There’s a moment in school leadership that rarely gets named.

It’s not burnout.

It’s not failure.

It’s not collapse.

It’s the quiet moment when everything looks “successful” on the outside — but something inside you feels tight, constricted, or unsustainable.

In this episode of the Schools of Excellence Podcast, Chanie opens a new conversation inspired by her upcoming book, This Can’t Be Normal. She invites school leaders to slow down and listen — not to fix, optimize, or pivot — but to notice what the signal is trying to say.

This episode is not a lesson.

It’s not a framework.

It’s a place to stand inside yourself for a few minutes without managing the truth.

If you’re a school owner, director, or leader who has learned to normalize pressure, sacrifice, and endurance — this conversation offers permission to stop arguing with the signal and let clarity emerge at its own pace.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

1. Why “success” can quietly start to feel like survival for school leaders
2. The difference between naming something and deciding what to do about it
3. How leaders learn to mute their own internal warning signals
4. Why clarity doesn’t come from moving faster — it comes from pausing
5. How creating space for truth restores leadership steadiness and discernment

A Reflection to Sit With

What if leadership feels heavy not because something is broken —

but because something true has gone unnamed for too long?

Resource Mentioned

If you want language for what you’re already experiencing, Chanie wrote Chapter One of her upcoming book specifically for leaders standing in this place.

You can download it here, if and when it feels right: https://thiscantbenormal.com

There’s no urgency.

No expectation.

Just an invitation to read slowly — or simply sit with the moment.

As 2025 comes to a close, many school leaders find themselves pausing and asking a quiet but important question:

How did we end up here?

In this episode of the Schools of Excellence Podcast, Chanie Wilschanski unpacks one of the most overlooked leadership challenges in schools, drift. Not burnout. Not laziness. But the subtle loss of alignment that happens when leaders lose connection to the rhythms and anchors that once kept them steady.

This conversation is especially for school owners, directors, and leadership teams who are preparing to step into 2026 and want to do so with clarity, steadiness, and intention — not pressure or performative “new year” resets.

Chanie introduces two distinct types of leadership drift that show up in schools:

1. Calm Drift — when things are going well, systems feel stable, enrollment is strong, and leaders quietly loosen the rhythms that protect culture, leadership, and sustainability.
2. Chaos Drift — when life, grief, stress, or operational overwhelm slowly erode boundaries, clarity, and leadership presence over time.

Rather than offering another system, checklist, or reset plan, this episode reframes excellence in leadership as the ability to return — again and again — to the rhythms that anchor school leaders through every season.

This is a grounding conversation about leadership, humanity, culture, and the systems that support sustainable growth in schools.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. Why drift is a normal part of leadership — even for strong, experienced school leaders
2. The difference between burnout, laziness, and leadership drift
3. How calm seasons can quietly lead to complacency if rhythms aren’t reinforced
4. Why chaotic seasons cause leaders to over-function and lose themselves over time
5. The role of rhythms (not perfection) in restoring clarity, confidence, and leadership presence
6. Why consistency in leadership is about return, not flawless execution
7. How anchored leadership protects culture, operations, and retention in schools
8. What school leaders should focus on before turning the calendar page to 2026

A Note for School Leaders

You don’t need a new plan.

You don’t need new software.

You don’t need to overhaul your systems.

What most school leaders need as they move from 2025 into 2026 is a return — to the rhythms that already work, the leadership standards they already know, and the anchors that keep their school steady through both calm and chaos.

Next Step for Leaders

If this conversation resonated and you want clarity around where your leadership — and your school, may be drifting, we invite you to start with awareness.

Take the 5 Gear Diagnostic

This free diagnostic helps school leaders identify which of the five core leadership gears — Enrollment, Financial Health, Staff Culture, Parent Engagement, or Strategic Growth needs attention right now.

Take the diagnostic here: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

As the world slows down in the quiet space between years, Chanie invites school leaders into a powerful reflection:

What did this year build in you?

