Episode 250: Flipping the Mic - Lessons from 250 Episodes of Leaning Into Leadership

Darrin Peppard (00:00.754)

All right, everybody. Welcome into Leaning Into Leadership. This is a very special episode. This is episode 250 of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. Man, I'll tell you what, when I think back on launching this podcast in January of 2022, I don't know if I would have ever imagined that we would reach 250 episodes. And here we are going strong, continuing to grow, continuing to get better.

And tonight, have a very, very special episode for you. This particular episode, I'm sitting down with my two very good friends, Todd Blumer and Dominic Armando. You've heard him here on the show so many different times, but I'm actually gonna turn the episode over to them. I'm gonna let them flip the microphones around, interview me. We're gonna talk leadership. We're gonna talk about, you know, the things that are so near and dear to my heart, things that I'm really passionate about.

here on the show and in the work that we do. Now, before we do that, I just simply want to talk about our incredible sponsor, my amazing partners at Digicoach. Let's face it, leadership at complex between meetings, management, and everything else that is on your plate, finding time for meaningful feedback can be tough. And that's where Digicoach comes in.

This powerful walkthrough and coaching platform helps leaders simplify the complexity of observation and feedback so you can focus on what really matters, your students and instruction. With Digicoach, you could collect real-time data during classroom visits, identify trends that you're seeing, and then turn that into information that is clear and supportive for your coaching conversations. Look, it's all about helping leaders

provide feedback that's consistent, timely, and centered on growth, not on gotchas. That is what Digicoach is all about. You see, when your coaching becomes part of your daily routine, that's when everybody wins. Building trust, strengthening alignment, and driving a continuous improvement across your school, that's what Digicoach is all about. So if you're ready to bring more clarity, consistency, and confidence to your leadership,

Darrin Peppard (02:23.35)

visit digicoach.com and mention that I sent you for some very special partner pricing. Once again, that's digicoach.com. Tell them that Darren sent you. Man, fellas, here we go. Episode 250. Welcome into the show, Todd Blumer and Dominic Armando.

Todd (02:44.422)

Hey, Darren, congratulations on 250. What an amazing accomplishment.

Dominic Armano (02:48.151)

Yeah, that's amazing. remember, I'm sorry, I remember when you first made the announcement that you were doing this and now here you are 250 episodes later, really. You need to pat yourself on the back, it's amazing.

Darrin Peppard (02:48.632)

Yeah, I think.

Darrin Peppard (02:57.038)

I appreciate that guys. Yeah, it's, it is pretty amazing that that we've reached this accomplishment. And, you know, it's kind of funny, right? You know, you get started and you hear all these things about podcasts, right? When when people launch podcasts, a lot of the research that you'll you'll find is most podcasts don't make it past episode number 10. And so when you get back past episode 10, it's almost like, well, I just got to keep going, right? I just got to keep going. And

And certainly there have been a couple of bumps along the way. There have been those challenges that have occurred, but nonetheless, here we are guys, episode 250. And I said during the intro that I was gonna turn the show over to you guys. So that's what I'm gonna do. I am gonna turn it over to the two of you and let you take the reins, let you guys take the microphone. And I just became the guest on episode 250 of Leaning into Leadership.

Todd (03:50.972)

Well, let's go. I got question number one. I'm going to start right off with it with a banger here. You know, the intro was about the intro was about Digicoach and it really talked about simplifying and really making coaching seamless and part of your everyday deal. Darren, you've been in a lot of schools since you've transitioned from a principal, a recovering high school principal, a superintendent to now a coach. What advice would you give that current principal sitting?

Dominic Armano (03:55.841)

Go ahead, Todd.

Todd (04:17.518)

in that chair right now, whether it's Digicoach, or whether it's just things that you've seen in the schools that you've been in, to not only make coaching more effective, but making more of it part of their day-to-day operation for what they do in the fabric of being a school leader.

