtdfOGJkHBR6mQj9ak-PKIf6gbfQQtFS_eUZrvOZcZ4/edit?pli=1

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

A Path Forward - Classroom Culture and Early Career Teachers

Frederick Buskey — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/crc.html

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

“One-offs Matter” with Jen Manly

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 other. They were three distinct things, not three parts of the same thing. What was it – or is – like for you? Today, my wonderful guest and I are going to play with this idea.

Guest Bio:

Jen Manley believes that kids deserve to do BIG, meaningful work and that all students are worthy of learning that is fun, challenging, and fulfilling. She is passionate about helping teachers maximize their planning time to make time for what is most important while still providing an incredible learning experience for every student. She is a current college instructor, former high school and middle school computer science teacher, middle and high school curriculum developer, and speaker.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

Jen - my big thing is pushing admin to focus their work around supporting and growing teachers.

Support = aligning systems to make it easier for teachers to focus on teaching
Growth = helping develop skills, knowledge, dispositions, and health
Teacher development should be teacher driven. 90% of the time admin should be supporting teachers in areas the teacher identified.

I would love to dig into these ideas with you because I think you could offer such valuable perspectives. I am fine with being challenged if you have different view, I think that would make for rich conversation and I trust you.

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Remember the four takeaways:

· If we want to help teachers grow, we need to take things off their plates to create space for growth.

· We may be handcuffed by law and policy requirements, but we hold the keys to use these requirements in ways that serve our and our teachers’ best interest.

· PD needs to include support for fidelity of implementation – if we don’t commit to fidelity the PD is wasted time.

· Asking reflective questions to teachers and listening to them is providing high quality PD.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Jen’s links:

TikTok: @strategicclassroom

Instagram: @strategicclassroom

Website: https://learningandteachingblog.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Coaching and a Culture of Learning with Elena Aguilar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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 continue my conversation with Elena Aguilar. We will briefly discuss transformative coaching and then talk about how we change the narrative of coaching from being something for struggling teachers to something that we should all be craving.

Guest Bio:

Elena Aguilar is a writer, leader, teacher, coach and podcaster. She is the author of eight highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching (2013), The Art of Coaching Teams (2016), Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018), The Onward Workbook (2018), Coaching or Equity (2020), The Art of Coaching Workbook (2020), The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development (2022), and the forthcoming Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching (August 2024). She has also been a frequent contributor to Edutopia, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and EdWeek Teacher. Elena is the founder and CEO of Bright Morning Consulting, an organization committed tohelping individuals and organizations create the conditions for transformation. She has taughttens of thousands of folks how to have conversations that build a more just and equitable world. Elena can be heard demonstrating these conversations on The Bright Morning Podcast.

Warmup questions:

● We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

● Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Part 2: Developing a coaching culture

● I come from an athletic coaching background. I have this dream that teachers would have access to highly targeted and technical coaching, just like the world’s premier athletes. Yet, many teachers don’t see coaching as an important tool in growing. What happened? Is there a way to flip the narrative?

● Do you see unique needs among teachers at different career stages that should inform how leaders engage in coaching with a given group of teachers?

● Is there such thing as a “culture of coaching”? Does it make sense and is it possible to build a school around the idea that teacher growth is the priority and that coaching is the core way we help teacher perfect their craft?

● How has your understanding of coaching grown in the past ten years from the release of The Art of Coaching in 2013 to your revised volume this year?

Closing questions:

● What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

● If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

● Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

● Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Wrap-up

· Begin cultivating a culture of learning by making your learning goals, and you work on them, transparent. Model the way of being you want your teachers to embrace. If you have a coach (and you should), brag about it and explain to teachers the link between what you are learning and what you are doing.

· Remember, coaching is only one tool we have for helping teachers to grow, but it is a powerful one.

· We need to align teacher and student needs in our coaching

· And I love this one: Know how the 8-year old you is powering who you are today. The better you know yourself, the better coach you will be.

· We will wrap this with a personal note related to knowing yourself…

Close

● Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

● You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

● I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

● My new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is now available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html

● Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

● Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

● Cheers!

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Elena’s links:

Elena’s new book: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching

Specials for listeners: Pre-Order Bonuses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena_aguilar_writer/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-aguilar/

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-elena-aguilar/

Bright Morning: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/

The Bright Morning Podcast:

The Coaching Relationship with Elena Aguilar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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:

Warmup questions:

● We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

● Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Part 1: Coaching 101 for school leaders

● “It’s all about relationships.” Is this true for coaching? What is the foundation of a coaching relationship?

● Can we define what constitutes coaching? What is coaching and what isn’t?

● Your framework includes different models of coaching (directive/instructive, facilitative, transformational). This framework has been foundational in helping me to better understand coaching and the coaching relationship. For leaders who are trying to grow their coaching skills, is there a specific model, or specific techniques they should focus on?

● "Fast-food" coaching for administrators who have very little time, is it possible? What is most essential?

● Many administrators feel the need - and have been specifically taught - to provide feedback to teachers outside of a coaching relationship. I am not a fan, unless the teacher has asked for the feedback. Can we talk about the value or harm that comes from unsolicited and unsupported feedback? (Maybe my view on this needs to be reconsidered?)

Closing questions:

● What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

● If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

● Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

● Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Closing points:

· Foundations of coaching are trust, listening, and asking

· Coaching is building, not fixing

· Let go of “a grow and a glow” – It doesn’t work.

· We can help teachers grow more by emphasizing what they are doing well

· We’ll be back next week with part 2 in which we look at transformative coaching and discuss a culture of coaching.

Close

● Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

● You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

● I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

● Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

● Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

● Cheers!

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Elena’s links:

Elena’s new book: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching

Specials for listeners: Pre-Order Bonuses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena_aguilar_writer/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-aguilar/

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-elena-aguilar/

Bright Morning: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/

The Bright Morning Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bright-morning-podcast-with-elena-aguilar/id1517537206

Newsletter: https://www.brightmorningteam.com/resources/newsletter

Frederick’s Links:

Email: frederick@frede...

Ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the pain?)

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

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, foremost of which is that PLCs are a culture, not a practice. In today’s episode, I’m going to briefly recap a couple of the main points from last week and then do a deep dive on how to implement a change in your school. I will use PLCs as an example, but the process will apply to any change you want to support.

Celebrations:

Watching seeds that have been planted bear fruit:

· Garden – peas, greens, strawberries

· Relationships – most of the people you hear on this show become friends. The show isn’t an end, it is a beginning for those relationships, but also, I hope, for your own practice

· Growing my speaking, slowly over time

Patience brings piece, helps me stay focused on process, not product

The Big Idea

Recap from last week:

1. PLC is an ethos, the school is the community part of PLC, the team is just one feature.

2. Within a PLC school, teachers use multiple forms of evidence to hone their craft.

3. The first two critical questions that teachers ask are:

a. What do I want students to be able to do?

b. How will I know if they can do it?

4. To change beliefs, we need to change behaviors

5. “It starts with us! We can’t lead a change until we look in the mirror.”

6. Three years to implementation

7. Begin by asking reflective questions

What does a three-year implementation look like?

· Train analogy:

o The engine plants the seeds

o The cars provide the momentum

· Must be driven from the people who will be implementing the change (teachers)

· Role of leaders:

o Plant seeds

o Support (organization)

o Grow (teachers)

Fall 1: Plant seeds with teachers

Spring 1: Form a pilot – if teachers want it. No desire, no project (examine the alternatives)

Fall 2: Expand the pilot slightly, refine practices, gather evidence

Spring 2: Big expansion, still piloting, completely voluntary

Fall 3: Whole staff training and support

Spring 3: Anchoring (structures, language, processes, priorities, consistency) and expectations

Dissecting challenges to PLCs:

· Org level

o Schedule and lack of collaboration time

o Competing demands, esp. other initiatives (e.g. resources)

o Priorities and clarity of purpose

· Teacher level

o Skill to reflect deeply

o Disposition to be vulnerable

o Knowledge of specific practices (that second question is scary)

· The challenge of alignment and the Six Dimensions

· External forces and why it must be teacher-driven

Strategic Action Cycles as a way to pinpoint problems and drive incremental change

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

Wrap up:

· Big change is hard: complex, messy, resource intensive

· Sans drive from teachers and enough resources, don’t do it

· The way you impact your school, is to support and grow teachers, whether it is PLCs, MTSS, PBIS, improving teaching, the process is the same.

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Will the Real PLC Please Stand Up? with Dr. Chad Dumas

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Outline and Show Notes

Show Title: Will the Real PLC Please Stand Up? with Dr. Chad Dumas

Power Quote: “Clarity precedes confidence”

Description:

I’m giving you fair warning – today’s show is loaded with both big ideas and small techniques. The discussion will feel like it is meandering a bit but stay with us because it all comes together into a powerful conclusion. As your thoughts are being stimulated and questions and ideas are firing off, be patient and just enjoy learning. At the end of the show we will point you towards resources and give you some simple concrete steps. I hope you have as much fun listening as I did recording.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Chad Dumas is a Solution Tree PLC at Work, Assessment, and Priority Schools associate and international consultant, presenter, and award-winning researcher. His primary focus is collaborating to develop capacity for continuous improvement. With a quarter century of successful leadership experience, Chad has led significant improvements for both students and staff. He shares his research and knowledge in his three books on PLCs, and his upcoming Teacher Team Leader Handbook, Chad’s consulting and training includes research, stories, hands-on tools, useful knowledge, and practical skills. He most recently was the executive director of elementary education in the Ames Community School District, a preschool thru grade 12 district of 5,000 students in central Iowa. Before this he was the director of learning for Hastings Public Schools in south-central Nebraska for nine years. With 3,700 students and 60% poverty, the district had five buildings recognized as national models for improving student learning. Dr. Dumas' career has also involved being a vocal music director at a middle school, school improvement chair, professional development coordinator for an intermediate service agency, and a high school principal.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Why is “PLC” one of the despised edu-talk words?

· What are the core differences between PLCs and meetings that masquerade as PLCs?

· Are there elements of PLCs that can be grafted onto other types of events?

· For APs who want to nurture a culture conducive to PLCs and other collegial work, what do you suggest?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Outro

There is so much in this episode that next week I will be releasing a follow-up that specifically focuses on how you can use change processes to begin sowing the seeds for teacher-driven PLC. We’ll dig a bit deeper into my train analogy, the Six Dimensions of Organizations, and the specifics of what it mean to support and grow teachers.

For this week, I encourage you to begin asking your teachers these two questions, about a lesson, a week, or a unit:

1. What did you want students to be able to do?

2. How did or will you know if they learned it?

You could incorporate one these into 5-minute coaching like this:

· What went well?

· What did you want students to be able to do?

· Were there any surprises?

· Is there anything you would do differently?

We will dig deeper next week, fir now focus on asking reflective questions!

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Chad’s links:

Website: www.NextLearningSolutions.com

PLC support materials: www.tinyurl.com/putthecinplc

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.pag...

Celebrating 200 Episodes!

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 14 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Show Title: Celebrating 200 with Frederick and Mara

Power Quote: People are the purpose

Guest Bio:

Frederick Buskey helps school leaders reclaim their purpose! Building on 33 years of k-12 and higher education leadership experience, Frederick provides simple frameworks and practical tools to help leaders make immediate incremental improvements. His new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, helps leaders master six stages to move from spending time putting out fires to investing time in growing teachers. Frederick hosts The Assistant Principal Podcast, writes a daily leadership email, and develops short powerful courses for teachers and those who serve them. Learn more about Frederick on his website at frederickbuskey.com.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Why celebrate episode 200 this way, looking back and forwards at the same time?

· When you began consulting in 2019, what core ideas did you have?

· How have those ideas changed or evolved?

· What do you want to achieve with the podcast?

· You just finished the book, your academy has been quietly launched, what’s next?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12.

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more.

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit IXL.com to get started.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

www.JamieBrownLeadership.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

"Are You Okay?" With Jamie Brown

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Outline and Show Notes

Show Title: Are You Okay? With Jamie Brown

Power Quote: “Connection before correction”

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:

Are you okay? Of course, your answer to that question may vary depending on the circumstances, but what does it signal to you when I ask that question? Are you okay? Today we’ll begin with this simple question and then build on it to create a simple process for helping break cycles of destructive and disruptive student behavior.

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· In moving from a “traditional” approach to discipline to a more restorative approach, how has that impacted students, teachers, and you?

· You have a wonderful protocol for having a conversation with a student who is “in trouble.” Could you take us through the basics and explain your rationale behind each step?

· I think teachers could also use this protocol. How might you adapt it for them and how would you teach them how to use it?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

I’ll include the student interview questions in the show notes. Copy, print, and try them out. If you try nothing else, begin your next discipline conversation by asking, “Are you okay?”

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube: (@JamieBrownLeadership) Twitter: @leadership_jb

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Can Frederick Hike and Coach at the Same Time?

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 03 May 2024 06:00:00 -0400

This is a bonus episode done while I was hiking and reflecting on my own training facilitation.

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Who Should Drive Change? With Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Show title and release date: Who Should Drive Change? With Frederick

Power quote: Lighter = faster and easier with less risk of injury

Show Description:

In a few weeks you will hear my discussion with Dr. Chad Dumas in which we dig into PLCs. We begin by noting the “PLC” is one of the most despised buzzwords by teachers and dig into the why. In my conversation with Chad, we move from 40,000 feet to ground level multiple times. I don’t think the episode is confusing, it’s more that there are so many powerful ideas in the one episode that some of them will get lost. One of the parts I’m afraid will get overlooked is our discussion on implementation, which is fleeting and incomplete. So, I’ve recorded a follow-up – a sequel in TV jargon – that uses PLC implementation as an example of how we should – and should not – implement change. That takes us to today, the prequel to main episode in a few weeks. I want to frontload some thoughts about change, so when you hear my discussion with Chad, you will better follow what we are talking about. I also want some key ideas bouncing around in your head as you begin discussions in your leadership teams (hopefully) on what next years will look like.

Celebrations: As I record this, I’ve just been hired for the first time to lead a book study of A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose with 20 assistant principals in the western region of North Carolina. I’m so excited and want to give a big shout out to Candie Sellers at WRESA. Candie, it has been a pleasure working with you and your passion for education throughout WNC inspires me to keep growing and becoming better.

Disclaimer: You don’t have to agree with me, if you don’t agree with me, that doesn’t mean you are wrong. There are different ways t approach things. What I describe here is well-documented in the research and is my loved experience, but different people create different outcomes. If some of what I say does create dissonance, I ask that you analyze why and then make a conscious decision to disregard what I’ve said, withhold judgement and continue evaluating, or embrace it.

The Big Idea

Backpack:

· Lighter = faster and easier with less risk of injury

· I must pack my own pack and decide on my own gear

· Sharing some gear makes things easier for everyone

Corollaries:

· Fewer initiatives mean better implementation with less burnout (every yes is a no to something else)

· Teachers should drive the focus of PD. Three examples:

o ECT struggling with CR management

o Mid-career teacher who wants more student participation

o Late career teacher who is overwhelmed caring for aging parents

· It is a collaborative effort

When someone attempts to implement something new, there two critical variables:

· Can they grow?

· Will they be supported?

· Growth:

· Support: Four dimensions: align to the practice

· Example: Restorative practices

Challenges

· Teachers choose the wrong thing:

o Change requires trust

§ Trust builds when we listen

§ Trust builds when we help people decrease pain

o We aren’t very good at identifying “the thing”

o M=V/E

o If the house is burning down we put out the fire

o We can plant seeds!

· Teachers don’t want to grow:

o Acknowledge the trauma

o Acknowledge the stigma of coaching and “improvement plans”

o Acknowledge the lack of resources

o Acknowledge the flavor-of-the-month

o Ask, “If you could get your students to do one thing differently, what would it be?” Getting them to do “the thing” is where they want and need to grow.

· Mandates and new things

o Four approaches: ignore, delay, deny, find the overlap

o Leading edge versus bleeding edge

· Our reading scores suck

o Every teacher’s students’ scores don’t suck for the same reason

o Fidelity matters, if you can’t implement with fidelity you won’t get results. Resistance and overload undermine fidelity.

o A teacher who can’t manage their classroom will not be successful, no matter how good the strategies are

o If a teacher wants to get better at teaching students to read, the teacher needs this training! If the teacher is more concerned with math or classroom culture, the training will be less effective.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

· Change requires support (aligning purpose, structures, and resources)

· And growth (knowledge, skills, dispositions and health)

· The less alignment, the less effective the PD

· M=V/E

· Small changes, driven by teachers’ needs and desires, are more likely to have an effective implementation that has a positive impact

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Mastermind! With Dr. Nick Davies

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Outline and Show Notes

Show Title: Mastermind! With Dr. Nick Davies

Power Quote: Be willing to fail

Description:

When I say the word “mastermind”, what thoughts spring into your head? Do you picture the head of a shadowy criminal enterprise, or the 1980’s colored-dot guessing game (think WORDL with colors). Or maybe you think about a special club for people in similar roles to come together and help each other grow. Of course, it is this third option we dive into on today’s show. So stick around as I and my special guest share our mastermind experiences and how to build one yourself.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Davies is an associate principal for Vancouver Public Schools and an adjunct Faculty Member at Pacific University. He has a Ph.D. in Education and Leadership and wrote his dissertation on curriculum implementation. Dr. Davies was named the 2024 Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year for the state of Washington. He has previously held roles as an associate principal/athletic director and was a high school math teacher and head track and field coach. He was a two-time state coach of the year in Oregon. Dr. Davies also served as a reservist in the U.S. Coast Guard.

March 19, ep 192

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Let’s discuss what a mastermind is

· What inspired you to set up a MM for APs?

· What was the value for APs?

· Tips for APs interested in setting up their own MMs?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Remember, if you are interested in starting a mastermind, reach out to Nick. If you’d like to be part of a mastermind but feel like you are on your own, reach out to me and we’ll see what we can do.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Nick’s website: www.drnickdavies.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-davies-education/

Frederick’s Links:

https://brandonbeckedu.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Three Questions with Dr. Brandon Beck

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Outline and Show Notes

Show Title: Three questions with Dr. Brandon Beck

Power Quote: “Our ultimate goal is to unlock unlimited potential in others”

Description:

Today’s show is going to inspire you. It will take you deep into yourself, maybe places you go every day, but also to places within that you haven’t visited in a while. I guarantee after today’s show you are going to want to invest some time in reflecting. Today you will hear three questions you need to ask yourself – three questions to help you unlock your unlimited potential. And please understand – this isn’t “rah-rah” let’s get excited. Today we will look at some substantive steps you can take right now to find more joy in your leadership each day.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Brandon Beck epitomizes multi-faceted inspiration. As an Award Winning Teacher and Coach, Speaker, Leadership Coach, and Author of "Unlocking Unlimited Potential," his keynote speeches and storytelling mirror authentic activities, all aiming at one pinnacle: unlocking unlimited potential. Hosting the "Unlocking Unlimited Potential Stories Show" amplifies his passion for inspiring tales. With a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and 19 years of teaching, including bilingual education, he embodies diverse expertise. A National Board Certified teacher, leadership coach, and college professor, he's a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences. Beyond education, he's a Mutt-i-grees National Trainer, merging social-emotional learning with shelter dogs. Beck's entrepreneurial spirit extends to professional soccer coaching, achieving numerous state, regional, and national triumphs.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

1. Your manta is “unlocking unlimited potential” Let’s talk about that specifically in the context of school leadership. I’m an assistant principal, or maybe a coach or even THE principal. I work hard every day – very hard. But I spend big chunks of my day in urgent mode and I don’t feel like I’m really moving my school forward and not doing enough to help my teachers continue to grow in their craft.

a. What does it mean for me to “unlock my untitled potential”

b. And how do I do that?

2. Optional: I can imagine some listeners thinking “This is great Brandon, but this isn’t me. I’m not a high-energy extroverted bundle of hoorah. How can I be authentic and be unlimited in my potential?”

Closing questions:

1. What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

2. If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

3. Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

4. Where can people learn more about you and your work…

What a powerful interview. As I refenced at the top of the show, please find time to invest in reflection and consider these three questions:

1. What are your defining moments?

2. What was school like for you?

3. Who are your role models and what did they do that inspired you?

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Interview Tip: Tell the Story that Drives You!

Frederick Buskey — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Interview Tip: Tell the Story that Drives You!

The Big Idea

· Interview tips for aspiring APs (Dos vs. don'ts, or any stories of a successful interview or an interview that did not go well)

o Remember you are interviewing them

o Be authentic – if you compromise in the interview you can never get it back

o Tell what you have done, not what you would do

o Tell the story that drives you

· What catches the attention of an interview committee that makes them say "we got our person?" I know a lot is influenced based on needs and fit. What do you look for?

o When they tell you it wasn’t the right fit…

o The story; what you have done already; lighthouse

o If you don’t “fit the part” educate them

· What questions should aspiring APs ask in an interview?

o Ask “what are you looking for in terms of complimenting the team which already exists?”

o What are your expectations of the AP for instructional leadership?

o What opportunities are there for me to grow?

o “If you hired me, and I did a great job, what would that look and sound like? How will you determine if I did a great job?”

o What is your approach to discipline?

· What are areas in which first-time APs tend to struggle?

o Taking other people’s monkeys

o Doing what others can do

o Missing small opportunities for instructional leadership

o Getting caught in urgent leadership

o Failing to be a lighthouse

o Focusing on tasks instead of people (forgetting your purpose)

o Not nurturing your ECTs

· Discussion on staying positive when getting rejected or not finding that first AP job. I have moments feeling this, but fortunately, I have a supporting wife and dad (former educator, and administrator). I've seen this topic being posted a lot on Facebook groups recently.

o Fit, fit, fit, and it goes both ways

o “When you put a good person in a bad organization, the organization wins” (Mary Hemphill, Limitless Leader)

o Build your support network now (leader, peers, advocate, mentor)

o Ask for feedback

o Every “no” is one step closer to a “yes.”

o Life doesn’t run on your time or plan

o My experience applying to WCU

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

A Human Approach to Schooling with Dr. Faiza Jamil

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 06:00:00 -0400

A Human Approach to Schooling with Dr. Faiza Jamil

Power Quote: We lose our ability to see the whole

Description:

You can think of today’s show as a bit of a thought experiment. What changes if we make relationships, at every level of the school, THE priority? It is a thought experiment, but we also have lots of experience that tells us how that experiment could turn out.

Guest Bio:

Faiza M. Jamil is a former K-12 teacher and currently serves as Associate Professor of Education and Human Development in the area of Learning Sciences at Clemson University. Jamil is the Founding Director of the Contexts of Learning and Development Lab, where she conducts interdisciplinary research with a focus on educational equity across learning contexts. She is the author of Public Education in Turbulent Times: Innovative Strategies for Leadership and Learning.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Talk about importance of being colleagues and investing time together

· School purpose => individual purpose

o How do we prioritize the relationship piece

o Task v person

o CIRCLE model

· Mindset shift

· Mental health

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· We covered a lot of ground today. I encourage you to do three things:

o Monitor your own inner dialog – when you say you don’t have time to listen, to build relationships, what are you actually doing instead?

o Begin asking people – teachers and students – “what would make school better for you?”

o Use your expertise to ask powerful questions instead of goving powerful answers.

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

My Book: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-43237-8

Research Lab: https://www.clemson.edu/education/programs/labs/clad.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eduprofjamil

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faiza-m-jamil/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Foundation of Coaching

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Power quote: If you don’t have a relationship, you aren’t coaching… your telling.

Show Description:

The foundation of coaching. That’s today’s topic, although it wasn’t what I had planned. This episode was scheduled to be about coaching fundamentals, but as I began working on the first part of the show – I realized the foundation needed more than a couple lines. So, once again, we will be talking about relationships on this show. Why? Because relationships are the vehicle that allow us to grow people, and if people are our purpose, relationships are the path to that purpose. And now I will give away the entire show – if you only take one thing away – coaching without relationship isn’t coaching, it’s telling. If you genuinely want to coach teachers, you must invest in building relationships.

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Link to episode 192 on five-minute coaching: https://theassistantprincipal.transistor.fm/109

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Investing in Growth with Dr. Nick Davies

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Investing in Growth with Dr. Nick Davies

Power Quote: Control What you can

Description:

If you don’t grow, how can you get better? Yet, in a job where you can’t ever get everything done, how do you find time to grow? Today we have the 2024 Washington State Elementary Principal of the Year here to help us figure out how to prioritize growth.

Guest Bio:

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· You have a passion for learning – what fuels that passion?

· Committing to your own growth requires strong priority management. How do you structure your life to invest time into your own growth?

· How has your trajectory as an AP accelerated as a result of your commitment to learning?

o In a general way…

o In specific ways…

· How have you worked to create learning opportunities for other APs?

· As you invest time into your own growth and pour into others in your school, how do you keep your roles as a husband and father central to your life?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Recap

· Do what only you can do

· More is not better

· Reflection is as important as learning

· Systems (four ourselves, our teams, and others) make it possible

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· If you haven’t grabbed a copy of my new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, please consider jumping on to Amazon or heading to my website and purchase a copy. The book covers so many of the things we talked about today and includes a systematic approach to escaping the gravitational pull of urgency so you can be that strategic leader Nick and I discussed today.

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Nick’s website: www.drnickdavies.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-davies-education/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Reclaiming Purpose with Frederick and Mara

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0400

Description:

Today’s show is guest hosted by Mara Buskey, the Inclusion Strategist at Strategic Leadership Consulting. Frederick’s new book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose, is out and we thought it would be fun to celebrate by turning the tables and having Mara be the guest host to interview Frederick about the book. Enjoy!

Guest Bio:

Frederick Buskey helps assistant principals live and lead better. Building on 32 years of k-12 and higher education leadership experience, Dr. Buskey provides simple frameworks and tools to help school leaders spend less time putting out fires and invest more time in growing teachers. Dr. Buskey hosts The Assistant Principal Podcast, writes a daily leadership email, and hosts courses for leaders at his Strategic Leadership Academy. He has recently released his first book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. Read more about Dr. Buskey on his website and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· What inspired you to write this book?

