Episode 245: Belonging Begins with Us - Leadership Lessons from Jayme Braida

Jayme Braida (00:00)

I really truly believe that a culture can't rise higher than the leader we are becoming. And so the LEAD framework was kind of born out of that question of how do you create that culture? culture isn't a checklist and it's not something that can just be like, okay, I've done a back to school thing. I'm a good communicator,

Culture is all about our leadership and our intentionality and how we're showing up. And so the LEAD framework, it's an acronym, it really is, it was something that helps me to wrap my head around who I am and how that relates to the way I lead and show up every day.

Darrin Peppard (00:00.75)

Hey everybody, thank you so much for joining me here on the Leaning Into Leadership Podcast. This is episode 245. Have you ever noticed how the best leaders are also the most reflective ones? You know, they don't just move from one challenge to the next. They pause, they reflect, and they take action with clarity. That's what today's guest, Jamie Breda, does so beautifully. She is the 2025 Iowa Elementary School Principal of the Year.

And her story of overcoming childhood trauma and building a culture of belonging will remind you why reflection, authenticity and purpose matter. Now, before we dive in, a quick word about our new partners at Digicoach. Look, you've heard me say it before. Clarity and leadership starts with visibility. You can't improve what you don't see. That's why I'm excited to partner with Digicoach. With Digicoach, school leaders can get into classrooms,

collect real-time data and truly see what's happening with instruction. This platform makes walkthroughs simple, efficient, and purposeful, helping you turn what you observe into meaningful coaching conversations. Every great leader I know is focused on growth, their own, their staffs, and their students. And that's exactly what Digicoach is all about. When feedback is consistent, supportive, and centered on growth, not on gotchas, your coaching culture really starts to thrive.

If you're ready to simplify the complexity of classroom visits and focus on what really matters most, your students, teaching and learning, then check out digicoach.com and mention that I sent you for special partner pricing. Once again, that's digicoach.com. Now let's jump into this episode with Jamie Breda.

Darrin Peppard (00:46)

All right, everybody, welcome back into the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. My guest on the show today is Jamie Breda. Super excited to have this conversation. Jamie was recently named the 2025 Iowa Elementary School Principal of the Year. Before we hit the record button, Jamie was sharing how she had just been in Washington, DC with the National Distinguished Principal.

which is always so much fun and always such a great opportunity to celebrate other principles of the year. I'm sure we're going to talk about all of those kinds of things. We'll talk about Jamie's lead framework, but let's just do this first. Jamie, welcome into Leaning into Leadership.

Jayme Braida (01:27)

Thank you so much for having me. love your podcast. So I'm just really honored to be here right now.

Darrin Peppard (01:33)

Now, absolutely. I appreciate that so much. And anytime I get a chance to sit down with a fellow principal of the year, it's a lot of fun. And I'm always curious. I want to have you talk a little bit about your background. But before we do that, I'm always curious with fellow POIs, like, how did you find out that you were being named principal of the year? And what are maybe some things that

not necessarily have changed, but some things that have come, like, I guess, your way, opportunities, or maybe obligations that go along with that, that POY title.

Jayme Braida (02:09)

Yeah, so I was, wasn't super eventful. It was the very next day after our peer interviews and I knew that I was gonna get some kind of a phone call. And so I got a call from Heather Buckley. She was a former POI and she was one of the peers that sat in on the final interviews. And she started out with this, we loved your story. It was super impactful. And I was just waiting for that let down of

we recognize someone else and she said, we'd love you to be representing Iowa as our next principal of the year. And I just started crying. so, I mean, it's very emotional for me to know if you know my history, my backstory, which I can get into later, which is a very surreal moment. And that's what this whole past six months have been is just surreal. It's been podcasts and...

Interview opportunities and then traveling to Washington DC was absolutely incredible It was an incredible three days of just collaborating and celebrating and all of that That's something I could have never dreamed of as a child and so it was extra special to me Just getting to experience all that and then the entire Recognition has been a catalyst for me to really jump into

different leadership experiences and I know you're going to ask the question later because I always hear it at the end of your podcast, how are you leaning into leadership? So I won't say too much, but it really was a catalyst to just start expanding my leadership beyond the walls of my building.

Darrin Peppard (03:27)

Yep.