Darrin Peppard (04:35.422)

I think that's an outstanding question. And you know, it always comes back to for me, just as a leader, number one, get clear about what you care about, you know, so often. And I know it almost sounds like almost cliche, because I talk about it all the time. I talk about clarity. mean, that is like my number one thing. Man, when you think about me, when you think about Roe Dawson, you should think about leadership clarity. And so, so I would say, that's where it starts, just get clear with what is it that you really care about?

You know, number one, what do care about as the leader of your school? And then number two, what do you care about when you go in a classroom? You know, what are those things that you are looking for that are like the absolute, I have to have this, I have to see this in every classroom. I was in a school today and we were having some conversation about instruction. And this is a school that has done a great job of identifying what their core values are. But

Then that next piece was, okay, what is it you expect to see in every classroom? Like what are the things that you really want? And I think the biggest piece of advice I give leaders all the time is know what you're looking for, go in and look for it, and then give good feedback on it. And it doesn't have to be feedback like, well, I saw this or why aren't you doing this? But rather,

more have that feedback that's more from that inquisitive level, know, that level of curiosity where, you know, I noticed this, tell me more about that or why do you, why did you choose to use this strategy or what was your hope in this particular lesson or did your students achieve what you wanted them to or even something as simple as how does a student know?

they were successful because they were in this class today. I think those would be my two big things that I would say for school leaders. Number one, be clear about what you're looking for. And number two, find ways to be inquisitive.

Todd (06:48.059)

Can I follow up with something here real quick? I'm a current principal right now. I've struggled in the first semester. It's almost the end of the first semester. Haven't been in classes much. What's your advice to that person to take that feedback that you just gave? What do you say to that person? Maybe I'm a first year principal and I was completely overwhelmed. I finally got my feet on the ground. What do I do second semester?

Darrin Peppard (07:14.094)

I think at first and foremost, starts with, know, what are you doing in terms of taking ownership of your calendar? What are you doing in terms of really leaning into and focusing on what are your priorities? You know, one of the things that I really love to talk about and, you know, my good friend that my good friend Frederick Busky talks about all the time is the Eisenhower matrix, right? You know, it's kind of looking at those those four different quadrants comparing

importance and urgency. You know, so often we fall into this trap as school leaders where these things that seem extremely urgent become where we really lean into, but are they really important? You know, in that Eisenhower matrix, it's kind of this, you know, four box, you know, continuum of things that are urgent versus the things that are important.

And if it's really urgent and really important, those are the things that you should be leaning into. But those things that are urgent, but not really important, those insignificant things, those are the things that I think school leaders have this tendency to chase after. You know, you guys have both been there, you've both done that. You have people come to you with things that seem like the most important thing in the world. And maybe they're important to that individual.

Dominic Armano (08:36.32)

Mm-hmm.

Darrin Peppard (08:40.472)

but are they genuinely important to your work? Is it something that somebody else can manage? Is it something that maybe isn't even really urgent with those individuals? So the thing that I would tell school leaders who may be in the first part of the year, they're brand new administrators, they got stuck in this world of firefighting. I would say, sit down.

categorize everything that you do. Just maybe even just take little post-it notes, make a poster with the Eisenhower matrix on it, and then just start writing down everything that you have chased this semester and start placing it on that Eisenhower matrix. If it's neither urgent nor important, why are you wasting your time with it? If it's urgent but not important, who can you delegate that to?

and the things that are truly urgent, truly important, or even things that aren't necessarily urgent, but are genuinely important, that is where you need to spend your time and figure out ways and systems specifically that can help you push those not important things off on somebody else so that you can focus on what really truly matters.

Todd (10:00.268)

Excellent advice.

Dominic Armano (10:01.687)

I think that's great. I kind of want to segue into a question here, Darren, for you. like we, you know, obviously anyone that knows you listens to the podcast wrote to awesome is all about building school culture and giving advice to administrators and leaders. Right. It's hard to believe I look back at my own career, 13 years in as a school administrator. and I'm still learning from my mentors and friends, people I call colleagues, you know, so here's a question I have for you.