· Who is this book for?/How would you describe your book’s ideal reader?

· What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

· What is the best way to read this book?

· What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?

· How do you celebrate when you finish your book?

· What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?

· What has helped or hindered you most when writing this book?

· Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself?

· When a reader finishes this book, what is your desired outcome? What do you envision they do with your words/lessons?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

Frederick’s Links:

www.andreabitnerbooks.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

We Are the Ticket with Andrea Bitner

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Guest: Andrea Bitner

Show Title: We Are the Ticket with Andrea Bitner

Power Quote: “Lack of language does not equal lack of intelligence”

Description:

I love doing shows where you, my colleague, can walk away with concrete steps to use in making immediate incremental improvements. The only thing better than those shows are the ones offering a transformative shift in perspective – where you can see an issue or topic from a radically different point of view that changes how you perceive and think. Today you will get both – some practical steps to begin taking and a transformative shift in perspective. Today we are diving into supporting students, and their families, who are English Learners.

Guest Bio:

Andrea Bitner is an educator, author, and speaker. She lives in Philadelphia, PA. and has worked with students in grades K-12 and from all around the world throughout her twenty-two years in public education. Her first book, “Take Me Home,” was published by Austin Macauley in July of 2021. "Take Me Home" is the true story of 11 of her former EL students who give a first-hand account of what it's really like to become bilingual in America. She is also a co-author of Chip Baker’s “The Impact of Influence-Volume 3” and Dr. Rick Jetter’s “100 No-Nonsense Things ALL School Leaders Should STOP Doing.” She teaches EL’s daily, and travels the country speaking and teaching educators how to teach and reach EL students, and effectively communicate with EL families!

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

What should APs understand?

What should they know?

What should they do?

Students

Families

Teachers

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Andrea’s links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Run to the Complexity with Jason McKenna

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Show Title: Run to the Complexity with Jason McKenna

Power Quote: STEM is a mirror of our world”

Description:

STEM has been around for awhile, but I’ll be honest – I don’t actually know what stem is. It is a process? A product? A package? And who can do STEM? And, as school leaders, how do we know if STEM is worth encouraging and, if it is, how do we support teachers who wade into the STEM arena? I’m so excited to have today’s guest on to help me, and I hope you, answer some of these questions.

Guest Bio:

Jason McKenna is an experienced educator and author of What STEM Can Do for Your Classroom: Improving Student Problem Solving, Collaboration, and Engagement, Grade K-6. As the Vice President of Global Education Strategy for VEX Robotics, he specializes in curriculum development and global educational strategy, focusing on STEM integration and 21st-century learning. His work involves engaging with educators and policymakers worldwide.

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· Quick definition of STEM

· How do needs of STEM teachers differ?

· (How can admin put teachers in a position where I can support them?)

· How do we foster a culture where teachers can initiate the conversation about their needs?

o Teachers driving their own need

o What is admin looking for?

· How do admin support?

o Doing it for awhile

o New to it?

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Guest links:

Website: jmckenna.org

X (Twitter): McKennaj72

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

CRABS – A Coaching Call with Mitchell Hall

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Description:

Today’s show is completely different from anything I’ve done in the past. Our guest took my free course on building a positive classroom culture and reached out to share how he used what he learned and to pick my brain about next steps, so what you are going to hear today is a coaching call of sorts. Before we dive into the call, I need to set the context for you by providing an overview of the course. The free course (link in the show notes), serves as….· Frameworks around using different forms of power to have different kinds of influence on students· Constructive ways to respond to safety events· Overview of the elements of good classroom procedure and the process for teaching, rehearsing, and supporting procedures. In the call, we talk about:· The value of beginning class routine, even in small group pullout class· How intentionally teaching a procedure for doing group work helps kids work better in groups· Mitchell is teaching the group process in his pullouts but it is spilling into the regular classrooms – how powerful is that? Imagine…· You will hear me reference “Reteach, rehearse, and supports” – those are specific concepts I share in the course· What I model is how an AP can have a discussion with a teacher about creating a better classroom culture, specifically though creating a procedure for group work. Notice how having a common framework, language, and expectations for procedures makes this conversation so much easier and more collaborative!

Guest Bio:

Mitchell Hall is a certified Gifted and Talented Education Specialist with Garrett County Public Schools in western Maryland. He has been recognized at the state level for his role as a teacher leader in the field of Gifted and Talented education. Mitchell is also an aspiring school leader, and recently obtained his school administrator licensure. He is currently in his 17th year of teaching, and has had a broad range of roles; he's taught history, special education, and gifted and talented, and has served as administrator-in-residence. In his current position, he teaches in multiple buildings each week to deliver Primary Talent Development and GT lessons in grades pre-k through 5.

Course link: https://app.heartbeat.chat/theassistantprincipal/invitation?code=JE6E76

Links to examples: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Solution Starts with Us with Charle Peck

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0500

The Solution Starts with Us with Charle Peck

Power quote: “The solution starts with us”

Show Description:

Is your school community thriving? How do you know? More importantly, how do you – how can you – be a powerful agent for building a thriving school community? The wonderful thing about the answers to these questions is they are so, so simple. We are joined today by a wonderful soul and I guarantee you will leave the show feeling uplifted and inspired.

Charle Peck is the co-creator of Thriving School Community, a revolutionary program designed for schools to improve the mental health of staff and students. She holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work and is a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional development to equip adults with tools that integrate into everyday practice. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist who has worked closely with adolescents and families in crisis makes her stories relevant and captivating to those struggling in today’s system.

Questions/Topics/Prompts

· What constitutes a “Thriving School Community”?

· How can we understand/evaluate the current state of our school community?

· What are the building blocks for TSC?

· What is the role of the AP?

· What is one thing APs can begin doing immediately to support a TSC?

You can purchase her book “Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution” on Amazon. You can also listen to Charle’s podcast “Thriving Educator” and connect with her via email charle@thrivingeducator.org, on TikTok + X.

Charle’s links:

Website: ThrivingEducator.org

FREE School Mental Health Audit ThrivingEducator.org/audit

Email: charle@thrivingeducator.org

Podcast “Thriving educator”https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thriving-educator/id1677382954

Frederick’s Links:

https://www.next-element.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

“Let’s do this together” with Dr. Nate Regier

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 06:00:00 -0500

“Let’s do this together” with Dr. Nate Regier

Power Quote: Conflict has a purpose

Description:

One of the most frequent things I’m asked about is how to have difficult conversation. I have some thoughts, but I’m not an expert. That’s why today’s guest is here. What if we looked at conflict as an opportunity? What if accountability was something we did with people instead of to them? And what if through the process of helping people be responsible, we were also helping them be authentic human beings, increasing their agency and self-worth through the accountability process? Sound too good to be true? It’s not, and Nate Regier is going to help us learn how to do it.

Guest Bio:

“Nate Regier, PhD, is the CEO and founding owner of Next Element Consulting, a global leadership consulting and training firm helping build cultures of compassionate accountability. Dr. Regier is a former practicing psychologist and expert in social-emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication, conflict skills, and leadership. Recognized as a Top 100 keynote speaker, he is a Process Communication Model® Certifying Master Trainer. Nate is the author of four books: Beyond Drama; Conflict without Casualties; Seeing People Through; and his newest book, Compassionate Accountability. He hosts a podcast called “On Compassion with Dr. Nate,” writes a weekly blog, contributes to multiple industry publications, and is a regular guest on podcasts.”

Warmup questions:

· We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

· Is there a story that will help listeners understand why you are doing what you do?

Welcome back! We last heard from you back in July in episode 143

Outline

· Difference between empathy and compassion

· Helping people be accountable versus holding them accountable?

· Accountability as a relationship, not an action

· New teacher struggling, but sometimes leader doesn’t know how to support?

· ORPO for a struggling new teacher

Closing questions:

· What part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

· If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

· Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

· Where can people learn more about you and your work…

Close

· Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.

· You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

· I love hearing from you so consider email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com or connecting with me on LinkedIn.

· Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.

· Have a great rest of the week, be present for others and, more importantly, take time to reflect and recover so you can continue to live and lead better.

· Cheers!

Nate’s links:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Power of Presence with Kelly Scarbrough

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 184: The Power of Presence with Kelly Scarbrough

It’s always fun to sit down with another consultant or author and dive into their field of expertise to find powerful ideas and tools you can use to improve your life and leadership. However, some of the best ideas come, not from experts, but from you, and our other colleagues who are still in classrooms and buildings. Today’s conversation meanders like a pleasant stroll alongside a slow-moving stream, and like any fall time hike in the Smokey Mountains, it possesses its own beauty and splendor.

Kelly Scarbrough has been an educator of 17 years. She has invested her career teaching primary grades and building a foundation and love of learning. In January, she opens a new chapter in beginning her doctoral studies in educational leadership. Kelly has a passion for servant leadership and believes that leading with empathy and a genuine desire to serve others fosters authentic, deep relationships and cultivates positive change. While Kelly is a full-time teacher, she is also excited to continue her journey as she continues to grow as an educator and leader!

Notable Quotes

Kelly:

“People’s beliefs in me have helped mold me into believing I can do it.”
“There’s a lot that’s going on and teachers want to feel supported through it.”
“I know how to sit quiet and listen.”
“There is trust amongst our team and it makes such a difference in how we work together.”
“He was okay saying ‘I don’t know’ and that impacted the staff greatly… we appreciated that in him.”
“As I am developing myself as a leader, I am finding much more appreciation for the diversity in knowledge others bring about.”
“Presence makes all the difference”

Frederick:

“We can all lead no matter where we are.”
“Clarify to people, ‘What do you need out of this today?’”
“When there is so much going on, the power of presence actually increases.”
“Presence is the gift – you don’t need to fill the space you create.”
“If we are going to do something, that means there is something else we can’t do!”
“What are the pieces in this new initiative… that align with where we are already going?”
“When I’m vulnerable, I’m saying, ‘I trust you.’”
“That focus on you as a person actually made a difference on you as a teacher.”
‘Here’s what the tip looks like, but what’s happening underneath the water?”

Kelly’s Contact Info

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-scarbrough-776175266?trk=contact-info

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

South Carolina Assistant Principal of the Year Tomeka Love

Frederick Buskey — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 20:56:00 -0500

Outline and Show Notes

Guest: Tomeka Love

Links and promo stuff?
Preferred name/title?
Relax and laugh
Will be video recording and may use small or big pieces
Small things won’t be edited
If there is a gaff – long pause
Intro-interview-outro
Questions for me?
FB hit record

Show Title: South Carolina Assistant Principal of the Year Tomeka Love

Power Quote: “I choose joy”

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Favorite episode: Imposter Syndrome with Tequila Lamar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Originally aired as episode 125 on May 16, 2023.

This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. Enjoy!

Frederick’s Links:

Book: School Leaders Matter: Preventing Burnout, Managing Stress and Improving Wellbeing

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Tequila's Links:

Website: https://www.tequilalamar.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tequilalamar/

It’s About the Small Things with Dr. Helen Kelly

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Description:

Back in episode 141, Dr. Helen Kelly and I talked about burnout and the things school leaders can do to help recover from work and avoid burnout. Helen noted in that show, that recovery was only 20% of the antidote, because the problem of burnout is not an individual problem – it is an organizational problem. So, if 80% of burnout is due to factors within the organization – your district or your school – what can you, my school leader colleague, do to change your organization? It is messy, but thankfully the incomparable Helen Kelly is back with us today to help us get dirty.

Episode 141 link: https://theassistantprincipal.transistor.fm/141

Helen’s links:

Website: www.drhelenkelly.com

Email: helen@drhelenkelly.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-helen-kelly-65996919/

Facebook: Dr Helen Kelly

Twitter: @drhkelly

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: h https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

How can I co-create today? With Dr. Lindsay Lyons

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Today’s show begins with a 40,000-foot view of student voice and then takes us right to ground level to break down implementation of a specific practice for elevating not only student voice, but also teacher voice. Are you ready?

Connect with Lyndsay:

Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lindsaybethlyons
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaybethlyons
Podcast: Time for Teachership

Resources

(I'll add a staff meeting series with agendas + slide decks plus a Circle Planning Template and anything else we talk about to this link, which will be live by the time you air): https://extras.lindsaybethlyons.com/appod

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

Five for Friday Farewell

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Hello Colleagues and welcome to this week’s 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Actually, this will be our last episode of 5fF and instead of recapping… explain how I reached this decision.

Lens of 3 epiphs:

Here’s the story:

MM complaining too much to do…
- Jeff asked, I said…
- Daily em
- 2 pod episodes
- Ldr program
- Course dev
- Courses on building CRC

1st Epiph: too much to do

Jeff suggested ways to streamline – time management

But I was trying to do it all

2 epiph: I get to choose

Jeff asked purpose
My thinking
But…
Jeff… why are you still doing it: no fun, not serving a purpose

Hard answer: ego

Quitting
Numbers

3rd Epiph:

My own ego over developing things that will be useful to others
Or what’s best for my business?

Too often, we operate on auto, and our actions and values come into misalignment.

Still do Tuesday:

High value for you (I hear from you)
I enjoy doing the interviews
Helps me grow
Pod is integral to my business start

I want everything to be educational – to add value, I hope you can look inside at your own actions…

That’s it for Five for Friday.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

If you will miss the 5fF you can always subscribe to my daily email…

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Have a great weekend, get outside, laugh, and live! Cheers!

Resources:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

The Six Dimensions of Organizations with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Culture, specifically, organizational culture. It’s part cliché, part elusive whale, and part obsession.

We all work (or have worked in my case) within schools or educational organizations which have a culture and we all know how powerfully that culture influences what happens within the school.

The cliché: Culture is the key to a great school

The elusive whale: What is school culture?

The obsession: How can we create a culture of learning?

Today, I will unpack for you the secrets of school culture. I guarantee after you listen to this show, you will have a clearer understanding of what school culture is, why it is so powerful, and – best of all – how you can build a better school culture. It isn’t easy, but it is, I promise you, simple.

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

If you want to improve your culture: support and grow your teachers. For example:

· Stop telling them how to get better. Change the culture by revamping your teacher evaluation and PD systems. Facilitate discussions in which teachers identify their pain points and they tell you about their goals for creating a stronger classroom. This change hits every aspect of your organization:

o Changes the purpose of leadership from controlling to serving

o Changes the structures around the evaluation process from compliance to critical

o Changes the structures of observation and post-conferencing

o Reallocates resources as we focus on meaningful coaching and PD

I’m not saying your current purpose, structures, resources and teacher improvement strategies are a dumpster fire. I know how hard you work and how much thought you put into helping your teachers grow. What I am saying is this:

· If you are telling your teachers where they need to grow, instead of helping them address pain points they want to treat, there is friction.

· If your evaluation system is not part of a long-term systemic approach to helping teachers improve their craft, then evaluation creates friction.

· If teachers are required to attend PD they see as irrelevant, at the cost of attending PD they want, that PD is creating friction.

I know there are many things you do not control, and the evaluation system is probably one of them. However, can you:

· Ask teachers “If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be?”

· And then help them define what that would look like and sound like?

· Could we then, in our formal observation, make sure we were capturing some of the data related to the thing we want students to do differently”?

· Could we, in our formal post-observation conference, map a plan for how we can help that teacher create that change?

· Could we, follow up consistently in our future observations and PLCs?

Yes, we can do all those things. It is simple, but it is not easy.

You can hear me unpack that question about students doing one thing with 2nd-year AP Alex Auriemma in episode 177 from last week.

So, now you know what school culture is. You know what makes it worse and what can make it better. What are you next steps? What do you do with this ne understanding?

I don’t actually suggest that you revamp your entire evaluation structure. That is an A-Z change.

Here are two simple things you can do starting today:

· Ask that question, “If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be?” Informally of your teachers, and listen to their answers.

· Do more 5-minute coaching

o It reinforces that the purpose of leadership is to support and grow teachers.

o It creates an informal structure that makes that work easier for both leaders and teachers.

o And by going your full time and attention, even only for five minutes, it communicates to teachers that you are willing to invest important resources in their growth.

Honestly, I’d like to dig into this even more – we are just scratching the surface. The 6D framework is the foundation of so much of the work I do and the practices I promote and teach about.

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday November 13-17, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… Those of you reaching out to me via email and LinkedIn! It inspires me to keep going. Specifically, I’d like to thank:

Darius Coulibaly
Kelly Scarbrough
Valerie Jones
Annette Brown

And a special thanks to Tammi Barker who wrote:

I listen to your podcasts on my way to work as I just promoted to a VP in July. Your podcasts motivate and reinspire me when I’m feeling overwhelmed or defeated. This is the first position that I’ve never been able to complete all of my work before going home. I’m am learning quickly that it will consist of many more of those days. I am working on changing my mindset and trying to rebalance my work and home life.

Tammi dm’d me on LinkedIn on a day I was feeling very low and was questioning whether or not I even wanted to record a five for Friday (last week’s, not this one). She turned my whole day around in a text that took two minutes to compose.

This s a great example of how simple and easy it is for us to exert positive power by lifting up others.

And… Tammi heard about the show via her supervisor. I do not have a strong social media presence and most of our growth comes from word of mouth, so if you don’t have time to be present with someone and nurture them, consider forwarding this show to them instead.

Okay, let’s get to the week’s emails.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of November 13-17, 2023.

The week’s emails:

The takeaway:

Obvious takeaway for this week: ASK PEOPLE REFELCTIVE QUESTIONS!

Sometimes I think I repeat myself too much, that it is so simple. But then I think about my own leadership, how I am dialed into presence, how I know the questions by heart, and how my sone Colin walked into my office this morning and I barely acknowledged him and did not ask any questions at all. We all fall down on this stuff, we are all too busy. And so I keep emphasizing the power of presence and of asking the right questions. It’s as much for me and those of us who know and try as it is for those of you who are just hearing this for the first (or second) time. Collin edits our Five for Friday episodes, so I can say here Collin, I’ll do better being present with you next time. And you my dear colleague, who do you need to commit to being more present with? A peer at work, your partner, or maybe even – yourself.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when I dig into the six dimensions of organizations. The six dimensions framework is foundational to so much of what I talk about.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 21 ratings and 6 reviews – we are inching forward! Remember increasing those numbers helps others find the show and I really appreciate hearing from you. If you can’t rate the show, at least help others find it by forwarding the show link to a colleague. Please! You’ll be helping leaders like those mentioned at the top of the show find a PD source that improrves both life and leadership.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Have a great weekend, get outside, laugh, and live! Cheers!

Resources:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Lean in and Listen with Alex Auriemma

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

177: Leaning In and Listen with Alex Auriemma

About this show (Teaser from outline)

I am keeping this teaser short because I cannot wait to get into today’s conversation. Back in August I encouraged listeners to ask their veteran teachers three questions. The questions were designed to help you learn more about your teachers and to help them feel listened to and valued. Today’s guest, a practicing assistant principal, used those questions and she’s here to share how it went, what she learned, and what her next steps will be.

Notable Quotes

Guest: Alex Auriemma

“It’s not just something I did with my 22 teachers, it’s something we, collectively as a cabinet, have done with all our teachers…”
“It was so great to hear teachers gloat about what makes them awesome!”
“The sequencing of the questions is the magic to the sauce”
“It was so much of me not leading; it was them just sharing.”
“It’s not a me conversation, it’s an us conversation.”
Having theses conversations… I just was present. My commitment is to stay that present.”

Frederick:

“It was something very important because it said, “I hear you, I see you, I value you.”
“Any time we can take a practice and do it as a leadership team collectively, it just amplifies the benefit.”

Guest Links:

Email: Alexl.Auriemma@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-loredo-auriemma-94286991/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday Nov. 6-10, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… my incredible book reviewers. My book on how to move from spending time on tasks to investing time in people id tentatively scheduled for publication in March.

One way to tell if people really care about you is to ask for critical feedback. People who aren’t really invested with say things like, “great job” or “looks good.” People who care about you will make specific suggestions about how to improve and why they are making those suggestions. So thank you to the following people for helping me create a better book to help people on their leadership journey:

Dr. Justin Nutter, assistant superintendent of Lexington 4 SD in Lexington, SC
Maria Werner, Founding Principal of Green Charter School, Simpsonville, SC
Dr. Heidi Von Dohlan, Associate Professor and Program Director of the NC School Executive Leadership Program (NCSELP) at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee NC
Eleanor MaCauley, Principal, Fairview School, Sylva NC
Katie Joiner, AP, Mid-Carolina Middle School, Newberry SC
Dr. Efraín Martinez, Princcpal, Conrad Fischer Elementary School and host of the Wisdom and Porductivety podcast, Elmhurst Illinois
Dr. Sam Sircey, Prinpal (retired), Buncombe County Schools, NC

What a stellar group of leaders – thank you for helping me be a better leader!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of Nov. 6-10, 2023.

The week’s emails:

The takeaway:

I think the common thread this week was assumptions.

I may assume that what happens this time will be the same as what happens next time
I assume you aren’t in trauma, or there is nothing I can do to support you.
I assume I have the answers to helping you become self sufficient.
I assume you see the same value in something as I do.

I think what’s really happening here is that we are operating on patterns. Our brains are great at creating patterns to guide our behavior so we don’t become paralyzed with decision-making. But those patterns can lead us to making assumptions and those assumptions can have negative impacts on our leadership.

So, what can you do?

What’s not working?
Who needs your support?
Your own condition?

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday…

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have climbed to 21 ratings and 6 reviews! What if we could reach 50 ratings by the end of the year? How cool would that be? Increasing those numbers helps others find the show.

I love hearing from you. So please consider emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com.

Share a story, a reaction to the show, or a request or suggestion. I do respond to every suggestion.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Have a great weekend, get outside, laugh, and live! Cheers!

Resources:

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Four Classroom Culture Breakdowns

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500

For years I have done management and discipline trainings for new teachers. For years, those trainings changed little. Recently though, by approach has shifted. I’m now focusing on helping teachers build positive classroom cultures, by attending to three elements:

1. First and most importantly are relationship

2. Second is classroom management

3. Third is classroom safety, which is more accurate term than discipline.

I’m in the process of developing a series of virtual courses for teachers, but also for leaders, because there are some things I think we need to change.

Five For Friday October 30-Nov 3, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

The week’s emails:

What makes a good hike?
The impact of alignment on culture
The 3-day pocket door series
1. Made a mistake – what should I do?
2. The importance of information, especially opportunity cost
3. We must know others to understand their opportunity cost (e.g. new teacher who is struggling with what to focus on)

What’s Getting in the Way? with Caitlin Mitchell

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Today’s show will touch on a number of important things:· Why do great teachers leave their schools, or education? What makes a great leader? If you don’t trust a teacher to manage their own growth, what can you do about it? What do teachers want?If any of those sound interesting to you, then you should definitely enjoy today’s show!

Notable Quotes

Guest: Caitlin Mitchell

“But I wasn't getting a ton of support from my admin and about three and a half years into being a teacher, I left”

I knew that I had to do something differently because the system of education was not going to change. So I needed to show up differently as an educator in order to allow myself to be insulated, if you will, from this larger system of education.

what we hear from our teachers all the time is a lack of trust and a lack of autonomy in their decision making.

If you really step back and take a look at what actions are you showing are your actions aligning with the beliefs and the values and the words that you're saying?

“Let's remove the ‘me’ in this equation as the assistant principal.”

“The quality of our life is determined by the quality of the questions that we ask.”

A players don’t want to work for B leaders

With great leadership comes belief in self

Frederick:

one thing we want assistant principals to get better at is aligning those systems to make it easier for teachers to do the work they know how to do.

we get so accustomed to thinking we have to have the answers, right? We help people because we have the answers. And that is the absolute reverse thing that we need to be doing with our veteran teachers. Well, any of our teachers, our teachers have the answers. So instead of asking, we need to be, instead of Telling we need to be listening.

The value is not in that telling it's in the listening.

Cailin’s Links:

Website: https://ebacademics.com/

Instagram: @ebacademics

Facebook: EB Academics for Teachers

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EBAcademics

Podcast: Teaching Middle School ELA

Book: The Empowered ELA Teacher https://www.ebteacher.com/book

Dr. Becky Good Inside: https://www.goodinside.com

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five For Friday October 23-27, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to Matthew Downing, host of the DivingDeep EDU podcast. Matthew was recently promoted to the role of Supervisor of elementary Instructional Technology wih the Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania. Matthew has also been having other great adventures and in the midst of all that was kind enough to have me on Episode 58 of the Diving Deep EDU podcast where we talked about the journey from urgent to strategic. I’ll put a link to the podcast in the show notes.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 16-20, 2023.

If leadership is influence, as leadership guru John Maxwell states, how do we influence people?

If you read this week’s emails, you already know the answer is power.

Embracing the power to lead is critical for several reasons:

All forms of power are not created equal. You need to know the benefits and liabilities of each form.
Because you hold power to influence others, you have an ethical obligation to use your power wisely and to care for those whom you influence with your power.
Understanding the sources of your power allows you to cultivate and increase your power.
Most forms of power are not hierarchical, meaning you can exert power – LEAD – regardless of your hierarchical position. You don’t need to wait to lead. Use your power to lead NOW.

Instead of recapping each day, I want to run through the forms of power and provide examples of how each one can be used by different members in your school.