Yeah, excellent stuff. so you mentioned it in there. And, and I'll say this before, before we get to talking about maybe your backstory, but once, once you are a principal, the, or you are forever a principal of the year, I've heard a few people say, you know, Hey, I'm a former principal of the year. You're never a former, you will always be a principal of the year. And it's something that carries with it some responsibility, I think, to pour into other leaders. think it's something that, you know, certainly

distinguishes you and, you know, is a something very strong that says this is somebody who is genuinely dedicated to the craft of leadership and has really, you know, worked to to pour into the people that they lead. So I know I've said it to you before, but I'll say it here with the actual recording. Congratulations on that. It is it is an incredibly, incredibly well deserved honor for you to be the Iowa principal of the year for 2025. So

Let's go ahead and maybe back it up a little ways, maybe jump in the way back machine as far as you want to go and tell a little bit of that backstory that leads up to you being an elementary school principal and ultimately, I guess, being named principal of year.

Jayme Braida (04:44)

Sure. So I'll just start with, I'm, Jamie Breda currently serve as the pre-K through second grade principal at Columbus Elementary. It's a small rural district in South Central Iowa, in the school district of Sheraton, Iowa. I tell people all the time, I have the absolute best job in the world and I can't imagine doing anything else. I truly can't wait to go to work every day because I'm filled with so much joy with the job. So.

I've been in education for 18 years. I started my career as a classroom teacher teaching fourth and fifth grade and then I stepped into the role of instructional coach and then became a building administrator. I took a year off in the middle of that eight years of administrator to go into a very urban setting and coach principals. So I spent a year coaching and consulting building principals in Des Moines Public Schools and then...

was just called to come back to my roots where I first started teaching in Sheraton and lead the school that I first started in the district I first started teaching in. My story there, however, was not, it was not an easy journey to get to where I was. I don't think I ever intended to become a teacher. I kind of stumbled upon teaching because I hadn't declared a major by junior year and thought, I like kids, so I'll just get into it that way.

As a matter of fact, most people would, I still run into people from my childhood who say things like, I cannot believe you are a school principal. Because I was a very challenging child. I was in trouble quite a bit. I had undiagnosed ADHD, a lot of anxiety, and just with that came all sorts of behavior problems. And, you know, I probably look like your typical kid on the outside.

You know, I dressed the part, I was in all the activities, but at home there was a lot of trauma in my life. As a matter of fact, kind of as a result of that trauma, I had four siblings. Two of them did not graduate from high school. My sister had a full-blown meth addiction by the time she was 19 and had been in and out of multiple correctional facilities and drug rehab centers. And then my oldest sister tragically died of a drug overdose. And so...

I was really headed for that same fate until one educator, my fifth grade teacher, saw me for more than my childhood behavior and just spoke so much truth over me and believed in me. looking back now that I've literally became a fifth grade teacher because of that woman, I know she's the reason that I lead the way that I do. And I have such a...

put such an emphasis on relationships, connection and belonging because those are things that I needed growing up. So anyway, that was a lot, but you can see how having a story like that, that's what makes my recognition as principal of the year. You know, I'm standing in this room with all these amazing leaders. It was so surreal to me last week to share my story with them and to realize like how far I've actually made it.

Darrin Peppard (07:22)

Yeah.

Jayme Braida (07:38)

And that is a true testament to the people in my life that shaped my journey.

Darrin Peppard (07:43)

And so I have a couple of questions I want to ask. First, thank you for sharing that and being pretty vulnerable on that. A couple of questions that come to mind about what you just shared. First, your fifth grade teacher. Does she know that she's the person that made this impact? Did you ever have the opportunity to actually just say, you have no idea the impact you've made on my life?

Jayme Braida (08:04)

So, you know, I hadn't become, I was working on my principal degree. She left teaching shortly after I moved on to middle school. And so I couldn't find her for the longest time. I always joke that she's probably, I'm probably the reason that she left. So she left teaching and I totally lost touch, but she was always in my mind. Like as I went through school, anytime there was any sort of big event when I got inducted into National Honor Society.

when I made captain of the dance team. All those moments like she was always in my mind and I would think to myself, I wish she knew how I'm doing. I wish she knew I did this. And so it wasn't until I tried to look her up all through my teaching years and teaching career. It wasn't until I was at a car dealership buying a car and I saw the guy's name tag said to Booth, which was her last name.