My own philosophy is I treat my people well, I treat my staff well, right? What does your personal support system look like? And then how do you protect your own well-being and avoid burnout? Because one of the things that I have come to learn and the mistakes I've made in my 14 or 13 years is that sometimes I take it all on because I want to protect everyone else and then I'm the one that's now feeling like I'm underwater.

So any advice to talk about that? I think I threw a curveball there, Darren. I'm sorry.

Darrin Peppard (11:03.702)

Yeah. No, you did. It's a great question. It's an excellent question. And I'm curious, Dom, and then I answer your question with a question. Are you asking me in my current role? Or are you asking me in my role when I was a principal?

Todd (11:05.903)

Great question.

Dominic Armano (11:18.775)

I'm gonna go with role as a principal.

Darrin Peppard (11:22.402)

Okay. All right. No, that's really good. That's really good. So I would tell you as a principal once, once I kind of got my head above water. And of course that was working with a coach and, having support, you know, those types of things. My, my biggest support system, the biggest way that I was able to stay focused, you know, in quadrant four urgent and important was leaning into

my secretary. know, she was probably the single most important individual for me in terms of being able to just stay focused on what truly mattered. I think anytime, you know, if you're in a school leadership role or any type of a leadership role, if you're not

leaning into somebody who can help hold you accountable, somebody who can help manage your calendar, somebody who can, you know, kind of run interference for you, then that's when you're going to struggle the most. I was extremely blessed with Marilyn as my admin assistant. She was the one who, you guys have heard me talk about, you know, the

balcony level leadership, you know, where I would go over and check in on my priorities, you know, on a pretty regular basis once or twice a month. She was the one who would put it on my calendar and I didn't even put it on. And I'd say, Marilyn, why is balcony on my calendar? And she'd say, you need to get over there and get back focused on your priorities because you're not focused on your priorities right now. So that's number one. I would say number two, you have to have somebody on the outside.

somebody who's not inside of those walls. Dom, you talked about, you know, you're still leaning into your mentors. You know, I worked with a coach for a few years, but I could still reach out to my coach years later. And just, you know, out of the blue, I could call him and just say, okay, Tom, I'm struggling with something here. Can I pick your brain a little bit here? Or did you ever come across this? I remember very well as a superintendent going through, you know, that, that

Darrin Peppard (13:46.533)

man, that entire COVID period. And there were three or four other superintendents who had been superintendents a little bit longer than me that I could simply pick up the phone and just call and say, I need a little guidance here. Tell me a little bit more about this or have you come across this yet? Because this is one of the things I'm struggling with right now. You have to have that network. If you don't have that network of people.

that you can lean into and just say, man, I need your help. That's when I think you're gonna struggle the most. Leadership is a role that can be so isolating, especially if you allow yourself to be isolated. for me, it was really important to lean into certain people. then honestly, Dom, as I'm reflecting on your question,

I'm thinking about this, this handful of classroom teachers that I had that I would just go to with, you know, very specific things. One of the teachers that wrote for my most recent book, Culture of Earth Classrooms, Tanya Torpy. Tanya was one of those teachers that, you know, she was my special ed department head. And there were times that I just, I just went over and said, Tanya, I got to...

I gotta talk to you about something. I'm struggling with this and it may not have even been a special education issue. It was just simply she was somebody I knew I could trust. Other teachers that I that I had in the building were probably, you know, six, seven, eight different people than at different times. I could just go and sit down and have a conversation with and then certainly not to gloss over this one. But man, you gotta have that person at home. My wife was somebody that always I could lean into still to this day.