Five forms of power:

Legitimate
- T to S
- P to T
- S to P
- Leads to compliance “Because I said so”
Informational
- T: information on college applications
- P: classroom and teaching assignments
- DO: rubric for the grant
- Some people withhold information as a way of keeping control which has a two-edged impact on their influence (increases and diminishes at the same time)
Expert
- Chemistry teacher to future MD; reading teacher to future author
- AP who can teach others to ask engaging questions of students, OR ask reflective questions to teachers to get them to their own answers
- “You can help me get to where I want to go”
Reward
- T to S: A, gold star, praise, note home
- AP to T: promotion, coveted teaching assignment, responsibilities, input/voice, sticky notes, social media recognition, Friday jeans day, donuts
- “Look at me”
Coercive
- T to S: F, referral/write-up/detention, silent lunch, note/call home, expressing disappointment
- AP to T: Contractual hits, “write ups”, teaching assignments, scheduling, isolation, intimidation, threats
- “Do this or else!”
- Creates resentment
Referent
- “My favorite teacher”
- Mentor
- Admire, respect, care for,
- Want to emulate and please

Not all power types are equal!

The takeaway:

For all except legitimate:
- Students hold the same powers over teachers
- Teachers hold the same powers over admin
- Understanding the types of power, you can be intentional about cultivating it

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when I review some elements of creating a positive classroom culture.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Increasing those numbers helps others find the show.

You can find out more about me at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I love getting feedback, so please consider sending me an email or connecting with me on LinkedIn. Of course, all of those links are in the show notes.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

DiveingDeepEDU Podcast link: https://divingdeepedu.libsyn.com/58-frederick-buskey

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Building a better classroom culture with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

In this episode I discuss three important things I'm teaching a group of teaching interns about building a positive classroom culture.

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five For Friday October 16-20, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… Krista8967 who wrote in a recent review:

I absolutely love this podcast. Frederick Buskey gives helpful tips that you can put into action right away. This show has been a part of my weekly routine since my journey into educational leadership began.

Thank you for the kind words Krista, I am so glad the show is helpful.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 16-20, 2023.

I was so excited after recording Tuesday’s podcast with Michele Matoon that I rearranged my content for the week and decided to pull five tips from the daily email to reinforce some sound meeting practices. The fifth tip was not on our show and I can’t believe I didn’t mention it as it transformed the way I view meetings.

While there is significant overlap between today’s show and Tuesday’s, it might be a bit less overwhelming. I’ll prove Michele’s email address at the end of the show and include it in the show notes as she will send a meeting template to anyone who wants it. If you want better meetings, don’t reinvent the wheel, just email Michele!

Five biggest takeaways:

Have a clear, actionable goal, in an agenda, ahead of time.
Allot time to each item and use a timer to signal the end.
Write down who is responsible and what the deadline is.
Put FYIs at the bottom and do not read or spend time on them.
Calculate the cost of the meeting.

The takeaway: Every minute of our day has a price. That price can and should be measured in money, but more importantly in time and attention.

Of course, some meetings are necessary. IEP meetings are essential parts of identifying important strategies for working with a vulnerable group of students. However, the value of a meeting should never be measured on its own. It should always be measured against the alternative.

Was this meeting as important as developing a support plan for a student in crisis? Was this meeting as important as investing 30 minutes with an early career teacher, listening to their story, and helping him thing through how they want to grow? Was this meeting as important as developing an SOP to help front office staff effectively manage unexpected visitors?

In some cases, the answer will be yes and you should absolutely have the meeting. In other cases, it will be no, in which case maybe you should cancel of skip the meeting if at all possible.

I know things are pretty hierarchical in most districts, but I can’t help but wonder what might happen, if, coming into a meeting 30-minutes late, you announced, “Sorry I’m late, but I have a third-year teacher who is considering leaving the profession and I needed to do some critical problem-solving with her.” What would be the response to that? Again, that may not be an option in your district, but maybe it is but you don’t know it? Might be worth a conversation.

There is a great visual in an article in the Huffington Post in which they monitored brain activity in people attending back-to-back meetings. The increase in stress created by back-to-back meetings with no break is striking.

Again, I’m not saying all meetings are bad, but if it isn’t worth have an agenda with a clear goal and actionable outcome, what’s the point?

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday…

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 19 ratings and 6 reviews – we are inching forward! Remember increasing those numbers helps others find the show and I really appreciate hearing from you.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Michele’s Links:

Email: michele@nsrfharmony.org

Website: www.nsrfharmony.org

X (Twitter) @TheNSRF: twitter.com/TheNSRF

Instagram: @NSRFharmony: https://instagram.com/nsrfharmony

Facebook: Facebook.com/NationalSchoolReformFaculty

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/NSRF/

Threads (logs in with FB): threads.net/@nsrfharmony

Resources:

The NSRF’s website: www.nsrfharmony.org (has libraries of many protocols and activities)

Huffington Post article on stress: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meetings-breaks-office-brain-study_l_638e4f82e4b06fdc9d907e03

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

The why and how of meetings with Michele Matoon

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Show Notes, Episode 169: The why and how of meetings with Michele Matoon

About this show

Have you ever been in a meeting that didn’t go well? I know, silly question. What about this – have you ever been in a meeting that DID go well? And why, if your experiences have been anything like mine, are the good meetings so much rarer than the bad ones? More importantly, what can we do to flip the script – to move meetings from being a waste of time to being powerful tools for organizational improvement? Today’s episode is going to help you do just that!

Michele Mattoon is the executive director of the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF). She works with schools and educators across the country and around the world to implement Critical Friends Group Trainings, strategic planning sessions, and other work relating to collaborative learning.

Michele is also the president and owner of Coltrain Group, a consulting firm that offers facilitation and mediation services, as well as tailored collaborative trainings to businesses and other organizations outside the education arena.

Michele is obsessed with intentionally building healthy, productive communities through specific collaborative structures. As such, she is the primary editor of NSRF’s training handbooks and the author of many articles, protocols and activities dedicated to this topic.

Michele and I talked briefly after the show and for our next recording we will dive into how to manage “those people” who can make meetings a nightmare. If there are specific examples or behaviors you would like us to address, please email them to me at fb.com so we can address them on the show. Have them to me by October 31, 2023 for inclusion on the show.

Notable Quotes

Michele:

“That is two hours of my like I am never going to get back!”
Bad meetings - “It’s a human being problem. It’d not an education problem, it’s a human being problem.”
“Nothing breaks trust faster than a leader who says “we are going to make a decision”.. and then makes the decision themselves.”
“The ramifications of not being clear are huge.”
“If you are going to give a deadline, you need to keep the deadline”
“We are so conditioned to a bell, that we will stop [when it rings].”
“We need to know who’s responsible and when the deadline is.”
“A big part of leadership is just being clear and organized and communicating just enough.”
“If we have to make up a story, because no one told us, then it’s much more likely to be a negative story than a positive one.”
“If you don’t have a system for it, it’s not going to get done.”

Frederick:

It seems like there are two kinds of meetings – one where there is an assumed purpose… and standing meetings, which can be some of the worst ones.
“We need specific clarity so people know why they are coming.”
“One of the most neglected parts of a meeting is assigning who is responsible and when the deadline is.”
“It’s amazing how many people would talk something to death in a meeting, but when you ask them is it worth emailing me over this, they don’t, they are fine.”
“When we had none items on the agenda, we just were covering things and not doing meaningful work.”

Michele’s Links:

Email: michele@nsrfharmony.org

Website: www.nsrfharmony.org

X (Twitter) @TheNSRF: twitter.com/TheNSRF

Instagram: @NSRFharmony: https://instagram.com/nsrfharmony

Facebook: Facebook.com/NationalSchoolReformFaculty

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/NSRF/

Threads (logs in with FB): threads.net/@nsrfharmony

Resources:

The NSRF’s website: www.nsrfharmony.org (has libraries of many protocols and activities)

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday October 9-13, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… IamBlandon who kindly reviewed the show on Apple Podcasts, saying the following…

Thank you!

I’m so close to completing my journey on becoming an administrator! Thank you so much for this treasure trove of valuable information! Keep up the good work!

And thank you IamBlandon, your review and words mean a lot.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 9-13.

The emails: The three epiphanies

Monday: Urgent leaders:

Put tasks before people.
Prioritize what’s urgent over what’s important.
Treat symptoms instead of identifying problems.
Mistake action for progress.

Tuesday: There is not enough time to do everything.

Wednesday: If there is not enough time, I can choose what does and does not get done.

Thursday: What I choose to do and not do reflects my values.

Friday: Not being intentional dooms you to urgency

The takeaway:

Embracing the three epiphanies is a foundational step for moving from managing time to managing priorities. On the days you do not make intentional choices, like my day battling my computer, you are likely living in urgency.

Making intentional choices does not guarantee you will be strategic, but it is a prerequisite.

I’m including a simple visual in today’s message. If you find the 3 epiphanies compelling, consider printing it off and posting it somewhere as a reminder.

Today’s intention: Reflect on your week. In retrospect, what is one to-do/not do choice you made intentionally and feel good about? What is something you reacted to, that got in the way of something you valued more? It is Friday, and I would love it if you share with me your biggest takeaway or story from this week!

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we feature my interview with Michele Matoon. We take a practical look at how to run a meeting. This is one of those episodes you will want to follow up on because Michelle has some great tips and tools for you.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast.

You can find out more about me at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I love getting feedback, so please consider sending me an email or connecting with me on LinkedIn. Of course, all of those links are in the show notes.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Tech as a tool for supporting teachers with Jessica Preisig

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Show Notes

Show Title: Tech as a tool for supporting teachers with Jessica Preisig

Show Description:

Talking about technology in education elicits a range of responses from enthusiastic embraces to gag reflexes, and on either end of the spectrum technology can be problematic. However, with some mindful planning and intention, technology can be a powerful took in helping you to facilitate teacher growth. Today’s wonderful guest is going to help us look at the role of technology being a partner for teacher growth.

Guest Bio

Jessica Preisig serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services in the School District of Pickens County. During her 20 years as an educator, Jessica has served as a classroom teacher, instructional technology coach, school administrator and district leader. Jessica earned her initial undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of South Carolina prior to moving to upstate South Carolina, where she obtained an EdS in Administration and Supervision from Clemson University – where I might had she had some amazing professors(!) – and she is now back at Clemson working on her doctorate.

Quotes

Jessica

· “Every time technology is working it’s a celebration!”

· “I got to see k-12 education with teachers through all the levels.”

· “The way I approached evaluation was more as a growth opportunity.”

· “Intentionally integrate instructional technology that teachers would use in their classrooms, in out instructional work with teachers.”

· “People hear what they want to hear.”

· “When you can link to the things they want to learn, they are more receptive to feedback.”

Frederick

· “How do we provide resources to teachers that help them have agency over their own learning?”

· “We sometimes miss opportunities to piggy back onto that [formal evaluation] and ask, ‘How do we want to grow?’”

· “Because you were asking the questions, you were listening.”

· “You can feel like the processes are confining you, but you can leverage them.”

· “If I know you are here to help me get better in the ways I want to get better, then I’m invested.”

Summarizing

As we wrap up, I have two important questions for you.

First, what part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

Show Outro

As the one big takeaway, Jessica pointed to “leaning in and walking beside people.” And if you think back to what you have heard throughout the episode, that was the constant theme. In a sense, this episode wasn’t about technology – it was about partnering with teachers and helping the grow. The technology is simply a tool to help us do that. I hope you’ll reflect more on that today and think critically about how technology can help you support and grow your teachers.

Thanks for walking your leadership journey with me. You can learn more about the other ways I support APs and other school leaders on my website at fb.com

I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we play with the week’s daily leadership emails.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Jessica’s Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PreisigJessica

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicapreisig/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday October 2-6, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today I’m celebrating fall! The leaves are beginning to turn color, the nights are getting crisp – which means better sleeping for those of us who like being buried under a mound of blankets – and everything is flavored with apple or pumpkin! Fall also means the end of my garden-grown cucumbers, but we can’t have everything, can we?

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 2-6, 2023.

The emails:

Sometimes you can have a bigger impact by working with the willing.
Accepting that to be human is to be imperfect opens a world of possibilities.
We should think about playing more. We should play more.
Be mindful of over-investing in tasks you enjoy doing.
Lack of presence leads to messes, with food and with humans.

The takeaway:

Another week of seemingly unrelated topics provides me with another opportunity to look for the bigger meaning. I didn’t plan it this way, but each post has an element of play to it:

Working with competent people who trust you and want to get better can feel like play.
Over-investing in things we are good at is a version of play.
Accepting the imperfection of being human gives us permission to play.
Playing helps cultivate presence.
And of course, there was Wednesday’s message all about the need to play more.

Play takes many forms. We can play physically – at the Buskey household one of our backyard favorites is CanJam. We can play games, like Horrify, a really cool strategy game in which the players collaborate to win. We can play with ideas, which I often do while journaling in the mornings. We can play in the kitchen – but maybe not with quesadillas.

As I write this, it strikes me that the line between creativity and play is very thin, and maybe that’s a bit of insight into why play is so important.

Let’s wrap this up with a call to action, and if you can’t guess what it is, you either don’t know me very well or you haven’t been fully present to the episode.

This weekend, go play! Throw a football around, pull out your watercolors, scribble some poetry, walk in the woods. Do something for yourself, and I turn you’ll be better at serving others on Monday. Oh, and Legos. How did forget Legos?

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we begin our October emphasis on building a positive classroom culture.

Anyway, tune in on Tuesday for a great episode.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 17 ratings and 4 reviews. Increasing those numbers helps others find the show.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Being a human is being imperfect with Dr. Efraín Martínez

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Being a human is being imperfect with Dr. Efraín Martínez, No. 165

Show Description:

We all have stories about where we came from, how we grew up, and the people we’ve walked our journeys with. We have joys and traumas that inform how we see out world, and how we see others in our world. Today we’ll go beneath those stories and look at what it means to lead, as someone who has their own stories, and what it means to lead people who have their own stories.

Guest Bio

Dr. Efraín Martínez is a father, husband, principal, and podcaster, who is always in search of wisdom and he has found productivity, to be a great tool for success. He's the host of Wisdom & Productivity: The Podcast of an Imperfect Educator. And I will add, he is an incredibly deep and soulful human being.

Highlights

Efraín

· “Everyday that I am on this earth I want to be grateful for what I have…”

· “This is a web of stories... life only makes sense when you look back and connect the docks.”

· “I am the adult who still thinks he is the kid who is trying to get the most out of life.”

· “Build a monument with the rocks people throw at you.” (citing Siddharth Sood)

· “When you run your school like a business, you are doomed to fail.”

· “Connecting with the humanity of the people you are leading … is the best that we can do to move our schools forward.”

· “When you tell people they need to do something they will want to do the opposite!”

· “The best teacher in the building is not the principal.”

· “Being human is being imperfect.”

· “Teachers know their own answers, they just need someone to listen to them.”

· “You can fool the world, but you cannot fool yourself.”

· “Meditation is like a workout.. that is so unique.. but when you take a moment to focus only on your breath… you start realizing how powerless you are… you start focusing on listening to others.”

Frederick

· “In my arrogance, I thought if I just could mold people to be like me, would be good… because I thought I had all the answers.”

· “When we truly care for other people, then we help them grow in the direction they want to grow in, not the direction we want them to grow in.” (citing Milton Mayeroff)

· “You need to listen to people’s stories in order to know how to support them.”

· “As soon as we understand that to be human is to be imperfect, we can let go of that idea of being perfect, and when we can do that… we stop talking so much and we listen more.”

· “When we decide to give grace, a lot of judgment can roll off of us, and then I can be more present.. and then we can meet them where they are.”

· “When we forgive others, the gift is to ourselves, because we give ourself permission to put all the crosses down.”

Dr. Efraín Martínez’s Links:

Email: wisdomandproductivity@gmail.com

Website: wisdomandproductivity.com

Linkedin: https://tinyurl.com/EMLink13

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@WisdomAndProductivity?feature=shared

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday September 25-29, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… Now + Next Cohort 2. Valori, Lisa, Paige, Gail, Jen, Kayla, Michelle, and Emily, thanks for making the program so wonderful. It is a testament to what can happen when inspired leaders prioritize working together, being vulnerable, and fostering interdependence.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 25-29, 2023.

Review the emails

Takeaway

As I’ve shared before, when the week’s messages aren’t specifically built around a theme, like this week’s, I’m always intrigued to come back after-the-fact and think about what the big takeaway is, and this week is no different.

In fact, wow.

There is a profound message here. It’s not me being profound, as this wasn’t purposeful, but it is right here in front of us. Here are the five MVPs for each day’s message:

Sometimes making the same old thing better beats doing something new.
Sometimes something BIG doesn’t actually matter.
What makes one training more powerful than another?
Together, transformation, vulnerability, and interdependence can create something special
Being fully present is more valuable than having answers.

Time and attention are the scarcest resources. While the urgent – quadrant 3 – tasks are a big consumer of these precious resources, so are change initiatives. And too often we focus on the initiatives instead of the people. Nothing against Salesforce or LETRS, but how many lives have the transformed? We can lose focus on people. Improvement can become about ”the thing” instead of about people. And the changes and improvements we are trying to make can actually stop us form impacting people. The busier we are, the harder it is to be fully present. The harder it is to be invested in helping people grow in the direction they want to grow in. The harder it is to be vulnerable. The harder it is to be interdependent.

Do less, impact more. Create transformative moments by focusing on others as humans, not as cogs in a machine or rungs on a ladder.

And then think about your own leadership and what being present does for you. Here’s the rest of the story about the group hug episode…

I am not the perfect trainer, but sometimes I am able to help a group come together and do something magical, especially when I focus on serving them, not converting them into the leaders I think they should be. And when that happens, I am also rewarded in a way that cannot be measured.

My wish for you next week is to go forward and be vigilant about finding opportunities to be present, to learn how others want to grow, and to then be able to create the opportunities for them to do that.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we feature my interview with Dr. Efrain Martinez on what it means to be a human leading humans. This is an inspiring and emotional episode and I’m so excited to share it with you.

Anyway, tune in on Tuesday for a great episode.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have ZZ ratings and XX reviews. Increasing those numbers helps others find the show.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Four Things You Should Do This Week!

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Show Description:

I will lead off this episode with a couple apologies:1. I’ve got a cold and am low energy, so I’m admittedly not bringing my A-game this week. Paraphrasing BB King…2. I know this episode’s title has a click-bait feel to it, but it is the best I could come up with today (see apology 1 above). The premise for today is that most of you are 4-8 weeks into your school year and should be falling into a routine at this point. It seems like a good time to do some poking around and get some vital signs for your school and your leadership, so we’ll discuss four things you can do to give you insights for your focus for the next month of school.

Celebrations:

I’m celebrating two things:

1. Monday’s email about my mom’s new Porsche generated a lot of reaction, like “this is your best email ever!” Thanks everyone for letting me know, it helps me keep going on those days when I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and have a cold.

2. I’ve just been offered a publishing contract on my book! It has been a long road and I’m excited to be moving forward. Lest you’ve forgotten, the book is about the 6-steps to escaping urgency and becoming a people-centric leader. I imagine as a publication date gets closer I’ll be sharing more and more.

The Big Idea

At this point in the year it is easy to get into a groove. Now, grooves are good, but how do you stop that groove from becoming a rut?

More specifically, how do you make sure you aren’t stuck in the urgent rut? Are you getting into classrooms like you promised yourself you would this year? Or are the discipline referrals already undermining your plans?

Have you been there for your ECT’s? Or are you relying on mentor teachers to take care of them? Guess, what? Your mentor teachers are as busy as you are!

Without further adieu, four things you should do this week:

1. Check in with your ECTs

2. Dig into your discipline data to look for patterns to tell you who, where, and when to focus on.

3. Use the 5-minute coaching tool to conduct an informal culture check

4. Reflect.

Okay, that’s today’s episode of….

Just kidding. I get goofy when I’m feeling sick and overwhelmed so just laugh with me. Let’s go into a bit more depth:

1. Check in with your ECTs

a. Why ECTs and not just first-years?

b. Why aren’t mentors enough?

c. 3-point check in

i. Relationships

ii. Management

iii. Curriculum

2. Dig into your discipline data to look for patterns to tell you who, where, and when to focus on.

a. Who are your high-flyers (you probably already know) and is there a flight pattern? Do you have a morning check-in set up for them?

b. Where and when do you have spikes? E wing restroom at the beginning of 4th period? Then ask why?

c. What teachers are sending the most referrals – check their classroom management.

3. Use the 5-minute coaching tool to conduct an informal culture check

a. Walk down the hall and catch people in or by their rooms, position yourself side-to-side to lessen power differential, go through the pattern:

i. X-weeks into the school year, I can’t believe it!

ii. What’s going well for you so far?

iii. Have their been any surprises?

iv. Is there anything you would do differently? You could also ask, “Is there anything WE should do differently?” to focus more on the building.

v. I appreciate you sharing. I’m looking forward to all the great things you are going to do with kids this year!

4. Reflect.

a. Carve out an hour. Maybe Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, or Friday night. Whatever works for you. Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted, turn off your phone. Use an old-school paper notebook or journal and your favorite pen. If you are too techy, at least use a pad and stylus. The kinesthetic action will help in reflection.

b. Just begin writing whatever comes into your mind. Be unfiltered. If you need an outline, you could do:

i. Celebrations

ii. Things you would do differently

iii. Frustrations

iv. Questions

v. Answers

vi. List actions that can have impact

vii. Identify patterns for important things

viii. Play with your priorities

...

Five for Friday September 18-22, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… Mitchell Hall, Gifted and Talented Education Specialist, Garrett County Public Schools, Maryland who emailed me about the relationship matrix we featured on our August 30th daily email:

Hi Frederick,

I enjoy the relationship matrix! As I looked over the different categories on it, I realized why my most effective leaders have taken an interest in my life outside of school. I forwarded this email to three who have coached me, as opposed to simply advising or teaching me, and thanked them for making that investment.

I just earned my administrator credential here in Maryland, and I really appreciate your podcast and online resources because they help me plan ahead for how I will lead when that opportunity arises. Thanks for sharing your experiences and your expertise!

Mitchell, thank you for your encouraging words and I’m happy to be supporting the important work you do.

Insert intro

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 18-22, 2023.

This week I’m sharing five strategies helping me be a better leader right now.

Identify the next day’s priorities.
Block off time in your calendar for important things and capture in your calendar what you do each day.
Use a timer to create urgency and keep you laser focused.
Morning routines are essential.
Have strategies for ending your day.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 17 ratings and 4 reviews. We seem stuck on those numbers so please help us move the needle! Increasing those numbers helps others find the show.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

You make it what you want with Sean Olson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

You make it what you want with Sean Olson

Show Description:

It would be a trope if there wasn’t so much truth to it – become an AP and spend countless hours “doing” discipline. It’s hard to support and grow your teachers if you are handling discipline all day. But what if we could change this narrative? Would if we could invest some front end time in order to spend less time doing discipline AND flip the script so the “doing “ discipline actually helped kids? Today’s guest is going to help us learn how to do just that!

Today’s guest, Sean Olson, was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. He holds an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education (Mathematics) and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership, and Curriculum and Instruction. Sean is a husband, father, educator, coach and is always excited to learn and share new things. Currently, he’s the Assistant Principal at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, which is part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. Sean has been in education since February 2010.

Key Quotes

Sean

· “You make it what you want – it’s about how you want to write your own story.”

· “I want to understand where the problem is.”

· “As a new AP, this wasn’t something I had to ask permission to do. I was just dining into data.”

· “Now I feel like I can manage this goal because I’m looking at 2 ½% of the population.”

· “It was important to clean up our own house before addressing problems that weren’t caused by us.”

· “We wanted to get to the point where the punishment fitted the crime.”

· “Ultimately you [the kid] are writing your own story and I can help you do that.”

Frederick

· “The real work happens afterwards.”

· “Urgent leaders … deal with problems… taking the pause let’s us figure out the root problem.”

· “Using the data is always a two-step process. Using quantitavie data we can see the connections and trends of what is happening. Gathering qualitative data we can understand the why behind the what.”

Show Outro

One thing we didn’t get to in our discussion was how to use data to identify other ways to get maximum gain with minimal pain. In addition to using your data to identify the students most in need of your support, you can use it to identify other variables related to discipline events. For example, maybe it is the boys’ restroom on the north hall at the beginning of 4th period, and by stationing someone outside the door, or talking with the three teachers who are releasing students to the bathroom, we can cut referrals. Alternatively, maybe it is one or two teachers, or a specific combination of students.

Using the data is always a two-step process. Using quantitative data, we can see trends and connections in what is happening. Gathering qualitative data from teachers, students, and families, we can understand the why behind the what, and at that point we can move towards supporting our students instead of punishing them.

I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap the week’s daily emails.

Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Sean Olson’s email: solson@gehrhsd.net

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday September 11-15, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to Caitlin and the whole team at EB Academics. Caitlin was kind enough to interview me on episode 243 of the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Caitlin is a wonderful interviewer, and we had a powerful conversation about the four essentials:

Your support network
Healthy morning routine
Transition from work
Reflection

I’ll put a link to the show in the notes. Again, Caitlin, thanks for a wonderful discussion.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 11-15, 2023.

After several weeks of themed messages, I was back to my more usual pattern of diverse thoughts. Maybe this is a good time to provide a peek into my processes. When I began the daily email in April 2020, and through 2021, I wrote a daily message whenever it came to me. In 2022 I began writing a week at a time, which led to an increased number of themed weeks. As this school year kicks off I’ve booked time every Monday to do the following week’s emails so that we can be further ahead in case something happens and to give Mara more time to schedule things as her schedule has become more intense.

These changes have led to more themed weeks as it is easier to write five messages around a central theme. It also makes for an easier podcast episode, but I do miss capturing an idea that I get during the week and expanding it into a meaningful leadership lesson and intention.

Over the past two weeks I had multiple things stimulate thoughts and I was able to plan ahead and come up with this week’s random thoughts. The fun thing about doing it this way is that when I record the podcast, I challenge myself to find some central them or message and often times there is something unexpected which pops up.

Okay, let’s roll through this week’s messages…

Is there a central theme in these messages? Remember, I didn’t plan a theme this week, but what emerges as I write this script is the importance of beginning with ourselves.