Not what you accomplished…

Not what you finished…

Not what you checked off the list…

But what was formed within you as a leader navigating exhaustion, momentum, setbacks, breakthroughs, culture challenges, enrollment pressures, financial strain, team transition, and the very real humanity of leadership.

In this deeply personal episode, Chanie shares her own journey through 2025 — a year that stretched her capacity, reshaped her identity as a leader, and forced her to develop new rhythms of discernment, emotional regulation, faith, marriage, health, and operational leadership.

And while the details are her own, the themes are universal for school leaders:

1. The invisible weight you carry
2. The pressure to remember everything
3. The instinct to manage every outcome
4. The exhaustion of holding everyone’s emotions
5. The desire for relief without guilt
6. The dance of relationships
7. The need for rhythms, not more systems

This episode is a mirror, reflecting back the capacity you’ve built this year, often without even noticing.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

The Leadership Lessons Inside a Full Year of Stretch

1. Why capacity is built in friction, stretch, and tension — not in ease
2. How slowing down becomes a leadership strategy, not a setback
3. The hidden emotional labor behind writing This Can’t Be Normal
4. What the Five Gears framework revealed about school operations and leadership
5. Why memory can’t be your leadership system — and how rhythms carry what your brain shouldn’t
6. How marriage, teams, and leadership all share the same “choreography” of conflict
7. What it means to return — and why trust is built in the return
8. How faith, steadiness, and presence become leadership anchors
9. The power of “living the question” instead of rushing toward clarity
10. Why you’re not behind — you’re in a season that’s building you

Key Insights for School Leaders

1. Capacity is being built right now — even if it feels messy.

Your stretch is the training ground for deeper leadership.

2. Rhythms protect your energy more than systems ever will.

This is the heart of SOE: predictable rhythms outperform reactive solutions.

3. Slowing down keeps you steady — it never means you’re behind.

Hustle creates fragility. Rhythm builds resilience.

4. Your team, parents, and spouse all have a “dance” with you.

Awareness of that choreography is how you change the cycle.

5. You don’t have to fix everything.

Leadership at the next level is learning what to put down.

6. Trust is built in the return.

Not in being right. Not in solving the conflict. But in coming back.

Memorable Quotes

“Writing didn’t just give me a book. It gave me back to myself.”

“Slowing down never means I’m behind. It keeps me steady and anchored.”

“What this year built in me is the same thing it builds in leaders—capacity.”

“You can laugh when a launch flops. You can breathe when a plan unravels. That’s rhythm.”

“This year didn’t break you. It built you.”

Why This Episode Matters for School Leaders

Because leadership isn’t built in the moments where everything runs smoothly.

It’s built in the:

1. tough staffing seasons
2. enrollment dips
3. financial pressure
4. parent tensions
5. culture resets
6. fatigue cycles
7. identity shifts
8. personal grief
9. unresolved questions

This episode grounds you in one truth:

You are being built. Even here. Even now.

Before stepping into 2026 with new goals, new projects, or new expectations, Chanie invites you to pause long enough to see what this year already built inside of you — the capacity, clarity, discernment, tenderness, and strength you’ll need for the next season.

Next Step for Leaders

Want clarity on which leadership gear needs attention as you head into the new year?

Take the free 5 Gears of School Leadership Diagnostic: schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

This will give you a clear starting point, rooted in data, not pressure — so you can step into 2026 grounded, not overwhelmed.

Most school owners aren’t losing money because of one major expense.

They're losing money in the quiet places—the small operational habits, the unspoken “just this once” purchases, and the daily micro-decisions no one sees.

These are money leaks—and they drain profit, capacity, and emotional bandwidth far more than leaders realize.

In this episode, Chanie shares a short but powerful clip from HQ member Nikki, who took the Money Leaks Diagnostic and used one simple rhythm—not an overhaul—to cut her supply costs by 50% in 90 days.