So if you had gone the other direction and said, no, Darren, I want you to tell me about you as an entrepreneur, you know, what's your support lists, your support system look like just would have been included in either of those two, either of those two spaces, because sometimes you just need the safety of home. You just need to be able to come home. You guys, you guys have this too. You know, Todd, you with, with Sarah or I mean, sorry, Todd was Sharon and Dom was Sarah. You know, you guys can just come home and just say,

Darrin Peppard (16:08.566)

All right, look, I just need to unload or you won't believe what happened today. And, you know, those those types of of conversations without that person at home for you to be able to lean into. And it doesn't have to be a spouse. I mean, it might be a friend. might be, you know, a parent, whatever, whatever it might be. You've got to be able to lean into those people. And then the last one, I'll say I'm

Dominic Armano (16:10.806)

Yeah.

Darrin Peppard (16:37.556)

I'm an advocate for podcasts, not just because I host one. I listen to podcasts all the time and I'm always picking up on little pieces here and there that help me be just a little bit better.

Dominic Armano (16:51.339)

That's awesome. That's awesome.

Todd (16:52.972)

It's great. It's great free PD that people just need to take advantage of. And Darren, you host a great podcast. Your last podcast talking about NAO and athletics was absolutely amazing. You you talk about a lot of great things. so whether it be your podcast or somebody else's, I firmly agree. You know, Darren, hey, there's a lot of assistant principals that listen to your podcast out there. And a lot of them are thinking about two things. They're thinking about, I in the right spot?

Darrin Peppard (16:57.548)

Yeah.

Darrin Peppard (17:05.432)

Yeah.

Todd (17:21.178)

Is this what I signed up for? Because this is not what I thought I was going to be in. So my question is twofold. What do you say to them? OK. What's your advice to that person right now that is coming home at night, doubting what they're doing? And then what is your advice for that person that's thinking, I'm ready for the next step? So it's two totally different questions. And you can go either way at whichever one you want to riff on longer. But let's start with the one I think maybe to say like, I'm

Darrin Peppard (17:26.637)

Yeah.

Todd (17:50.554)

I'm really struggling right now. And I pick up the phone and I call you, Darren, say, hey, I'm thinking about quitting, going somewhere else. What do say to that person?

Darrin Peppard (18:01.538)

Yeah, think those are two fantastic questions. And I'm thinking about a conversation that I had today in a school that I was at. in this particular school, the AD, he's been in the role a couple of years. He's doing a phenomenal job. But last night, home event had that situation, high school home event, where the parents

that was just out of control and you can't get them back. ultimately the police had to have the person leave and some of those kinds of situations, right? And, you know, listening to him talk and there was never any, you know, I don't think I'm in the right job or anything like that, but, you know, just asking him to reflect on the situation. so here's the question I ask him and the question that I would ask

of any current assistant principal who's maybe struggling a little bit would be this. In the time you've been in the job, what have you learned about yourself as a leader? Because sometimes we get kind of stuck on the, here's the things that aren't going well. You know, I had a parent who I just had to serve with a no trespass warning, or, you know, I had this kid who I really thought I had turned him around and they dropped out, or.

You know, I have this whatever, right? We all have those situations that come about and you know, we can't control a lot. But when we stop and we reflect and spend a little bit of time on who am I as a leader and how have I grown as a leader, it's an opportunity to kind of reframe and think about where am I right now? And then ultimately,

Where is it that I want to go? Because especially early on, and we've all been in that role, we've all been the assistant principal. There's zero control as the assistant principal. You have the duties that you have. You're given the opportunities that you're given. even in a recent conversation with another principal who talked about, we were looking at some data, some staff survey data.

