Category Leadership

PMP:070 How Your Brain Resists Change

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was in high school, my dad reenlisted in the Navy and we moved to New York where he was stationed while his ship was in dry-dock. For a country boy from West…

PMP:069 Entanglement & Why Messaging Matters

: Play in new window | DownloadInvisibilia is a fascinating podcast about the invisible forces that affect us without us being aware. In a January 29, 2015 episode, the reporters narrating the episode were talking about a phenomenon known as…

PMP:068 Choose To Run The Race Anyway

: Play in new window | DownloadOne summer when our oldest daughter, Emily, was beginning to run track, she signed up to run her first 5k with her younger sister during the July 4th holiday. Unfortunately, our younger daughter ended…

PMP:067 Wrapping Up Your School Year—Planning for Summer Break

: Play in new window | DownloadOccasionally my wife will remind me when it’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned out my closet. So I’ll take time to sort out what I don’t need anymore. I can easily fill a couple…

PMP: 066 What Factors Predict Student Success?

: Play in new window | DownloadOne weekend I was having lunch with a friend who works in petroleum engineering. We talked about the kind of research and data that he uses to determine which sites are best for drilling…

PMP:065 Celebration Ideas for Finishing The School Year

: Play in new window | DownloadLast month I was asked to share a webinar on how to prepare for our state’s accreditation visits. I decided to begin the conversation with the practical steps we take with my school team…

PMP:064 Five Tips For Finishing Strong

: Play in new window | DownloadDuring my daughter’s first year in high school, I drove to the local lake dam spillway to meet her teammates for a weekend track workout. After twenty minutes of warm-up running on the grassy…

PMP:063 Reflecting on Regrets & Rewards

: Play in new window | DownloadI was listening to an interview between Daniel Bauer and Jethro Jones the other day on Daniel’s Better Leaders, Better Schools podcast. Daniel asked Jethro, an Alaska principal, “What is one of your regrets…

PMP:062 Setting the Record Straight & School Advocacy

: Play in new window | DownloadA few years ago, I had the privilege to participate in a ten-day tour of four cities in China. On one leg of the trip, I sat by a Mongolian woman who was fluent…

PMP:061 Six Ways To Showcase Your Great School

: Play in new window | DownloadYesterday John Wink hosted a Twitter challenge called #LoveMySchoolDay where he invited educators across the country and around the world to celebrate their schools and share out moments, ideas, photos, etc. of why they…

PMP:060 How Mindfulness Influences Leadership

: Play in new window | DownloadA few nights ago, I was sitting on the couch with my wife, Missy, when our four children slowly made their way into the living room. Our lives are so busy with three teenage…

PMP:059 How Does Scarcity Affect Your Mindset?

: Play in new window | DownloadThe other morning, on my drive to school with my daughter, I was listening to a story on NPR called The Scarcity Trap: Why We Keep Digging When We’re Stuck in a Hole by…

PMP: Encore 05 Caution Lights for the Leadership Journey

: Play in new window | DownloadEach of us faces different challenges in leadership, and it is important to reflect on the caution lights along the way. This week I wanted to take you back to a podcast episode I…

PMP 057: Why Self-Reflection Matters (Questions to Ask Yourself)

: Play in new window | DownloadA couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took our oldest daughter, Emily, out to dinner. She turned 18 this year, and we wanted to encourage her in the opportunities and challenges she…

PMP 056: Reaching Generation iY and iGen Students

: Play in new window | DownloadA few years ago, I was talking to a senior student, Jesse, who was publishing his first book. He shared with me that he had a great opportunity to speak at a gathering of…

PMP 055: Spring Semester & Beta-Testing

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was boy, my parents would often stop by a decrepit farmhouse where they had first lived after being married. My great-grandfather had built it in the early 1900’s with a big front…

PMP 054: 7 Tips on Rest & Rejuvenation

: Play in new window | DownloadDuring my first two years in school admin, I barely slept, rarely exercised, and seldom had time for my family. I’ll never forget the night I was up late after my wife and I…

PMP 053: 3 Tips for Responding Under Pressure

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was in high school and college, my brothers and I worked part-time diving for mussel shells in the Kentucky Lake area. We would sell them by the pound at local markets, and…

PMP 052: Starting a Movement of Kindness

: Play in new window | DownloadAlthough I grew up in West Tennessee, I was born in San Diego, California when my dad was stationed there in the Navy. Some of my earliest toddler memories include playing on the beach…

PMP 051: The Shocking Truth About Your Decision-Making

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was going to graduate school for my Master’s Degree in Education Leadership, I decided to conduct my own informal research. Over a number of weeks, I talked to current and retired principals…

PMP 050: The 5 Marks of a Learning Culture

: Play in new window | DownloadAfter living in Oklahoma for more than twenty years, I’ve become keenly aware that our state’s economy is intricately related to oil and gas.In addition to our rich Native American heritage, almost every major…

PMP 049: Why Self-Control Matters–5 Benefits for Leaders

: Play in new window | DownloadA couple of months ago, I enjoyed some special time away with my son, Jack. He had turned 11, and when his older sisters reached that age, my wife took each of them away…

PMP 048: Looking at 2017–Let’s Stay Connected!