And I just happened to ask her, you know Kim Dabouf? And he said, that's my daughter-in-law. And he gave me her contact info and I was able to reach out to her. I sent her an email. We had a wonderful email exchange. just like I'm sure you've experienced this as an educator, she had no idea the impact that she had made. And that's so true. I don't know how many times that I've had moments where I just hope I'm making a difference, but you don't always see the impact.

But then if you've been around long enough, 10, 20 years later, you have these kids that reach out to you and say, you said this and it had a huge impact. And so that was one of those moments. She wanted to meet up with me and just go have coffee, but I couldn't handle it emotionally. And I still like, to this day, I haven't met back up with her. And she probably, I don't know if she knows that I've, she knew I was going to school to become a principal.

She knew the difference that she had made. And I probably should let her know that I wrote a book and dedicated it to her. And the entire, the epilogue of the book is actually our email exchange. And so it really kind of, it's in my memoir with some leadership lessons and it really kind of wraps it up beautifully. Kind of comes full circle of just talking about the importance that are, you know, the weight of our words.

Darrin Peppard (10:03)

wow.

Jayme Braida (10:16)

What we say and do matters and just immense impact that we can have to shape kids' lives.

Darrin Peppard (10:21)

Absolutely. Wow, that's, that is a really, really powerful story. And I think, I think anytime you have the opportunity to this, this is just for everybody listening. think anytime you have the opportunity that, you know, you're, you're thinking about somebody who genuinely did make a difference. yeah, find, find that way to, to reach out and, and get connected with them. mean, obviously, you know, you're at a car dealership and you get to make this connection. So it was certainly meant to be.

The second question I had about that now maybe translates more into your work as a teacher, your work as a principal, but one of my all-time favorite quotes by Rory Vaden, I talked about it here on the show a few weeks ago in a solo episode. I did an episode where it was the six quotes that have shaped my leadership the most. And this quote by Rory Vaden is one of them.

We are uniquely positioned to help the person we once were. And hearing you talk about who you were, that story that you have of your childhood, the trauma that you've been through, we know now that, obviously, not that kids haven't dealt with trauma for an eternity. Right now, it's coming at us in much, much stronger doses.

with so many kids. How has that experience shaped how you approach not only your kids, but also now the adults that you lead?

Jayme Braida (11:43)

Yeah. So I have heard you talk, I've heard you use that quote more than once and I'm super reflective. And so I've actually thought about that exact quote and what that looks like in my leadership. So a couple of things come to mind. I know what it's like to be the child who's overlooked, who, you know, I spent most of my elementary years sitting in the hallway. I mean, because that's how

people oftentimes dealt with challenging behaviors. They would just shut you to the office or send you to the hallway. And so just those little things of how I understand, have a deeper sense of empathy than some people may have because I lived through that as a child. And so I really do a lot of reflecting on how my values and values come from our experiences and our beliefs, but how our values show up in our daily actions. And so I am very intentional in...

You know, when I am working with teachers and coaching teachers and even making decisions, I oftentimes help. I'm very intentional about telling the teachers why I'm doing what I'm doing and how that relates back to my values. So one of the things that I say is we don't send kids to the hallway. Like we never send kids to the hallway. Why? Because we're sending the wrong message. We're sending a message that we don't want you here. So here's what we're gonna do instead.

share then my teachers all know my story. They know my backstory. And we talk a lot about trauma informed responses and trauma informed care. And so much of that has, my own story has shaped my passion and my leadership style and my actions. Then also, when we think about we're in that position to lead who we once were, I was not always this teacher.

I actually failed miserably my first few years when it came to behavior and working with kids with challenging behavior. I was the teacher that was doing the clip charts and clipping kids down. I was the kid that was sent, the teacher that was sending kids out to the hallway. And I mean, all these things happen for a reason. And I went through ACEs training and that's adverse childhood experiences. And as I'm doing that, all of a sudden the light bulb goes off and I'm like, my gosh.

