An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! You can now order my book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

AND if you liked it, would you please leave a positive review? I'm hoping to get 35 positive reviews on Amazon. Thanks!

My Guest: This week, Dr. Thomas Hoerr is my guest. If you're in education, you likely remember the first out-of-town conference you ever attended. Not because, as a superintendent told me recently, they went to a conference and found themselves being dared to ride a mechanical bull. I think he said something like, "It would have to have been a weekend at Bernie's kind of thing (where I was actually dead) to get me on one of those things!" Weekend at Bernie's – ah, a classic. And it does conjure an image of sorts.

Well my first out of town trip was to Albuquerque, NM. I was teacher in Oakland, and I saved my money to fly to Albuquerque to attend a 2-day training with Tom Hoerr from St. Louis. Tom had become a sought-after expert on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI), and I was really interested to learn more and see how it might provide me with some approaches to teaching bi/multilingual learners.

What if we found ways to attend to the strengths of a child to teach them English as opposed to a drill and kill method? That was my wondering and I was considering writing my dissertation using Gardner's research. In the end, I found a school in Indonesia who was using MI to teach English as a second language, and well, I was living in California making $29,000 a year, so..... So I settled on the question of why children learn (or don't learn) English. Drawing on Guadalupe Valdes's research. The quick answer is it has to do with systems and their design – systems will create exactly what they are meant to create.

But back to Tom Hoerr! I reached out to him recently to tell him he was my first professional learning conference, and that I spent a career using what I learned from him, and how I'd love to have him as a guest on the podcast. And in a lovely display of his interpersonal intelligence, he agreed! Thanks for listening!

Bio: Tom Hoerr led schools for 37 years and is now a Scholar In Residence at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he teaches prospective principals. Tom was a public-school principal in University City in the St. Louis area before becoming the head of the New City School in St. Louis, a school founded on a commitment to progressive learning and respect for human diversity. Under his leadership, New City began implementing the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) in 1988 and created the world's first MI Library in 2006.

Tom Hoerr's new book, The Principal as Chief Empathy Officer, stems from his premise that leadership is based on relationships, and he uses empathy as the tool to help everyone grow. He shows how we can each grow our empathy. Hoerr devotes chapters to empathy and personnel, instructional leadership, DEI, and so on. The book is filled with specific examples, tables, and strategies to help everyone lead in an empathic manner. He also relates leading by empathy to the other Formative Five success skills – self-control, integrity, embracing diversity, and grit – and offers many interesting anecdotes.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

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An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

An imperfect leader, TLI, peter stiepleman, Dr. peter stiepleman, imperfect leaders, school culture, education, culture, school, positive school culture, principal, superintendent, aspiring superintendent, new superintendent, experienced superintendent, leadership, district leadership, school leadership, school leadership thoughts, inspiration, strategic planning, leadership development, human-centered leadership, collective aspiration, nested patterns, leaders' learning work, educators, superintendent pipeline, Model for Human Centered School, New City School, Multiple Intelligences, MI, Harvard, Howard Gardner

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! You can now order my book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

AND if you liked it, would you please leave a positive review? I'm hoping to get 35 positive reviews on Amazon. Thanks!

My Guest: This week, Dr. Jenn Lowery is my guest. How I wish her name had been Sue as it would have made my whole T-Rex reference work perfectly (Sue is the T-Rex at the Field Museum that was found in Faith, South Dakota). But Jenn Lowery isn't named Sue, and she's not from from Faith, but she is the superintendent of the Tea Area School District in Tea, South Dakota. Her district graduated just 11 students when it started about 20 years ago and now it is significantly larger (and growing). The community has been working to be clear on its WHY. If you're a Simon Sinek fan (and I value his message), he talks about being clear on your why.

Starting with the why and the importance of understanding your WHY is what Jenn talks about. And I loved how she speaks about moving from compliance to improvement.

