Accelerate Your Performance

Reentry is top of mind for school leaders across the country. Many of these leaders are struggling with how to move forward with little guidance. They’re preparing for best- and worst-case scenarios. As we work to keep employees and students safe, collaboration across communities is key.  In this episode, Waukesha County Executive, Paul Farrow, and Waukesha County Director of Parks and Land Use, Dale Shaver are back to discuss how the county collaborated in their response to the pandemic. They’ll discuss their commitment to data-driven decisions, the importance of empowering people, and why culture is more important than ever in crisis times.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What can we do to keep the momentum ahead of reentry without getting stalled?
• Why is it so critical to invest in your people and your culture? 
• What are some practical actions leaders can take to empower those they lead?

To hear the beginning of our conversation with Paul and Dale, listen to episode #93 Make Silos Disappear.

Recommended Resources: Leading a Successful Reentry to Achieve Organizational Excellence,  Why Start with Why?, Always Be Recruiting, & Organizational Excellence

• How can we find the right balance when it comes to communication— and not go overboard with it?
• How can leaders work with their people to identify silos in the organization that should be eliminated?
• How can partnerships with other organizations help leaders in their re-entry planning?

As schools and organizations across the country prepare for reentry, leaders are feeling the pressure to be decisive. We are facing a wide variety of scenarios—many unprecedented. Due to the uncertainty, emotions at the forefront for both leaders and their people. Dr. KK Owen is one of our coaches helping partners create a plan moving forward for reentry. In this episode, listen as KK shares about how we’re helping leaders manage fears while moving forward to get ready for reentry—and how leaders listening can benefit.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What can leaders do to engage with and tend to the emotions of their people ahead of reentry to help make it a success?
• What is a Fear to Opportunities assessment and how does it work? 
• Why are we hosting Reentry Roundtables and how will those help prepare leaders for a successful return to schools?

Download the free toolkit: Leading a Successful Reentry Toolkit
Join the conversation at our free Reentry Roundtables: Register

We’re in changing, challenging times, and the emotions that go along with that are very real. Our people are feeling them and need our support in order to thrive. That’s why it’s more important than ever for leaders to be intentional in how we support and serve our team members. In this episode, listen as Studer Education coach Dr. Melissa Matarazzo shares some game-changing practices that have helped her best support the coaches she leads as well as valuable tips leaders can put into action right now to help grow and develop their teams. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What practices can be game-changers for supporting the individuals you lead?
• How can we help grow and develop people on our teams?
• Why is it more important than ever to spend time and resources developing individuals in our organizations?

To hear the beginning of this conversation, listen to episode #90 Developing People to Become the Best Leaders, where Dr. Matarazzo shares the valuable lessons she has learned since becoming a leader. 

Recommended Resources: Monthly Meetings, Preparing for Conversations with Your Team Members, Leader Led Conversations, New Leader Development

The best leaders are always learning. They are curious. They seek to better understand. That hunger to constantly grow is crucial in order to lead at the highest level, and a focus on relationships is a critical part of that. In this episode, Studer Education coach Dr. Melissa Matarazzo weighs in on this topic, sharing the valuable lessons she has learned as a coach while supporting leaders and partners around the country. Her approach focuses on aligning powerful leader development with effective systems of internal accountability. Listen as Melissa reflects over key lessons she has learned over the years—and how those can help leaders today lead at the next level.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can leaders establish connections with new employees and begin to start building strong relationships?
• What is something leaders should not miss when it comes to relationships with their people?
• What are the hallmarks of the best leaders you have worked with over the years?

 Recommended Resources:

Empowering Mid-level Leaders, Feedback that Inspires, Three Positives For Every One Constructive Feedback, Develop Aspiring Leaders

The work of improvement creates the backbone for real change where it matters. Focus on continuous improvement yields valuable results and radically changes outcomes in a number of fields, but in education, momentum has struggled. In the words of today’s guest, the education field hasn’t hardwired the deep skillset of improvement and we have more work to do. In this episode, Dr. Pat Greco joins us to continue the conversation around improving school systems and organizations so leaders can accelerate results and sustain success over time. 