I am the kid with the ACEs. Like I have multiple ACEs, holy smokes. And then learning about like, I have to teach these kids differently. I have to value and prioritize relationships and connections and I have to handle things differently. And so I dove into, you know, learning about trauma-informed instruction and trauma-informed responses and dove into advocating for ACEs and-

I at the time was at the biggest elementary school in the state. And I asked the principal, can I teach everyone about ACEs? This is before ACEs training. I don't know about in Nebraska, but it's required in Iowa now. This is before anyone had even really heard of ACEs. And I brought ACEs to the school and I did a professional learning, a professional development session with the entire staff, which is over 80 people on ACEs training. And.

Even now, as I'm coaching teachers, I can say to them, I didn't always have this, despite the fact that I was a child who experienced trauma, I didn't know how to relate to those kids, but now I do. And when you know better, you do better. And so I'm constantly evolving as a leader, but then using my experiences to navigate those coaching conversations.

Darrin Peppard (15:06)

Yeah, well, I think it's definitely something that's really important that, you know, as a leader, I mean, we all have our own individual leadership style. And it's one of those things that just kind of develops over time. But certainly drawing from the experiences that you have and the things that you have learned along the way certainly is the people that you lead each and every day.

I know another piece of that certainly is your lead framework that you have kind of modeled your own leadership around. I want to have you talk about it because it is very much an experiential, like, hey, this is how I've been leading. Now let me actually capture it into something that others can learn from and that can be very much a formula.

a framework for being a successful leader. So let's have you talk a little bit about that because I think it's definitely some powerful stuff.

Jayme Braida (16:03)

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, before we talk about the LEAD framework, just, I really want to emphasize culture. Culture is where everything has to start and it doesn't just end with culture. Culture is ongoing, something we have to attend to all the time. And one of the things I'm most proud of, you know,

When people, I just had someone ask me this morning, you what are you most proud of with this recognition? I said, it's not about the recognition. It's what it represents. It represents what we have been able to do in our building with our school culture. We have a very positive collaborative culture and it is filled with joy. And I think schools have to be places of joy where just connection, there's a strong sense of belonging, and it's just part of the daily experience of students and staff. when people can have joy, and that doesn't mean things are perfect.

because we go through some hard things. But it means that we can be kind of content in all circumstances and we're going to choose to be resilient and positive and have gratitude through the hard stuff. We can find purpose and hope even in the hard moments and be resilient and joy-filled. having that kind of culture makes all the difference. It's the type of place where educators can come and not just survive but thrive. And so...

That has taken intentionality on my part to build those trusting relationships, to build that relational culture. And I really truly believe that a culture can't rise higher than the leader we are becoming. And so the LEAD framework was kind of born out of that question of how do you create that culture? Well, culture isn't a checklist and it's not something that can just be like, okay, I've done a back to school thing. I'm a good communicator, like.

Culture is all about our leadership and our intentionality and how we're showing up. And so the LEAD framework, it's an acronym, it really is, it was something that helps me to, I'm trying to figure out how to word this, it's helped me to wrap my head around who I am and how that relates to the way I lead and show up every day. So the L stands for lead by example.

The E is embrace your narrative. The A is align your actions and the D is do the work. Okay. So you look very like you're really following along here. like it. Okay. So the example that is really this idea that everything comes from the leader and we have to model the values that we want lived out every day. We have to do it intentionally. We have to communicate those values. So first of all, we have to know what our values are.

Darrin Peppard (18:26)

Yeah.

Jayme Braida (18:44)

And when we know what they are, then we can live them out on a day-to-day basis. So it takes some reflection. In my year where I worked with principals, and I would ask them, one of the questions I would ask was, what do you value? What are your core values? Especially principals that struggled. They struggled with their morale, keeping culture high. They struggled making decisions. People that swayed back and forth.

They really had never answered that question. Like, what do I truly value? When we know, then we can stand on our values and be confident in our decisions. People are always watching. They're watching how we respond to challenges, how we treat other people, how we show up. And being consistent in our actions builds the trust that we need to inspire others to really show up and show up well. So we have to lead by example. The next one is really embracing our narrative.

And this is where it kind of goes back to that idea of everyone has stories and things that shape their leadership, good and bad. For me, some of that was my trauma and the things that I experienced and the adults that shaped who I am. But it also has to do with owning our authentic selves every single day and being able show up as our authentic selves. So I'll give you a couple of examples here.

