Accelerate Your Performance

In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Terrie Morgan, Superintendent of Hardin County Schools, as a guest on the Accelerate Your Performance podcast. Terrie discusses how she got involved with Girls, Inc. The initiative inspires the future of young students and serves as their connect to purpose so they can learn about what future career paths are possible for them. Terrie and Janet discuss why the school board supports an initiative like Girls Inc. and the lasting change they hope will take place due to the program.


This episode addresses questions such as:

• What is your connect to purpose that drives you to feel like your work is meaningful?
• What might you do to help students think outside the box to choose career paths that excite them?
• How can you inspire others to find purpose in their work and prepare for their future?

Recommended Resources: What Drives You?, Preparing Students for Success from Kindergarten and Beyond, Inspire Others to Achieve, & 4 Questions to Plan a Meaningful Life

How can you grow your commitment to excellence by leading with transparency and trust? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Rob Clayton, Superintendent of Warren County Public Schools, to discuss how he effectively models “cascading information” and leads with transparency and trust. Listen as Dr. Pilcher and Mr. Clayton explain how leading with transparency allows you to build trust and foster relationships within your community.


This episode addresses questions such as:

• What does leading with transparency in action look like? 
• How can you effectively “cascade information” in your school district?
• How can you model a commitment to excellence, holding yourself and others accountable?

Recommended Resources: Lead Collaboratively and Transparently, Excellent Leaders are Intentional, Trust: Consistency of Leadership, & Cascading Communication

In a Harvard Business Review article, Jesse Sostrin stated, "One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading." In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher utilizes this article to discuss the importance of a leader's understanding of how to effectively delegate. Listen as Janet explains how leaders can empower other leaders and team members to contribute their best work to shared priorities.

This episode addresses questions such as:

• What is the difference between being involved and being essential? 
• What does it mean to shape the thoughts and ideas of others instead of dictating their plans?
• How can you insure progress is being made even in your absence?

Recommended Resources:  What Can I Stop Doing For a Strong New Year?, Great Leaders Are Learning Leaders, Be The Best Leader You Can Be, & Excellent Leaders are Intentional 

How can you work to overcome division, create unity, and strengthen relationships in your district? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Ed Manansala, County Superintendent of Schools for El Dorado County in California, and Dr. Ken Futernick, writer and educational consultant, to discuss how they worked together to find solutions for these issues. They explain how the Bridging Divides-El Dorado initiative was formed, how they built the conditions for a culture that promotes collaboration across community agencies, and how they improved communication between the public and public officials.

This episode addresses questions such as:

• What is the Bridging Divides -El Dorado initiative, and how can you apply some of its core values to help alleviate division in your community?
• How can you work to build a culture that promotes collaboration between your school board, school executives, and community agencies to solve problems and build relationships? 
• What are the potential consequences caused by polarization, division, and strife within communities, and why is it important to safeguard ways to combat these issues? 

Recommended Resources:  Bridging Divides, Teachers Stories Podcast, Lead Collaboratively and Transparently, & Collaborate and Innovate With Your School Board Members

What habits might be holding you back? In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses how starting the year with a "stop doing," or bad habit to break, can help you be a better leader, employee, and person. She explains how she will practice the act of leaving behind her phone and breaking the habit of dependency. She encourages us all to consider what our personal "stop doing" for the year will be and how that will affect our leadership and help us accelerate forward.

This episode addresses questions such as:

• Why is stopping a bad habit more beneficial than a New Year's resolution, and how can it make you a better leader?
• How can being dependent on your phone affect your cognitive ability even when you are not on it?
• What is a negative habit you can stop this year to make yourself a better leader?

Recommended Resources:  New Year, Positive Mindset, Great Leaders are Learning Leaders, What it Really Takes to Prevail, & Make Way for Innovation

What impact would it have on children's futures if they were dramatically prepared to enter Kindergarten?  That's the mission of our guest in today's Accelerate Your Performance Podcast episode.  Today, Rina Irwin, CEO of the Child Development Centers, Inc. and a 2022 Difference Maker Award winner joins us to discuss her passion and commitment to preparing children for a successful educational experience as they transition into Kindergarten and beyond.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What happens during the early childhood years that benefits children entering Kindergarten?
• How can leaders build team alignment and commitment around the organization's vision?
• What could a child entering Kindergarten look like if there were strong partnerships with Early Childhood providers?

Recommended Resources:  Great Leaders Are Learning Leaders, Be the Best Leader You Can Be, Create Resilient Leaders, How Focus Leads to Results

What does it mean to be a learning leader? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Mark Bielang, Superintendent of Portage Public Schools and winner of a 2022 Difference Maker award, to be a guest. Mark discusses why being a learning leader helps him lead his team, and he also shares about his commitment to prioritizing the student voice. Listen as he explains how their voices have shaped school culture and helped foster unity across the district.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can leaders go about connecting with students to prioritize their voice?
• Why is it important to establish a set of organizational core values, and how do you begin this process? 
• How can you work to enhance your leadership skills and become a learning leader to improve your organization?

Recommended Resources: Be The Best Leader You Can Be, Lead Collaboratively and Transparently, Collaborate and Innovate With Your School Board Members, & Why Do Values Matter?

Striving to be an excellent leader and accomplish great goals in an organization takes commitment and hard work. In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Xavier De La Torre, Superintendent of Ysleta Independent School District and recent recipient of a 2022 Difference Maker Award, to share about his district's improvement journey. Ysleta Independent School District is an “A” district in Texas, and 98% of the schools in this district are earning A's and B's. In today's discussion, he shares the impact creating a strategic plan with a scorecard has had as well as how the district has achieved excellent student achievement outcomes.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why is it important to use surveys to understand and garner parent, student, and employee satisfaction?
• How can implementing a strategic plan using a scorecard improve an organization?
• What does being the best leader you can be look like to you, and what is one next step you can take to get there?

Recommended Resources: Lead Collaboratively and Transparently, From Input to Action: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Excellent Leaders are Intentional, & Organizational Scorecard Examples

What does it take to be a collaborative leader who leads transparently and commits to improvement in an organization? In today’s Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Jeff Dellutri, Superintendent of Fox Point-Bayside School District, to discuss his ‘why’ for committing to the work of improvement. Listen as he shares about the results he has seen from applying the improvement work and how his collaborative leadership style has contributed to these results.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What role does listening and asking questions play in being a collaborative leader?
• Why is working collaboratively and relying on others to do their jobs well an important part of the improvement process?
• What is your 'why’ for committing to the work of improvement for your organization?

Recommended Resources: Unrelenting Commitment to Improvement, Get Clear About Action, Make Way for Innovation, & From Input to Action: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

"We have to know we will prevail and do so by facing the brutal facts." - Dr. Janet Pilcher. Sometimes having an overly optimistic attitude and disregarding perceived negative data can be harmful to an organization and individual. In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Pilcher discusses how you must often be a realist and address the hard facts while continuing to be persistent and motivated in your problem-solving. She goes on to analyze and quote the beliefs of Jim Collins, who is the author of Good to Great, and Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a prisoner of war.


This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why is an overly optimistic outlook or the disregard of negative data damaging to organizations?
• What is a continuous improvement process, and how does it relate to the Stockdale Paradox?
• How can you cultivate a culture where individuals do not shy away from negative data or circumstances?    

Recommended Resources: Passion and Perseverance, Unrelenting Commitment to Improvement, Fire Up Your Inner Drive, & Good to Great