Episode 272: 10 Leadership Moves You Can Make This Week

Darrin Peppard (00:00)

All right, everybody. Welcome back into the Leaning Into Leadership podcast, episode 272, our regular mid-month, mid-week episode. And happy tax day to you. This episode is dropping on April 15th. Or maybe it's not happy tax day if you're somebody maybe who had to bust out the checkbook and maybe didn't get a refund this year on your taxes. But either way, happy April 15th.

Today on this midweek, mid month episode, I want to go in a little bit different direction than what we've been doing here over the last couple of weeks. So if you listen on a regular basis, you know that episodes 270 and 271 were parts one and two of a three part special where I'm leaning into and focusing on how leaders can best set a plan for success to kick off next school year.

And at the same time, backward map that so that we're doing important work now, not simply waiting until August to get started on that planning and to actually start implementing that work. Today, I want to slightly step away from that. We're gonna go in a little bit different direction. You know, I wanna pause because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as a leader is not

to focus on the next initiative, not to focus on the next big plan. But instead, it's to make a few small shifts right now that honestly can change everything. So today, I have a top 10 list for you. I have 10 leadership moves that you can make this week, not next month, not next summer, now, this week.

None of these are big, none of these are complicated, none of these are big massive strategies that will take a lot of planning or deep thought on your part. Instead, they are simple intentional actions that will help you improve performance, strengthen your culture,

and lead with greater clarity. These are things you can use right now, and they're gonna make an impact. If you're a leader who is stuck, if you're a leader who feels like I've only got so many weeks left in the year and I just don't feel like I've made the impact I want, let's set that planning aside for a moment and let's lean into 10 leadership moves you can make this week that will truly make a difference. Now before we do that, I wanna take a moment and pause.

I want to thank our sponsor for today's episode. You know, there is a difference between being busy and actually making an impact. If you're a school leader, you feel that right now. You've got a full calendar. You got a full plate. You see your people working really hard. But the question you have to ask is, are we actually moving the needle forward in ways that actually matter most? Because at the end of the day,

Leadership is about outcomes. It's about making sure students are learning and growing and being supported at their highest levels. And that's why I want to take a second to talk about one of our podcast sponsors, HeyTutor. You see, HeyTutor partners with schools to provide high dosage tutoring in math and English language arts, both in person and online. They handle everything by the way, from the recruiting to the training to managing.

to aligning instruction with your standards so your teachers can stay focused on what they do best and your leadership team doesn't have to be pulled in one more direction. Here's the key. If we're serious about improving student outcomes, we have to be intentional about the systems that we put in place to support that work. HeyTutor helps schools do exactly that. Now, if you want to learn more about how they can support your students, your staff, your team,

head over to heytutor.com or even better, hit the link down in the show notes that will take you to HeyTutor and you can learn more about them and at the same time, let them know you heard about them here on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. All right, folks, let's go ahead and dive in to this fast-paced top 10 list of things that you can do right now, leadership moves that could make a difference right now this week for you.

Number one, here we go. Get crystal clear on your top priority. Let me ask you a very simple question to start this. What matters most right now? I'm not talking in the grand scheme, the big long term, right now. What matters most? In the remaining weeks you have left in your school year, what matters most? Not 10 things, not 20 things. What's the one thing? Because,

If everything is important, then nothing is. We know that. And I know you have a lot of balls in the air and you have a lot of things you gotta try to finish in April, May, and June. But get crystal clear on what is the one thing that matters the most. Because that's where clarity begins. You have to do that work. Your team collectively has to do that work. And it's a quick.

conversation, doesn't take a half day or a full day or a retreat for you to take a moment and just say, okay, what matters most right now? Number two, communicate that priority clearly and simply. You see, once you're clear, once your team is clear, this is the top priority, well then, you need to make sure you communicate it out.

And it doesn't require a big long meeting or a polished presentation or anything like that. It can just be as simple as one-on-one conversations or a conversation in a meeting reminding people, hey, here's what matters most right now and here's why. Clarity doesn't just create direction. It reduces anxiety. Hey, you're feeling it right now, right? I mean, you know there's a crunch to get things done and don't think for a moment.

that your teachers aren't feeling it too. If you can take that moment in the one-on-one conversations, the small meetings, or even a full staff meeting and just say, here's what matters most right now, and here's why, that will reduce a lot of anxiety, that will create a lot of clarity, that will help everyone take that breath and get refocused on what matters most. Number three, do one intentional walkthrough.

that's just focused on strengths. Yes, go get into classrooms. You know that's an important thing. But don't go looking to catch mistakes. Don't go looking to check boxes. Go in and look for what's working. Go in and look for things that you can reinforce, that you can celebrate. So often when we go and we do our walkthroughs, we're thinking, how can I coach this person? How can I support this person? What's something I can do?

to ensure that we're getting the very best instruction possible in every classroom. And those things are important, but sometimes when you just take a moment, when you just set some intentional walkthroughs aside that are just to go look for great things, to call them out and to celebrate them, that's awesome. And then follow it up with some specific feedback. Why was that great? Why do you feel like that's working so well?