Darrin Peppard (20:29.046)

And he talked about how, well, there's a change between this year and this year. And yes, I was here, but I was the assistant principal in this year. And I was kind of following that person's lead where in this year, I'm the principal. And so there's a little bit of a difference in terms of how I chose to lead my building. think I think reflecting on what we've done, what we've accomplished and what we have what we have learned about ourselves.

makes a big difference and it gives us the opportunity to again get up on the balcony and think about the trajectory that I'm on as a leader. know maybe this first four months, especially this is my first year as an assistant principal, maybe this first four months has not gone the way I wanted it to. Maybe I really wish that I hadn't suspended this kid or said this to this teacher or

you know, behave this way or I shouldn't have put that on social media or whatever, right? We all make mistakes. And when you're early in your career, odds are you're going to make more mistakes. But when you have that opportunity to kind of take a pause and think about, okay, what are the things I've learned? That gives me an opportunity to now think about, okay, am I on the right trajectory? You know, over the last, I don't know, maybe three weeks, I've been

in a bunch of schools, I've had a lot of virtual calls with almost every leader that I coached. By the end of this week, I will have sat with every leader that I coached over the last couple of weeks in one way, form. And I'm asking every single one of them the same two questions. One, tell me three things that have gone well this first part of the year. And then the second question,

Tell me two things you want to focus on when we turn the page into January. I think Todd, we can get into this defeatist mindset. We can fall into the boy, this isn't going the way I want it to, or to the second part of your question, I'm ready. I can't wait to jump into the next role. Thinking about those pieces, reflecting on how you've grown as a leader, I think helps set you up for here's where I want to go.

Darrin Peppard (22:51.838)

here's what I think I can accomplish and maybe reset that personal confidence a little bit.

Todd (22:59.865)

That's excellent.

Dominic Armano (23:01.899)

That's great. That's great.

I actually I I want to follow up with a fun question Okay, because you got me thinking about my days as an assistant principal And I remember there were so many days that I left with a smile on my face And so many days when I was driving home going, why did I do this? So here's a fun question for you. Okay, if you could wave a magic wand And eliminate one administrative task from your desk, what would it be and why and I know there are many assistant principals

Todd (23:13.177)

you

Dominic Armano (23:34.841)

out there probably having a list of about 10 that they would love to eliminate. But what would you take off your plate if you could? Just goodbye, see you later.

Darrin Peppard (23:38.488)

Yeah.

Darrin Peppard (23:43.683)

You know, I think probably most people would immediately go to discipline or attendance or TARDYs, right? Yeah. I think I'm going to go a little bit different direction with this. I think in reflecting in general on all of my years as a school or district leader, if I could remove anything, it would be the formality of evaluation. If I could do away with

Dominic Armano (23:50.027)

That's what I would think.

Todd (23:50.425)

you

Dominic Armano (24:11.479)

Hmm.

Darrin Peppard (24:14.124)

the report I have to file or the paperwork I have to do and just make evaluation what it should be, conversations, discussions, how can I help you grow? What are some things that if I could bring this to you would help benefit you the most? Those types of things. mean, there's a whole ton of, man, I wish I never had to deal with this or I wish I wouldn't have done that.

If you've ever heard me talk about being a recovering high school principal, I say things like, know, I don't miss, you know, chasing people down, reminding them to go to lunch duty or, you know, go into IEP meetings or, you know, goodness knows I don't miss high school dances, those kinds of things. But, but, but in truth, evaluation without all the bureaucracy would I think be really, really amazing to just

Dominic Armano (24:58.571)

Yeah.

Todd (24:58.697)

Listen.

Darrin Peppard (25:12.408)

have conversations about how can I help you grow? How can I help you get better? How can I support you the most and just take that layer of, you know, I don't know, thoughtless accountability out of there. You know, just the, okay, we checked the box. Now we've done that. If I didn't have to do it that way and I could just simply let's talk about how we can get better. I think that would probably be

Todd (25:14.776)

you

Darrin Peppard (25:41.484)

the thing that I would want to do most.

Dominic Armano (25:44.791)

I think that's great. I think that matches perfectly just with your philosophy about putting people first and culture and support. And I think that's amazing. I think it's a great answer.

Todd (25:49.868)

Yeah, absolutely.

Todd (25:57.829)

Derrick, real quick off the top of your head, it's December. You're going to have some principals stepping away at the end of the first semester. You're to have some new principals taking over in January. Advice or two, you'd give a new principal starting in January.

