One of the most frustrating things about being a Builder is that not everyone will understand what you are trying to build. And, even those who do understand may find your bold vision a threat to their own complacency. That means, you will likely face times when others try to block what you are trying to build. That's why on today's episode, we're tackling what you should do when someone or something attempts to block what you are trying to build. Tune in to discover how to land on your feet even when they try to pull the rug out from under you #LikeABuilder.

School Leadership Reimagined

When the rug is pulled out from under you...

There’s a hidden phenomenon that happens in every school every year about this time of the year. I call it the “October Surprise” and if you don’t handle it correctly, it can take your school way off course and create challenges that reverberate throughout the rest of the school year. That’s why on today’s episode, you’ll discover what the “October Surprise” is, why it’s so insidious, and the specific steps you can take now to turn your October Surprise into a stepping stone for school success this year #LikeABuilder.

How to Handle the “October Surprise”

Every school goes through 4 phases of growth. Each phase or zone has a specific challenge that if you don’t overcome, will keep your school stuck in that zone and keep you working harder and not seeing any results. But, when you understand the central challenge of each zone, you can focus on doing the right work for your zone, get your school unstuck, and see significant growth this school year and keep your school growing until you achieve success for 100% of your students in the next 3 years or less. Tune in to discover the 4 zones of Buildership® . Then take a simple quiz to find out which zone you’re in right now and how you can get your unstuck and get to the next level #LikeABuilder. 

The 4 Zones of Buildership

Have you ever faced a situation that seemed impossible? Perhaps you’re dealing with one now. Builders face seemingly impossible situations all the time, but Builders always find a way to keep building even in the worst of circumstances. What’s their secret? Builders always question their assumptions. When you question your assumptions you open up new solutions that were previously hidden to you. Tune in today to discover a simple 3-step process to help you question all your assumption and discover a way when there seems like no way #LikeABuilder

What to do when your situation seems impossible

We're all familiar with the term YOLO (You only live once). It's often used as an excuse to indulge ourselves in something decadent because after all, we only have one life, we might as well make the best of it. But what happens when you shift the term from YOLO to TOLO - They only live once? On todays episode, we're going to explore how having a TOLO perspective can help you make a real difference in the lives of your students (even in the messiest of circumstances) #LikeABuilder

TOLO

Welcome back to this season of the School Leadership Reimagined Podcast! Although I'd planned to do a completely episode today, I so many Builders have been reporting that they are already feeling a bit overwhelmed, frustrated, or defeated (and the school year has barely started) that I wanted to address it on today's episode. So, if you are becoming discouraged by the new spikes in Covid cases, teacher shortages, contact tracing requirements, teacher burnout, political landmines (hello masks, vaccines, and critical race theory!) or any other frustration, then today's episode is for you. Instead of feeling defeated, find out how to handle these challenges and keep your school focused on what matters #LikeABuilder.

Feeling Defeated Already?

One of my favorite sayings is "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." If you've got a toxic culture, it really doesn't matter what your strategic plan or vision is. Your culture always trumps your strategy. That's why Builders protect their culture by spotting and getting rid of toxicity before it has a chance to spread.  This week, we’re revisiting Episode 7 where I share 6 early warning signs that your culture is turning toxic. If you can nip these in the bud before they have a chance to infect your entire culture and ruin any initiatives you are trying to launch, you can clear the way to achieve your school-wide vision and get everyone on board #LikeABuilder.

Summer Rewind: 6 Early Warning Signs of a Toxic School Culture

I'm often asked what the secret is to success. Is it some new program? Some secret strategy? Some new technique? Unfortunately, my answer disappoints many people looking for the latest and greatest next new thing. Success, it turns out, is pretty boring. So if you find yourself chasing the latest new thing and you're constantly on the school improvement hamster wheel, then tune in to today's Summer Rewind where we revisit episode 84 to learn the secret of true success. In other words, discover how to be boring #LikeABuilder

Summer Rewind: Success is Boring

We're continuing our Summer Rewind series by revisiting one of my favorite seasons where we delved more deeply into several "Mindstep-isms" and today's episode is one of my favorites from that season: "All money ain't good money." It's actually something we say around the office all the time. In fact, it's become a huge part of how our culture makes decisions. And, given the rapidly-changing times we're in right now, it's particularly apropos. You see, the habits you establish now for your school will be hard to break later. That means you must think carefully about the long-term consequences of the decisions you make in times of crisis. So, if you're trying to figure out how to navigate the days ahead, especially when things are changing all the time and there's a growing sense of urgency that demands that you make decisions quickly, then you need to listen to this episode and discover how to make the right decision #LikeABuilder.

Summer Rewind: All money ain't good money

Most schools already have core values, but there’s a really good reason why those core values aren’t alive and driving your school culture -- Nobody truly owns them. If you really want your core values to be non-negotiable in your school and if you really want teachers to fully embrace them, there’s one thing you need to do: You’re going to have to give up some control. That's why today, we're revisiting episode 44 to find out how to develop school core values that your teachers can truly own (without drama or chaos). You’ll also discover how to handle the inevitable push-back you’ll face and how to neutralize it so that by the time you’re done, EVERY teacher in your building will support your school core values and live by them.   And at the end of the episode, I’ll tell you how you can get a free download of my latest ebook How to Overcome a Toxic School Culture which lays out the entire process step-by-step so that you can apply it to your school this year. By the time you’re done listening, you’ll know exactly how to create core values everyone will embrace #LikeABuilder. #LikeABuilder.

