An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast

Hello Imperfect Leaders! This week, Dr. Adam Swinyard is my guest. Adam is the superintendent of the Spokane Public Schools in Spokane, Washington.

The first part of our conversation is dedicated to Adam's dissertation research and how there is a correlation between principals who regularly assess school culture with the success of the children in that school. I found it to be really interesting. Adam's After Action Review is all about the pandemic. Adam is smart and inspiring. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: The Spokane Public Schools board of directors named Dr. Adam Swinyard superintendent in the summer of 2020. Dr. Swinyard previously served as the district's associate superintendent for teaching and learning and director of secondary schools. Prior to working in district administration, Dr. Swinyard was the principal at Sacajawea Middle School in Spokane from 2013 – 2016

AND, Dr. Swinyard was recently recognized as the 2023 Washington State Superintendent of the Year.

• Adam's Twitter handle is @SuptSwinyard

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.

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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.

Dr. Nick Polyak is my guest. Nick is the superintendent for Leyden Community High School District in Cook County, Illinois. During our conversation, we talk about The Unfinished Leader, a book he has co-written with colleagues (they've written a few!). He also describes a community of lead learners he brings together through #suptchat, a Twitter community he co-moderates.

Nick describes the process he followed when accepting a new superintendency, and how his greatest lesson was to include those most impacted by his decision to accept the job. Thanks for tuning in!

Bio: Dr. Nick Polyak has served as a math teacher and tennis and soccer coach before moving into administrative roles at the building and central office levels. As the leader of Leyden schools, the school district has received many recognitions, including the College Board to the National School Board Association.

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.

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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.

Hello Imperfect Leaders! In this episode of An Imperfect Leader, Dr. Tony Aylsworth is my guest. As many know, the aim of this podcast is to learn about how superintendents think, plan, lead, use systems, and learn lessons. In this episode, Tony tells us about his experience leading two school district in Iowa simultaneously and he tells us about what he learned from a bond election (and how EVERY vote counts). Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Tony has been the Superintendent of the Pleasantville Community Schools, in Pleasantville, Iowa since 2014. Before that, he was a high school principal. Tony has been an adjunct instructor at multiple colleges and universities, including Iowa State University. He can be found on Twitter by following @Taylsworth.

Book Update! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here.

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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.

In this episode of an Imperfect Leader, Nate Levenson is my guest. In our conversation, we talk about the budgeting process and the importance of engaging in high levels of collaboration. During his After Action Review, Nate describes his experience of eliminating the school's crossing guards, a decision he believed to be the right one based on the data. He learned a lot about the politics surrounding a decision.

BIO: Nate is a former Massachusetts superintendent and is president of New Solutions K12. Nate is an author, most recently publishing Six Shifts to Improve Special Education and Other Interventions (by Harvard Education Press).

I met Nate a few years ago, at just the right time. I was making a transition in my leadership approach and was looking for ways to engage in distributed leadership when it came to budgeting. I read Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools and asked Nate if he'd work with our organization to help us make better decisions. We went on to make better decisions - together.

Book Update! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here.

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

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.

First of AWL (that's first of all for you non-New Yorkers), my Long Island accent appears in full force from time to time during my conversation with Andrew Marotta. Mr. Marotta is a high school principal and self-described as "an energetic and enthusiastic school leader who has put his positive imprint on his beloved school, Port Jervis High School, in Port Jervis, NY."

In his After Action Review, Andrew reflects on how leaders must consider how their interpersonal behaviors bring people in or push people away. He called it "A WHOLE LOTTA Marotta!"

BIO: Andrew Marotta is the principal of Port Jervis High School. I have listened to his podcast, ELB (Education Leadership and Beyond) and I can attest to the energy and enthusiasm he brings to education. I've listened to a few episodes and you can't help but feel energized!

Andrew has been a volunteer with Augustinian Friars in Italy, a teacher in Staten Island, and a Division 1 basketball official. He is now a leader, motivational speaker, podcaster, and author. Click on the image below to learn more about Mr. Marotta's books.

Hello Imperfect Leaders!

This week, Dr. Mark T. Bedell is my guest. Mark and I became friends during his 6 years as the Superintendent of the Kansas City Public Schools, but Mark is no longer a Missouri resident. He began a four-year term as Superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools on July 1, 2022, Maryland's fourth largest school district.

BIO:

Dr. Bedell is a talented, caring teacher, administrator and proven public school leader with a track record of success in urban districts. In 2022, he led Kansas City Public Schools to full accreditation status for the first time in more than 20 years.