Darrin Peppard (26:12.11)

Go by the Blueprint. It's a great book. It will help you. Get ready for leading with swag. It will definitely help you. By Road to Awesome. No, in all seriousness. Although I am serious about those, all three of those books would certainly help you. I would say this, if you're getting ready to step into a new principal job here very, very soon.

Todd (26:16.034)

Let's go.

Darrin Peppard (26:40.354)

Don't allow yourself to get too hung up on all the bureaucracy, on all of the guidelines, the accountability and that kind of stuff. First and foremost, build relationships with your staff, especially if you're brand new. If you're brand new into that building, you didn't transition from the classroom to somewhere else, just get to know your people. Don't feel like you need to completely...

turn the school around overnight because first of all, that's not possible. And two, even if it was, it would be done because you built relationships. So, so really lean into getting to know who your people are, understand what the context is of where you are, understand a little bit more about the community now that you're a part of, even if, you know, I mean, like Todd, I was just in San Antonio the other day with you and you know,

You could be, you know, in the Winston Churchill High School community, but that's different than the whole San Antonio community, right? mean, every school community has its own subculture from within the community. So don't make the assumption that just because you're in a different school that the culture is exactly the same. You need to get to know the people. You need to get to know...

what they're all about, what it is that their hopes are, what it is that they're looking for, and then do everything you can to just listen. Don't make any commitments, just listen and say, okay, you know what? My time really starts this summer. The rest of this school year, just about getting to know everything about what is going on. Get to know all the people.

learn what they're good at, learn where they can grow, and then that's where your leadership begins.

Todd (28:45.504)

I had the opportunity to start Winston Churchill High School in January. And if I could recommend that to everybody, the train's already set sail. It's already moved. And just what you said, Darren, getting to know people, getting to know structures, taking notes. Absolutely awesome. Before I kick it over to Dom, I need you to share some love for the great city of San Antonio, you know, just here this weekend. The weather wasn't the best while you were here, but what's a takeaway or two from the city of San Antonio that you loved?

Darrin Peppard (29:06.382)

Yeah.

Darrin Peppard (29:12.31)

You know, I would tell you the downtown San Antonio area, even during a 5K and setting up for a marathon is an incredibly walkable area. I really truly enjoyed being in the downtown San Antonio area. I would tell you the Pearl district is breathtaking. Just absolutely beautiful. Todd lives right across the street from it. He's that guy's got it. He's got it pretty well figured out. He really does. But

A lot of people will talk about the Riverwalk and they should because the Riverwalk is incredible and you know, you can just walk along the river in so many different ways and so many different, you know, capacities getting to all different kinds of places. The hotel that I stayed was about a five minute jog from the Alamo and of course, you know, if you follow Bloomer, you know that Bloomer will regularly share videos and photos from

the Alamo, so yes, I took a selfie in front of the Alamo and sent it to Bloomer. But I would tell you this, even though the weather was not perfect in San Antonio when I was there, it was a wonderful time, easy town to get around in and incredibly friendly people. I texted you about this, Todd, but I get in my Uber on Saturday morning to head to the airport.

Todd (30:11.84)

Yes, he did. Yes, he did.

Todd (30:32.906)

yeah, Saturday.

Darrin Peppard (30:38.254)

And the wonderful lady, yeah, yeah, Dom, you'll love this story. The wonderful lady who picked me up her name was Julie. She just asked, know, why were you here in San Antonio? And I told her and she's like, you know, did you get to do anything fun? And I said, well, you know, I mean, you got to do a couple of things here and there. And then, you know, yeah, I had a dinner with a friend the other night. He's a retired principal here in the San Antonio area. And he was at Winston Churchill High School. And she said,

Todd (30:39.297)

Check this out, Dom.

Darrin Peppard (31:08.684)

You mean bloomer? And I said, Yeah, I mean, bloomer. And she's like, my daughter, unique, unique, loves Mr. Bloomer. She just thought the world of him, you know, he made such a difference in helping her graduate. And we ended up having a 10 minute conversation about bloomer in the Uber on the way to the airport. And I have a feeling, and I could be wrong, but I have a feeling.

