Leaning into Leadership

We all want to see successes in both our personal and professional lives. Often, that requires strong leadership. In a time when leadership can be more challenging than ever, this podcast is dedicated to cultivating leaders by elevating the voices of leaders and promoting positivity. Join Dr. Darrin Peppard, lifelong educator and best-selling author, for this mixed platform podcast (some solo, some guest interview) for inspiration and insight, and some great leadership stories from those are living it, excelling at it, and celebrating it. Together, let's lean into leadership.

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June 14, 2026

Episode 282: The New School Leader's Playbook with Erika Bare & Tiffany Burns

Landing your first leadership position is exciting...until reality sets in. The meetings, the emails, the difficult conversations, the angry parents, and the constant interruptions can quickly pull new administrators away fro...

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June 7, 2026

Episode 281: Be the Light with Dr. Chris Culver

Dr. Chris Culver returns to Leaning Into Leadership for a powerful follow-up conversation centered around his new book, Be the Light: The Science of Kindness and the Power of Belonging . If you enjoyed Chris's first appearanc...

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May 31, 2026

Episode 280: Leadership in the Age of AI with Molly Rosen

What does leadership look like when the world is changing faster than ever before? In this episode of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast, Dr. Darrin Peppard sits down with Molly Rosen, Co-CEO of ProjectNext Leadership, for a...

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May 24, 2026

Episode 279: Burn the Script with Jo Lein

In this episode, Darrin sits down with leadership coach and new author Jo Lein to explore what really drives change in people and organizations—and why most coaching efforts fall short when they focus only on skills. Jo intro...

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May 20, 2026

Episode 278: Compliance Can Control a Team. Alignment Can Transform One.

What happens when strong leaders slowly stop speaking? In this reflective solo episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard explores the hidden cost of compliance-based leadership cultures and the long-term impact they can have on trust, alig...

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May 17, 2026

Episode 277: Redefining Educator Professionalism with Dr. Nason Lollar

In this episode of Leaning Into Leadership , Darrin sits down with Dr. Nason Lollar to explore a topic often overlooked in leadership conversations—educator professionalism. Drawing from his book The Five Principles of Educat...

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May 10, 2026

Episode 276: The Leadership TAP with Dr. Joy Karavedas

In this episode, Darrin sits down with Dr. Joy Karavedas to explore what it really means to develop leaders intentionally—and why that “tap on the shoulder” can be life-changing. Joy shares her journey into leadership and how...

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May 3, 2026

Episode 275: From Compliance to Connection — Rethinking Classroom Engagement with Megan Diede

In this episode, Darrin sits down with Megan Diede to unpack one of the most pressing challenges in schools today: authentic student engagement . The conversation begins with a familiar frustration—classrooms full of students...

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April 26, 2026

Episode 274: If Everyone Was Pulling the Same Direction...

In this final episode of the 3-part planning series, Darrin Peppard shifts from planning and preparation to something even more important— what happens when your plan meets reality . Through a candid story from his time as a ...

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April 19, 2026

Episode 273: Why Most School Plans Fail (And What to Do Instead)

This month, we’ve been focused on one thing: building plans that don’t just sound good—but actually work. In this episode, Darrin is joined by Kathleen Beckham, Molly Dexter, and Brandon Mawhorter from digiCOACH for a real, u...

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April 15, 2026

Episode 272: 10 Leadership Moves You Can Make This Week

In this mid-week episode, Darrin steps away from long-range planning to focus on something just as powerful— small, intentional actions leaders can take right now . With only weeks left in the school year, it’s easy to feel s...

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April 12, 2026

Episode 271: Planning Isn’t Enough—Here’s What to Do Before August

What Has to Be True by August? In Part 2 of this 3-part series on planning for the upcoming school year, Darrin shifts the focus from planning to preparation . You already know what you want to accomplish next year—but what a...

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April 6, 2026

Episode 270: If Your Plan Starts in August, You May Already Be Behind

This week kicks off a three-part solo series focused on one critical question: How do we actually plan for success in the coming school year? April is a time when leaders are deep in planning—budgets, staffing, schedules, and...

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March 29, 2026

Episode 269: The Cost of Misalignment—and How to Get Your Team Back on Track

In this episode of the Leaning Into Leadership podcast, Dr. Darrin Peppard takes on a challenge that quietly impacts even the strongest leadership teams: misalignment . You can have talented, committed leaders who care deeply...

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March 22, 2026

Episode 268: When Leaders Become the Bottleneck (and How to Get Out of the Way) with Brooke Dukes

In this episode, Darrin sits down with Brooke Dukes to explore a challenge that many leaders face—but often don’t recognize: Becoming the bottleneck. We talk about how this happens unintentionally, why it’s so common among hi...

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March 18, 2026

Episode 267: Listener Question - Managing Parent Communication Without Losing Your Day

One of the most rewarding parts of hosting Leaning Into Leadership is hearing from listeners who are doing the work every day. In this episode, Darrin responds to a question from a first-year principal in upstate New York who...

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March 15, 2026

Episode 266: Building Resilient Leaders and Teams with Russell Harvey

Leadership today often feels like navigating constant change. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are realities many leaders face daily. But resilience is not about simply pushing through the chaos — it’s about...

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March 8, 2026

Episode 265: A Textbook Isn’t a Curriculum with Emily Makelky

One of the most common mistakes schools make is confusing a resource with a curriculum. A textbook gets adopted. A program is purchased. A shiny new initiative is rolled out. And suddenly everyone says, “Great… we have a curr...

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March 1, 2026

Episode 264: Leadership Presence (Part 3) - The Interpersonal Work That Makes It Real

This is Part 3 of a three-part series on leadership presence. In Episode 262, we explored the hidden cost of distraction and how trust and psychological safety erode when leaders aren’t fully present. In Episode 263, we discu...

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Feb. 22, 2026

Episode 263: Leadership Presence (Part 2)- Breaking Through the Chaos

In Episode 262 , we explored the hidden cost of distraction and how trust, psychological safety, and connection erode when leaders aren’t fully present. This is Part 2 of our three-part series on leadership presence. In this ...

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Feb. 19, 2026

Episode 262: Leadership Presence (Part 1) - The Hidden Cost of Leadership Distraction

This episode kicks off a powerful three-part series on leadership presence. In Part 1, Darrin explores the hidden cost of distraction and how leaders unintentionally erode trust, psychological safety, and emotional connection...

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