My guest is Jenn Lowery. She was recently named the South Dakota Superintendent of the Year. Just listening to her today gives you a really good sense why. Thanks for listening.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

An imperfect leader, TLI, peter stiepleman, Dr. peter stiepleman, imperfect leaders, school culture, education, culture, school, positive school culture, principal, superintendent, aspiring superintendent, new superintendent, experienced superintendent, leadership, district leadership, school leadership, school leadership thoughts, inspiration, strategic planning, leadership development, human-centered leadership, collective aspiration, nested patterns, leaders' learning work, educators, superintendent pipeline, Model for Human Centered School, Simon Sinek

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! You can now order my book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: This week, Brian Troop is my guest.

One of the more powerful back to school administrator meetings I ever led was when I took all the administrators to see Bad Kids, a documentary about an alternative school in Yucca, California.

That documentary and another one, Bully, shaped for me some of my thinking about schools, the cultural field we create for children, and the different pathways we need to create for them as well.

In fact, following the showing of Bad Kids, I invited a panel of kids enrolled in our district's small boutique high school (sometimes called an alternative high school) to talk about how their building was different from the comprehensive high schools in the district. Specifically, I wanted them to talk about their connection to the principal and her staff saved their lives. It was such a moving moment.

My guest this week was similarly inspired. For Brian Troop, it was the documentary, Most Likely To Succeed. The film pushes schools to consider how the world is ever-changing and how schools need to adapt to tomorrow's needs. We talk about something called the Portrait of a Graduate, the skills and traits children must have to be successful after they leave the school district.

What's cool about Brian's district is how they engaged their local community, their business community, and others to help them define life readiness. And one of their goals is to create the environment so that their graduates will consider moving back to the community when they've finished their next level of learning – whether that be a trade school a 2 year or 4 year program, the military or internship.

Thanks for listening.

BIO: Dr. Brian Troop became Superintendent of the Ephrata Area School District in Ephrata, Pennsylvania in July 2013. Before that, he served the district as Assistant Superintendent. Brian is a creative leader and a collaborative leader. He and his team have worked to provide opportunities for children. For example, The Cornerstone Projects, year-long projects for each grade level that connect students with a community partner to help build engagement and strengthen relationships between the school and community is so innovative. It's no wonder Dr. Troop was recognized as the 2023 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

An imperfect leader, TLI, peter stiepleman, Dr. peter stiepleman, imperfect leaders, school culture, education, culture, school, positive school culture, principal, superintendent, aspiring superintendent, new superintendent, experienced superintendent, leadership, district leadership, school leadership, school leadership thoughts, inspiration, strategic planning, leadership development, human-centered leadership, collective aspiration, nested patterns, leaders' learning work, educators, superintendent pipeline, Model for Human Centered School

Book Update!

ImperfectLeaders! You can order my new book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. If there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: In this episode of An Imperfect Leader, we have a very special guest. The Chief Ruckus Maker of Better Leaders Better Schools, Danny Bauer, is here.

You might be asking yourself what makes a Ruckus Maker. I assure you, I ask Danny that in the episode. Let me set the stage a little bit about why today is exciting. Danny describes himself as:

· An UNORTHODOX leadership coach and who loves to ask "Why follow the rules when you can make them up?"

· He hosts a podcast that ranks in the TOP 0.5% of all shows worldwide with over 2 million downloads.

· And he is a best-selling author of Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader.

And Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan is now available!

He has mentored thousands of school leaders through his Better Leaders Better Schools blog, books, podcasts, and powerful coaching experiences.

And he believes with all his might: "When YOU get better, Everyone wins."