Dominic Armano (31:09.834)

Yeah

Todd (31:17.879)

Mm-hmm.

Darrin Peppard (31:37.411)

that there are a lot of people around San Antonio. If I dropped Todd Bloomer's name, it would have been very, very similar to my conversation with Julie. there's my love for San Antonio. It was fantastic. I'm excited to come back. I'm certain that I will have the opportunity to come back. In this case, obviously, speaking a couple of times at a conference, I'm pretty sure I'll be back in San Antonio again.

Todd (31:44.607)

Now you're too kind.

Todd (32:03.064)

Well, Unique was not only unique, but unique kid. So it was funny that she, you her mom was an Uber driver. So small world after all. But you know, Darren, if we went to Omaha or Wyoming or Arizona and Dom, if we went to any part of New York, you know, we get lucky. We get lucky every once in while by doing a good job and coming across good people and champion them and supporting them and loving them and making them feel special. You know, it's just nice when people acknowledge that. So Darren, thank you for sharing that. That's awesome.

Darrin Peppard (32:09.827)

Yeah.

Darrin Peppard (32:24.429)

Very true.

Darrin Peppard (32:29.792)

Absolutely. Of course.

Dominic Armano (32:33.207)

That's great. Do we have time for another question? Cause I feel like, I don't know, I have this like...

Darrin Peppard (32:36.782)

We'll go one more, yeah.

Dominic Armano (32:39.511)

urge to like stump you down, but I don't think I'm going to. But so what I'm going to do is I'm going to do so I'm going to do something a little different. OK. I'm actually going to be a guest on a podcast coming up in about a week or so. He's another really awesome author. Rob Wadawa, who's a friend of mine from up here in New York. And so shout out to Rob. But he kind of gave me a list of topics or questions that we're going to like discuss on the podcast. And one of them that he gave me was

Todd (32:41.857)

Let's go.

Dominic Armano (33:10.585)

It stumped me and I want to ask you Darren and obviously I thought about this question I know Todd I think you were on his podcast recently so But I'm not gonna tell you how I'm gonna answer it because you have to tune into Rob's podcast to hear it But here it is ready Darren Would you rather mentor a teacher who's an incredible relationship builder but struggles with deadlines or one who's highly organized but struggles to connect with kids

Darrin Peppard (33:25.996)

Yeah, let's go.

Todd (33:29.504)

Yeah.

Todd (33:39.127)

Mmm.

Dominic Armano (33:39.287)

So I give a shout out to Rob Wadawa. I don't know if he's listening. He might, but I'm throwing it out there. Go ahead, Darren. Take it away.

Darrin Peppard (33:39.671)

Yeah, so.

Todd (33:42.167)

It's a great question.

Darrin Peppard (33:43.95)

It is.

So so excellent attempt at stumping me, but I've already been on Rob Wada was podcast, so I've already answered this question. I think I was I was guest number one or two. So yeah, there you go. So I got to do your homework, Dom. But I think about well, here's the thing. I don't remember how I answered the question. So I think what what I said then and what I definitely will say now is I would much rather.

Dominic Armano (33:52.759)

Aaaaa

Dominic Armano (33:57.61)

I didn't listen to it.

Todd (34:02.71)

Darrin Peppard (34:16.158)

lean in and mentor a teacher who's not maybe super organized, but is really good at connecting with kids. I was in a school today, I mentioned that, and we were having some conversation about a handful of teachers that this particular leadership team is, they've got some challenges with them, they've got some work to do to help them grow. And all but one of them, was,

well you know it's kind of this piece or you know maybe we need to do a little bit more about expectations or whatever but but nonetheless it was always

they connect well with kids. They connect well with kids. And then I think there was one where it's the man just really struggles to help kids or struggles to build relationships. And I think back on all my years as a school leader and the teachers that I had the most difficulty with were the ones who simply couldn't build relationships with kids.