Pat will also share about the chapter she contributed to in Tony Bryk’s book, Improvement in Action. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What are the most important measures to look at when it comes to improvement work, and why?
• What tools or tactics can have the greatest impact when it comes to transforming a struggling organization?
• How can leaders improve their organizations despite resistance from other executives or members of their community?

 
 Recommended Resources: Plan, Do, Study, Act, Implementing PDSA Cycles, Are We Just Documenting or Improving Processes? & Keep the Complex Simple

Recommended Podcasts: What’s Under the Rock?, Creating Cultures of Improvement &  Building an Army of Improvers

Improvement work in organizations is not easy, but it’s essential for good organizations that strive to be great. Engaging in effective improvement work entails learning the basics of improvement—but also—learning from how others are doing it, as our guest in today’s episode, Tony Bryk, explains. Tony is the ninth president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and his contributions to improvement science as a whole make him one of the greatest educational professionals of all time. Listen as Tony discusses his newest book, Improvement in Action, where he offers a look at what actions six organizations have taken as they move through improvement work—with advice for leaders ready to commit to this process.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why is collaborating with other organizations an essential part of improvement work?
• What should we keep in mind as we commit to the process of improvement work?
• What should we be cautious of as we engage in improvement work?

To hear the beginning of Janet's interview with Tony Bryk, listen to episode #87: Improvement to Accelerate Learning - Part 1.

Learn more about Anthony S. Bryk's extensive research influencing continuous improvement in schools across America by reading his books: Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement, Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, Learning to Improve: How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better, and his newest release:Improvement in Action: Advancing Quality in America's Schools.

In organizations where employee engagement and productivity is high and turnover is low, you’ll likely find trust is the foundation. But the reality is most employees don’t trust their leaders. According to Gallup data, only one in three employees trust their organization’s leadership. Trust is essential for organizations to thrive and continuously improve. This was a key finding in the research of this episode’s special guest. His contributions to the American Education Research Association and to improvement science overall make him one of the greatest educational professionals of all time. Listen as Tony Bryk, the ninth president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, shares about the role of nurturing relationships to sustain improvement in school systems at scale.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why is trust at the heart of improvement work?
• How can we continue spreading improvement work in schools at scale?
• What is important for leaders to remember about improvement work?

Learn more about Anthony S. Bryk's extensive research influencing continuous improvement in schools across America by reading his books: Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement, Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, Learning to Improve: How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better, and his newest release: Improvement in Action: Advancing Quality in America's Schools.

Recommended Resources: The Neuroscience of Trust, Implementing PDSA Cycles, Building Trust with New Teams, Learning Comes from Reflection 

Recommended Podcast Episodes: Building an Army of Improvers, Bringing an Executive Team Together, Pursue Performance Excellence, Move Forward By Doing the Next Right Thing

• What are the most important aspects of improvement work leaders should know?
• Why is investing in your people so important when it comes to improvement work?
• How do leaders build a team of improvement-focused individuals?

Times of disruption bring opportunities to innovate. And innovation is easier than you may think. The reality is, it’s a matter of looking at doing things effectively and more efficiently. In this pandemic, Quint Studer says this is an ample opportunity to innovate that leaders should not miss. We often get paralyzed by thinking innovation needs to change the world. Listen as Quint shares his perspective on playing small ball and the innovative thinking that leads to the creation of a sense of place and a vibrant community. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What can we do to have a creative breakthrough when we feel stuck?
• What kinds of questions can we ask to help spark innovation?
• How can we tackle solving upcoming challenges creatively?

To obtain a copy of Building a Vibrant Community you can contact Quint directly at [email protected]. 

Recommended Resources: Building a Vibrant Community, Questioning for the Positive, Improvement & Innovation, & Busting Through Barriers

Related Podcasts: Turn Ideas into Action, Move Forward by Doing the Next Right Thing, Be Bold About Action, Reinvent the Organization: Increase Efficiency While Reducing Costs, & The Middle is Hard but it Doesn’t Have to Be