Summer Rewind: How to Establish School Core Values without Drama and Chaos

Do you spend the majority of your day putting out fires and dealing with interruptions that keep you from doing the work that you really want and should be doing? Are you taking work home over the weekends because you don’t have time to catch up during the school day? The problem isn’t that you need fewer interruptions. The problem is that you need better systems. That's why this week, we're revisiting Episode 16 in our Summer Rewind Series. Discover how to go from hero mode where you run around fighting fires, to making your systems the heroes so that you can reclaim your time to do the work that really matters #LikeABuilder

From fighting fires to fire prevention

Have you ever wondered why your change efforts lose steam over time? There’s a reason for that. In fact, there are 5 BIG reasons, I call them TRAPS that seriously threaten the success of our change efforts and keep us from achieving the momentum we need to reach our goals. This week, we're revisiting Episode 15 where we go through these 5 traps one by one and show you why they are so insidious and exactly what you need to do to avoid them #LikeABuilder.

Summer Rewind: Episode 15 5 Traps that threaten your school improvement planning

 Although this episode originally aired a few years ago, it is still very true: You will always feel burned out whenever you are not operating inside your "zone of genius." That's why this week, we're revisiting episode 22 which is all about how to overcome one of the biggest and sneakiest obstacles many builder’s face -- Burnout.    But instead of just doing a training where I give you tips and strategies for overcoming burnout, this week, I’m also going to get pretty personal and share with you my own struggle with burnout.   Because here’s the thing. Burnout is something we will ALL face at some point of our career. And what’s more, it’s not something that you can solve by taking a vacation, or getting more rest, or even reducing your workload.   That’s because usually burnout is a symptom of a bigger problem.    So today, we’re going to talk about the real problem with burnout and I’m going to share my own story with burnout with you. Now, I’m going to get a little vulnerable, not deep sobbing and sloppy tears vulnerable but I am going to share with you one of the toughest parts of my own career in hopes that my story can become a cautionary tale for you.    If you’re struggling with burnout you’re going to learn how to quickly get yourself out of burnout and be energized and inspired by your work again.   And, if even you’re not struggling with burnout yet, chances are you will. So today, you’ll learn the early warning signs of burnout and how you can avoid real burnout altogether #LikeABuilder. 

Summer Rewind: How to Overcome Burnout

 I've always said that one of the most powerful tools a Builder has is the meeting rhythm and team meeting agenda.  One of the biggest hidden obstacles keeping you from achieving your school goals is how you meet around those goals. Let’s be honest, most meetings are pretty useless. And every time you have a meeting where you go round and round about an issue and don’t actually SOLVE it, you are wasting time and putting you and your team further away from your school goals.  That's why this week, we're revisiting episode 19 where you'll discover how to build a better, more accountable meeting agenda, one that gets you focused on the right issues and ensures that you actually solve your most important issues each and every time you meet.   It’s my secret weapon for helping teams actually accomplish their goals and this week I’m sharing it with you. Whether you are working with your leadership team to tackles school-wide issues or your grade level team to deal with the issues that come up on your grade level, this meeting agenda will guarantee that you not only run meetings more efficiently and smoothly, but actually get stuff done!    After you listen to the episode, don’t forget to download my team meeting agenda template so that you can use it to plan your next team meeting.      

Summer Rewind: Steal My Team Meeting Agenda

This week's summer rewind is Episode 38: How to Conduct Student Focus Groups. This is THE definitive episode on how to conduct student focus groups. Student focus groups are a great way to connect with your students and collect their feedback on how you are doing as a school. In this episode, learn step-by-step how to select students for a focus group, what questions to ask, how to analyze the data, and how to use the data to improve your school. So, if there is anything you're trying to figure out about how to make your school better or how to overcome a school challenge, stop guessing. Just ask your students and they will tell you what needs to be done. All the steps are in this episode so that by the time you're done, you'll be able to conduct your own student focus group #LikeABuilder.

Summer Rewind - Student Focus Groups

Tired of school change efforts that stall, or worse, never get off the ground? If you’re a principal, assistant principal, or instructional coach who is ready have a transformative impact on the teachers you serve then School Leadership Reimagined is for you. Each week, Robyn Jackson will share counterintuitive strategies to help you dramatically improve instruction. You’ll discover how to motivate your teachers, help them be accountable, overcome toxic cultures, and transform your school. No more pulling teeth with resistant teachers. No more constantly fighting fires. No more running out of steam mid-year. Regain your time, Reignite your passion, and Rethink what’s possible. Stop settling for status quo. It’s time to reimagine school leadership. Visit SchoolLeadershipReimagined.com to download the free resources that come with each episode

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School Leadership Reimagined

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