One of the things that I went through is a very messy, messy divorce a few years ago. And one of the biggest reasons why my marriage fell apart was because I was completely married to my work. I had zero boundaries. I was pretty burnt out. I'd come home. The lines were blurred between work and home, and I'd just come home and I would work all night long. And honestly,

If I could work on that line, long I would because I love my work and it's a lot easier sometimes than being a mom. so I have to set boundaries. so because of my experience with my own divorce and my own burnout experience, I now have the value of balance and boundaries. And so I share that with my staff very intentionally. I don't tell them like, you know, I don't.

Darrin Peppard (20:29)

Yeah.

Jayme Braida (20:50)

dump all that on them just to tell them how horrible things were during those years. But I explained that like I lived it. That was my lived experience and because of that I need boundaries and so here are my boundaries. And when I can set boundaries and model that for my staff, it allows them to do the same thing. And my staff are also going through messy things. You know, I've dealt with kids, my own children having some mental health things, their kids are experiencing some mental health things, they might be experiencing divorce.

So when we can show up as our honest, authentic selves, our staff can do the same. Another example would be just like I said earlier, I grew up experiencing trauma. So I understand firsthand the power of caring adults to completely change the trajectory of children's lives. So that's why I lead with connection and empathy and a belief in every single kid. And I'm going to advocate for every single kid, no matter how challenging the situation might be. I want every

kid and staff member to feel seen, and valued. And then on the other hand, our experiences can also shape our actions in a negative way if we're not aware of them. So sometimes for me that's showing up and over-functioning and always being very busy all the time because I value efficiency, but that can be very negative because that kind of sets this really busy, crazy tone in your building. And so I have to just be aware of that. ⁓

Darrin Peppard (22:04)

Yeah.

Absolutely. That's busy energy.

Jayme Braida (22:11)

Yes,

maybe you have the busy energy. You can tell kind of sometimes I'm, I have that busy energy even in our conversation right now. So then we get to the A, align actions. And so this is really that constant reflection of am I acting in a way that aligns with values and holding myself accountable, but also my teams. So when you can establish some of those core values with your team, I'm constantly asking my team, you know, how are our core values showing up in your work this week?

How are those core values showing up and how you're leading your own individual teams with my grade level teachers? It's also empowering our teams to lead. or exceptional teams are people led, they're team member led, they're not coach led. So I'm always thinking about how can I get my teams to align their actions to and my staff? And then finally, the D is the do the work.

Like I said, culture is ongoing. So is leadership development. Leadership is not about perfection. It's just showing up consistently and willing to grow. It's owning our mistakes, seeking feedback. It's looking for those blind spots. And it's really just leading with humility and courage. And so when leaders can live out those four pieces, leading by example, embracing their narrative and showing up authentically, aligning their actions and

and continuously doing the work, that's when you can shift culture. And if you can't do those four things, then it doesn't matter what your instructional expertise or all these changes you might put into place, you have to be the best leader you can be to shape the culture.

Darrin Peppard (23:45)

What I really love about that, one, very strong framework. Two, you referred to it much earlier in our conversation, but I'll bring it back in here. Each of those individual elements in your lead framework require a great deal of self-reflection for the leader. when leaders, really great leaders, are really great and very intentional about setting time aside for reflection.

That's honestly when the real growth happens. That's really when learning happens. People say all the time, I learn from my mistakes or I learn from the things that I've done. Well, only if you reflect on them. If you just go make mistakes and then you don't reflect on them, you're genuinely not learning. You're just making mistakes, which that was me my first two years, I think, as a building principal, right? But I really love that there's very strong undertones in there.

every step of the way of as a leader, you have to be intentional about reflecting. I want to ask you about the book, seen, heard, and valued. Before I do though, I want to go a little bit deeper with reflecting. It's very evident that you are a reflective leader for...

for our early career leaders maybe who might be listening, whether they're administrators or in some other walk of life. And they're falling into that same trap you fell into, the trap that I fell into of work, work, work, work, work, and if I could work 24 hours a day, I would. You don't get out of that without spending time in reflection. What might be one or two either ways you reflect now or that you encourage your team to reflect that might be a benefit for them?

Jayme Braida (25:21)

let's see, so.