It may sound selfish at first, especially as much as I advocate that people are the purpose, but you cannot take care of others without taking care of yourself. This week you received five lessons about caring for yourself:

When breakdowns occur, pause and reflect.
Check your purpose as a first step to checking your school culture.
As part of working hard, attend to your own revery – that’s where you will nurture greatness.
Tap your creativity and avoid the prescriptive, rut inducing approach to leadership.
Clean out the mental clutter which takes up space without serving you.

Take care of yourself this weekend. Engage in recovery and feed your soul.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

You can learn more about what I do on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Link to my interview on the Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teaching-middle-school-ela/id1458448897?i=1000626080589

Danny Bauer’s LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danielevanbauer_fundamentals-education-blbs-activity-7100109406238830592-pGxN

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Presence with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

Show title and release date: Presence

Show Description:

Ask 100 school leaders for their best piece of wisdom and the majority of respondents will likely tell you that it is all about relationships. That’s great, but how do you turn “its all about relationships” into a strategy you can execute every day? It is surprisingly simple, and if you are a regular listener, you may already know the answer. I’ll be sharing some experiences from my summer hiking trip and if you make it to the end you’ll hear three specific techniques for executing this simple strategy.

Inset Show Intro

Celebrations:

A wonderful podcast with Efrain Martinez’s Wisdom and Productivity Podcast. Efrain asks some great questions, beginning with “Who are you?” which is one of those questions that is like an onion. The podcast episode isn’t out yet, but I’ll put a link to the YouTube broadcast in the show notes.

The Big Idea

The past week has been bumpy here at Strategic Leadership Consulting and I’ve had trouble choosing a topic for this week. I’m now recording this on Monday afternoon, which means I am way behind schedule, and so I have had to make a decision. I’m not sure if I made the best choice, but regardless of the timing this should be valuable.

· Recap PW

· Highlight that I keep sharing

· Being fully present

· Malham Cove

· High Cup to Garrigil via Cross Fell, Great Dunn Fell, and Knock Fell, 20 miles, 3000 meters

· The moors

· Contentment

· The power of presence:

o See and hear what is there

o Appreciate the small beauties

· When we can see and hear people… we can serve them

· When we appreciate the small beauties… we can celebrate them

· Without any other interventions, growing others, and celebrating the numerous wins we have every day, will have powerful positive impacts on teaching. Learning, and your building culture.

· Simple, but hard

· Practices to sustain presence:

o Morning grounding and intention

o Asking the second question

o 5-minute coaching

Show Outro

Thank you for being present with me.

You can learn more about walking your leadership journey with me at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Cheers!

Wisdom and Productivity YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y717xIQNf0I

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday September 4-8, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to AJ Bianco, Vice Principal at East Brook Middle School in Hillsdale, NJ. AJ also was a contribute rot last week’s episode on veteran teachers. You may recall at the end of that show that I asked for some feedback and AJ kindly responded with these words:

I just wanted to let you know that I DID think your episode from last week was GREAT! Not only did I appreciate hearing from others, I thought you did a wonderful job breaking down the information into buckets and explaining what needs to be done to help veteran teachers. Well done my friend! Keep up the great work, and I will be checking out todays episode later tonight.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 4-8, 2023.

Guest intro

Celebrations

My story

Pam’s story

Lessons

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

You can learn more about what I do on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Making Deposits with Lisa Parry

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

We assume that being an educational leader revolves around making deposits. What I mean is that we invest our time supporting and growing others. When we help others, we are, usually, making deposits. There will come a time however, when we need to make a withdrawal – when we need to have someone do something they don’t want to do or have a conversation they don’t want to have. This pattern of making deposits and withdrawals applies to our interactions with parents, students, teachers, and likely other leaders. I’m getting ahead of myself because the actual topic of today’s show is supporting teachers in their 3-5 years. However, the theme that will emerge, is about banking.

Notable Quotes

Lisa Parry:

“There is a lot school leaders can do to sand the rough edges of life for students and teachers”

“It’s really hard to make a fundamental change… its way easier to take something that is a habit and refine it.”

Frederick:

So many gold nuggets today; apply to AP’s work with teachers, but also to our own work; consider holding onto one these:

1. Four career stages

2. Incremental changes add up (e.g. 11-second pause)

3. Deposits before withdrawals

4. It’s not about us! + we fill in the blanks – usually wrongly and based on how we see the world.

5. Working with teachers: blank to coloring book.

Lisa Parry Links:

Email: Lisa.Parry@k12.sd.us

Website: www.principalparry.com

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-parry-pk-12leader/

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday August 28-Sept. 1, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400

TodHello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to the instructional coaches of Lexington 4 school district in Gaston, SC. Emily, Mary Beth, Kari, Katie, and Amanda, I appreciate you taking time to give me critical feedback on the virtual leadership courses we’ve been talking about and helping me understand micro-credentials. The great thing about education is how willing people are to share their time and expertise – Thank you!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of August 28-Sept. 1, 2023.

A horse story and the three options for change:

Go back
Press on
Adjust course

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I have a couple simple ways to do so:

Invest $9 a month and about 20 minutes of your time to become a supporting member of our community. You’ll get early and unfettered access to our free courses, a discussion area, a library of past content, and the occasional webinar. You will also be helping me to continue investing both time and money in producing this podcast, writing the daily email, and producing free content.
Finally, you can become a full member of our APEx community and join me for monthly group coaching and lots of other perks.

You can get the details and links for all of these on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday for my discussion with Lisa Parry, a principal of a K-12 school in rural South Dakota. Lisa works with the state’s support program for teachers in years 3-5 and we discussed what APs could to help those teachers grow.

Tune in on Tuesday for a great episode.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Dancing on the Periphery with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Last week’s show was about growing veteran teachers. I focused largely on the importance of relationships. At the end of the episode, I encouraged you to ask your veteran teachers three questions:o What is your teaching super-power?o What’s the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher, and who you were when you began?o If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be? I recognize that some of you have been in school for several weeks while others still may have a week or so of summer left, but hopefully you have at the very least been able to reflect on those questions, and if you have not asked them of someone else, maybe you have asked them of yourself. I also stated, “next Tuesday I’ll offer some additional steps to build on what you find out.“ My intention was to provide some explicit “tips and tricks” but instead I decided to ask some of my connections on LinkedIn about their tips for working with veteran teachers. This group included administrators at all levels as well as veteran teachers. I’ve taken their feedback and put it into a tidy visual framework because… that’s what I do!

Inset Show Intro

Celebrations: My new truck! Apologies if that sounds a bit vain and materialistic, but I ordered a Ford Maverick – a minuscule size pickup, in Sept, 2022 and finally got it last week. It’s the perfect vehicle for me, able to haul mulch, lumber, and trash around our rural mountain roads and get 30 mpg on my trips to Columbia, Greensboro, and elsewhere.

The Big Idea

Today’s episode takes place in two acts. In Act I I’m going to smash the stereotype of the veteran teacher being a curmudgeon or burned-out resistor. Remember that change begins within, and the first step in working with experienced teachers is reframing how you perceive them. In Act II I’ll present a simple 4-stage framework for working with veteran teachers.

Act I: You don’t know me

Change… trauma… change

Sure, it’s not all been bad, but if you have been in this profession very long you have experienced change, trauma, and more change. First the change…

I began teaching in 1988, so I would be beginning my 35th year had I remained in p-12 education. You may be working with a few teachers who began teaching in that same year, or perhaps in the early 90’s, and education has changed dramatically. Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that weren’t around when I began my teaching career. No:

· Standardized tests

· Computers in classrooms

· Laptops

· Cell phones

· Social media

· Canned or structured teaching programs

Principals were paid to manage things and instructional leadership was largely in the hands of teachers. There were far fewer grand initiatives, and teachers were largely expected to close their doors and teach. And although teachers were not above being questioned or criticized, it was nothing like what it is today. This might not be a universal experience, but it was my experience.

So, point 1, veteran teacher possess a sense of history and have experienced profound – profound – changes over the course of their careers. For many of them, in many ways, the profession they find themselves in now is not the profession they entered.

Now the trauma…

I believe that teaching is the greatest profession in the world. Not necessarily in its current condition, but the ability to transform live and enrich the future is unparalleled. That said, teaching can be a traumatic endeavor. Trauma can occur in conflicts between teachers and the students and families they serve, the form of trauma that is most pertinent to our discussion is trauma with administration. Especially around the teacher observation and evaluation process.

The average tenure of a middle school principal in the US is 3-5 years. As a 35-year veteran teacher, on average, I have had 7-12 principals, and countless assistant principals. Think about this… Seven times new “leaders” have come into my school, brought their vision, changed school culture, asked me to buy-in, and then they have left. More than likely, some of those principals have acted like this was their school, not my school. And in their quest to stamp their identity on the school, they may have erased part of my identity, even erased part of my school.

In addition, with so many leaders cycling through, it is very likely that most experienced teachers have had at least one very negative – traumatizing – experience with an administrator. Imagine, having pride in your craft, having invested years in working with kids, receiving solid evaluations year after year, and then someone with half your experience comes in and tells you not only that you need to get better, but that they know better than you how your craft needs to improve! Seriously?

And maybe things are very different today, but two decades ago is was not that uncommon to have administrators who yelled at teachers. Not a lot of them, but they were out there – and many experienced teachers have experienced a humiliating dressing down at the hands of a petty tyrant.

Please, I’m not throwing you under the bus, but understand, not all administrators are like you. A few are great, most are good, but there are some bad administrators out there and when a teacher has had 7, 12, or more principals, and maybe another 7, 12, or more assistant principals, the chances are high that one of them – and that’s all it takes to create trauma – one of them, was bad. Maybe even very bad.

That brings us to the third part of Act I, change. The change in part 1 was about how education has changed (no cell phones, no social media, can you imagine?) The change in part 3 is about the change process, more specifically the fascination with the flavor of the month. In our quest for improvement, we can often get dazzled by the next best thing. I’m speaking from experience here. I’m one of those visionary leaders, and if I didn’t have people to keep me firmly tethered to the ground I would jump from one change to another at light speed.

Just think about the changes in reading instruction over the past three decades:

· Phonics

· Whole Language

· Balanced Literacy

· Reading recovery

· Accelerated Reader

· Guided reading

· And now a plethora of computerized programs

I read a research study a while back that described how teachers’ attitudes towards change projects changed over time:

· With the first change initiative, new teachers are gung-ho, leading the way

· With the second change initiative, teachers willingly engage

· With the third change, they are beginning to detect a pattern and may begin to hesitate

· And with the fourth and subsequent change, many teachers will close their doors and ignore it

Obviously, I have made some generalizations here and individual experiences will vary widely, but the existence of change, trauma, and cha...

Five for Friday, August 21-25, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to…William D Parker, host of the Principal Matters Podcast and a kind, gentle, and caring human being who is quickly becoming a good friend. Will released his interview of me back on August 9. My biggest fan – my wife Pam – said it is the best I have done in an interview and Wil made it easy. That’s episode 356 of The Principal Matters Podcast.

Will was also kind enough to leave a glowing review on Apple podcasts, so thank you Will!

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Takeaway

1. Relationships exist in two basic spheres

2. When we understand how, in an individual’s life, their work and home lives influence each other, we can be confident that we have a collegial relationship

3. The collegial relationship helps us to serve the person because:

a. We know what they want

b. We have insight into how to help them get there

c. We can coach them , which is one of the best ways to help people grow.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

---

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Holding Up the Mirror with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

I was a coach before I was a teacher. Literally, I volunteered as a football coach right after I graduated from high school. I played three years of high school and four years of college football, and I had position coaches, defensive coordinators, and head coaches all involved in my development as a player. Some of my coaches were good, some weren’t, but I was reliant on them in a way which is hard to explain. Today’s episode is about growing veteran teachers, but we are going to invest most of our time and attention into examining the coaching relationship rather than the technical aspects of coaching. Why? Why talk about the relationship instead of the actual nuts and bolts of working with veteran teachers? I think you already know the answer…

Celebrations: New beginnings upon new beginnings

Let me begin by clarifying some terms and connecting some dots:

· Your two primary responsibilities:

o Keeping people safe

o Support and grow your teachers

· Support and growth

· The flywheel (e.g. coaching cycle)

· The conundrum: how do we choose the first PD? This is the essential question, especially for veteran teachers.

· Back to coaching:

o As an athlete,

§ I was dependent on my coaches

§ I assumed they knew more than I did

§ I was highly motivated to get better

§ The power differential was huge

o As a teacher

§ The dependency was different

§ I was not convinced my principal knew more than I did

· Especially in PE

· Perception v. reality

· What I wanted my classroom to be like

§ I was still highly motivated to get better, but…

· I was not as dependent on my principal as I was on my coach

· Asking my coach for extra reps was a plus, asking my admin for extra attention could be perceived as a negative

§ The power differential was not as big – I could keep playing without his approval

My own story:

· My progression as a teacher (PE, SPED, SS => NBCT)

o Unique challenges

o I was reflective

o I had blind spots

· The “official” rubric and the process

· My two real struggles

o Boys

o SPED

Lessons from my own experience:

· When we are competent, we can lose sight of how complex our craft is

· We may or may not recognize our own pain points

· We know what we want, even if what we want may not be the most important thing

· In all likelihood, there are many elements of our teaching that we know better than someone who is trying to help us

How do we grow veteran teachers?

· Put them in the lead

· Help them clarify their desires, needs, and goals

o Example: Spending way to much time prepping lessons and taking care of a sick parent

· Help them define what success looks like

o Example: Still have good lessons, but am able to focus on my mom instead of thinking about school

· Help them identify resources and map a plan (e.g. Teaching Middle School ELA and EB academics)

· Be the accountability partner, help gather the data, and then hold up the mirror that helps them to assess how they’ve done and what comes next

· In short – become a servant

A couple cautionary thoughts:

· Trauma

· Growth is a process, not an event. A single “I wonder” statement is not helpful if it isn’t a part of a larger process.

· Focus on entering the process based on your capacity. It is better to engage in the process with fidelity with three people and ignore the rest than to do one-offs or be haphazard with 20. Know your capacity and choose appropriately. (see episode 8 Who Should I coach?) – link in show notes.

· To care is to help people grow in the direction they want to grow, and to grow veteran teachers, you need to care.

· You don’t know as much as you think you do. We all have biases and gaps which make our ability to determine the “one best thing” a teacher needs to work on an impossible task.

The Big Idea

Hold up the mirror for the veteran teacher. Get to know them, to understand them – their aspirations, triumphs, burdens, and fears. Help them clarify their own needs – the things that will allow them to gain more joy from teaching. Help them develop a plan for growth. Help them collect and analyze the data around their implementation of new strategies. Hold up the mirror, with caring and a servant’s heart. And if you can’t do that, don’t try and grow your veteran teachers.

Show Outro

So how do we put this into action? I encourage you to:

· Check in with your veteran teachers this week and ask them three questions:

o What is your teaching super-power?

o What’s the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher, and who you were when you began?

o If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be?

· Don’t respond to the answers, just listen and think.

· Do this for a week, and next Tuesday I’ll offer some additional steps to build on what you find out.

I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails, which were all about the same theme underlying today’s episode – relationships! It was a fun week of emails, so I hope you will tune in.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I have a couple simple ways to do so:

1. Invest no money but a little time and download our free checklist on building your support network. That checklist is hanging around for three more days and then it is gone. If you don’t have a great support network, begin building a better one today by getting the checklist. Each day you’ll also receive some detailed advice about developing your network. If you go to my website at fb.com, you’ll be met with a pop-up window – plug in your email and you’ll get a link to the checklist.

2. You can also choose to become a supporting member of our community by contributing $9 a month. You’ll get early and unfettered access to our free courses, a discussion area, a library of past content, and the occasional webinar. You will also be helping me to continue investing both time and money in producing this podcast, writing the daily email, and producing free content.

3. Finally, you can become a full member of our APEx community and join me for monthly group coaching and lots of other perks.

You can get the details and links for all of these on my website ...

Five for Friday, August 14-18, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

Today’s shout out goes to… I don’t know. It’s been a quiet week at the podcast as everyone gears up for school. Please consider emailing me, DMing me on LinkedIn, or leaving a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts – so I can give someone a shout out – so I can give you a shout out!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of August 14-18, 2023.

New plus new = good!

New teachers want close relationships with their administrators.

In the end, we stay in organizations because of the relationships we have with leaders.

Takeaway

Friday’s email summarized it all. If your school culture isn’t where you want it to be, there are two critical things to look at:

· First is the quality of the relationships you have with others. If those aren’t where you want them to be, go back to Friday’s email, print it off, and cut out the list of bullet points. Tape them to your computer, your door, mirror, everywhere. Just begin asking questions that help you learn about people.

· Second, and this will be an upcoming episode, look at the alignment within your organization. The easiest thig to check is the demand you are putting on people’s static resources:

o Resources come in two forms

o Time and attention are different (giving time to something when you are fried)

o Backpack size

o Lightening the load can improve culture

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey.

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I have a couple simple ways to do so:

1. Invest no money but a little time and download our free checklist on building your support network.

2. Invest $9 a month and about 20 minutes of your time to become a supporting member of our community. You’ll get early and unfettered access to our free courses, a discussion area, a library of past content, and the occasional webinar. You will also be helping me to continue investing both time and money in producing this podcast, writing the daily email, and producing free content.

3. Finally, you can become a full member of our APEx community and join me for monthly group coaching and lots of other perks.

You can get the details and links for all of these on my website at fb.com

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we play with some ideas about how to support veteran teachers.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Strive for presence, not perfection with Angela Maiers

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Notable Quotes

Angela Maiers:

“We don’t have to guess anymore, these practices make the biggest difference with people.”

“Mattering is the sense that you have significant to others… We need others around us to know we matter.”

“We asked 500,000 thousand kids one question: what would make you run to school on your worst day? The results came back – they wanted to know someone was excited about their existence.”

“Three behaviors: Noticing, naming, and meaning”

“Your presence is what it takes to make a mattering moment, 2-20 seconds.”

“When you go through the world feeling invisible, it changes your state.”

“Connection before content.”

“How you greet people and how you leave people are the two most important parts”

2-5-2 (2-20 seconds, how you greet and how you leave):

· 2: Pause, smile, look at them, (quadruple bonus points for slipping in their name)

· 5: Five people a day to acknowledge

· 2: Wow moments: 2 seconds to share something that made you smile

“Every single day I pick 3-5 people and I share something I noticed about them.”

Frederick:

“The purpose gets distorted… people matter and we need to start there,”

“Asking the second question, ‘no, really, how are you’ signals to you that I care.”

Angela Maiers Links:

Email: angelamaiers@gmail.com

Website: https://angelamaiers.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelamaiers/

Free Resources: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u205KzVYNdkYnLrtqD-GrvUV7-mTyQQr/view

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday, August 7-11, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 08:41:14 -0400

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

So much to celebrate today:

· WOW! This is number 150 of The Assistant Principal Podcast!

· We topped 4500 downloads in July – a new record!

· I keep hearing from listeners telling me how the podcast has helped them land their first AP job, or work with a teacher, and more.

Today’s shout out goes to… You my colleague. All of you, and most especially,

· The 16 of you who have invested a minute in rating the podcast!

· The numerous people who have emailed me or DMd me on LinkedIn to share how the show has helped them. I hope you understand how powerful that is, and how much it motivates me to get better. Honestly, talking into the void taps my courage every episode, but having feedback helps me remember that I’m not speaking into the void, that people are listening, and that this show matters.

· The people who forward this show and recommend it to their colleagues. Very few listeners found this show in social media. Most of you either joined via my email list or heard about the show from someone else. Thank you for being a part of growing this show.

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Being Present for the Long Game with William D. Parker

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Congratulations! You finally have that brand new AP job! Or maybe you’re walking into a
different new leadership position, or moving into a different school. Or maybe you aren’t going
anywhere... yet.
Today my special guest and I are going to dig into the four essentials that many of the support
programs for school leaders miss. These are four essentials to help you take care of you so you
can stay play the long game. Leadership isn’t a sprint. I’m not sure it’s a marathon wither –
maybe more like my recent Pennine Way through hike of 270 miles, but... longer. The thing is,
you can’t stay in the game if you’re injured – whether that’s physically, emotionally, or
spiritually. Today’s podcast will help prevent those injuries and keep you in top form so you can
continue supporting and growing others for years to come.

Five for Friday July 31-August 4, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 31-August 4, 2023.

“I’m so glad you are here!” with Natalia Meija

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Passion!
Remember when you were just starting out and you wanted to set the world on fire? I know, you
are in school leadership, so you are still setting the world on fire – in a good way – but maybe
some days it feels like your box of matches is running a bit low. Maybe? Today we have a very
special guest who is on the front end of her career, with matches to spare. Her passion and
wisdom are contagious, and whether you have an abundance or dearth of matches, or are
somewhere in between, today’s guest will bring a smile to your face and a spark to your heart.

Five for Friday July 24-28, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 24-28, 2023.

Building a Support Network with Frederick

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:18:00 -0400

You can’t do it alone! Building a support network is essential to any leader’s success but is critical to first-year assistant principals. A good network consists of four roles which we will explore today.

Five for Friday July 17-21, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 17-21, 2023.

Compassionate Accountability with Dr. Nate Regier

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Accountability is compassionate. Conflict builds trust. Switches influence our mindset. At first glance, none of these statement may seem to make a lot of sense, but 30 minutes from now you will probably be embracing the ideas behind them – ideas that lead us to powerful truths which will improve life and leadership. Today, we dig into compassionate accountability with a very special guest.

Five for Friday July 10-14, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 10-14, 2023.

Something we do together with Dr. Helen Kelly

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

What if I could give you three strategies to magically prevent burnout? Do I have your attention?
Full disclosure – I don’t have three strategies, because burnout isn’t about you. It’s about
something bigger. And you can’t prevent burnout. It requires something greater. Sounds a bit
confusing? Playfulness aside, today we are looking at something essential to everyone listening.
We are going to talk about burnout, but I promise you this will be a unique conversation and
something different from the “walk away from work and get your exercise” that is typical of
burnout conversations. Yes, we will encourage you to get exercise, but today is more about
reframing than rejuvenating.

Five for Friday July 3-7, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 3-7, 2023.

The difference between good and great leaders with Darrin Peppard

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:00:00 -0400

One of my favorite books is Jim Collins’ Good to Great – a book about what separates great companies from good ones. Collins’ book focuses on organizations, so what about leaders? What separates a great assistant principal from a good one? If you aren’t at the level of leadership you’d like to be, how do you get to being awesome? Today’s guest will help us take a few important steps on that journey down the road to awesome!

Five for Friday June 26-30, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 26-30, 2023.

Making Mandates Motivating with Mike Anderson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

We are in an era where teacher and school lead autonomy is under a lot of pressure. It is becoming common practice, especially at the elementary level, for teachers to be handed a tightly structured curriculum and scripted teaching package and told “do this.” We even hear the term “teacher-proof” being used to refer to the idea that anyone, even a struggling teacher, can do this program.

On the other end, we have mandatory evaluation processes that, while well-intentioned, concentrate time and attention on a summative process that actually detracts from the formative work that helps teachers to grow in their craft.

Both of these situations put processes and purpose before people, so today Mike Anderson and I are going to help you think about how to be more strategic and to leverage these two phenomena to put people first and to help grow a better school.

Five for Friday June 19-23, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 19-23, 2023.

Retribution Versus Restoration with AJ Crabill

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

In behavioral psychology, a punishment is defined as any change that reduces the likelihood of a
behavior occurring again. Retribution is defined as legal revenge, with something being taken or
inflicted upon someone else for a wrong.
Let’s be honest, we mix these terms up a lot. Students can only act in the ways that they have
learned, and only cope using the strategies they have.
What if there was another way to “do discipline”? One that didn’t chew up half your day and
that actually did decrease the likelihood that you would be dealing with the same kid and same
issue over and over? If your curiosity is piqued, stay tuned!

Five for Friday June 12-6, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 12-6, 2023.

Deeper Learning with Dr. Sarah Fine

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

One of the most common laments I hear from school leaders involves the lack of student engagement present in so many classrooms. What drives engagement isn’t activities, its learning – deeper learning. But what is deeper learning, and how do we help teachers learn about it and implement it? I hope you are ready as we go deep into deeper learning on today’s episode.

Five for Friday June 4-9, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 4-9, 2023.

New to the game?

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

I’ve been hearing from a number of people who are getting ready to be brand new assistant principals in the fall and I have been thinking about the most critical things for them to do during the summer and the first few weeks of school. Of course, you need to build relationships and learn how your school does all the paperwork, and you need to get familiar with your policies. Your new principals and district leaders will help you with all of that.
For my suggestions, I wanted to get away from the obvious, so I have 3 suggestions for you to get ready for the wildest ride of your life. And if you aren’t a new AP, I hope you will stay with me because all of these tips will be helpful for experienced leaders too!

Five for Friday May 29 – June 2, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of May 29 – June 2, 2023.

I’m going to go completely out of order today and just work through the overall theme which was about solving problems. In today’s episode we will touch on the six dimensions of organizations, the role of leadership, change processes, and an example of identifying root problems. This episode will tie together several of my key conceptual frameworks in more detail than the emails did, so be ready for a meaty episode that begins at 40,000 feet but takes us right down to ground level. The whole week was inspired by a training I did last week with a group of non-profit leaders. We worked through an example of the process of identifying problems and landed in a slightly unexpected space. I’ll share what happened at the end of this episode, so please stay with me.