Ultimately, what that does is that reinforces the practices you want to see, but it also helps to build confidence. It helps to build culture. It allows your people to feel seen and heard and valued and trusted, not judged, not even coached, even though they value that coaching, just simply to be recognized, reinforced, to get that pat on the back for this is working.

This is outstanding and here's why, makes a huge difference. So be intentional, maybe make that your next week's project. I'm gonna go to classrooms just simply to reinforce the great things that I see. Number four, this one's more about you, but eliminate one thing from your calendar. And just take a little inventory, look at what is on your calendar, look at what are all the things that are being asked of you. Pick one thing.

eliminate it. Don't delegate it. Don't push it into next week. Just get rid of it. Just say, you know what, this is not something that's important. This is not something that needs to be done. This is not going to change outcomes. Let's let this go. And I don't know what that might be for you, but find it, let it go.

If it's not a priority moving forward, it's in your way. If it's not making a difference, it's in your way. If it is a time suck and you feel like it's a time suck, it's in the way. Get rid of it, let it go. It is the fastest way, honestly, for you to reclaim your time and to reclaim your focus. Sometimes we have to acknowledge this isn't serving me, this is not beneficial.

I'm gonna let it go.

Number five, shout out to my friend, Dr. Frederick Busky here. Frederick taught me the five minute coaching conversation probably two years ago, and I love it. And as I'm recording this now, I will tell you I was listening to Frederick's podcast, the assistant principles podcast. By the way, if you don't listen to his podcast, you really should. If you love this podcast, you will love Frederick's podcast as well. But he was celebrating episode 300.

And they talked about his five minute coaching conversation protocol. And it reminded me how much I love this protocol. And I think this is such, honestly, this is the thing that sparked today's episode. This is such a powerful tool. So let me break it down for you very quick and just tell you that number five is use the five minute coaching conversation. After a walkthrough, after an observation, after

being a part of a conversation or a meeting that someone else maybe had the lead in, don't jump straight to giving them feedback. As the leader, we have this tendency, especially when we want to lead with a coaching mindset, number five of six on Roe Dawson, The Journey of a Leader, we wanna jump to giving feedback. We wanna be that coach. Instead, coach with a different perspective.

ask three very simple questions. Just ask, hey, what went well?

Then ask, what surprised you? And then finally, what might you do differently next time? And then just be a listener. Shift away from being an evaluator to truly being a coach and just listen. I will tell you in the years that I have been a leadership coach, probably the most important element that I have learned.

The thing that I think makes the most difference for the leaders who I coach, asking good questions and listening. And here are three excellent ones that you can ask. I'll say them one more time. What went well? What surprised you? What might you do differently next time? And then just listen. And when you make that shift on a consistent basis, you start building capacity.

across your entire team, you start building a culture of reflection. And it's super powerful. Okay, number six, clarify one role or one responsibility. This is especially helpful if you have a team that is frantically running from one place to the next, constantly just trying to survive. Cycle of chaos.

There's a good chance that why they're stuck, why they're stuck in the cycle of chaos has nothing to do with effort. It has everything to do with alignment. That misalignment, that lives in that space of ambiguity. So just pick one area or one thing, one responsibility and say, okay, when it comes to this, here's who owns this moving forward. Here's who's sitting in the captain's chair on this particular thing going forward.

here is who the contact person is for this. When you create that kind of clarity, especially now at this time of the year when things are frantic, when everybody has been deep in the weeds for months and months, sometimes you just need to say, let's get a little clarity on this particular project. This person is running point. For this particular type of issue,

behavior issue, graduation issue, whatever, this is the primary contact. This is the person sitting in the captain's chair. That will help create some momentum. It'll also bring down the anxiety levels a little bit too, because everybody's working hard trying to get everything done. But if you can clarify even just one role or one responsibility for your team, that's gonna reduce anxiety. Ultimately, that increases performance. Okay, number seven.

Follow through on something you said you would do. You know, one of my favorite stories, and I've told this many times in a few different keynotes.