That is great. I honestly, I presented the LEAD framework to brand new administrators before school started this year. And I really encouraged them to use the few weeks before school as a season of preparation to just get clear on their values, because that'll go so far. you can know your values too. I feel like I was pretty solid with my values when I first stepped into the role. So it helps when you know those, because it helps you have

the courage to have tough conversations and to make decisions and stand on your decisions. But just like you, I still make tons of mistakes. I'm always making mistakes and learning and doing, but it's through that constant reflection that I can continue to pivot and own my mistakes and shift and change and do better and be better.

So one of the ways that I just encourage reflection and I myself reflect is I build it into kind of meeting agendas. So a lot of times when we have like BLT building leadership team meetings, I will ask those reflective questions. Like what's one way your core values are showing up this week? Or I might ask my leaders, what's one thing that I'm doing that's getting in the way of our relationship? Or what's one thing that I've been doing that is

keeping me from leading or moving the team forward. And I encourage them to ask their teams the same thing. So my grade level team leads, they'll ask their team the same thing. So just constantly building in regular opportunities to seek candid feedback to help us get better. I would really encourage new principles to do that as well. Even if it's two or three times a year, just ask a question or maybe it's that end of the year survey.

It's intimidating and it's scary, but you have to know your blind spots. One of my greatest mentors my first year said to me, he asked me the question of, do you think people feel about your leadership? Or do you think they think you're a great leader? And I was like, yeah. And then I listed off all these things I did. I do this, I do this, I do this. And he said, you're not answering the question. How do you know that they think you're a great leader?

You're just telling me things that you're doing. What is the impact that you can see it having on your staff and how do you know? So he really challenged me to get their perspective because their perspective is their reality. Just like my perspective was my reality and it might not align. And so that has shifted me to never assume people are agreeing with me, never assume that I'm doing all the right things.

We don't know until we ask for the feedback on how things are going. So just constantly seeking out that critical candid feedback, really important.

Darrin Peppard (28:02)

Absolutely, you know, that's that's one thing leaders can't be afraid of is to genuinely hear that feedback from those that they lead, not just from those who who maybe supervise them they need to you really need to hear that from others. So let's talk really quick about about the book you referenced it earlier, seen heard valued. Obviously, it's coming from a lot of what you already do, but maybe share a little bit more about that.

Jayme Braida (28:24)

Yeah, so the book is a memoir. Every chapter of the book really highlights kind of that critical moment from childhood up till the current day that has shaped my leadership journey. It has just, it's been written kind of as a hybrid. So every chapter has kind of my story and then it has leadership lessons that I learned along the way. And a lot of those leadership lessons are connected to belonging and connection and how we.

just handle the hard stuff in life. Then at the very end, I do share some of my things like the LEAD framework and just how to create that culture where we ensure all students and staff feel seen, valued. So, yeah.

Darrin Peppard (29:05)

Yeah, no, that's perfect. I love that. For a long time for me, a big piece has been seen, heard, valued, and trusted. And so to hear you talk about seen, heard, and valued just really hits home. I love that so very much. Okay, so Jamie, our time has just flown by. I absolutely love this conversation, but we're at the point where I need to ask you the same question I ask everybody here on Leaning Into Leadership podcast.

You talked earlier like you were prepared for this. So let's hear you knock this thing out of the park. How are you leaning into leadership right now?

Jayme Braida (29:34)

my gosh, created a lot of hype. I hope this is good. Okay. So ⁓ I think about two of my core values. One is growth mindset and just constantly becoming better every day. And the other one is making a difference or making a bigger impact. And so for me, I'm just constantly trying to grow and become better every day. And I'm just chasing excellence. It's not about perfection. It's just becoming better. That's not only with my professional life, but personal life. And as you can tell, I'm super reflective.

Darrin Peppard (29:37)

Yeah, no pressure at all.

Jayme Braida (30:00)

And that's just not just my work life. It really is at home too. So how can I get healthier? How can I be a better mom and a better partner? Wellness starts at the top. So I'm always trying to model and just model 1 % better every day. And then the other thing is making a difference and an impact. Every single position I've ever been in, as I learn things, I wanna share it. I want more people to do the things that I'm doing. want...

people to have a bigger impact and I want to serve others. so true to my style of, just can't, my busy energy, I can't be contained. It was at the classroom level, I wanted to go bigger. At the building level, I wanted to go bigger. And so now here I am trying to get out of my district and just step into all sorts of different roles. So I've been doing podcasts and wrote my book and I even am doing a few speaking engagements. And so that's really where I see myself.