Secrets of Teacher Retention with Dr. Luke Simmering

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 30 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Last fall I offered a five-page guide on ten activities to support new teachers during the first two-
weeks of school. The activities were designed to achieve three goals:

● Create a trusting relationship with the teacher
● Lay the foundations for a well-managed classroom
● Provide curricular guidance

Today’s guest has been doing some remarkable work using a high-quality teacher satisfaction
survey to identify keys to teacher retention. What really stands out to me is that he can provide
districts with data that is most applicable to them, not to every other district in the state or
country. That said, there are some common things that assistant principals and other school
leaders can do to help increase teacher retention. So how do these rigorously researched factors
compare to my goals for APs of building the relationship, laying foundations for classroom
management, and providing curricular guidance? We are about to find out, but I want to offer
you a challenge before we get any further – if you hear one or more simple actionable strategies
to increase teacher retention, will you actually implement them? I wonder...

Five for Friday May 22-26, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 26 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Last Friday I began with a shoutout to Soupman2545 for leaving a review and helping me improve the show. It felt good to begin the show with a thank you so I’m going to begin doing this regularly on Fridays.

Today I want to acknowledge the daily email readers and podcast listeners who responded to last week’s challenge to identify the band associated with the titles of each daily email’s subject line.

Pause, breathe, flourish with William D Parker

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 23 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

I know… you don’t have time to pause, you barely have time to breathe, and you are saving flourishing for summer. You are too busy with all the tasks, and taking care of everyone else. Except for being in this moment, and, right now, this is the only moment that matters because it is the only moment you have. And I am so glad you are here, and today’s very special guest is going to help both you and I make the time to pause, to breathe, and to flourish.

Five for Friday May 15-20, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 19 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

If you listened to Tuesday’s incredible show with Tequilla Lamar, you noticed something new – music!

Mara and Collin have been suggesting for some time that we needed to add a few musical transitions, but I have been dragging my feet until I read a recent review of the show.

Shout out to soupman2545, who left a review that began glowingly…

“I am going to be an AP next year and have already begun using ideas from content in this podcast to improve my practice and increase my capacity in my current leadership position.”

I love getting kudos, but it was the next think part of the review that was golden:

“If I could offer one piece of feedback, it would be for show aesthetics… something so small as a jingle or catchy tune, might help hook others in and give them something to look forward to each week.”

Soupman2545, THANK YOU. It takes time and effort to write a review, and it takes a bit more to offer thoughtful feedback in a way that helps make things better.”

So, we are beginning this episode with a thank you to soupman2545- you have helped make us better.

Are you worthy? With Tequila Lamar

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 16 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Five for Friday May 8-12, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 12 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of May 8-12, 2023.
Celebrations: Garden planted out! New AP (1 & 2) mentoring program progress!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with Dr. Jacque Jacobs and Dr. Kevin O’Gorman, May 9, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 09 May 2023 17:19:37 -0400

That my friends is a musical introduction to today’s theme – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
We aren’t talking about spaghetti westerns, but rather a valuable process to help school leaders
get an honest snapshot of what is working, what’s not working, and most importantly what to do
about it. My guests are two incredible educational leaders and human beings and you’ll be
tapping into over 100 years of leadership experience in today’s show.

Five for Friday May 1-5, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 05 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today we will begin with the end. There are many big and complex problems we need to solve, but the process will be slow and require great effort.

In contrast, there are small quality-of-life improvements we can make that are simple and yield immediate results.

We looked at three this week:

Get rid of things that aren’t essential
Produce a minimally viable version as quickly and simply as possible
Let your colleagues know how glad you are that they are here today!

10 Simple Steps to a Better School

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 02 May 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Back in episode 44 I shared the story that drives me in which I talked about Kelli, an assistant principal who was overwhelmed with discipline. I visited her around 10:00 o'clock on a spring morning in her rural elementary school and she already had seven office referrals. When I asked Kelli how many of those referrals reflected teacher problems more than kid problems she said five.

The bad news was that there were five kids getting in trouble who shouldn't be getting in trouble and that Kelli was being overwhelmed and prevented from doing her job of developing teachers. The good news was that if we could find a way to get Kelly into those teachers’ classrooms we could stop the cycle. The best news is there's a way to help those teachers with minimal cost, minimal training, and minimal effort.

Five for Friday April 24-28, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

If you get my daily email, you already know that this week’s messages involved me going head-to-head with ChatGPT on the topic of creating a positive organizational culture. What I didn’t have space to discuss in the emails is how we can use the framework of the six dimensions of organizations to help provide a more coherent understanding of organizational culture. So today’s five for Friday will be substantially different from the weeks emails and will give you some important things to think about whether you are a daily email reader or not.

It is simpler than you think!

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

At the beginning of this school year, North Carolina embarked on a two-year, $90-million journey to train every elementary and teachers and administrator in a program called LETRS, which aligns to Science of Reading standards, a research-based approach to teaching reading. The training focuses on building a knowledge base about how students learn to read, as opposed to being a collection of strategies. This knowledge base comes at a steep price – about 160 hours of study and training in order to learn it. Breaking down the numbers, over the two years, each administrator and teacher will be asked to spend almost 30-minutes a day learning LETRS, and NC will spend a minimum of $2,000 on each person.
For experienced teachers who have the time and desire to dig into the science of reading, LETRS might be a great resource, but for the teachers who are struggling just to survive each day, for the early career teachers who are still working through the basics of managing a classroom, planning lessons, and using formative assessments, a huge comprehensive program makes no sense.
For less than 30-minutes a day and less than $2000, you can help many of your teachers to live and teach better immediately. Better yet, the process is simple. Not always easy, but simple.

Five for Friday April 17-21, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Famous leadership theorist and author John Maxwell said, “leadership s influence, nothing less, nothing more.”

Is that it? Is that really all leadership is?

Crisis Prevention with Dr. Kevin Mabie

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

When I say “People before Purpose” what do I actually mean? When I say the silver bullet -the one truly magical solution – is to build relationships, what does that look like? Today we will unpack two relationship forms. Congenial relationships are based on personal connections, while collegial relationships are based on professional connections. We will dig deeper into each of these and into how to lead when teachers are in crisis.

Five for Friday April 10-14, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of April 10-14, 2023.

All the Answers Are Already in the Room with Dr. Tiffany Brunson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Saying that great leaders are great listeners has almost become cliché. Listening is one of those
things that sounds simple, but which can be challenging to execute – especially when all the
craziness is happening. Part of the challenge is that listening requires presence – full presence.
I’m going to ask you for something special today. Today, as you listen to this podcast, don’t just
listen. Really listen. What’s the difference? You are about to find out!

Five for Friday April 3-7, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

If I can’t do everything, doesn’t that mean that I choose what does get done – and what doesn’t? And if I’m choosing, do my choices reflect my values? These three ideas make up my three epiphanies:

I can’t do everything
Therefore, I choose what gets done
And my choices do – or should – reflect my values

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of April 3-7, 2023.

Trust-Based Observations with Craig Randall Part 2, 4/4/2023

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 15:00:00 -0400

You’ve heard me talk about the flywheel. It is the process of providing professional development,
following it up with targeted observations, and using observation data to drive the next round of
professional development. As with so many things, while the concept is simple, execution is
difficult. The flywheel will look different in different schools, and today’s guest shares with us a
highly developed and coherent version of the flywheel. I guarantee that you will leave today’s
conversation with a couple big ideas lodged in your head! Ideas that I hope you will decide to act
on.

Five for Friday March 27-31, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0400

I had a lot of fun writing this week’s emails. Last week I met and worked with some incredible people, and it just made the whole week special. I hope that positivity radiates through this week’s messages. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of March 27-31, 2023.

Trust-Based Observations with Craig Randall, 3/27/2023

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Five for Friday March 20-24, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0400

Simple fences, small wins, and three tips for interviewing. But wait, there’s more!
Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of March 20-24, 2023.

Examples of Five-Minute Coaching

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0400

So many teachers to coach but so little time! A simple coaching cycle might consist of a Five minute pre-conference, 30-minute observation, 10-minute post conference, and 30 minutes of professional development. Most APs don’t have 75 minutes to invest in a single coaching cycle. But what if there was a form of coaching that would allow you to do 15 coaching sessions in the same amount of time as a traditional coaching cycle. You could support 15 teachers instead of one, or work with three teachers five different times! In a world that moves so quickly, seventy five-minute coaching may not make sense, but 5-minute coaching most certainly does!

Five for Friday March 13-17, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0400

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of March 13-17, 2023.

The Keys to Greatness with Dr. Todd Whitaker, March 14, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 16:13:22 -0400

Are the keys to being a great teacher the same as the keys to being a great principal? And are
those keys the same for being a great assistant principal? We will unlock the answers to those
questions today, with a very special guest.

Five for Friday, March 6-10, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0500

This week I took a break from the daily emails. Mara did a great job filling in, but rather than try and tell her story today, I thought I’d share a bit about what waterfalls can teach us about school change.

I often think about leadership, and the prevalence of water in the Smoky’s almost guarantees that it will feature prominently in my thoughts, so here are some things we can learn about school change from understanding waterfalls:

1. Waterfalls don’t start out as waterfalls, they start in many places and slowly collect together.

a. Change should come from the individuals furthest upstream – the teachers

b. Allow people to come to the change in their own time

2. Water takes the path of least resistance – meaning that the waterfall occurs because there are barriers blocking water in some places and low points making it easier for water to flow in others.

a. Make it easier for people to adopt the change by providing support and removing obstacles

b. Make it more difficult to avoid the change by adding barriers

3. The power of the waterfall is dependent on the flow of water, when water is diverted or in short supply, the waterfall slows.

a. Taking your attention away – diverting – will slow the change

4. Leader is like the land, contouring and shaping, but not controlling. The water does the work, the land just creates the conditions

Change is a strange feature of organizations:

· Schools rarely stay the same but also resist many efforts at change

· Everyone can and needs to grow, but many change initiatives take the attention away from individual improvement, thereby making each teacher’s development more challenging

· Change should be driven from the bottom and adopted by the entire organization only when it has demonstrated success, yet we often go the opposite way, driving mandatory changes from the top and abandoning them only after they fail.

· Change is a natural process and leaders need to shape change, but they can’t control it. The waterfall I build in my backyard can never rival the majesty of those in nature, so know the difference between what you are trying to build and what is naturally building itself. And remember, people want to get better, they want to grow – that is the natural course of things. Think about how to work with that rather than trying to control or usurp it.

You Are the Master of Time with Danny Bauer, March 7, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Do you work too many hours? Do you feel like there is never enough time? Do you ever miss
your family and friends? Today, my guest, Danny Bauer and myself will explore some keys to a
mindshift that will help you rethink how you approach your work and, more importantly, your
own health.

Five for Friday February 27-March 3, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of February 27-March 3, 2023.

The Journey and The Guide

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Leadership is a journey and although I talk about it being a journey of five stages, we never truly arrive, and this is a great thing! A never-ending leadership journey is good news because it means we are never done growing, and we can always be getting better. Every day I have an opportunity to do better, to be better, and so do you – how cool is that!?!

The Assistant Principal Podcast Homepage for episodes and resources: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Five for Friday February 20-24, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

For about three weeks we had a tight focus on mentoring. I hope you embraced the three core messages:

Spend more time with and show more appreciation for your mentor
If you don’t have a mentor, find one
Be intentional about mentoring others

Beginning this week we pivoted to our next big theme: traveling the five stages from being an urgent leader to a strategic one.

This week’s big idea: You can’t move forward by staying where you are.

Wisdom in Two Parts with Dr. Jan Osborn, Part 2

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Part two of our incredible interview with Dr. Jan Osborn. This week we learn more life lessons and hear more good stories from Jan!

Without People, We Have No Purpose with Dr. Jan Osborn

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

One of the beauties of life is that over time we collect special ideas from cherished people. Through deep connections with friends, colleagues, and mentors, we become better people. Some of us even become referred to as wise. Wisdom is not something mysterious. Wisdom does not come from contemplating life on a mountaintop. Real wisdom comes from a unique combination of thievery and sharing. Wise people are like Robin Hood – they steal ideas from people who are rich in great ideas, and then they share those riches with others. Today we are talking with Dr. Jan Osborn – the person in my life who I have stolen the most from, and who has taught me to give it away.

Mentor Me

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

In my junior year of college Dr. Bob Kelly said to me, “I predict that someday you will earn your doctorate.” His statement planted the seed of an idea that had not been there before. In 1994 I enrolled in a Special Education course at the University of Findlay. That course was taught by Dr. Jan Osborn, who not only pushed me to get that doctorate, but supported me every step of the way, and continues to mentor me to this day. Dr. Jacque Jacobs hired me at Western Carolina University and helped me grow into a servant leader by being one herself, and by intentionally nurturing the best I had to offer others. And Dr. Rob Knoeppel took me under his wing when I was my most broken and damaged, and taught me that it is okay to not be our best, that it is okay to take the space to heal. These four people were mentors to me and to countless others. Today we will dig into what it means to be a mentor and how you dear colleague, can grow your ability to mentor others.

Five for Friday February 6-10, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

None of this week’s messages were earth shattering or focused on big changes, but that is the whole point. It is the small changes that matter. Making one or two small changes today lets us invest an extra minute or two in supporting someone who needs it – and that is where the big change happens. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of February 6-10, 2023.

Every building, every class, every day! with Eleanor MaCauley

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 97: Every building, every class, every day!

About this show:
Unless you are a first-time listener, you have heard me talk about the flywheel – the core set of
instructional practices that drive continual teacher growth. But what does this flywheel look like
in practice, in a real school? We explore the answer today with a special principal who has a
reputation for supporting and growing teachers.

Notable Quotes

Eleanor:
We're putting systems here in place at Fairview that will long outlast individuals, and I
think some of the problem is that we rely on certain people and we're trying to create a
system so that it doesn't matter who the principal is, it doesn't matter who the assistant
principal is, because the systems will be in place. So, when that leadership changes and
our teachers change, that system is still going to work and that's our goal.
The goal is to get through every building, every class, every day.
I do feel like the game changer is that accountability piece, and that intentional planning,
and really breaking down those standards so they know exactly what they're teaching.
There's no questions. And then the coaches do a great job not only planning with them
but pushing into their classrooms. So, they're in their classrooms seeing how it works. It
could be a Co teaching lesson, it could be you know, just a concern with that group of
kids. And so, they have really fostered such positive relationships because it's non
evaluative. They're their support and so they're coming in to support.
It's not a one-person show.
Sometimes I think that we get so caught up in having to do all this work that we forget to
take a deep breath and take that time to enjoy the adults around you and the kids around
you.

Frederick:
Faculty meetings, I think, are one of those things that exist almost universally that we
think they're important, but they're really not because there are so many other ways that
we can get that information out to people.

Improving life and leadership of assistant principals

https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html 2
You're building the systems and supports and I think one of the pieces that I want
listeners to really take away, is that you have to protect that time, but you can protect
that time. But it is a conscious choice, right. You are thinking you know the interruptions
will occur if you don't do something. So, you look at your resources and build the
systems in place so that that time is protected.
I think we sometimes underappreciate how complex the observation process is and the
different ways that we can do it in order to achieve different ends and support people in
different ways.

Frederick’s Links:
Email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com
Website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting
Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Five for Friday January 30-February 2, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Show Notes

Teaser:

This week was all about leadership as a concept. What is leadership? Beyond what leadership is, we looked out how leaders gain power, and the ability they have to build – or destroy. In today’s episode I will deviate significantly from the short messages of the week and expand on these important themes.

This week’s big idea: Real leadership is about people

Hello colleagues and welcome to The Assistant Principal Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Frederick Buskey.

I’ve been growing leaders and future leaders for over 30 years. Through my own experiences, and through working with hundreds of other leaders, I’ve learned that school leadership is a journey that occurs in three phases:

Urgent leaders spend their time completing tasks, but…

Intentional leaders invest their time building systems. However…

Strategic leaders create time by growing people.

In 2018 I founded Strategic Leadership Consulting to help make this journey more enjoyable for leaders like you. Through my daily email, monthly micro-journal, online community, my upcoming book, and, of course, this podcast, I keep you company on this journey and provide you with actionable ideas and tools to live and lead better today and tomorrow.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of January 30-February 2, 2023. Can you believe we are through January already? I’m just now getting used to saying 2023.

Monday:

“Being in the left lane of a superhighway with a string of cars behind you does not make you a leader. It may just mean you’re slow and too stupid to get out of the way.”

-Dr. Jacque Jacobs, Mentor, Professor Emeritus, and so much more

So if having people behind doesn’t define leadership, what does?

Some quotes from scholars (none of these appeared in the weekly emails):

“Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” – Joanne Ciulla, philosopher and director of The Institute for Ethical Leadership
“Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” – John Maxwell
If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.” – Attributed to Lao Tzu
“Intentional use of power to influence a person or people to achieve a specific outcome.” – Frederick Buskey

From here Wednesday and Thursday talked about power, specifically three forms:

Legitimate
Expert
Referent

Hierarchical v. non-hierarchical

Main point: cultivating your expert and referent power helps you be able to mentor others

I wrapped up the week trying to drive this point home by asking you to think about the mentor’s you have had in your life, and then work to emulate some of what made them have such a profound influence. One of the missed opportunities in my career was realizing too late the influence I had on my colleagues. It has only been in the past five years that I have consciously begun mentoring people, but in reflecting I realize I have been unconsciously doing it for almost 20 years. If I had been more intentional, I could have had a bigger impact. So that is my invitation to you. Think about the power you hold. Legitimate power yes, but much more importantly think about the expert and referent power you hold. Embrace it. Use it. Be intentional about mentoring others and helping them grow.

Before we close: Dr. Ryan Donlan was our guest this past Tuesday and we discussed coaching up down and around as an assistant principal. It is a great show for anyone wanting to be more intentional about mentoring – and leading – others.

And… in Friday’s email I invited people to share with me the stories about their mentors. If you have someone who has had a profound positive impact on you, consider doing this:

Record a 1-3 minute tribute and email it to me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com. I will do my best to work your tribute into an upcoming show so you can publicly acknowledge someone important. Share a quick story or a list of qualities, or just say thank you. I’ll do my best to get your tribute on the show.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please forward it. I’ll give a shoutout to my new LinkedIn friend, a school head in Kuala Lumpur who found the podcast because someone shared it with him and said, you should listen.” If you are finding value in the show, please forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this.”

Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. Remember that you can walk more with me by subscribing to my daily leadership email and Quadrant2, my monthly micro-journal. And if that isn’t enough, we can walk further together in APEx, my virtual paid community for assistant principals. APEx helps you network with other APs and participate group coaching with me! You can learn more about APEx and my other offerings at my website, frederickbuskey.com.

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when k-8 principal Eleanor MaCauley takes us deep inside how the flywheel works in her school.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

https://allotherdutiesasassigned.blogspot.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

All Other Duties as Assigned with Dr. Ryan Donlan

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 95: All Other Duties as Assigned with Dr. Ryan Donlan

About this show:

There are a couple of closely related questions I am frequently asked:As an AP, what’s my role in helping to support the principal’s vision?How do I lead if my principal and I have different leadership styles?How do I practice instructional and/or visionary leadership if I’m stuck doing butts, buses, and books?This gets at an essential challenge in developing principals. The job of the assistant principalship is very different from the job of the principalship, and it can be hard to prepare to be a principal when you are busy being an assistant principal.
These are questions focused on assistant principals, but the answers will be relevant to principals and other school and district leaders, so I hope you will stay with us as we unpack what to means to be number 2 (#2).

Notable Quotes

Ryan

I got an opportunity very early on in my career to become an assistant principal. It came with another position: the Alternative Education Director. So you can imagine it came with championing kids. What I found out very quickly, Frederick, is that it also came with championing adults.

I'm celebrating a daily opportunity to be only as good as my next day's best work.

Whether it's an informal visit, quick walkthrough or formalized evaluation, it seems the scripting, logging and scribing with tablet or clipboard in hand is more the rule than the exception. I suggest something completely different that may be even more important - a visit just because.

How number twos in leadership have influence and roles in all directions continuously teaching up, teaching down and teaching around.

Frederick

I think that's one of the challenges when we say we're going to go into classrooms and do an observation, like, what does that mean? What are we supposed to do? And then what are the teachers actually expecting from us?...And so I call this performative observation where it's like I'm an audience member. And I'm going into your classroom and you're giving a performance. So the benefit is for me, I'm just there to enjoy and to appreciate your performance. So it's you're not going to get any feedback from me because I'm there for me for my own growth and for my own benefit.

But if I'm being authentic and I work at my authenticity and I work to prioritize the things that are in line with what I value, and to behave in the ways that reflect my own values when I can be authentic and I am just being. Then I think I'm naturally going to be having more of an impact, right, because I'm going to be true and people are going to recognize that there is that kind of sincerity or that authenticity to me.

If I'm willing to share with you what I'm working on and ask for some accountability, then that means that we're building that culture where that's your expectation and you can do that too. So I think as school leaders, we need to be really transparent about what we're trying to grow at, what we're trying to get better at and consistently share that with our teachers and ask for their support and ask for their help, which then makes it, I think, a lot more appealing when we're pushing into classrooms and we're asking them to grow or we're asking them how they want to grow right now there's an equity in that situation that I think is really positive.

Ryan Donlan Links:

Email: dr@ryandonlan.com

Website: www.ryandonlan.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ryandonlan, or @RyanDonlan

All Other Duties As Assigned, Quick Reads (Blog)

Minds Unleashed Book Website

https://www.mindsunleashed.net

Solution Tree Website: All Other Duties As Assigned

https://www.solutiontree.com/all-other-duties-as-assigned.html

Amazon Author Page for All My Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ryan-Donlan/

Frederick Buskey Links:

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday January 23-27, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Show Notes

Teaser: Outside of Monday, the theme running through this week’s emails is care. We look at care from a couple of different perspectives that include increasing attention, decreasing attention, and giving some love to the second principle of leverage – working A-B.

Hello colleagues and welcome to The Assistant Principal Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Frederick Buskey.

Urgent leaders spend their time completing tasks, but…

Intentional leaders invest their time building systems. However…

Strategic leaders create time by growing people.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of January 23-27, 2023.

Monday: Just because I like to do something doesn’t mean I should be doing it!

Tuesday: Putting people first fulfills both or own and their needs and leads to intrinsic motivation.

Wednesday: Providing extra care to people before a big challenge is critical.

Thursday: Less is more – decrease the number of change initiatives you are implementing.

Friday: Less is more part 2: People can implement change better when the demands are smaller.

That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Before we go, I encourage you to make an intentional choice to take something you’ve heard today and to reflect more deeply or to act on it.

If you already have a clear idea of what to do, that’s wonderful. If not, let me offer three possibilities:

Look for ways to lighten people’s packs. The job of teaching is overwhelming, so simplifying the demands of external initiatives can be a huge gift. Teachers will appreciate it more than jeans day!
Forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this, I want us to talk about it”
Identify the one big takeaway or question from this episode and share it with me. You can share a written, audio, or video message with me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday for Episode 95 with Dr. Ryan Donlan. This will be a wonderful episode as Ryan and I discuss specific strategies of how APs can influence others. This podcast will kick off our February focus on mentoring and influencing others. It also gets us ever-closer to episode 100, an interview with my career-long mentor who shares incredible wisdom and kindness.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!

Cultivating Motivation with Mike Anderson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 93: Cultivating Motivation with Mike Anderson

About this show:

There once was an old man who didn’t like baseball. He likes quiet and solitude. But every day all summer long, the neighborhood kids would gather at the empty field next to the man’s house and play ball all day long, yelling, screaming, and sometimes crying. The man put up with the noisy kids for years, until finally, he came up with an awful, evil, dastardly plan. And if you want to hear what that plan was, stay tuned because today we are taking on the complex issue of motivation!

Notable Quotes

Mike:

We are programmed to seek out enjoyment and fun. And so, the key to all of these six motivators (autonomy, competence, belonging, purpose, curiosity, and fun,) is that the learning itself should tap into these. It's not the something that we dangle as the carrot… that if you finish your regular work then you can choose an activity to do. Or if you do what I want you to, then we'll have an ice cream party. It's the fun itself, the autonomy itself, the belonging itself needs to be woven into the fabric of the learning.

The way we offer the feedback is so important as the administrator. You go in and say, “I really loved how you were keeping your direct teachings short”. The energy is coming back to you without meaning to. Probably you are making this about your approval, which can actually feel like an extrinsic motivator. It takes a little bit of the power away from the teacher. So instead, you might say “Your goal was to keep your lesson short. I observed you kept your direct teaching to 7 minutes. That's totally in line with your goal congratulations”.

We need to build relationships outside of feedback, but not give feedback in terms of relationship.

I think about the first principle that I ever had, Cherry Jones in East Lyme, Connecticut. The nameplate on her office door did not say “Cherry Jones, Principal”. It said “Cherry Jones, Chief Learner” since she viewed herself as the lead learner of the building and that made such an impression on me as a young teacher. And she did try lots of things. She was always experimenting and learning and growing and making mistakes and it was open and sometimes raw and public and it was awesome, and it was such a great example of somebody who was truly a lead learner.

Part of what you got to do if you're going to help lead adult learning is you have to feel the same joy in working with adults that you did in working with kids and recognize that everybody's going to be in different places and some days are going to be hard. But you need to see the people you're working with as learners and you're there to support their learning and get this sort of joy and satisfaction from watching them grow and learn.

Frederick

Well, and when people have choice, they're going to choose the things that are valuable to them. And then when we serve them. And support them. We're decreasing that effort and creating a little bit more safety so that they can push the envelope and take risks because they know we have their back.

I think one of the challenges is that a lot of us have this mindset. Of professional development is something we do to our teachers. And so, the planning and everything is coming from the top. And that's one of the things I'm trying to breakthrough, and it seems hard. I think we need to really flip that on the head, and we need to be serving our teachers and our teachers need to be pushing and saying here's what I need, here's where I need to grow.

So, one of my big new points of emphasis is that it's people before purpose and I used to be a purpose driven, you know why? Type person. But it's people before purpose and that's exactly what you just said. I have to invest in you as a person and when I build that relationship because I care about you, and I value you. In that process, you're going to tell me what you need, you're going to tell me what you want, and then I can serve you.