BIO (from LinkedIN):

IMAGINE the QUALITY of a school where the Principal and AP does NOT have access to high quality coaching and mentorship on a weekly basis … If you're anything like me, you don't have to imagine because that was or is your current reality. Which is why I started the BLBS podcast in 2015. My lived experience as an admin went something like this … District "leadership" meetings didn't build my capacity. Once a month, principals were gathered so we could be read announcements. If we were lucky, we might discuss the THREE PILLARS in education … 💯 Improve student achievement (yup, that's important) 🚌 Increase attendance (of course … it's good to have kids attend school) 🥊 Decrease discipline (safety is important) But that didn't work for me. These pillars of education were NOT the reason I became an educator and they certainly weren't the issues I was interested in as a leader. I had different questions like … 🤔 How do you craft a meaningful vision that actually guides the work of a school? 🗣 (I personally HATE hard conversations, so...) How does a leader learn to handle crucial conversations effectively? ❓And what could I do to create a more equitable experience for ALL students — especially black and brown ones? So I started exploring those topics on my podcast with the goal of making myself better. Little did I know, that the message would resonate with so many other "Ruckus Makers" in education. Today there are over 1.5 million downloads (I stopped counting) … And in May 2022 I found out that my show ranks in the TOP 0.5% of all podcasts in the world … that's out of nearly 3 million shows 🤩 🤯 🙇‍♂️ What started as a project to improve my leadership skills ... Has now turned into a mission to connect, grow, and mentor every school leader who wants to level up. Maybe that's YOU or a colleague in your district or network. If that's true, I have good news for you because ... I believe that Everyone wins when YOU get better. So whenever you're ready, here are three ways I can help … 1️⃣ Subscribe to my podcasts anywhere you like to listen. My two podcasts are called Better Leaders Better Schools & the School Leadership Series. 2️⃣ Buy my latest book published by Corwin and AASA (link in my bio above). 3️⃣ And for new connections on LinkedIn only ❗️ ➡️ download a three pack of Communication, Culture, and Execution quick start guides at go.betterleadersbetterschools.com/linkedin Keep Making a Ruckus, Danny [email protected]

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

Book Update!

ImperfectLeaders! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: This week, Beth Napleton is my guest. Beth is a Chicago-based executive leadership coach, consultant and the owner and founder of Beth Napleton Consulting.

There are a lot of us out there offering to help school leaders, but what I like about Beth's focus is that she leverages her extensive experience in education to help them leaders (in her words) clear out the "adult problems" that get in the way of student success. Beth has a leadership quiz available to anyone interested in their continued growth. Follow this link to access it: leadership-quiz.com.

BIO: Beth Napleton is a national award-winning teacher and has been in the education field for over 20 years, having trained close to 2,000 teachers and leaders to success. Most recently, she served as Founder and CEO of a small charter school network on the South Side of Chicago that opened in 2013. All graduates of her schools – most of them first-generation students – were all accepted to four-year colleges.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

Book Update!

ImperfectLeaders! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: This week, Mark Martin is my guest. Mark is superintendent of Meade County Schools in, Meade County, Kentucky. In the first part of our conversaiton, Mark describes Close the Gap Kentucky, a promising professional development program for school districts to make meaningful plans for the children In their districts. In his After-Action Review, Mark reflects on the agonizing decision many superintendents faced during the pandemic - when to allow children to return to In-person Instruction. Mark was named the superintendent of schools right at the beginning of the pandemic, which made his situation even more difficult. A truly vulnerable and authentic refleciton on an impossible decision.

What is shoshin?

I recently read an article in Fortune magazine. I'm not really sure how it ended up in my mailbox, but I was hooked by the cover photo of the CEO of Salesforce with the title: Efficiency is in. Is Empathy out? The article didn't exactly answer the question, instead it spoke of the tension CEOs have as they make decisions for the long-term health of their companies, and how those decisions are interpreted as a betrayal of a CEO's publicly stated values. School and district leaders understand that very well. Efforts to find common ground can be interpreted as capitulation.

There's was a quote in the article that I liked: The CEO of Salesforce said: I think you have to have, as the Japanese say, shoshin, or beginner's mind. As the leader, you have to realize that the past is gone, and that you're going to have to create a new future." Mark Martin is creating a new future in Meade County. Thanks for listening!

BIO: Before becoming Superintendent of Meade County Schools, Dr. Martin was a director of special education and before that, he spent 12 years as a special education teacher and administrator. His experiences as a special educator have given him insights into how to make school accessible to every learner.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

Book Update!