Dr. Bedell has spent his career pushing for educational equity. Under his steady leadership, Kansas City Public Schools created an innovative Equity Policy to direct the school system's resources and programs to give every student the opportunity to reach their greatest potential.

Dr. Bedell has received many recognitions, including being named a "Superintendent to Watch" by the National School Public Relations Association and a "New Superintendent of the Year" by the Missouri Association of School Administrators. He was named to 435 magazine's Top 50 Power List as one of the most powerful people to shape the Kansas City region and to The Kansas City Business Journal's Power 100 List. He was also recognized by The Kansas City Star as one of the 51 most influential Missourians.

In 2020, Dr. Bedell was a finalist for the Green-Garner Award, the top honor for urban school leaders across the country.

Dr. Bedell has written several articles and opinion pieces for newspapers, magazines, and journals. His numerous speaking engagements, awards, national board service for several high-level organizations and equity-centered keynotes make him a leading Superintendent in public education.

His most important honors, however, have come from students. In 2018, students at Southeast High School in Kansas City presented Dr. Bedell with an award for his efforts on their behalf and the positive impact he would have on future students. In 2022, Middle College students named Dr. Bedell "Superintendent of the Century." The Middle College program started by Dr. Bedell has changed the lives of nearly 300 Kansas City Public Schools students who otherwise would have dropped out of high school.

Dr. Bedell and his wife, Robyn, an attorney, have three children. Their two oldest graduated from Kansas City Public Schools and now attend HBCUs. Their youngest is excited to be starting middle school in Anne Arundel County Public Schools in August.

[SOURCE: https://www.aacps.org/domain/249]

In this episode of An Imperfect Leader, Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez is my guest. Dr. Torres-Rodriguez is the Superintendent in Hartford, CT, a school district with about 17,000 students. Leslie cares so deeply for her district because her district is so personal to her - she graduated from the Hartford Public Schools and then returned to lead it.

In her After Action Review, she describes the process she used to make the recommendation to consolidate (close) schools in her school district. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Dr. Torres-Rodriguez was named the 2022 National Superintendent of the Year by the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), received the 2019 Award for Educational Leadership from the Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (CALAS) as well as the 2019 Prospanica National Brillante Award for Educational Excellence.

Dr. Torres-Rodriguez is a member of the Governor's Workforce Council and serves on the Hartford Promise Board. She also co-chairs the Mayor's Cabinet for Young Children in Hartford.

This week on An Imperfect Leader, Dr. Kenny Rodrequez is my guest. Dr. Rodrequez has been the Superintendent of the Grandview C-4 School District since 2016.

In our conversation, Kenny references the work his district has done on Introducing children to authentic experiences, including Project Lead the Way. Kenny uses the power of language to convey his thoughts on systems and system thinking. More than anything, he makes some of the most genuine reflections about the global pandemic. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Dr. Rodrequez has served in several capacities throughout his career. He created and implemented the first Early College High School program in Tulsa, Oklahoma through a partnership with Tulsa Community College.

In Oklahoma, he served as a lead examiner for the Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation, based upon the Baldrige process.

In both Oklahoma and Missouri, he has done extensive work on the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems in an effort to raise academic achievement and build collaborative relationships between teachers and administrators.

This week, on An Imperfect Leader, Dr. Alena E. Zachery-Ross is my guest. This conversation has it all. We talk about an annual Fail Fest where Alena's team put a spotlight on actions that fell short. We talk about board relations and how leaders often learn the hard lesson of learning how to partner with their board. We talk about the low of resigning from her position to the highs of having her work become the model for the entire state of Michigan. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Dr. Zachery-Ross is a self-described native Detroiter and has dedicated her career to educating others.

She has served as a classroom teacher, a school psychologist, a teacher consultant, a principal and assistant superintendent (and pastor and motivational speaker, as well!). She has been superintendent of the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System, the Okemos Public Schools and currently leads Ypsilanti Community Schools.

@Podchaser

This week on An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action, Dr. Rob Clayton is my guest. As superintendent of the Warren County Public Schools in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Rob has seen a 25% growth in students, which now number about 18,000 in grades pre-K through 12 representing 103 different languages. In this episode, Rob shows how managing and leading that kind of growth requires a lot of skills.

BIO: Dr. Rob Clayton has been a science teacher, a track coach, a basketball coach, a football coach, an assistant principal, a principal, and a superintendent. Dr. Clayton was recently named Kentucky's 2023 Superintendent of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators and less than a month ago, he was recognized as the 2022 National Superintendent of the Year by the National Association of School Superintendents (NASS).

www.peterstiepleman.com