Links:

Mike Anderson Links:

Website: https://leadinggreatlearning.com/

Online Courses: https://courses.leadinggreatlearning.com/

Frederick Links:

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday January 16-20

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Show Notes

Teaser: Today’s Five for Friday will be a bit different. Leading off we will talk about the best pot to use for cooking oatmeal. I bet you didn’t see that coming! After the brief cooking lesson, we’ll invest the rest of our time exploring a question I received from a reader last week.

This week’s big idea: Strategies for coaching up

Hello colleagues and welcome to The Assistant Principal Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Frederick Buskey.

Urgent leaders spend their time completing tasks, but…

Intentional leaders invest their time building systems. However…

Strategic leaders create time by growing people.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of January 16-20, 2023.

Monday: Don’t waste time fixating on decisions that don’t matter (a story of oatmeal)

Two things:

We sometimes try and force people to grow in the direction we want them to grow, instead of the direction they want to grow. In the big picture, the direction of the growth is irrelevant. The fact that they are growing is enough. So let them decide what size the pot needs to be, or to lead their own growth.
I am guilty of fixating on decisions over things that, in the big picture, don’t matter. It is a waste of time and attention, our two most precious resources.

Tuesday-Friday: Question of the week

I occasionally receive powerful questions from listeners and one of my intentions in 2023 is to do more with these questions by sharing more widely. Here is my first attempt.

“I would love to know your thoughts about how you try to lead an organization strategically when your superiors are not leading with the same mindset. I'm currently struggling to get my manager to see the need to train and listen to feedback from our employees instead of just harping on them for ‘not doing their job.’”

Ryan Donlan, an upcoming podcast guest, talks about the idea of leading “up, down, and around.”

Leadership is not a hierarchical activity; leadership is a human activity!

Way back in episode 20, Dr. Gabby Grant discussed restorative practices and when I asked her about how to begin implementing those practices she said “Change starts from within.” Before we can change others, we need to change ourselves. In the process of changing ourselves, we may create the space for others, including those above, to also engage in changing themselves.

You can’t make your leaders change. You can provide them opportunities to reflect and help them grow in ways they determine, but only if they make that choice themselves. Although I didn’t point this out in the daily emails, I realize now that the only way to get leaders to grow is to invite them into that space and the easiest way to do that is to bring them along on our own journey – if they are willing to walk with us.

Three strategies for coaching up:

Providing third-party examples of good leadership can facilitate leadership growth within an organization.
1. Podcasts
2. Articles
3. Books (caution)
4. My daily emails!
Working on a leadership skill and then processing our growth, or lack thereof, with other leaders provides learning opportunities for everyone involved.
Set a leadership growth goal, then share it (and ask for help).
Invest some time in your own growth by creating space to reflect with other leaders.

Takeaway: You can’t force someone to grow. You can only provide space and an invitation and the best way to do that is to start by changing yourself. Invest in your own growth, make it public, ask for help, and invite others to come along with you.

If you already have a clear idea of what to do, that’s wonderful. If not, let me offer three possibilities:

Begin sitting in with your leader at the end of the week and focus on learning about them and from them. Use this time to change yourself, and you will open the door for your leader to do the same.
Do you know someone else who withes they could “coach up”? Forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this, I want us to talk about it” And yes, that is one of the strategies we discussed today and if you listen closely it is included as part of our new outro in every episode!
Identify the one big takeaway or question from this episode and share it with me. You can share a written, audio, or video message with me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we explore intrinsic motivation with Mike Anderson, author of Tackling the Motivation Crisis. This was a great interview and it will give you lots to think about and maybe help you put a critical eye on some common school practices.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Meet the New Principal with Dr. Sam Sircey Part 2

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 91: Meet the New Principal with Dr. Sam Sircey Part 2

About this show:

I’m working with three new principals this year. They are all first-year principals in new schools, two of them in a new district. Going to a new school is never easy, not for a new principal, not for a new assistant principal. However, most of you listening have either gone through that experience or will go through that experience or both. Today, we have an experienced principal with us who is also in a new school this year, and she is going to help us think about leading in a new school.

Notable Quotes

Dr. Sircey

Being mindful and present and being on the journey with them not in front of them, not behind them, just with them.

I think the best advice is to be very honest with the new administration and if something doesn't feel good, or look good, feels like you're crossing a line, be professional and bring that to the table in a setting and establish that relationship.

Principals are teachers at heart and we love growing other people to take our jobs and that's what I hope I do with my.

Don't lose sight of your passion and why you do this job every day. It's heavy at times. But the outcome is important. And you're not alone.

Frederick

I always think of the principles as a lighthouse… But that's not enough either, because you also have to be helping people, really helping the situation really get better, and supporting people. Because if you're just a lighthouse, then you're rah rah.

If you have a principal that's in there Friday afternoon if you have that opportunity that's the time because your principal is not been able to process all of this stuff all week long and now the quiet comes and now there's that moment and if you can be in there, if you're an assistant principal and you're wanting to grow and you can be in there. Just to listen, a lot of times you're going to learn so much and the relationship that you can form becomes really special.

Links:

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday January 9-13, 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Show Notes

Teaser:

This week’s big idea: We are here to support people, and the first step in supporting is listening.

Hello colleagues and welcome to The Assistant Principal Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Frederick Buskey.

Urgent leaders spend their time completing tasks, but…

Intentional leaders invest their time building systems. However…

Strategic leaders create time by growing people.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of January 9-13, 2023.

Monday: It’s not about your vision, it is about the collective vision of the people who do the work.

Tuesday Leaders listen, and new leaders begin by listening.

“The first thing I did was listen… until you sit with an individual and ask them important questions and to say what is on their minds, you will never get to the meat of what’s going on.”

-Dr. Sam Sircey

Wednesday Put people first

Thursday If we care and trust, we let people take the lead in their own growth.

In his incredible 1971 treatise, On Caring, Milton Mayeroff said that if we really care about someone, we help them grow in the ways in which they determine. We take their lead in the process, in contrast to us trying to remake them in our image or turn them into what we want them to be.

Friday We can use a single word to help us maintain focus on our growth.

Takeaway

We are here to support people, and the first step in supporting is listening.
One word can be more powerful than many words. My word is coherence, what’s yours?

Question of the week:

If you already have a clear idea of what to do, that’s wonderful. If not, let me offer three possibilities:

Figure out your one word!
Forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this, I want us to talk about it”
Identify the one big takeaway or question from this episode and share it with me. You can share a written, audio, or video message with me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com

I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we continue with part 2 of our interview with Dr. Sam Sircey.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!

It won't work! with Dr. Sam Sircey Part 1

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500

Outline

Guest: Sam Sircey

Preferred name/title?
Relax and laugh
Will be video recording and may use small or big pieces
Small things won’t be edited
If there is a gaff – long pause
Intro-interview-outro
Questions for me?
FB hit record

Show Description:

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This podcast compliments APEx Community, the Assistant Principal Exceleration program, but you certainly don’t need to be an APEx member to find value in the podcast.

Guest Intro

Today I’m joined by Dr. Sam Sircey, the principal at Owen High School in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Sam is here with us today to unpack moving to a new school.

Hello Sam! I am so glad to have you on the show. We have been walking our leadership journeys together for a while and it is great to be able to be on this podcast path with you.

Questions

Sam, can you tell us briefly how you got to where you are today?

And we always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?

Let’s begin in the present moment. You came to Owen X months ago. From the perspective of being the Principal in a new school
- What were the three wisest things you did? We want people to learn from your experience, so please do not be modest – share what has worked!
- What have been the two biggest surprises?
- What is one thing that you would have done differently?
- [Astute listeners: 5 mc]
Briefly talk about the APs role in onboarding a new principal
I know you are a strategic leader – you focus on purpose, problems, progress and people, but there is always a struggle and there are always things trying to suck you into the urgency mindset. How do you stay grounded? How do you continuously focus on people before tasks?
Maybe talk about growing teachers, but we will probably run out of time.

Summarizing

As we wrap up, I have three questions for you.

First, what part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?

If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?

Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?

Guest Outro

[fname], this has been great, thank you so much for taking time to share today.

Show Outro

Well Colleagues, this brings us to the point in the episode where it is your turn to participate by making an intentional choice. If you do nothing with what you have just heard, then you have spent the last 30 or so minutes being entertained. But if you choose to do something with what you’ve heard, then you will have made an investment in your own leadership. If you already have a clear idea of how you can apply Sam’s wisdom, that’s wonderful. If not, let me offer three possibilities:

The big takeaway in this episode is that we need to listen to people and give them ownership – and responsibility – for their own challenges. Instead of thinking “Let me tell you what to do…”, think about asking “What’s the problem? And What outcome do you want?” Then listen. If you can work with people to identify the course of action that help them get to their desired outcome, you have helped them to be fully invested.
Forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this, I want us to talk about it”
Identify the one big takeaway or question from this episode and share it with me. You can share a written, audio, or video message with me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com

I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails.

I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!

Five for Friday December 31-January 6, 2022 and 2023

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:43:15 -0500

Five for Friday Outline

From December 26-January 6 are the twelve days of Christmas (in some traditions) and we are celebrating each day with a fun leadership lyric and brief lesson.

Two bonus emails this week!

Dedication to Mr. Land

Day 6

Subject: On the 6th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Six thoughts a straying,

Being strategic is about being intentional. Again, simple but difficult. Ignore those disparate thoughts – they are distractions. Be intentional, purposeful, and present.

Day 7

Subject: On the 7th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Seven souls a singing,

Leaders shouldn’t create the vision. Leaders create the space and provide the support to develop a shared vision that represents the aspirations of the people who power the organization. Like a choir director, the leader then helps bring those voices together to create a remarkable sound.

Day 8

Subject: On the 8th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Eight monkeys making,

Monkeys are the tasks that others try and “give” to you. Monkeys make work for you and, worse they make a distraction. Monkeys may be important to the monkey owner, but not to you. You don’t need to accept every “gift.” Acknowledge the monkey, but let it stay with its true owner.

Day 9

Subject: On the 9th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Nine deeds demanding,

The one most essential thing! Demanding equals urgent, but urgent does not equal important! In this new year, I wish for you to be purposeful in all you do. People before deeds, and purpose before demands.

Day 10

Subject: On the 10th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Ten fingers typing,

Do not confuse productivity for progress or action for improvement. Strategic leaders do not focus on action, they focus on incremental progress. In doing so, they consistently make things better with fewer words.

Day 11

Subject: On the 11th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

‘Leven people asking,

Being strategic means that we are intentional, and because we are intentional we ask before we act. Asking questions lets us identify problems so we avoid wasting time treating symptoms. When we include all stakeholders in questioning process, we usually have a better outcome.

Day 12

Subject: On the 12th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Twelve leaders laughing,

Oh, but we take ourselves so seriously! And yet, the trees don’t care, the fish don’t care, and the world moves on with or without you. Be passionate about what you do. Recognize the value you bring to others. But always remember to laugh, for what kind of a leader can we be if we cannot laugh?

Takeaway

We work hard and we have to be able to have fun and laugh at ourselves.

This wraps up this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the podcast really does help other people to find it.

I’m always trying to improve the show, so if you have feedback please email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com. If you’d like to find out more about what I’m doing to support assistant principals, you can head over to my website at frederickbuskey.com/theassistantprincipal.

I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

People Before Purpose

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 16:26:40 -0500

Coming 🤣

Five for Friday December 26-30, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Outline

Imagine setting a leadership intention at the beginning of each day. That’s what many readers of the daily email do. For some, it has become a ritual: Pour a cup of coffee, open your email, read the Strategic Leader Daily, and set one intention to be aware of or execute for the day. The daily email is a powerful leadership practice so if you aren’t already a subscriber, I hope you’ll consider joining the list. It’s just one more way to include me on your leadership journey, and that would bring me joy. You can find a link on my homepage at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

From December 26-January 6 are the twelve days of Christmas (in some traditions) and we are celebrating each day with a fun leadership lyric and brief lesson. Original lyrics are here

Day 1

Subject: On the 1st day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

A process for proximity,

The most special gift is presence (proximity), but giving it consistently requires intention. Reflect on the flow of your day and build in a time and habit (process) for being present with people.

Day 2

Subject: On the 2nd day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…
Two gentle shoves,

When we do everything ourselves, we deprive others the opportunity to grow as leaders. Sometimes we need to give people a gentle nudge to take on something that will stretch them. We just need to stay close to support them.

Day 3

Subject: On the 3rd day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Three good friends,

Leadership can be lonely. Identify three people who are special: A mentor, a peer, and a future leader. Invest in those relationships. It is like Christmas past, present, and future, but without the ghosts and humbugs!

Day 4

Subject: On the 4th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Four magic words,

Strategic leadership is simple. Difficult, but simple. It comes down to four words: people, purpose, problems, and progress.

Day 5

Subject: On the 5th day of Christmas, Frederick gave to me…

Five-minute coaching,

You had to see that one coming, right? Five-minute coaching is golden. Five minutes, three questions, many outcomes. You can download my five-minute coaching guide here. [will need to create a link and use the pdf of Q2 issue 0]

This wraps up this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast.

I’m always trying to improve the show, so if you have feedback please email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com.

I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Bonus: Who are you? With Craig Martin

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 51: Who are you? With Craig Martin

About this show:
Last spring several of the assistant principals in our APEx group asked if we could work on how
APs can influence school culture without over-stepping their boundaries. One AP noted that
this could be especially problematic if you and your principal had very different styles. Back
then I approached this as a culture question, but today I’m looking at it differently. Today, I’m
thinking about this through two lenses. The first is authenticity: how do I do a job where
everyone is watching me all the time, and make sure that I am true to myself? The second lens
is sociological.
If we were in a room together and someone introduced me as “a leader” you would not be
surprised because I look the part. I’m a 6-2 white male in my late 50’s, I have a good speaking
voice and I know how to engage with people. And yes, I coached football. In other words, I
meet the societal expectations of what leaders look and sound like in our culture.
But what about everyone else? What does it mean to be a leader in schools when you don’t
look like me? How do you maintain your authenticity when the expectations of who can lead
and how they should lead are still relatively narrow and rigid?
Notable Quotes

Craig Martin
“To be authentic, in my opinion, means that you recognize in the spaces where you walk, you
breathe, you lead, that you allow the pulses of the young people who are moving about, the
teachers who are working with the young people, the custodians, the food service community,
the parents, the community partners, you allow those pulses help you center on what you feel
led to that important.”
“People want to know you’re human, they want to know you care”
“Being authentic is about, in my Opinion, being open to sharing parts of who you are in your
human experience that connect and resonate with others”
“Not all acts of vulnerability are created equal. There is a ladder within yourself that is unique
to you.”
“Sometimes the smallest moments are the actually the most meaningful for people when we
talk about vulnerability”
“Our kids know us”

Assistant Principal Exceleration

https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html
“In your ability as a leader, you have the ability to transcend what is most important. You have
the ability to send signals to people on ‘this is what i believe in, this is what i am about.’ and
people will find harbor with you, they will look to you for council and coaching and
development. they will want to take those walks because they want to be in spaces where they
feel safe, they feel affirmed, they feel seen, and they know they will be supported and loved.”
“Be okay with not being okay, but consistently love on yourself. and thats a thing I have to keep
doing. I have to keep reminding myself “I am loved, I am thriving, I am safe” but I need to keep
filling myself with those kinds of messages and affirmations”
Frederick
“Authenticity is not about you, it is about how you relate to all of these other people, and
authenticity involves serving, connecting, and supporting other people”
“Our authenticity should remind other people of the best parts of us and the best parts of
others”
Links:
Craig’s Twitter: @CraigCMartin12
Craig’s Website: https://www.craigcmartinleads.com
My email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com
The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html
Sign up for the daily leadership email: https://mailchi.mp/c15c68e6df32/specialedition
Website: www.frederickbuskey.com
Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday December 19-23, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Outline

Recap…

Monday: : Traditions have origins, and traditions change.

Three pictures:

My mom’s Christmas tree
Pam and I’s Christmas tree
Mara’s (my daughter) Christmas tree

There are lots of similarities because things like Christmas trees are heavily influenced by traditions. Not just the traditions of the family members who preceded us, but also the traditions of our friends, neighbors, and the broader society.

There are also some differences between the trees. Traditions are not replicated, they are renewed, and in the process of renewal, some things change.

Education example??? Teacher break room? Cigarettes and negativity?

Today’s intention: Be aware of what you do during this season and why you do it.

Tuesday: Productive Failure

It doesn’t take courage to fail.

It does take courage to publicly acknowledge it, and to turn it into something different.

Productive failure.

This is a re-release of episode 26 that aired way back in May 2022. This episode is one of my top three favorites, so I hope you listen and grow from it as much as I have.

Today’s intention: Think about a recent failure, big or small. Is or was there a way to publicly dissect it and learn from it so that others would see how failure can be productive?

Wednesday Developing people requires a systems approach.

We generally hold athletic coaches in high regard. Unless they lose to their rivals like my Buckeyes did last month 😖

What do we expect from them?

Winning of course, but we expect coaches to excel at player development. The essential part of a coach’s job is to help players become better by improving their skills and physical attributes.

In fact, the better the athlete, the more important coaching becomes!!

So why does it seem like developing teachers, salespeople, medical technicians, or anyone else is optional?

I reflect on my experiences as a teacher. I earned National Board Certification and was regarded by (most) of my students and their families as an excellent teacher. But I know so much more now than I did back then and I can identify so many missed opportunities and small tweaks that would have helped me be so much better.

Why is intensive development optional, for leaders and for those they serve?

Today’s intention: Step back and think about your organization and the systems it has in place that support consistent development of your people. What’s working? What’s not? Are there any simple tweaks to make coaching or supporting growth a tiny bit easier?

Thursday origin of A-B

Talked about this two weeks ago because we actually made a switch!

BONUS: Courage with Dr. Mary Hemphill

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 26: Courage with Mary Hemphill

About this show:
Are you living your leadership journey courageously? Before Dr. Mary Hemphill became the
Director of Academic Standards for the North Carolina Department of education she was a
passionate and innovative principal. Before that, she was an assistant principal with the
courage to stand up for her convictions. The assistant principalship is loaded with values
conflicts. How do you stay true to your values amidst complex power dynamics and competing
interests? Mary helps us figure it all out in this week’s episode.
Notable Quotes

Dr. Mary Hemphill
“Being blessed enough to serve low-socioeconomic communities, affluent communities, rural
communities, and urban communities has been amazing”
“I am absolutely celebrating the evolution of education, and not the revolution, because, you
know, at the end of a revolution, you lose people... so I am absolutely celebrating evolution
right now and that fact that there are some fantastic educational leaders who are ready to lead
the charge”
“Whenever you put a good person in a bad system, the system will always win”
“When you are an Assistant Principal and particularly when you become a Principal, you have to
decide before you sign your contract, you have to decide before you interview, what hill you do
you want to die on, what do you want to fight for, because when you are in a the moment with
a parent, or a board member, or a superintendent, that is not the time to make those
decisions”
“Every great educator knows that moment when they just have to ask yourself ‘am in a position
to just adopt a child?’ today is the day I need to make that decision”
“My values for me were that I will always be a voice for the voiceless, which means I will not
allow another human being to be taken advantage of if there is access and resources that I can
bring in to help that human being”
“Those are the tough days that you don’t have a methods course on, and you don’t have an
evaluative course on, and you really have to dig inside yourself and say ‘what matters right
now, in this situation, with this little person’”

Assistant Principal Exceleration

https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html
“For me, this wasn’t about a choice of whether or not to write that child up, for me, this was a
culture choice. I was not brought into that school to be a disciplinarian, I was not brought in to
do busses, and I was not brought in to do books. I was brought in to help with the culture, and
the only way to turn the culture around is when the adults are emulating and modeling for
students the type of behavior we want to see, from amazing local and global citizens.”
“If I show you disrespect, then I get upset with you for showing me the skill that you have
imparted onto me, that is coercive power there”
“Is sacrificing this one conversation with this one adult going to save 80 children and the rest of
the staff? Because if that is the case, then I am willing to go to bat for that, because I have my
data in order, I have good exemplars, but I also have a solution that is going to help the school
overall”
“Checklists will never grow teachers; it is conversations that grow teachers. And the other piece
of that is really understanding and trying to figure out how to leverage those conversations in a
way that removes excuses, because angry, hurt educators are always going to try to find and
excuse for why they are the way they are”
“We talk with leaders a lot of times about how to literally sit in the silence or sit in the space
where the student ‘doesn’t know’. That requires you to not live and take up residence in your
office. Because when that child says ‘I don’t know’ that is your greatest opportunity to say ‘let
me tell you something, I want to celebrate you” ... So, it’s not that I don’t know, maybe you
haven’t been celebrated in this area.”
“When we model productive failure, we reposition adults and we reposition students to see
their reality in terms of the ways they contribute to the community. That is what students are
seeking. They’re seeking their place, they’re seeking their tribe, they’re seeking their group,
they’re seeking those people who are like-minded to them, and adults are the same way.”
“Being courageous means asking the questions in a productive way”
“They are modeling what they are seeing, and if they are seeing it at home, that is one thing,
but the only things we can control are what is happening in terms of the interactions in this
building, so let’s make sure we shore that up before we say it is a student issue”
“You have to put in the protocol if you are going to protect peoples’ time and you have to show
them what that looks like and sounds like so that they can respond accordingly.”

Assistant Principal Exceleration

https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html
I never had a parent who argued with ‘the principal or the teacher is where the children are and
working on making things better for children’. I have never had a parent buck me on that, but
you have to set up those protocols to protect that time”
Frederick
“The assistant principalship is loaded with values conflicts. How do you stay true to your values
amidst complex power dynamics and competing interests?”
“The worst thing as a new AP, as an aspiring AP, is to jump into a situation that is toxic. Because
its hard already and it isn’t the busy stuff, it is your spirit and the values that are going to suffer”
“You can’t coach 3, let alone 30 teachers at a time and there is a lot of stuff that you have to let
go of. You can’t get to that right now. But you have to identify the one [teacher], and I do think,
so many times, the one is the one is the one that is hurting kids and the one is where it is just
an intolerable situation, not just for the kids, but for that person. Because if I am a teacher and I
am disrespecting kids every day, then I am hating my job”
Paraphrase of five key points about a teacher who is struggling and maybe even harming kids:
1. When a teacher is hammering kids, it is a sign that they are hurt, angry, or afraid. A
hammer won’t help them. Understanding this reframes how we support struggling
teachers.
2. Asking struggling teachers to observe a teacher that is doing those things well bypasses
the struggling teacher’s ability to blame kids.
3. Covering a class so that teacher can go observe immediately puts us in the role of
supporting that teacher, not attacking them.
4. Having the teacher go observe and bring back positive ideas gives the teacher agency.
This is especially powerful for teachers who may have had their agency stripped away.
5. Having a teacher bring back positive ideas from an observation is great accountability.
There is no escape from that conversation.
“We have a moral obligation, not just to take care of those kids, but to take care of those
teachers”
“Every great principal that I have ever had a conversation with has said things that indicated
their sense of urgency for instructional time. The best principals are really laser focused on
instructional time”
“Are you as an Assistant Principal communicating consistently with kids, with parents, and with
your teachers, that urgency and the critical importance of every minute of instructional time”
Links:

Assistant Principal Exceleration

https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html
Mary’s website: https://www.bealimitlessleader.com/about

The One Minute Meeting: https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Meeting-Creating-Student-
Stakeholders/dp/1516545559

Mary’s email: Mary@thelimitlesslady.com
My email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com
The...

Five for Friday December 12-16, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Five for Friday Outline

Recap…

Monday: If you can’t do the whole project, just do the A-B step.

This week I was banished.

Writing my book has been the quadrant 2 (important, not urgent) task that I have been putting off for two (three? 🤔) years.

So, colleague, consider:

What important quadrant 2 project have you been putting off for far too long?
Is there someone who can help keep you accountable?
Is there an A-B step (not the whole manuscript) that you can find a few hours to focus on?
Is there a safe place you can go where nobody can interrupt you?

Tuesday Listening to others describe their journeys from urgent to strategic leadership is a good investment of your time.

Maria shares lots of practical advice, but what stands out most is that she has consistently invested in and prioritized her own growth!

Being a strategic leader is simple, but it is also hard.

If you can’t invest in yourself, you can’t be a strategic leader.

Today’s intention: Reflect on your journey. Are you stuck in the black hole of urgency? Are you a strategic leader? Or are you somewhere in between?

Wednesday Accountability partners

I am passionate about writing a book. The entire thing is outlined. I had 1/3 of it written two years ago. I want to write this book. I have already sold 400 copies!

And yet, it keeps getting pushed aside.

I can’t explain it.

What I can explain is that accountability works. I’m in a cabin writing because I have the best accountability partner in the world! Thank you, Dr. Pam Buskey!

I have two challenges for you to today. Choose one.

Option A: Think about someone who needs support and offer to be their accountability partner.

Option B: Identify an A-B step of a priority that keeps getting pushed off. Identify someone who can help hold you accountable. Ask them and set a follow up time to meet with them. If you want to do this but have nobody, you can choose me, and I will be your accountability partner. Seriously, I will. If more than one of you tags me, we can meet as a group. It just will have to be after New Year’s. I am serious though. Email me.

Today’s intention: Choose option A or B and execute!

Thursday three stages to becoming a strategic leader

I hope you had a chance to listen to Maria Werner talk about her leadership journey on Tuesday’s podcast (link).

She described three stages, and between each stage was a mindset shift.

Stage one is being caught in the blackhole of urgency.

Then there is a mindset shift.

Stage two is becoming strategically reactive, which helps you find precious minutes to begin investing.

Then there is a shift.

Stage three is being strategic and routinely focusing on quadrants 1 and 2, which allows you to develop the people that power your organization.

Which of these stages are you in?

Or are you in the midst of a shift?