ImperfectLeaders! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: This week, Dr. Kirt Hartzler is my guest. Dr. Hartzler has been the Superintendent of Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma since 2013. We talk about leading the charge for a community school, which is different from a traditional school (How? Ummm... listen to the episode!). In his After Action Review, he talks about what he learned about holding virtual school on snow days.

Thanks for listening!

BIO: What's special about Kirt is that he brings to the position a rich institutional knowledge and a strong sense of pride for "The Union Way," rooted in his extensive teaching and administrative experience in the district.

Dr. Kirt Hartzler started at Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1986 as a high school social science instructor. Through the years, he has coached, served as a high school assistant principal, as the 8th Grade Center principal, and as the director of Secondary Education. He was the assistant superintendent for Teaching and Learning from 2003 to 2010, and the district's Deputy Superintendent before being names Superintendent.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

----------------

An Imperfect Leader is brought to you by EdConnective whose mission is to ensure student success through transformative teacher training.

EdConnective helps teachers move from awareness about strategies and frameworks to successful and consistent implementation. Their friendly coaches celebrate classroom success with teachers and, with concrete classroom data, support teachers in their growth, one step at a time. I've been thinking about this a lot. During the pandemic, student teachers didn't get a chance to do their student teaching with children. They started teaching in classrooms – and they need help. Across the nation, states are adopting higher expectations to make up for learning loss. That's where EdConnective fits in. Their vision is that every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves a great coach! Find out more by contacting them at EdConnective.com

Book Update! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

Imperfect Leaders! Today on an Imperfect Leader, Dr. Mike Redmond is my guest. Mike has been the Superintendent of Shakopee Public Schools, in Shakopee, Minnesota since 2018.

In our conversation, we talk about best practices when it comes to planning for a bond election In your district. In his After Action Review, Mike describes lessons learned when implementing district-wide change and the importance of making decisions with the people most impacted.

Thanks for listening!

BIO: Before becoming Shakopee's Superintendent, Mike served as the Superintendent for Goodhue Public Schools in Goodhue, Minnesota. He was an Executive Director of Secondary Education for Stillwater Area Public Schools, served as principal of John Glenn Middle School in Maplewood, Minnesota, and has been an assistant principal, a social studies teacher, a soccer coach and a basketball coach.

Mike is an active member of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators as well as the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. Dr. Redmond is also an adjunct professor for Winona State.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

Book Update! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com and order it there.

Imperfect Leaders! This week on an Imperfect Leader, Dr. Vickie Murillo is my guest. Dr. Murillo has served as the Superintendent of the Council Bluffs Community School District in Council Bluffs, Iowa since July of 2017.

As Superintendent, Dr. Murillo has charted a course to ensure all students are future ready. She has done this by championing Early College Academy located on the campus of Iowa Western Community College (allowing high school students to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree). She has proudly supported innovative programming like TradeWorks Academy, which is a certified pre-apprenticeship program for high school sophomores and juniors.

In her After Action Review, she describes the creation of Diploma Plus One Pathways and for every good reason, she's is so excited about one her district's kid from Council Bluffs, Iowa who is a Quest Bridge Scholar. I've linked to Quest Bridge in the episode notes so you know what a BIG deal that is.

Her list of achievements and interests are really impressive. Thanks for listening!

Book Update! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com and order it there.

Imperfect Leaders! This week, Matt Hornbeck is my guest. He is the principal of Hampstead Hill Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. In our conversation, we talk about the importance of relationships in schools and we talk about restorative practices (he describes the process of fixing what has been broken so so well).

In his After Action Review, we talk about the early years of leadership and what can be learned when a leader focuses more on what they want as opposed to documenting what they don't want. The topic is staff attendance. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Matt is an established leader in Baltimore, Maryland. Before becoming a principal at Hampstead Hill Academy, a Baltimore City charter school, he was an educational consultant with large urban districts on resource allocation and principal training. He holds a master's degree in educational administration as well as a law degree.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.