: Play in new window | DownloadOne of my first superintendents had been an elementary teacher. Sometimes she would begin our leadership meetings by bringing a shopping bag full of hands-on materials (paper, scissors, glue, popsicle sticks) as demonstrations for…

PMP 047: Interview with Adam Beauchamp, Oklahoma Digital Principal

: Play in new window | DownloadThis is a dual-post including a podcast interview with Principal Adam Beauchamp who shares the digital tools his school is using for enhancing communication. I’m also including a companion blog post below of an…

PMP 046: 5 Tips for Responding to Resistance

: Play in new window | DownloadOne of my favorite college education professors would often start class with a provoking question. As we would grapple with how to answer and/or support our positions, he would stand there with his large…

PMP:045 Shawn Sheehan “Teach Like Me” (Lessons in Risk, Failure and Wow)

: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I sit down with Shawn Sheehan and talk about the lessons from his life, teaching, and advocacy for education. Shawn is the 2016 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year and was a…

PMP: Encore 04 Thankfulness (And the Bacon Story)

: Play in new window | DownloadThis week’s podcast episode is an encore recording of one of my favorite growing-up stories. As you listen, I hope you take time to remember your own good memories. As we approach Thanksgiving, I…

PMP:044 How Challenges Help You Grow

: Play in new window | DownloadI remember my first year of teaching when I walked into a boy’s bathroom that was reeking of smoke. A couple of boys were standing at the urinals when one of them dropped a…

PMP:043 Lessons from a Comet Landing (What Can We Accomplish Together?)

: Play in new window | DownloadThe European Space Agency’s historical comet landing of the spacecraft Rosetta in 2014 was an amazing feat I share about in this week’s podcast. First of all, imagine organizing a team of scientists and…

PMP:042 The Future of Education (A Conversation with Undergraduates)

: Play in new window | DownloadRecently I was asked to be a guest presenter for an undergraduate education class at Bartlesville Wesleyan University, a college not too far from my high school. At the end of my presentation, I…

PMP:041 What Makes a Productive Team?

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was boy, my dad bought a long, green Pontiac station wagon. Long before the creation of the mini-van, it was the car of choice for a large family. We spent countless of…

PMP:040 How Do You Positively Respond to Apathy?

: Play in new window | DownloadLast week when I was hosting a webinar for school leaders, an overwhelming number of responses were made about the challenges of overcoming apathy. How does a leader initiate positive changes when others resist,…

Becoming Better: How You Influence Growth

: Play in new window | DownloadLast weekend I traveled with my son, Jack, and his Cub Scout pack to a joint campout with an older Boy Scout troop. It was a perfect October weekend: 70’s with sun and breeze;…

PMP:037 Are You Growing? Learning to Celebrate the Small Wins

: Play in new window | DownloadLast week I left school early so that I could watch our cross-country teams run at a local race. It was one of those days where the sun and clouds kept alternating in the…

PMP:036 Four Suggestions on Providing Meaningful Feedback from Observations and Evaluations

: Play in new window | DownloadI have a lot of friends who are good golfers. I am not one of them.But I recognize a good golfer when I see one. He or she is usually the one who gets…

PMP:035 Are You Growing? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

: Play in new window | DownloadI remember when my daughter began taking clarinet lessons from a private tutor in junior high. When I picked her up from her first session, she said, “I have been playing for three years,…

PMP:034 Six Ways to Avoid Making Wrong Calls

: Play in new window | DownloadI once knew a teaching couple who told me a funny story. They lived right across the street from a man who never seemed to go to work.During their breaks from school, the neighbor…

PMP:033 What Motivates Your Learning? A Better Alternative…

: Play in new window | DownloadWhen I was a junior high student, I remember feeling pretty clueless about what to expect in high school. Sometimes my teachers would tell me to expect to be treated like a number. At…

PMP:032 Olympic Lessons in Collaboration for Educators

: Play in new window | DownloadLast Saturday my children were watching the Olympics throughout the day. I was walking through the living room when I glanced up at the screen and saw men’s cycling. After six and half hours…

PMP:031 Creating a Sense of Ownership for Students

: Play in new window | DownloadToday’s episode is in response to a listener question, “How can we create a sense of ownership for students into today’s education system?” Although answering this question could be very long, let me ask…

One Caring Adult Can Make a Difference

Earlier this school year, I had a long conversation with a student who had been abandoned. He was fourteen years old. His biological mother was not in his life. A guardian had adopted him, but when she had difficulty with…

PMP:029 How Can I Have a Bigger Leadership Role as an Assistant?

: Play in new window | DownloadToday’s podcast episode is the first in a series responding to listener and reader questions. One assistant principal wrote me to ask, “How can I have a bigger leadership role as an assistant?” This…

Are We Committing Educational Malpractice?

One day I was visiting my family medical doctor, when a nurse asked me to follow her to another room. She asked if I would unbutton my shirt so that she connect me to some small leads and do an…

Caught in the Middle: Policy, Principals and Practice

Jack is a middle school student who is found in possession of something dangerous at school. His assistant principal guides his parents and Jack through disciplinary actions based on school policy, which may include temporary or long-term removal from the…

PMP: Encore 02 Courage, Teamwork, and Purpose

: Play in new window | DownloadThis week is another encore episode of Principal Matters Podcast. You can link here see the original post accompanying this episode and all the show notes. Thanks for everything you do in serving schools…

PMP: Encore 01 Three C’s For a Great School Year

: Play in new window | DownloadThe weeks of summer are a good time to revisit some original Principal Matters content. This week is an encore episode of the very first episode of Principal Matters Podcast. Listen in for reminders…

Confronting the Brutal Facts

When I was a teenager, I was splitting logs for our woodpile when I couldn’t find the familiar wedge I normally used. Looking around I spotted an old axe head and decided it would have to do.Placing it into a…

Cultivating a Culture of Growth

When I was a boy, one day my dad walked me to the back pasture of our farm. At the end of long rows of corn, he had set aside an area that he had tilled and planted with potato…

Ruby Payne: Interview Revisited

This week my friends at the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administrators are hosting a pre-conference with Ruby Payne before their annual summer events. Ruby’s teaching on understanding a framework for poverty was instrumental in opening my eyes to the…