Today’s intention: Be mindful of your actions today. Are you spending time or investing it? What stops you from being in quadrant 2? Do you see a path forward?

Friday Share your goals to add public accountability.

I worked with a principal who wanted to implement 5-minute coaching (link).

She told her staff that her goal was to improve her ability to support them by doing 5-minute coaching each morning.

Over the course of a week, her staff began inviting her and asking her to do a session with them!

One way to have accountability for your goals is to have an accountability partner.

There is another way is to make our goals public.

Takeaway

Accountability comes in multiple forms:

Self
Mentors, coaches, peers
The public we serve

If you are struggling to finish something important, identify the level of accountability you need and take the A-B step of talking with someone.

“When we model productive failure, we reposition adults and we reposition students to see their reality in terms of the ways they contribute to the community. That is what students are seeking. They’re seeking their place, they’re seeking their tribe, they’re seeking their group, they’re seeking those people who are like-minded to them, and adults are the same way.”

So says the incomparable Dr. Mary Hemphill on next week’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

This is a re-release of episode 26 that aired way back in May 2022. This episode is one of my top three favorites, so I hope you listen and grow from it as much as I have.

This wraps up this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the podcast really does help other people to find it.

I’m always trying to improve the show, so if you have feedback please email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com.

I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

The APs Journey with Maria Werner

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Show Notes, Episode 83: The APs Journey with Maria Werner

About this show:

Are you stuck in the gravitational pull of the black hole of urgency? Or maybe, you are figuring out some ways to escape that force and move towards being a more strategic leader. Or, perhaps, you have already figured it out. Depending on where you are in the journey, today's show will offer you a chance to see a path forward or to reflect on how far you have come. Or maybe both! We will do this by reliving our guest’s journey from a new AP to a third-year veteran.

Notable Quotes

Maria:

This idea around the cycle of moving out of an urgent leader and into a strategic one.

But I'll have a much greater awareness of why I was brought into the role I was brought into. And how important it is that I stick to my role and utilize my role to still meet the needs of my teachers. But in a way that I'm doing to my greatest potential too.

I think that it's also easy to fall into that urgency when you are in the stage of learning the school. I was in a new school building with a very different demographic from the school that I came from in the class teaching and understanding the culture that was there and the areas of strength, areas of opportunities for growth. Because I wasn't aware of those things yet

Frederick:

It's almost like you landing in the forest and and you just keep running into tree after tree after tree and and you start to make that transition of oh, here's a map that shows me where I'm where I'm at and where I need to go. So it's being able to see the whole forest as opposed to just being caught in every tree.

Being strategically reactive is the way to get things under control and then you can move to being proactive.

Links:
Maria’s email: mwerner@greenville.k12.sc.us
Maria’s website: https://sites.google.com/greenvilleschools.us/mwerner/about-mrs-werner

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday December 5-9, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

What’s your problem?

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

Show title and release date: What’s your problem? December 6, 2022

Show Description:

What do (a) too many discipline referrals, (b) a poor teacher, and (c) an overflowing car line have in common? The answer is not that they are all problems. In fact, they are all symptoms. And they are all things that plenty of people will have stock answers for. Put them in ISS, put them on an action plan, redo your parking lot.
And if we are stuck in urgent mode, we might be tempted to jump at these stock answers because acting is better than doing nothing and because it seems like the answers will fix the issue. Unfortunately, the answers only address the symptom, and, in each case (discipline, teaching, car lines) if we don’t invest in identifying the problem, our actions may be wasted.

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This is a content-focused episode. The content will stand on its own, but we take deeper dives into podcast topics in our micro-journal, Quadrant2. Members of our APEx Community can expect to get support on implementing the ideas we are looking at and adapting them to your unique context. You can learn more about APEx and Quadrant2 at frederickbuskey.com/theassistantprincipal.

Celebrations:

Being out in schools with teachers, instructional coaches, principals and, of course, assistant principals.

The Big Idea

Strategic leadership four principles: problems

Saw this conversation:

MS Discipline struggles
The office is a revolving door of behaviors. Some are major… others are minor issues that staff struggle to address on their own. I’m looking for help to increase student positive behavior and staff capacity with dealing with tricky students.
Myriad of suggestions (114 comments):
provided our staff with a list of teacher managed behaviors as compared to office manages behaviors
Identify teachers who are effective at handling behaviors. Reach out to them to see if they are interested in conducting Pd.
invite those who are effective into a think tank where you all discuss what makes them effective and devise a long range plan to shift the culture.
We had grade level behavior coordinators
Staff needs to be empowered.
Form a group of staff to start to look at referral data and develop a plan of action together.

All good ideas, but people are offering suggestions without knowing what the problem is.

Too many referrals is a symptom. What’s the problem?

Why we treat symptoms

Urgent zone
Urgent Algorithm: pain point, history, quickly or bigly (examples: PBIS, staff development, hammer the kids)
Pain is a symptom, not the problem

How to stop treating symptoms

Ask why. Stop and ask why. Ask yourself, ask others.
- Why is this a problem (maybe it isn’t)
- Why is this happening?
- Why is this happening now?
- Why is the student acting this way?
- Why is the teacher acting this way?
- Why are YOU behaving this way?
Stop reacting and become intentional

How to uncover problems

Three processes:
- Informal: Run through options in my head (minor or simple; )
- Semi-formal: Run through options with someone else/write down the options
- Formal: Strategic action cycle, stakeholders, focused attention (complex and critical): Strategic action cycle
Informal: minor things (why is third lunch moving through the food line more slowly than the other lunches?
Semi-formal: Increase in student absences
Formal: We are swamped with discipline

Prep

Collect and examine your data
Think about the 6 dimensions and issues of misalignment
Remember that M=V/E
May be more than one problem!
Stakeholders

Why

Sunburst [head, paper, poster]: why, why, why (don’t sensor)
Interrogate each why [why, I wonder, yes but, aha]
Integrate [connections, themes, areas of promise, loops]

Simple: why

Complex: Sunburst, interrogate, integrate

Discipline: (each one may have a different why) 100 referrals

A student (10)
A particular group of students (15)
A teacher (25)
A group of teachers
A hallway and lack of oversight during transition (10)
Too many students in the bathroom (15)
Others… (25)

SAC: apply leverage: 0>1, A-B, MVP, M=V/E

I’m not sure how this will play on a podcast – would love to get some feedback from you – too deep, more like this – please help me make this show better.

Do think it is better with visual, so Q2 subscribers will get pieces to support the process as well as a link to a video where I break down an example. APEx members we can do this together in a group coaching session. To subscribe to Q2, go to https://www.frederickbuskey.com/quadrant2. To join APEx go to https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apexlaunchlive.html, or if you would like a special offer, email me and ask about joining APEx as a founding member.

Show Outro

That wraps up today’s episode. We’ll be back next week with Maria Werner. Maria is a third-year assistant principal and APEx member and we are going to unpack her journey from being stuck in the black hole of urgency during her first year, to being strategically reactive her second year, to being a strategic leader this year. Maria is full of passion and so authentic, you won’t want to miss this episode!

If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast.

You can ask questions, make requests and give us feedback at frederick@frederickbuskey.com.

Remember to head to my website to subscribe to Q2 if you haven’t already and you’ll get some great resources to help you shift from treating symptoms to uncovering problems. You can find a subscription link at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/quadrant2.html

And if you are interested in joining APEx, email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com and ask about becoming a founding member, which comes with some great perks, like a one-on-one call with me.

That wraps up today’s show! I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Five for Friday November 28-December 2, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Just Be Visible with Dr. David Franklin

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Assistant Principal Exceleration Show Notes, Episode 79: Just be visible About this show: “Can Every School Succeed?” That’s a big question and I’m not sure about the answer. I do know that every school can get better. Is that enough? Again, I don’t know. But I do know someone who does and he is our guest on the show today! Notable Quotes David: You know, great teachers, equal happy teachers. I've worked with some teachers that were struggling to find their place. And they had bogged down in a lot of negativity. And when we were able to break through that, kind of see the forest through the trees a little bit, you just saw everything change within their instruction and you just saw everything in their classroom change. But I want everyone to learn from my successes and also my mistakes. As well because again, I made every mistake in the book multiple times. thinking about positive school cultures, you have to be in a position where it's OK to fail in front of everybody. Because if you can't do that, like there there's a culture issue. But I I went back many times to my different stakeholders. Say I got that wrong. This is what happened. And but we were OK because my heart was in the right place. I was trying to better something and we took the wrong path. But hey, let's course correct. And then the next time we did it. You know I'd be so much of a better parent if my kid came with a manual but they didn't. And so being able to kind of work through that and have that culture transparency but also be able to to to not just. Talk the talk, but walk the walk. Be able to get into classrooms. Be able to be an instructional leader. https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html Assistant Principal Exceleration I used to block it on my calendar. It's a classroom observations and I told my office staff do not book any appointments during those times and it would be like a two hour chunk every day. And the other thing I said was because, you know, administrators care around radios. Well, walkie-talkie I said. I'm going to turn off my radio when I'm on my classroom observations. If there is an emergency like the school is on fire, or I have a or there's a serious injury or like a true emergency, text me. The first year I did this, I had some parents who I found out were a little upset with me because I came down to the school and you know, I was told he wasn't available. I had to work through that, but then they learned. Call ahead and don't just show up, call ahead. And that time is sacred to me. My staff knew that too, so we worked around it. So again, we were educating parents at the same time and and I wanted them to know, hey, being in classrooms is something super important for me. And I want the best education for your kids and for me to ensure that for me to provide feedback and to be there for my teachers, I need to be in classrooms. And my office staff, they they took some hits too. I would buy them coffee every time that happened and we worked through it. the other tangible thing to do once you're in the classroom is you leave, a positive posted. Behind I don't care if it was the worst classroom observation you've ever done. Like you find the one thing. You have some nice work in the classroom, work on the walls, bang, post a note on. You know, you never leave something negative, always positive. And that again helps to bring that fear down from teachers who are not used to you doing this. And they're going to be scared about that posting of the first time. Like what did he put on there? Like what did I do wrong? Oh, he liked, you know, the discussion I was leading. Teachers then talk about that in the lunchroom and that spreads. That's that positive culture that you want to spread. We want to be clinical, not critical. But as far as culture goes, get out there, you know, get out of your office. https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html Assistant Principal Exceleration When you walk on a school campus, you can feel the culture. You can sense it from the moment you step on campus. No one has to say anything to you. You can just feel it. And I always look around and people are happy. Are they smiling there, greeting each other, saying hello. I would say keeping up with the current instructional practices that keep changing our world keeps changing because kids keep changing. And so when I'm recommending a strategy, I want to make sure that the research states that these are the best strategies. be present, be visible, you know, be out there. You do not want to be the Invisible assistant principal. Being an administrator can be a very, very lonely job because there are things you cannot talk to the general staff with confidential and different things. So have that support system and that's again. Going back to the principal's desk Facebook group, I have folks post in there anonymously all the time, and then all of a sudden, you know, I check it like an hour later, 50 responses on how to deal with the situation or just words of encouragement and people will message me all the time and say it's just what I needed. Frederick: I don't know if I have any original thoughts. I just steal from the smartest, best people I can find. When you're successful, you don't reflect on it and learn from it, but when you fail. One of the things I really want to draw attention to, and what you were talking about was that that by blocking the classroom observation period. That's not a time management strategy, that's a priority management strategy and and that's that's one of the keys for moving from that zone of urgent leadership to being able to be strategic leadership is that we stop focusing on time and we start focusing on priorities. https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html Assistant Principal Exceleration I think we, we have a problem with the language around observation. Because if I say I'm doing an observation, why don't even know what that means beyond you being in my room. I don't know what that means and I don't know what to expect. And so I really push this idea of different kinds for patterns of observation, but one of them being performative. So performative observation, I'm going to your performance for my enjoyment. For me to learn, not to help me become a better teacher. And so if teachers know if we can use that language, we're out doing performative observations. They know it's not about them, it's about us just trying to to learn and understand better what's happening in school. Links: Davids Website Davids Book My email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html Sign up for the daily leadership email: https://mailchi.mp/c15c68e6df32/specialedition Website: www.frederickbuskey.com Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email) https://www.frederickbuskey.com/apex-members-page.html

Five for Friday November 21-25, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

The Flywheel Part 2

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

Show title and release date: November 22, 2022

Show Description:

Last episode we looked at the flywheel through the lens of normative, or group, professional development. Remember, the flywheel refers to a set of practices that, when executed over and over again, build positive momentum that improves the organization and leads to fulfillment of the purpose. In a school, this translates to supporting teacher growth by providing professional development, following up with targeted observations that gather data about the implementation of the practices from the PD, and then using the data to drive the next PD session. Today we will look at how the flywheel changes when we focus on a specific teacher’s growth as opposed to developing a group of teachers.

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This is a content-focused episode. The content will stand on its own, but we will take a deeper dive into the topic in an upcoming issue of Quadrant2. Members of our APEx Community can expect to get support on implementing the ideas we are looking at and adapting them to their unique contexts. You can learn more about APEx and Quadrant2 at frederickbuskey.com/theassistantprincipal.

Celebrations:

Last week’s facilitation

The Big Idea

In last week’s flywheel example we supported a group of ECTs in implementing a beginning of class procedure. We taught the teachers the components of a good procedure and how to teach and reinforce it with their students. We collected normative data on:

3 steps of the procedure
Number and quality of reinforcement statements
Type of prompts used to redirect students
Notes about the writing prompt

We aggregated that data noticed that the writing prompts were a weak spot. In talking with the teachers we learned there was a lack of clarity on what a good prompt looked like and how to write it, so that would be the next round of PD. This was all a normative process – for a group.

But what about the flywheel used for an individual teacher?

Example of Mr. Gale, weakness in store step and reinforcement (6/118). This leads us into a formative coaching cycle.

Other things to think about:

Flywheel depends on infrastructure:
- Scheduled ILT
- Structured agenda focused on teacher development
- Tracking teacher progress and focus areas (ep 14)
  - Normative, formative
  - Consistent feedback
  - PD planning
- Scheduled observations
Skills:
- Adapting/creating targeted observation instruments
- Recording data accurately
- Leading conversations around data with teachers
Trust your teachers to use the data and lead the process
Group or individual
The vision: Everyone is growing all the time
One is better than none, a few are better than none
If you aren’t there, begin with ECTs

Reflection:

Where are you in this journey?
What’s holding you back?
How can your school get better if you don’t have a system for consistently growing your teachers?

Show Outro

That wraps up today’s content focused episode. We’ll be back next week with Dr. David Franklin who founded and oversees a wonderful FaceBook community for school leaders. I’m not a huge fan of FB, but David has provided a nice space for leaders to interact. That group is The Principal’s Desk. You’ll need to request access and if you decide to do that, please mention that you heard about the group on the podcast – that would be encouraging to both of us.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast.

You can ask questions, make requests and give us feedback at frederick@frederickbuskey.com. We will be relaeasing an upcoming issue of our micro-journal, Quadrant2 focused on the Flywheel, so if you aren’t already subscribed you can go to frederickbuskey.com/quadrant2.

That wraps up today’s show! I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Five For Friday November 14-18

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

The Flywheel Part 1

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

2022-11-15_75_The Flywheel Part 1_FINAL audio 00:12 : Leadership really is a journey. Oftentimes, we begin that journey by being sucked into the black hole of urgency. And then we're able to start to break away from that pole of that urgent gravity by implementing some strategically reactive processes. And eventually those processes give us the time and the ability to move into that phase of strategic leadership. That's that journey is actually the topic of this week's daily emails. So if you're subscribing to our daily email, then you'll know what I'm talking about. And if you're not subscribing, I guess you can either go and subscribe, you can go to my website and check out the blog, or you can wait for five for Friday this week, in which we'll recap that. 01:05 : But why are we starting this podcast episode talking about the journey? Because this episode is going to be a deep dive into what's possible. When you get to that third stage of the journey, when you become a strategic leader. This is what's going to be possible. Hello colleagues, and welcome to the Assistant Principal podcast. I'm your host, Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve life and leadership for assistant principals. And I guess the secret might be out that other school leaders can benefit from the show as well. 01:45 : This is a content focused episode and this content stands on its own, but we'll also be taking a deeper dive into this top into today's topics in an upcoming issue of Quadrant 2, our bimonthly micro journal. Also, members of our apex community can expect to get some support on implementing some of these ideas that we're looking at today and then adapting them to their own unique contexts. 02:10 : You can learn more about Apex and Quadrant 2 at frederickbuskey.com backslash the assistant principal. Remember that there are four principles of strategic leadership. Strategic leaders. Place purpose above urgency. They focused on identifying problems rather than treating symptoms. They make sure that they're making progress and not just taking action. And then finally and most most importantly is that they focus on developing people, not checking off tasks. Those first three principles of strategic leadership, purpose problems, and progress are really only important because they're the things that help us get to that fourth, principle which is developing people. 03:10 : And today's show is all about developing people. We're going to take some concepts that you've heard me talk about. And weave them together and show you what the complete package can look like. The first concept that you'll hear me talk about is the four patterns of observation, which we covered back in episode 65 We'll touch a little bit on last week's episode on Professional Development, in which I talked about the idea that teachers really should be the drivers of their own professional development. 03:47 : And we'll hit on what I think is the most important of all the concepts, which is the flywheel. And we've never really fully broken down the flywheel. We did some conversation with Doctor Melissa Burns way back in Episode 32 which aired in June. But this episode will be the first time that it really. Break down the flywheel with specific examples and walk you through that process. And this is what I'm most passionate about, so I'm really excited for this episode. Ok, so let's dive in. We'll begin with a scenario. I'm in a middle school middle school assistant principal. It's mid November and we're noticing an uptick in student referrals, specifically for students talking and not being in their seats. 04:41 : We begin to take a little bit deeper dive into the data and what we find is that the increases are happening in specific classrooms and three of these classrooms are staffed with early career teachers. In our weekly instructional leadership team meeting. Which, by the way, we broke down in episode 49 the ILT, back in August. In our instructional leadership team meeting. We decide that we need to we need to observe and see what's going on in these classrooms, so we commit to doing a series of performative observations. During transition times in the classrooms of those early career teachers. 05:28 : Now remember, performative observations are for our benefit. So we're not gathering any hard data. We're not trying to improve teaching. We just want more information. We want to find out what's happening. This is for our benefit. Thus, it's a performative observation, and we can communicate that clearly to teachers so they know that we're not going in there to judge or criticize them. So we do our performative observations and in our next regularly scheduled ILT meeting, which focuses specifically on instruction and for which we have a structured agenda, which was also part of Episode 49 the ILT. 06:13 : We have a structured agenda and as part of that agenda we talk about what we saw overall with these three teachers that are struggling with transitions. So in our discussion, the big thing that jumps out is that there's not any evidence that there's beginning class procedures in these three early career teachers classrooms. So we decided to go back and talk with those teachers as a group to let them know what we've seen and see if there's a way that we can support them. 06:49 : At the same time, our instructional coach is going to dig through their resources and look at specific procedures for transitions or excuse me, for beginning class routines and. She will pull that together so that we have a nice clean, quality set procedure for how to begin class and we have that ready to support those teachers. So we go to the teachers and. Use the data from the increase in discipline referrals. And we can just take that data and and aggregate it. So we're not focusing on any specific teacher, but we can show them how this block of three teachers has many more referrals happening, that there's been an increase and that it's more than what we're seeing in some of the other classrooms. 07:43 : We can also just have the conversation about what we've seen, but we really need to ask them how they're doing. And that conversation could go a different way because two different ways teachers could be reluctant to. Express that there's anything going wrong. Or they might say yes. The kids are driving me crazy and I don't know what to do. Which is then an easy entry point for us to be able to say, OK, well, we think we can help. Here's what we noticed. That at the beginning of class, it's taking a long time to get everybody settled in. And teachers will probably yes. They don't do what I ask them to do. It's taking too long, they're talking too much, and it's really creating a bad situation. 08:25 : Ok, we think we can help you with that. What we'd like to do is to work with you on establishing an beginning class procedure and we'll give you all the support you need to implement that and then we'll give you the follow up support to see if it works, and if it doesn't work we'll adjust course. But this should take about a week to do. I mean you guys in on that. And in tying back to last week's podcast where I talked about teachers need to drive their own professional development in most cases. So if we have decent teachers, if these teachers are, you know, have good potential, then they probably are aware that they're struggling with this and having this conversation and and sharing some of the data with them, they're probably going to want to engage in establishing these classroom procedures. 09:27 : If we have someone who is really resistant but also really struggling as a teacher and just saying no, I don't have any problems, that's a case where we just say no, I'm sorry, this is what we're going to work on. You're going to do it this way and we're going to take you through the process and then once we've got that done, then we'll talk and you can share with us how you want to gr...

Five For Friday November 7-11

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Professional Development

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0500

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

Show title and release date:

Show Description:

"Those sessions do nothing for me" This was a quote from a teacher about some PD and it was shared by an admin seeking feedback on a social media site. More specifically, the teacher was commenting on a mandatory PD session. The situation and large amount of often conflicting advice got me to thinking. Are there a couple of core principles that should drive professional development?

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This is a content-focused episode in which we take on the issue of professional development. Today’s content will stand on its own, but we will take a deeper dive into the topic in an upcoming issue of Quadrant2. Quadrant2 is our free bi-monthly micro-journal. Each issue focuses on one specific topic and provides the nuts and bolts for applying that idea in your school. You can find a link to subscribe to Quadrant2 at my website at frederickbuskey.com/quadrant2.

Celebrations:

As I began thinking about what celebration to share, my first though was that it has been a grueling six weeks and I’ve been sick the past 10 days. In terms of achievements, I don’t feel like there is a lot to cheer about. But I do control my own attitude and that alone is worth celebrating. If you listened to last week’s Five for Friday you heard me talk about my friend Steve and what he said about attitude: Bird quote

So that’s what I’m celebrating, the power we have to choose. And that is enough to get me out of my little puddle and celebrate something else – that we are together! It’s a privilege to be able to share with you and to have an opportunity to help you live and lead better.

The Big Idea

I’m going to talk about all PD today, and by all I mean about 90% of it. There will always (90% of the time) be exceptions, so please don’t get hung up on them. I’m using all because it flows and sounds better than most.

So here are my guiding principles for all PD for teachers:

All PD should help teachers to overcome specific challenges they are facing
Teachers should determine the focus of their own PD
All PD should provide immediate value
The role of the IC, P, and AP are to help each teacher meet that teacher’s PD goals

Before going deeper, let’s define teacher professional development: Teacher PD consists of an intentional effort to develop or increase knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions to improve student outcomes. PD comes in five basic forms:

Internal group led by a school or district employee
External group led by a consultant or other external agent
Mentoring and peer networks
Coaching and support from instructional leaders
Self-reflection and individual initiative

All of these are valid forms of professional development.

Okay, let’s break this down.

All PD should help teachers to overcome specific challenges they are facing
- Teaching is incredibly complex, and teachers will always have many things to improve on
- The three most precious resources in school are: people, time, and attention.
- When there is so much to learn and so little time and attention, why would we ever waste professional development opportunities? By waste I mean not making them applicable to a teacher’s specific situation and need.
Teachers should determine the focus of their own PD (Dr. P story)
- We aren’t good at determining what’s most important
- Teacher choice leads to teacher commitment
- Establishes the partnership relationship
- Success begets success
All PD should provide immediate value
- PD that helps a teacher experience immediate improvement in an area that is important to them is golden.
- Instant wins lead to more wins, and to engaging in more and more meaningful PD
The role of the IC, P, and AP are to help each teacher meet that teacher’s PD goals
- Essentially, we are partners in teacher growth.
- When we follow the other principles, we become trusted partners
- As trusted partners we can provide critical feedback and ask powerful questions that help teachers transform

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

The approach to PD that I have laid out has implications for how we structure our school, especially our instructional leadership team. We can’t meet the needs of individual teachers without aligning our work to that end.

This all feeds into the flywheel concept:

Provide meaningful PD to teachers
Follow up PD with targeted observations to determine fidelity of implementation
Use observation data to work with the teachers to plan the next PD steps
Do this over and over again

This is my passion; this is what I would love to help you do – set up a flywheel in your school. Yes, there are lots of barriers and challenges, but there are also simple things we can do to get started. The flywheel can be built on a small scale, step-by-step, with a minimal initial investment of time and energy.

For example, the first step is to set a specific time for a weekly instructional leadership team meeting. That is all – just set a time to meet every week as an instructional leadership team!

The second step is to adopt a structured agenda that places teacher development at the center of the meeting. If you have been a Quadrant2 subscriber since the beginning then you already have a template from Issue 1 which focused on the instructional leadership team. If you weren’t or aren’t a subscriber you can request a copy of issue 1 from me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com

So, recapping the big idea from today:

All PD should help teachers to overcome specific challenges they are facing
Teachers should determine the focus of their own PD
All PD should provide immediate value
The role of the IC, P, and AP are to help each teacher meet that teacher’s PD goals
This is doable by incrementally building your flywheel

That wraps up today’s content focused episode.

If you enjoyed today’s show, please subscribe and rate this podcast.

You can ask questions, make requests and give us feedback at frederick@frederickbuskey.com. If you’d like more content tailored towards the needs of assistant principals, you can head over to my website at frederickbuskey.com.

That wraps up today’s show! I’m Frederick Buskey and I hope you’ll join me next time for the Assistant Principal Podcast.

Five For Friday October 31 - November 4

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 03:00:00 -0400

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 31-Nov. 4, 2022. If you already get my daily leadership emails, then I hope you’ll find some added value here and if you don’t already subscribe you can find a link on my home page at frederickbuskey.com. Many readers like to begin their mornings by reading the email and setting a leadership intention for the day, but please don’t feel any pressure to subscribe. You are already doing more to grow yourself than many others out there, simply by listening to the podcast.