You know, maybe maybe you're not real strong at setting expectations or you need some help with developing routines or you know, maybe maybe sometimes you forget. yeah, I gotta get this. You know this stuff graded and get it back to kids. Give them some timely feedback. But man. You build great relationships with kids. The kids love you. They know that you love them. Man, if you've got that.

I can help you build systems. can help you develop systems because here's the thing. You guys have heard me say this before. I've said it on this, on this show countless times. You're uniquely positioned to help the person you used to be. That's who I was. I was not the most organized individual. You know, I always had piles in my room. I could tell you, I knew where the piles were. If you want to know where something was, I could go right where it was. But you know, I wasn't the person had the color coded files or

Darrin Peppard (36:12.61)

you know, the color coded calendar. I'm not that person, but could I build relationships with kids? You better believe I could. I was really, really good at that. And probably still to this day I am, but I would rather work with that person because that's who I am. And I know what works for me. I also just, I struggle with how do how do you help somebody?

who can't build relationships with kids. That is a tough, tough piece. And I mean, you can give little tips and you know, those kinds of things, but yeah, I would much rather work with the person who's just, man, I can't get my paperwork done. Cause I get that. That was always me.

Dominic Armano (37:00.523)

Yeah, I think you answered it perfectly. mean, I'm not going to tell you how I'm going to answer it, but it definitely stumped me. It definitely stumped me. I was like, hmm. relationships is, I can't stress this enough. think all of you, you, Todd, Darren, I think you agree with me 150,000%. Relationships is the most important part of this job. And if you don't have that or can't do that, that's a problem. That's, know.

Todd (37:05.761)

I'll have to tune in.

Darrin Peppard (37:07.63)

Yeah.

Todd (37:28.161)

going to be a very difficult job if you can't build relationships with kids. And we as professionals, we can help them as Darren said, and I think that's 100 % there. know, Darren, you know, our time is just flying by. If I could take a line from your podcast, our time is just flying by. And I'm going to ask you what we ask every guest on our podcast to end our podcast. How are you leaning into leadership right now?

Darrin Peppard (37:32.654)

100 percent.

Darrin Peppard (37:44.76)

There we go.

Darrin Peppard (37:56.473)

See, Dom, that's how you stump me right there. That's really good. I should have seen that one coming. Man, how am I leaning into leadership right now? I will tell you. happen to tell you I understand now how everybody else feels on the other side of this question when I ask this question. I would tell you the number one thing that I am doing to lead into leadership right now is identify each and every possible avenue I can.

Dominic Armano (37:59.021)

hahahaha

Todd (38:04.233)

Hahaha

Darrin Peppard (38:26.232)

to pour into other leaders. You know, throughout the course of my career, I have had other leaders that I've had the opportunity to learn from, to be mentored by, to align myself with, both of you two included here, that I learned more about leadership from every time I'm with them. And I think for me, leaning into leadership is just pouring into

every single person that I possibly can, whether they carry a formal leadership title or not, to help them discover who that leader is inside of them to help them be clear to help them be intentional and to really walk in their purpose as a leader. So very much off the cuff, I'm going to say that's how I'm leaning into leadership right now.

Todd (39:16.919)

You're doing an excellent job of it too, DP.

Dominic Armano (39:19.595)

Yeah, really, you're doing great. It's great.

Darrin Peppard (39:20.184)

Thank you. Thank you guys. I appreciate that a lot.

All right. Well, I'm going to take the show back over right now. That was a lot of fun, guys. I really, really appreciate that so very much. As always, both you guys just mean so much to me. Everybody listening, everybody watching on YouTube, thank you so much for being a part of this journey here on Leading Into Leadership. 250 episodes down and a whole lot more to go. Thank you all for joining me and Dom and Todd here on Leading Into Leadership.

Get out, have a road to awesome week.