I do not take this, like you were talking earlier, becoming the National Distinguished Principal. That is a platform that I am going to use as an opportunity to just make a huge difference. And I'm not going to take that lightly because it truly is a gift to be giving this recognition. And so I want to use that gift just to serve others. And I'm really excited. So that's how I'm leading into leadership.

Darrin Peppard (31:13)

That's outstanding. love all of that every little bit of that people are going to want to get in touch with you They're going to want to check out the book. They're going to want to you know Just learn even more about Jamie. So what are the best ways for people to get connected with you?

Jayme Braida (31:26)

Sure, yeah, so the book, I'm in the editing phase and I'm self-publishing, so it's taking a little longer, but that should be coming out. Hopefully, my goal is by end of winter, and maybe that's March. Maybe it's more like June, January. You can find me on Instagram, just at JamieBreda, and you can also find me at LinkedIn, and I also have a website, so it's just jamiebreda.com. So feel free to check me out. You can subscribe to my newsletter, and I'll be putting some things out there about the book and when that's gonna launch, so.

Darrin Peppard (31:54)

Outstanding stuff. Well, we'll put all that stuff down the show notes so people have an easy way to go and get connected with you Jamie Brayden. Thank you again so much for joining me here on leaning into leadership

Jayme Braida (32:04)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Darrin Peppard (02:00.056)

All right, friends, what an awesome conversation with Jamie. I really appreciate her joining me here on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. Make sure you get down into the show notes, check out all the stuff we have there for you to get connected with Jamie. Check out her brand new website and make sure that you reach out to Jamie Braydon. And now it's time for a pep talk. You know, one of the hardest lessons I learned early in leadership was not everybody is gonna cheer for you.

When I first became principal, I had a few people on my team who didn't just question my leadership. They openly criticized it. And I'll be honest, I took it personally. Their words stuck with me way longer than they should have. It made me second guess my decisions and honestly doubt my instincts. Looking back now, I realized that it wasn't the criticism that held me back. It was how I chose to respond to it.

I gave those voices way too much space in my head. Here's the truth. If you're leading, you're going to face criticism. That's just part of the deal. But great leaders don't try to silence the noise. They filter it. They learn to tell the difference between the voices that actually help them grow and the ones that just are there to drain their energy. Over the years, I've come to see most critics can fall into one of three categories.

First are the caretakers. These are people who give you feedback because they care about the mission, they care about the vision, and they want to help you get better. Their words might sting sometimes, but they genuinely come from a good place. The second group are the challengers. They are the ones who push you. They question your ideas. They make you clarify the purpose behind whatever it is that you're doing.

I don't always say it in a soft way, but their challenge is what really sharpens you as a leader. The final group, they're the cynics. They're the ones who just criticize you, not trying to help, but rather to control or maybe to vent. Their words really aren't about growth. They're about pulling you into their frustration. They're much more about

Darrin Peppard (04:29.888)

reflecting their own self self lacking than it is about you. Here's the key. You got to know which voices you should let in. Caretakers make you better. Challengers, they make you stronger. Cynics, they just make you tired. So here's my challenge for you this week. Criticism is going to come your way and and when it does, I want you to pause before you react.

I want you to ask yourself, is this feedback something that is genuinely rooted in care or is it rooted in control? Does it help move me closer to my vision or does it pull me away? And most importantly, is this worth my energy? Remember, leadership clarity isn't about avoiding criticism. It's about staying grounded in your purpose so you can listen with intention and lead with confidence.

If you want to keep building that clarity, visit my new website, DarrinPeppard.com. That is a place where you're going to find tools, coaching, resources, all kinds of incredible help to help you lead with focus and purpose. My friends, I want you to keep leading. I want you to keep working. I want you to filter out the noise because your people don't need a perfect leader. They need a clear leader.

Hey, that's what I've got for you this week, folks. Thank you so much for joining me here on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. Until next time, get out there, have a road to awesome week.