But the deeper transformation is even more important:

She stopped carrying the financial stress alone.

Her team stepped into real ownership.

Her assistant director found confidence she hadn't trusted in herself for years.

And the entire school strengthened its financial gear.

This episode is a reminder that financial health is deeply connected to culture, leadership, and operational rhythms—not just spreadsheets.

If you want a school that runs with more clarity, less reactivity, and stronger team buy-in, this conversation will open your eyes to what's possible.

• Why most schools lose money through leaks, not large expenses
• How simple rhythms—not complex systems—create predictable financial stability
• The connection between financial health and team culture
• How to establish a supply baseline that restores clarity and reduces waste
• Why teachers and support staff play a role in every single gear, including financials
• How ownership develops when leaders stop holding everything alone
• The emotional relief that comes from shifting financial responsibility from “me” to “we”

Key Insights for School Leaders

1. Money leaks are leadership problems, not budgeting problems.

They're symptoms of unclear rhythms, inconsistent expectations, and leaders carrying operational details alone.

2. Stability is built through small, predictable systems.

Not dramatic overhauls—just rhythms your team can trust and repeat.

3. Every team member influences your financial gear.

When teachers understand usage, they naturally make different decisions.

4. Ownership grows when leaders step back.

Nikki’s story shows how powerful it is when a leader stops rescuing and starts equipping.

Memorable Quotes

• “Most leaders don’t need more money. They need fewer leaks.”
• “You don’t fix financial stress by working harder—you fix it by installing a rhythm that everyone can follow.”
• “Every person in your building is part of every gear. Financial health is a team sport.”
• “Relief doesn’t come from overhauling your school. It comes from sharing the weight.”

Why This Matters for Your School

A school with constant money leaks will always feel behind—financially, emotionally, and operationally.

When you strengthen this gear:

✓ Your team takes more ownership

✓ Your spending becomes predictable

✓ Your systems stabilize

✓ Your culture strengthens

✓ Your leadership becomes lighter

This isn’t about cutting corners.

It’s about aligning your people, your systems, and your rhythms so your school can breathe again.

Take the Next Step

If you want to identify your biggest leaks and begin plugging them immediately:

Take the Money Leaks Diagnostic schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

This diagnostic will show you exactly where money is slipping through the cracks — and give you a clear starting point for strengthening your school’s financial health without working harder.

Every school leader drifts, even the strongest ones.

Drift is not burnout, not laziness, and not a leadership flaw. It is one of the quietest, most human forces in leadership. And it shows up long before leaders ever realize they’re off course.

In this powerful episode, Chanie unpacks the two forms of leadership drift, Calm Drift and Chaos Drift,  and reveals why both are inevitable, expected, and deeply human. More importantly, she explains the one skill every school leader needs:

The ability to return.

Because leadership strength isn’t measured by how perfectly you stay on track.

Leadership strength is your capacity to return to your anchors, your rhythms, your clarity, and your truth.

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:

What Drift Really Is (and What It Isn’t)

• Drift is not burnout — burnout is depletion.
• Drift is not laziness — laziness is apathy.
• Drift is the slow, subtle loss of connection to the rhythms that steady you.

The Two Types of Drift

1. Calm Drift:

The most dangerous form — when enrollment is strong, your team is stable, and systems are flowing. This comfort lulls leaders into relaxing their anchors, easing up on rhythms, and slipping into complacency without even noticing.

2. Chaos Drift:

When overwhelm, grief, or nonstop crisis slowly erode your routines, boundaries, health, and identity. It’s not dramatic at first — it’s the slow, quiet unraveling of “just one more thing.”

Why Drift Happens to Every Leader

Because leadership is human work.

And humans will always drift out of alignment through pressure, success, grief, or comfort.

The Path Back: Return

You don’t need a fresh start, a January reset, another software, or a new checklist.

You need to return.

Return to the rhythms that keep you anchored.