Restorative Justice Through the Heart with Josh Stamper

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Show Notes, Episode 71: Restorative Practices with Josh Stamper

About this show:

Change starts from within. That was the title of episode 20, in which we talked with Doctor Gabby Grant about introducing restorative practices into your school. Before taking external action, we need to take internal action and examine and reform our own attitudes and perspectives about things like discipline, punishment and justice. Today, we'll dig into what that journey might look like and where it might lead.

Notable Quotes

Josh Stamper

“Behavior is a language. We just have to decode what that behavior is saying in regards to the students needs” 11:04

“We just assume ‘you know not to do that. So don't do it again.’ That's not the case, right? So then we go back and we do that teach piece with the student now they're still getting consequences. I think that's the misconception is that restorative practices is Kumbaya, we're holding hands in a circle and then it's just going to magically go away. And that's not the case.” 23:00

“This is not going to happen in a week, this is not going to happen just in a month as you said it took. Just years of continuously building upon this to get it to a structure that we felt comfortable and it wasn't even perfect at that point” 28:20

“Classroom management is probably one of the most important things for our teachers because if you don't have a class that is behaving or paying attention, there's no way for them to gain that content” 31:30

“I think communication is, as far as a leader, is the number one priority or should be for anyone because you work with so many different people” 37:20

“The best way to get knowledge to the brain is through the heart. And I think that is the biggest thing, as far as an administrator, is I wanted to make sure that I was touching the lives of our students through. The emotional intelligence piece versus curriculum.” 38:50

Frederick

“Raising my children is not the same as raising somebody else's children and so we need this trauma informed care” 9:56

“Lay the foundation, get the procedures in place and make it as easy a lift as possible. So start your teachers out doing the easy stuff that they're going to have success with and leave the harder stuff to you and then build it” 24:30

Links:

Josh Stamper’s Website: https://joshstamper.com

Josh Stamper’s Book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/aspire-to-lead-joshua-stamper/1140037170

Josh Stamper’s Podcast: Aspire to Lead https://joshstamper.com/start/

Teach Better: https://www.teachbetter.com

My email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five For Friday October 24-28

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Assistant Principal Podcast Five for Friday Template

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host this week, Mara Buskey and if you don’t already know me, I am the Inclusion Strategist with Strategic Leadership Consulting, as well as Frederick’s daughter. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 24th-28th, 2022. If you already get our daily leadership emails, then I hope you’ll find some added value here and if you don’t already subscribe you can find a link on our homepage at frederickbuskey.com. Many readers like to begin their mornings by reading the email and setting a leadership intention for the day, but please don’t feel any pressure to subscribe. You are already doing more to grow yourself than many others out there, simply by listening to the podcast.

So let’s recap. As you may know, Frederick (or my dad) has been with my mom in Kenya for the last two weeks so I had the opportunity to fill in for a week and write all the daily emails. I started off every email this week reminding our readers that these come from the perspective of me, a 23-year-old who is still very much working on her own leadership. I also ask them: What can you learn about empowering young people after reading this week’s messages?

Monday:

On Monday I wrote about my experience with Julia Cameron’s 12-week course, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. The MVP to this was “Five minutes can alter the direction of your day.” The book really changed the ways in which I talk to myself and helped engrain some positive habits. One of those habits is morning pages.

Essentially, before doing anything else after waking up (except making coffee of course) you write three pages. You can write whatever you want, but the idea is to get all of your thoughts and worries out of your head so you can be less disrupted by them later.

I challenged our readers for the remainder of the week to try writing morning pages. If 3 pages sounds scary, set your timer for five minutes. Write what you are feeling, what you’re dreading, or maybe what you need to do that day. Get out all your worries or thoughts that take up your space and energy.

And after you do it, ask yourself if you feel any different? Is your mind quieter? Is your jaw less clenched or your breathing a little deeper?

Though I know writing down your stressors or spiraling thoughts first thing in the morning won’t make them disappear, spending any amount of time with them means they exist somewhere other than inside your mind. Maybe they are a little less powerful now.

Tuesday

Tuesday was all about saying “yes” to what’s right inside you. Have you ever recognized how you were feeling and intellectualized it or explained away the emotions? Have you ever said to yourself, “I shouldn’t feel this way because …”?

When we dismiss our feelings, we invalidate ourselves. We lie to ourselves and we send the message that our emotions aren’t important.

Rather than dismissing or making excuses, just say “yes.” Say yes to the anger, the sadness, the overwhelm, guilt and grief, to fatigue, to resentment… Say yes to joy, to love, to gratitude and pride. Say yes to not wanting to feel it. Say yes to feeling uncomfortable.

Acceptance is harder than we give credit for. Accepting your feelings is accepting yourself. Accepting yourself leads to a better and truer you. And a better you means you can support and lead your people with empathy and honesty.

Wednesday

Okay, to slightly lighten things up, Wednesday I wrote about a joke I initially made. I was having a hard time and I said to my partner, “nothing’s wrong but it sure ain’t right.” I laughed and then sat for a second and realized how true that statement felt.

Startup company:

Great vision that could make real change in our communities… but it just doesn’t feel right.
Gave myself 6 months
So what do I do? I’m trusting myself. I’m diving inward, reflecting on what I’m feeling, and trusting those emotions and feelings.
When you notice something is off, do you ignore it or trust your intuition?

Thursday I talk about the stories we tell ourselves. Oftentimes, the stories are how we think things “should be.”

For example: The last few months I’ve been talking quite negatively to myself because I didn’t go to grad school right away. My thought process is that Because I haven't gone to graduate school yet, I’m lazy. Laziness is wrong. I’m wrong.

The truth is, going to grad school doesn't dictate if I’m wrong, lazy, or ultimately worthy.

But the other truth to this is if I didn’t address these stories or take time to notice they are even there, how will I know they aren’t true?

What are the stories you tell yourself? Do they actually help you? Just because you think or feel something doesn't mean it’s true.

Friday I discussed my desire for 6 months now to bake a cake after moving to Greensboro, NC in May. But until last week, I still had yet to bake anything.

Long story short, I was telling myself there wasn’t enough time, and that baking a cake wasn’t as important as all the other things on my to do list. When I dug a little deeper, I realized that it wasn’t necessarily the baking that I was so caught up on, it was what it represented: time, balance, abundance, success.

I decided enough was enough. I was going to bake something. I made some pumpkin spice muffins and I shared them with my friends. It made me so happy that I did it again the next day. I realized it really didn't take that much time and it brought me so much joy. It turned my week around.

This weekend, I urge you to forget the to-do list for just a moment. Think about something small that you’ve been wanting to do but convinced yourself there is not enough time. Go do it.

Takeaway

I think the big takeaway to all of these is to listen to yourself and trust yourself. There is so much happening in the world, and I think my generation, or at least a lot of the young people I talk to, are questioning the world, themselves, and our priorities. We aren’t finding value and purpose in living that “American dream” that we have been fed our whole lives. I think we’ve also realized over the last few years that if we aren’t taking care of ourselves, we can’t take care of others. I don’t know. Maybe all generations have thought this way. Let me know how you feel, you can find my email in the show notes.

I’m always trying to improve the show, so if you have feedback please email me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com. If you’d like to find out more about what we’re doing to support assistant principals, you can head over to the website at frederi...

Procedures - Small Tweaks, Big Gains!

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline

Show title and release date: October 25, 2022

Show Description:

Every teacher should have a procedure for beginning class. Most opening class procedures share some common elements:· What to do with materials· How or when to sit down· Getting started on bell work or an activator I’ve been teaching procedures for about twenty years, but this summer I made one small tweak in my format that promises to pay big dividends.

Show Intro

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals.

Today’s episode focuses on the importance of identifying clear goals for our procedures, but before we go any further, I want to remind you about our free micro-journal, Quadrant2. Issues of Quadrant2 come out once every 3-4 weeks. The five-page issues take a deeper look at topics that we address on the podcast. For example, last week we released Issue 2 which focused on how to implement the four patterns of observation in your school. Each issue includes nuts and bolts of implementation, discussion questions for your team, and even a section on how to apply the techniques if you are working in isolation. You can find a subscription link on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/quadrant2.html As a bonus, if you subscribe this week you’ll be able to download the first two issues of Quadrant2 so you won’t have missed any opportunities to learn and grow.

Celebrations:

My recent trip to Kenya. My biggest takeaway is how similar we all are. Our struggles are the same – raising families, pursuing our dreams, and contributing to our communities. We may look and sound different, and our families, dreams, and communities my take different forms, but we all want the same thing. In a time of divisiveness, in the world and here at home, it is worth remembering that people are people, and therefore deserving of respect. We need to treat each other based on our commonalities, not on how our political and social “leaders” tell us we should treat people from different parties, or states, or countries.

The Big Idea

· We know the reasons why each procedure we teach is important, but by being more thoughtful – and explicit – about the goals we want to achieve, we can make small but powerful tweaks to our procedures.

The Why

· My passion for procedures:

o OSU experience

o Teaching experience

o Coordinating entry-year teacher programs

o How poor procedural classroom prevent leaders from growing teachers

· Good procedures decrease discipline referrals. Even a one referral decrease in a week yields and average of five minutes per day that you can invest in growing teachers. That’s enough time to make a difference with a new, struggling, or even veteran teacher.

The what (MVP version)

For years I have taught that a good procedure has five components:

1. Title or name (may be an acronym)

2. Steps (1-5)

3. Key words for each step

4. Acronym for the steps

5. Graphic (necessity varies with age)

In prepping for a workshop with a middle school teaching staff in August, I realized that I should be better about emphasizing the why – the goals of a procedure.

I began by looking at a sample routine for entering class. The procedure had four parts – Sit, Arrange your stuff, write based on a prompt, and stand when finished. I called it SAWS:

· Sit

· Arrange

· Write

· Stand

The goals of a beginning class procedure are obvious: it saves time. If we can get started in 60 seconds instead of 180 seconds, we can save 300+ minutes over the course of a school year. That’s over a week of class time!

But as I began writing down this goal, others naturally appeared. Before I go further, I’m going to give you ten seconds of silence to think about the goals of a good beginning class routine. Besides saving time, what else should the procedure achieve?

Here’s what I came up with:

· Connect with teacher

· Maximize learning time

· Minimize distractions and misbehaviors

· Empower students to be responsible for their own learning

· Focus students on learning

· Begin anticipatory set (optional)

What I was most excited about was that first goal – connecting with the teacher. Sure, the teacher can check in with the students, but what if a part of the procedure directed the students to check in with the teacher? What if every class began with every student making some kind of contact with the teacher? How cool would that be? How humanizing could it be?

Most teachers have one or more students that need that connection, and for whom the teacher should know the student’s emotional state. Making a small tweak to an opening class procedure creates an opportunity for that.

And so, I added a step to my sample procedure. The first thing students do is to say hello to the teacher. What hello looks like will vary with the teacher and the students, but here are some options:

· Actually say hello

· Give a fist bump

· Or a thumb’s up

· Or share one thing that happened in the past 24 hours

· Or flash a number of fingers to indicate their emotional strength, for example one for terrible, need to talk, up to five for excellent.

Maybe I’m being silly here, maybe most teachers already do this – but if they do, I haven’t seen it. So I’m going to hold onto this as being a good idea.

Here’s what I’d like you to take away from this episode:

1. Think about the multiple goals and opportunities that exist within each procedure.

2. Begin observing procedures at work in classrooms and challenge yourself to find opportunities to achieve more with any given procedure.

3. Engage your teachers in informal discussions. Tell them you’ve been doing some PD on procedures that has made you think about their goals. Review a procedure with the teacher and work together to identify explicit goals.

Challenges

As always, the challenge in following up on this idea is priority management. Without being intentional and prioritizing teacher development, you’ll get too busy to follow up. Try taking time during the first hour of the day to check in on some teachers’ beginning class procedures and have a brief conversation after the kids have left the building but...

Five for Friday, October 22-28, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 22-28, 2022. If you already get my daily leadership emails, then I hope you’ll find some added value here and if you don’t already subscribe you can find a link on my home page at frederickbuskey.com. Many readers like to begin their mornings by reading the email and setting a leadership intention for the day, but please don’t feel any pressure to subscribe. You are already doing more to grow yourself than many others out there, simply by listening to the podcast.

Blooming Where You Are Planted with Robyn Jackson

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Show Notes, Episode 67: Blooming Where You Are Planted with Robyn Jackon

About this show:

“As an assistant principal, you must learn to bloom where you are planted. If you do, you will open up huge opportunities to make a meaningful difference right now in your career and build the skills you need to make an even greater difference once you become a principal.”
These aren’t my wise words. They were first spoken by Dr. Robyn Jackson, addressing a common concern of assistant principals: How do you grow your own leadership in the shadow, or at least presence, of another leader?

Notable Quotes

Robyn Jackson

“But when you're a builder, nobody has to move because you can build wherever you are. And so I think that's kind of one of the main differences between leadership and builderdership that creates space for other people.” 2:40

“Because then you build the muscles of of of truly being the person who is the builder in the building, that you know the builder in chief in your school building. And those skills transfer over to the principal ship when most of the other skills we learned as an AP don't transfer” 10:45

“He said something that just stopped me in my tracks and I couldn't stop thinking about, which is he said bosses say go and leaders say let's go. And I've heard that before. That's, you know, that's a great distinction. But then he said builders. Say come and and in that one simple sentence, I'd started to to to see the answer to some of the problems that I've been frustrated about in education” 14:20

“And how do you get your people committed to that compelling purpose? And therefore things you're going to do, feedback, support, accountability and culture. That's the only four things you can do to positively influence your teacher's behaviors.” 16:27

“Then your conversations, whether they're formal or informal, become more about teacher growth and serving students than they do about fulfilling the requirements of the evaluation cycle. And so you don't have to straddle 2 worlds anymore. You turn the thing that you have to do into the thing that you want to do anyway, so that you're always every conversation helping teachers grow” 24:27

“ You have to sell things to the district, the idea about why we're going to do something or not doing, or you have to sell the idea to parents or to your community. We need to get good at selling our ideas, and the assistant principal is the assistant principal. Ship is a great way to practice that, you know, how do you see something that needs work in the school, and how do you, how do you present that idea to a principal in a way that the principal sees not only the merit and the idea, but is willing to take the risk of implementing your idea” 30:50

“If you can take yourself out of the hero spot, let them be the hero, and you put yourself in the guide position. You will always, always be able to get your story across in the way, or get your advice or your ideas across in a way that people can welcome them.” 35:54

“You owe it to yourself. You owe it to us. You owe it to the students and the families you serve. To instead of trying to be some cookie cutter version of of what somebody else's idea of an administrator is. To be yourself, but not just yourself, your best self, that's that's the, that's the ultimate role” 39:30

“Focus on being your best self, because if you can do that, you can really step into that the role will be the right role will be waiting for you” 41:00

“it's not just grow where you're planted, bloom where your planet. It does two things. First of all, it makes your work so much more fulfilling and rewarding right now. Secondly, it does change people's lives for the better. But thirdly, this is almost counterintuitive. By blooming where you're planted, you get more recognition than if you try to conform into what the district wants you to be anyway, because there's only one of you.” 42:54

Frederick

“One of the best principles I know. Doesn't respond email You know, there are a few, but if you want to get in touch with him, emails not the way, because he doesn't do email, because he's out in classrooms working with teachers. So it's interesting that people, I think. If you're doing it right and executing on that vision and making a case for that, there's, I think we get more latitude than than what we think we can get.” 29:47

“We make a lot of assumptions about the systems we're in and what the systems want from us. And I think in your story what you show us is a lot of times our assumptions aren't correct” 47:43

Links:

School Leadership Reimagined: https://schoolleadershipreimagined.com

Buildership University: https://buildershipuniversity.com/

My email: frederick@frederickbuskey.com

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

Blog: www.frederickbuskey.com/blog (reposts of the daily email)

Five for Friday 17-21

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

2022-10-21_68_Five for Friday Final Audio Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast I'm your host, Frederick Busky. The goal of this podcast is to improve life and leadership for assistant principals. Today's episode of five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October seventeenth through twenty first. With a caveat. Although we did indeed publish these emails this week, they are actually repeats from our list of greatest hits. This week as well as next week, I am in Kenya and so we just thought that this would be a fun way to kind of cover our bases, but also still continue to provide you some value while I'm away playing and learning and being in schools in Kenya. So I hope you enjoy this recap. The topic of Monday's message was leadership, isolation, and I hope you're subscribing to the daily list because one of my all time favorite photographs was included as part of this daily email and it is a black and white photo of somebody standing in a puddle with a box over their head. When I first saw this photo, it just made me think of the isolation and the loneliness that can come with leadership. I didn't really go into anything in the email that talked about how to break that, break that isolation down, but I just asked readers to come sit with that and think about their own feelings. Think about how you can take care of yourself. And break down some of that isolation. You see things and you say why, but I dream things that never were, and I say why not? That quotes from George Bernard Shaw in 1949 and the topic of Tuesday's email is vision. I thought this was a nice juxtaposition from Monday's email of a leader with a box over their head. I have to admit that I have a love hate relationship with vision. I used to believe very strongly and passionately that it was a leader's job to provide vision. And then I had a leader that came into my organization and completely trashed it. In my mind he trashed it and he had his own vision. And despite there being lots of people that had invested many years in the organization, he came in from the outside and just imposed his vision over everything. And that constituted a lot of destruction of programs and really damaging people. So I've become. Kind of very skeptical about the idea that leaders come in and impose a vision from outside. I think what we need to be focusing more on is the development of shared vision. And when we talk about visionary leadership, I think what we really should be talking about is the expectation that leaders can come in and create space for people to talk about their own dreams and goals and aspirations, and that leaders can facilitate a group of people sharing that and finding the commonality and developing a vision that is common to the participants. The people within the organization and that then the leader can really give voice to that and help keep people focused on that vision. Speaking of vision, Wednesday's email was about the difference between Mission, vision and goals, and I told the story of a trip that Pam and I took in the summer of 20. 21 So Pam is my wife, the other doctor Buskey. And in the summer of 2021 we jumped in an SUV and drove across country visiting all kinds of parks and things. And so I used that trip to talk about the mission, which the mission was to reconnect with family and friends and to have memorable experiences in nature. That's what we were going out to do. Vision is about the outcome resulting from enacting or fulfilling your mission. So our goal was to reconnect with family that were, excuse me, our mission was to reconnect with family and have memorable experiences. The vision was that we would drive home renewed in multiple ways, with a new set of memories and a great appreciation for our country, its people, and its beauty. Now, goals are the achievements that will help you fulfill your mission. So for our trip, some of our goals were backpack in the Badlands Backpacking Glacier Park, visit my friend Nat and Klamath Falls, spend time with my mom in San Francisco, and visit other family on the way home. Now, as it turned out, we did not meet all those goals. Yet we still achieved the mission and we still fulfilled our vision. So remember, the goals were places we would visit and things we would do. The mission was to reconnect with family and have memorable experiences, and the vision was that those experiences would leave us renewed and connected when we got home. So how could we achieve the mission and the vision if we didn't achieve the goals? Well, what happened was the summer of 2021 there was a massive heat wave across the northwest. And so some of the things that we wanted to do we just, we got cooked out of and so we had to change our plans. So we wound up not backpacking in the Badlands and we didn't backpack in Glacier Park. But that's OK, because one of the things that we sometimes do is we get so focused on goals that we forget why we have the goals, right? The goals are just kind of measurement steps on the way to achieving the mission and the vision. And there are a lot of times when the goals stop making sense for whatever reason. So when you're thinking about your organization and the mission and the vision and goals, yes, you want to attend to the goals, but don't get too focused on the goals. Always check and make sure that you're actually making progress on the mission. Because that's the most important thing. The title of Thursday's email was are you a force multiplier? And this email was inspired by something my good friend and colleague Doctor Robert Maddox sent me about the human touch and the human touch as being a force multiplier. The idea here is that connecting with people builds community, and that community creates strength, resilience and hope. So I offered three things that people could do. Each one of those would take less than three minutes and challenged readers to execute on one of these things to create connectivity and build community and thereby be a force multiplier because leaders are force multipliers. So the first thing was to me, call or email someone that you worked with this week and express gratitude. The second thing was to get together with another leader and identify a strategic behavior that you can implement next week. For example, engaging in five minute coaching and commit to being each other's accountability partners in executing that strategy. And the third one was a little bit selfish. I encouraged people to email me with an example of how something this week helped you to help someone else or a topic that you'd like me to write about in the future. And I do hope, if you are on the email list and you got this email on thursday, I hope you acted. I hope you took that opportunity to be intentional and to do something to reach out and create connectivity and build community with someone, whether that's me or somebody else. And if you're not on the email list and you're hearing this now on a Friday afternoon or maybe a Saturday. I encourage you to challenge yourself me call or email someone you worked with this week and just express gratitude. Work with another leader and think about a strategy that you could use next week to build community, build connection with people, and then hold each other accountable for doing it or. When you're done with this podcast, go ahead and email me and tell me something about this past week that you did to help someone else or send me a topic that you'd like me to write about. And finally, on Friday, we revisited the idea of m - V divided by E motivation equals value divided by effort. There was a graphic included in that you could print out and put up by your computer or on a wall somewhere. I just think M - V divided by E is so powerful. I won't elaborate on it hugely, but the idea is that increased value, decreased effort leads to increased motivation. And if we want people to be more m...

The Four Patterns of Observation

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Have you ever popped into a classroom, just to see what’s going on, and have the teacher stop the lesson and begin explaining to you what they are doing? Or have them continue teaching but give that look of, “what are you doing in my classroom?” Or, after one of these pop-ins, had the teacher run to you after class and want to know if you thought they did okay? None of these things is helpful, and they stem from a common problem – the inadequate language of classroom observations.

Five for Friday October 3-7, 2022

Frederick Buskey — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 08:00:00 -0400

Today's episode of five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 3rd through seventh twenty, twenty two. If you already get my daily leadership emails, then I hope you'll find some added value here. And if you don't already subscribe, you can find a link on my homepage at frederickbuskey.com Many readers like to begin their mornings by reading the email and setting a leadership intention for the day.

Productive Disruption with Dr. Mary Hemphill

Frederick Buskey — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 15:00:00 -0400

Show Notes, Episode 63: Productive Disruption with Dr. Mary Hemphill

About this show:

Ship is sinking (may 26, 2022, Ep 28)The teacher shortage is not going awayThe academic setbacks from COVID will ripple through our schools for ten yearsContinued trauma has exacerbated already challenging mental health issues among our students, their families, and even our teachers.Politics – enough said.
The only thing that’s constant is change. Organizations have this strange property in which they are always changing and yet always resisting change. The past two school years have created stress, loss, and incredible turmoil. They have also created an opportunity. Let’s be real:
The new normal is abnormal and our old systems aren’t working anymore. Instead of mourning and lamenting, what if we embraced this moment? What if we continued the work of dismantling and then rebuilding what school looks like? The last big wave of educational reform was the standards movement of the 1980’s. Like so many reforms, the promises have not been kept. So, what’s possible? What’s next? What can we do?

Notable Quotes

Guest

Instead of lamenting and mourning what we've lost, I'm wondering, can we embrace this moment?

over 54 % of today's professionals over the past two years have heightened anxiety, heightened burnout, heightened isolation and heightened loneliness

we're incubating great human beings and bringing resources that we've never thought about before into the school building. It's assessing our mental health resources. It's asking questions about support instead of asking teachers. Hey, are you OK? Saying, have you taken time to rest and recenter today

Are you scheduling yourself? And they're like, what do you mean by that? I said, well, you put your board meetings on there, you put your back to school meetings, your open houses. You put all of those things on there. Are you scheduling you?

So when you explore your inner territory as a leader, yes, you're going to uncover things. No, it's not always going to be in a nice, pretty package, but maybe what you uncover, whether it's in your research, whether it's in your reflection. Whether you simply do a staycation and, you know, tell your family, hey, listen, I have to invest in myself. But if you don't invest in yourself in the beginning, you can't reap the reward later.

I talk a lot about nomenclature and the way that we call out certain things. So for instance, self-care has absolutely, positively become a buzzword.

Self-awareness is literally asking the questions to say, OK, what kind of leader do I want to be in my personal and professional life? And then taking time to answer that question.

I'm a human being and not a human doing.

You are the leader. You're not the assistant follower. You're the assistant principal.

I always tell leaders that 60 % of what we do moving forward should be people centered, 40 % business center. And I think that that percentage is going to allow us to bring our students, bring our teachers, bring our community with us rather than leave them at the precipice of what's happening in education imagine.

We're big people, inspiring little people to be able to do life well. Life looks different, so we have to employ different resources and different strategies.
We need to come together more in the school community than we are polarizing one another.

When we talk about disruption, we have to remember that this is not going to look the way that it used to.

Have the courage to take time to spend with yourself. Put yourself on your calendar.

This is not about twenty-first century leadership. This is about the impact that your leadership in the twenty first century is going to make in the twenty second century.

Frederick

People are realizing that the old ways are absolutely not going to fit into the boxes. Let's just take the box out for recycling. The box is gone

I'm still hearing about driving new curricula and introducing new, new teaching things. And just bringing all this stuff onto teachers who are just trying to survive. And I think we do need to really move from what we think our teachers need to, building those relationships, focusing on those relationships and through that understanding, having our teachers tell us what they need.

There's a really consistent theme, and that theme is that change begins within ourselves.

we have to shift from being task focused to people focused

Coming into this school and me seeing who you are before I see what you are. And again going back to that task focus when we're task focused. And when we're prioritizing time, we're focused on what you are. Because understanding who you are. That that takes a different, you know, I've got to be present for that. I can't be worried about those other things. My priority has to be you.

the common thread that works through all those leaders that we've talked to that have inspired us. Is an they know who they are. And they're authentic about who they are.

Having the courage to take care of yourself. I think it's harder than having the courage to take care of other people.

Links:

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html