On episode 97 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast, I had the opportunity to interview SLP and Related Services Director, Marva Mount. Marva is a nationally recognized speaker on issues regarding public school speech and language services. She is a published chapter author, and has been awarded the Hall of Fame Award for outstanding contributions to the field of speech pathology by her state organization. In addition, Marva is a distinguished fellow in the National Academies of Practice, and has served school-aged populations from ages 3 to 22 for almost 40 years. She currently works for Imagine Learning. Marva has made a career out of going the extra mile, never afraid to ask for things and share her ideas; which eventually led to an official leadership position. However, she was acting like a leader even before it was officially in her job title, which is why I thought she’d be a great guest to share her experiences advocating for the profession and her caseload. In this conversation, we discussed: ✅Common mistakes clinicians make when starting conversations with leadership or asking for what they need.  ✅Tips for learning the habits, tendencies of preferences of building leaders and other team members so you can build trust and get your ideas heard. ✅Why administrators frequently say “No” to requests from their staff, and how to increase the chances that you’ll get a “Yes”. You can connect with Marva on her Instagram account @marvajomount or on LinkedIN here. You can also see her Collaborate with Confidence presentation on speechpathology.com here (you need a subscription to access this presentation). We also mentioned the DISC profile in this conversation, which you can learn more about here.  In this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids . You can download this free resource here. 

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.