Return to the small practices that restore clarity.

Return to the version of you that leads with presence, steadiness, and grounded confidence.

Key School Leadership Themes You’ll Hear

• Why systems require perfection — but rhythms allow humanity
• How calm seasons can create complacency and drift
• Why chaos drift drains your identity slowly and quietly
• How rhythms become your “way home” in every season
• Why consistency is not perfection — it is the willingness to return
• How your anchors carry you through both storms and success
• Why leaders don’t need more systems — they need sustainable rhythms

If you've been feeling off, foggy, tired, or disconnected — this episode will feel like a deep breath and a gentle nudge back to yourself.

If today’s episode made you realize you’ve drifted, whether in calm or chaos, start by identifying which part of your school’s foundation needs attention. 

Take the 5 Gear Diagnostic at schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

It’s the fastest way to see which gear is sticking and what rhythm to return to next.

Leadership in early childhood has long been treated like an “extra,” a bonus you get after the fires are out and the classrooms are staffed.

But here’s the truth:

Leadership development isn’t a perk.

It’s the job.

Because calm doesn’t grow you, discomfort does.

In this episode, Chanie names a trap many school owners fall into: waiting for life to “settle down” before investing in their own growth. But settled never comes. Systems will always need refining, enrollment will always ebb and flow, team members will always cycle — and your center needs a leader who is growing while leading, not after everything is perfect.

Inside this conversation, Chanie breaks down:

What You’ll Learn

• Why comfort creates complacency, but discomfort builds capacity
• The cycle school leaders get stuck in: conditional growth (“once things calm down…”)
• How one owner shifted from task-completion to capacity-building, transforming her entire leadership team’s culture
• Why professional development is oxygen, not dessert
• The difference between intensity bursts and predictable development rhythms
• How your growth becomes the ceiling, or the expansion, of your team
• Why sustainable leadership is built on consistency, not perfection

Chanie also shares real examples from the field, the predictable patterns that show up in every school’s culture, and the practical rhythm shifts that move leaders out of survival mode and into mastery.

If you want to grow your school, you must grow you.

Because your team will not outgrow you, they grow through you.

Resources Mentioned

✔️ Take the Money Leaks Diagnostic

Identify where your school is unintentionally losing profit and begin building the rhythms that stabilize your financial health.

👉 schoolsofexcellence.com/moneyleaks

You can’t call in tired when you’re the leader.

Even on the days when your body aches, your brain is foggy, and every text feels like one more demand — leadership still needs you. Parents still email. Licensing still calls. Staff still need direction.

And in that fatigue, it’s easy to believe the lie: I just need a break. I just need a new system. I just need to get through this week.

But energy isn’t something you find. It’s something you create.

In this deeply personal episode, Chanie unpacks what it means to create energy on demand — not from caffeine or quiet, but from rhythm, breath, and emotional containment. She shares how leaders can shift from guarding what’s left to generating what’s needed, and how to stop being the emotional battery for everyone around you.

If you’ve ever said “I’m just so tired,” this episode will help you see that your exhaustion isn’t from doing too much — it’s from holding too much.

You’ll Learn

• Why you’re not one vacation or system away from feeling alive
• The truth about emotional fatigue and over-holding
• How to reframe your story and create energy in the middle of chaos
• The science of energy creation and how your body chemistry responds to posture and language
• How to install transition rhythms between work and home
• Why “protecting your energy” keeps you in survival mode — and how to shift to creation mode
• Simple morning, end-of-day, and transition rhythms that restore peace and focus

Key Insights

• “You’re not exhausted because you’re doing too much. You’re exhausted because you’re holding too much.”
• “Energy isn’t found in quiet. It’s created through rhythm.”
• “You don’t need rest to be restored — you need rhythm to be renewed.”
• “You are not a battery pack to be drained. You are a lighthouse — a generator of light and calm.”

