Episodes
Dec. 14, 2025
Episode 251: Overcoming Passion Drift - A Conversation with Dr. Danny Steele
This episode is sponsored by DigiCoach. Make walkthroughs meaningful. Simplify your coaching culture. Visit digiCOACH.com and mention Darrin for special partner pricing. In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Darr...
Dec. 10, 2025
Episode 250: Flipping the Mic - Lessons from 250 Episodes of Leaning Into Leadership
This episode is sponsored by DigiCoach Make walkthroughs meaningful. Simplify your coaching culture. Visit digiCOACH.com and mention Darrin for special partner pricing. For this milestone episode, the script gets flipped. Lon...
Dec. 7, 2025
Episode 249: From Pioneer to Powerhouse - Building Culture at Valor Christian with Keith Wahl
This episode is sponsored by DigiCoach Make walkthroughs meaningful. Simplify your coaching culture. Visit digiCOACH.com and mention Darrin for special partner pricing. If you’ve followed high-level high school athletics—espe...
Nov. 30, 2025
Episode 248: People First Leadership - A Conversation with NAESP President April Knight
This episode is sponsored by DigiCoach Make walkthroughs meaningful. Simplify your coaching culture. Visit digiCOACH.com and mention Darrin for special partner pricing. In this inspiring episode, NAESP President April D. Knig...
Nov. 23, 2025
Episode 247: You Don’t Have to Leave to Lead - A Conversation with Dr. Chris Jochum
Sponsor Spotlight: digiCOACH Support for today’s episode comes from digiCOACH — the walkthrough and coaching platform designed to simplify data collection, strengthen feedback, and improve instructional clarity. Visit digiCOA...
Nov. 20, 2025
Episode 246: The 8-Step Framework Every Leader Needs for Difficult Conversations
Sponsor Spotlight: digiCOACH Support for today’s episode comes from digiCOACH — the walkthrough and coaching platform designed to simplify data collection, strengthen feedback, and improve instructional clarity. Visit digiCOA...
Nov. 16, 2025
Episode 245: Belonging Begins with Us - Leadership Lessons from Jayme Braida
Partner Spotlight: Let’s face it — leadership is complex. That’s why Darrin is proud to partner with digiCOACH, a walkthrough and coaching platform that simplifies observation and feedback so leaders can focus on what really ...
Nov. 9, 2025
Episode 244: Clarity - A Leader’s Secret Weapon
Partner Spotlight: Let’s face it — leadership is complex. That’s why Darrin is proud to partner with digiCOACH , a walkthrough and coaching platform that simplifies observation and feedback so leaders can focus on what really...
Nov. 2, 2025
Episode 243: Unbreakable Leadership - Strategies for Surviving Toxic Environments with Kate Lowry
Clarity in leadership starts with visibility—and that’s exactly what DigiCoach delivers. Designed to simplify walkthroughs and feedback, DigiCoach helps school leaders build a culture of coaching rooted in trust, consistency,...
Oct. 26, 2025
Episode 242: Building the Bench - Leadership Growth with Dr. Dan Hornick
In this special on-location episode of Leaning Into Leadership , Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with longtime friend and colleague Dr. Daniel Hornick , Superintendent of Orange County Public Schools in Virginia. Together, they ...
Oct. 22, 2025
Episode 241: Six Quotes That Shaped My Leadership (and the Road to Awesome)
Episode summary To celebrate the launch of darrinpeppard.com , Darrin shares six quotes that have shaped his leadership—and how each one connects to clarity, systems, purpose, relationships, and the courage to take the road l...
Oct. 19, 2025
Episode 240: Leading Through What You Can’t Control
In this solo episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard dives deep into one of the hardest challenges leaders face — guiding their teams through circumstances completely outside their control. From district-wide budget cuts to post-COVID un...
Oct. 12, 2025
Episode 239: The Science of Action - Unlocking Your Conative Strengths with David Kolbe
Leadership starts with self-awareness—but most assessments only tell part of the story. In this episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with David Kolbe , CEO of Kolbe Corp , to explore the conative side of the human mind—the p...
Oct. 5, 2025
Episode 238: Leading with Clarity with Casey Watts
In this episode, I sit down with Casey Watts—speaker, author, thought leader, and creator of the Clarity Cycle Framework . With over 20 years in education and a decade of coaching experience, Casey has helped countless leader...
Sept. 28, 2025
Episode 237: Family, Faith, and Fist Bumps with Dr. Zac Bauermaster
In this week’s episode of Leaning Into Leadership , I sit down with Dr. Zac Bauermaster, an elementary principal in Lancaster County, PA, whose fist-bump videos with students recently went viral — one reaching over 382 millio...
Sept. 21, 2025
Episode 236: Courage, Recovery, and Hope with Dr. Kacy Shahid & Dr. Kevin Lein
In this episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard is joined by Dr. Kacy Shahid and Dr. Kevin Lein , members of NASSP’s Principal Recovery Network . They share their personal journeys through tragedy, the lessons they’ve learned, and the ho...
Sept. 17, 2025
Episode 235: Cutting Through the Buzzwords and Bringing Clarity to Leadership Language
In this solo episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard dives into the leadership buzzwords we all hear — and probably use — without stopping to define. Words like collaboration, accountability, engagement, data-driven, and professional dev...
Sept. 14, 2025
Episode 234: Second Mile Leadership with Dr. Jason Williamson
Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with Dr. Jason Williamson—speaker, author, and creator of the Second Mile Mentality —to explore how leaders move beyond minimum expectations and build cultures where presence becomes proof. From a...
Sept. 7, 2025
Episode 233: Racing the Future with Brad Waid - AI, Industry 4.0, and Leadership
In Episode 233 of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast, Dr. Darrin Peppard welcomes Brad Waid — award-winning Emerging Technology Leader, international keynote speaker, and global futurist. Brad shares insights from his forthc...
Aug. 31, 2025
Episode 232: Six Essential Elements of School Culture (and How Leaders Shape Them)
In this solo episode of Leaning Into Leadership , Dr. Darrin Peppard dives into the heartbeat of every great school: its culture. Drawing from personal experiences as a principal and superintendent, as well as insights from h...
Aug. 24, 2025
Episode 231: Building Trust and Leading with Courage - A Conversation with Dr. Jen Schwanke
This week on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast, I sit down with Dr. Jen Schwanke, a seasoned educator, author, and deputy superintendent with nearly three decades of experience. Together, we explore the history of public ed...
Aug. 17, 2025
Episode 230: Leading with Grace - Navigating Your Leadership Lifespan with Julia Bialeski
What if your approach to leadership could be defined by just six words: Be brave, and care about people ? Julia Bialeski has lived those words throughout her 20+ year career in public education, serving as a teacher, instruct...
Aug. 13, 2025
Episode 229: Start Strong, Stay Strong - 5 Intentional Leadership Moves for the Year
The energy of a new school year is electric — but how do you make sure it lasts past the first bell in August? In this solo episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard shares five intentional leadership moves to keep your momentum alive from...
Aug. 10, 2025
Episode 228: Strengthening PLCs with Clarity, Trust, and Purpose with Dr. Chad Dumas
In this episode of Leaning Into Leadership , Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with Dr. Chad Dumas—PLC expert, consultant, and author of the new book The Teacher Team Leader Handbook . Together, they unpack what it takes to build ...