Because I Said I Would, a foundation started by a young man who ultimately delivered the eulogy for his father. And the thing that he talked about, his name is Alex Sheen, what Alex talked about was how his father was a man of his word, and he always followed through on what he said he would do. The Because I Said I Would Foundation has become this massive organization.

And it's something that's always resonated with me.

Following through on something we say we're going to do builds trust. And those are not about the big moments. Those are not about the big events. It's about the small things. When you tell somebody, hey, I'm going to do this, and then you follow through on it, that builds trust. When you don't follow through on it, that erodes trust. So think about something that maybe you committed to recently. And

Go follow through. Make it a priority, even if it's a small thing. Those are the types of things that build or tear down culture. If you said you were gonna do something, go do it. Because you said you would. Number eight, recognize somebody publicly, but in a very specific way. Not just, hey, you did a great job. Hey, I'm proud of you. Hey, thanks for that.

Now, be very specific. Call out what they did, and more importantly, connect the why that matters, why that is important that what they did deserves recognition.

What gets recognized gets repeated. You know, I'm sure you guys have heard this many, many times and you've been faced with a lot of challenges with whether it's behavior or it might be attendance or those kinds of things. But I know you've heard me talk on this show about how punishment to gain compliance doesn't work. The opposite, recognizing, rewarding and reinforcing the things you want to see causes those things to be replicated.

This is how you build the culture that you want to see by recognizing, rewarding, and reinforcing those things that you hold valuable. choose something very specific, recognize that individual publicly, and be very specific about why that's important and about what it is that they did that really is so great.

Number nine, put 30 minutes of balcony time on your calendar. Now, very quickly, if you're not sure what I'm talking about here, something I call balcony level leadership. This is where you as a leader have a very intentional location where you go and you reflect. For me, literally it was the balcony above my basketball arena where I was the high school principal. I was a coach.

It felt like a natural place for me.

Go spend that time. Go be intentional about reflecting on your priorities. For me, six very important priorities. When I was a school leader, it's what I wrote about in Road Awesome, the journey of a leader, but I would put those six things in my mind's eye down on the floor. And from the balcony, I would ask myself one by one, what evidence do you have that you're still making this a priority? What might you do differently to lean further into this?

What's not working? What is working? Where am I being reactive when I should be being proactive? This is how you break the cycle of chaos. Because if you're stuck right now, if you're feeling like you're in this whirlwind, if you find yourself thinking, man, I just want to survive. I just need to get through the week. I need to get through the month. I need to get to the end of the school year. That is a very strong indication you're stuck in the cycle of chaos and

balcony time when you pause, take yourself out of the weeds, check in on your priorities, and really reflect.

what's working, what's not, what evidence do I have that I'm staying focused on these priorities? That is how you break the cycle of chaos. Finally, number 10. Say no to one thing that just does not align anymore.

I hear from leaders all the time, and if I just had a little bit more time, no, you don't need more time. You need to say no more often. You need more clarity. When you're on the balcony, think about that piece. What am I saying yes to that in essence is keeping me away from the things that truly matter? Every time you say yes to something that doesn't align to the things that matter most, you're saying no to the things that do matter.

You've heard me say it here on the show before, but typically those yeses to things that don't align are somebody else's crisis. You are sacrificing the important on the altar of the urgent. So say no to things that don't really matter. Say no to things that don't truly align with what really does matter. You'll find that it might be difficult.

but that it's liberating and it allows you to lead from your priorities. It allows you to lead from what matters most. And that as you're landing the plane this year, as you're closing out these final five, six, seven, eight, nine weeks that you have in your school year, that is what makes a difference. That is what reminds the people that you lead, that you are the right person for this position. That

sets you up for success in the year to come. That is the work that really matters. All right, let's wrap this up. Here's the truth. Leadership doesn't change because of one big initiative. It changes because you take small, consistent, intentional actions.

Don't wait. Don't set time aside in August or even over the summer to say, okay, what little changes can I make to my leadership? Do it now. I've given you 10, you don't have to do them all. Pick one. Pick one. Maybe pick two, but don't get too carried away here. But out of this list of 10, maybe it sparked an idea for another one. Do that. It doesn't have to come from this list, but do some intentional actions this week to lean into.

your leadership. Because every step you take, that's building one more little bit of the next mile on your road to awesome. Hey, as always, folks, thank you so much for joining me here on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. Please, if you haven't already, rate, review and subscribe. Let's drive that algorithm. Let's get the Leaning Into Leadership podcast in as many ears as possible and in front of as many eyes on YouTube as possible. Get out there.

Have a road awesome week.