Memorable Quotes

“Waiting for energy is like waiting for clarity — it never comes until you take action.”

“You don’t protect energy. You create it.”

“You close your laptop not because the work is done — but because the day is.”

“Leadership still needs you when you’re tired, but you’re not powerless. You can create energy, on demand.”

Reflection Prompts

1. Where are you still acting as the emotional battery for others?
2. What transition rhythm would help you leave work restored instead of depleted?
3. How can you practice creating energy through breath, posture, or language this week?

Episode Resources

• Pre-order Chanie’s new book This Can’t Be Normal — coming soon
• Take the 5 Gear Diagnostic to identify which area of your leadership is most drained — Enrollment, Staff Culture, Parent Engagement, Financial Health, or Strategic Growth. schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

If your brain feels like a filing cabinet that never closes, you’re not alone.

For many school leaders, memory becomes the hidden system — the thing holding birthdays, licensing dates, parent notes, staff needs, and the million invisible details that make your school run. But here’s the truth: your brain was never meant to be the system.

In this powerful, personal episode, Chanie shares how her once-reliable memory began to fail — and how that moment became the turning point for her leadership. Forgetting wasn’t a crisis; it was clarity. It revealed that her business had outgrown her brain and was ready for real systems and rhythms that could carry the weight sustainably.

If you’ve ever said, “I just have to remember to…” — this episode will help you see why forgetting is not failure. It’s a signal that your leadership is evolving.

You’ll Learn

• Why memory-based leadership leads to burnout and anxiety
• How your brain becomes a false “system” when trust in processes is low
• Why stress pokes holes in memory — and what to build instead
• How rhythms create psychological safety and operational stability
• How to shift from mental management to systemized leadership
• Practical examples of where you may be leading from memory (and how to stop)
• How to trust your systems and rhythms — even when it feels uncomfortable

Key Insights

• “Your brain and your memory are not the system. Systems and rhythms hold excellence at scale.”
• “The brain is for having ideas, not holding them.”
• “Forgetting isn’t failure — it’s feedback that your leadership is ready to evolve.”
• “When you lead from rhythm instead of recall, you build peace into your operations.”

Memorable Quotes

“My memory made me feel safe. But safety doesn’t come from remembering — it comes from trusting the rhythm.”

“Your leadership isn’t breaking down. It’s breaking open — to a simpler, more sustainable way to lead.”

“Forgetting wasn’t the problem. It was the most generous wake-up call from God.”

“The brain is for having ideas, not holding them. Systems are what keep those ideas alive.”

Reflection Prompts

1. Where in your leadership are you still using your memory as a safety net?
2. What’s one area where you could install a rhythm to replace recall?
3. How does over-reliance on your brain create invisible weight in your day?
4. What would it look like to trust your systems — even when your instinct is to double-check?

Episode Resources

• Learn more about Chanie’s upcoming book This Can’t Be Normal, where she unpacks how rhythms replace over-functioning and burnout.
• Take the 5 Gear Diagnostic to identify which area of your leadership carries the most invisible weight — Enrollment, Staff Culture, Parent Engagement, Financial Health, or Strategic Growth. schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

In early childhood education, it’s easy to feel like marketing changes faster than you can keep up. But the truth is, while tactics evolve, the fundamentals of trust, rhythm, and authenticity never go out of style.

In this episode, Chanie sits down with longtime friend and industry leader Nick Williams, CEO of Childcare Business Growth, to discuss the timeless marketing strategies that stand the test of time.

They explore how to create authentic content, follow up with confidence, and use AI and systems to reclaim your time — all while staying true to your school’s values and mission.

If you’ve ever felt like your marketing is a moving target, this episode will help you return to the anchors that actually drive enrollment.

You’ll Learn

• Why authenticity always outperforms the latest trend
• How to position yourself as the local expert families trust
• The power of consistent follow-up rhythms in enrollment
• How to centralize communication without losing personal connection
• The role of AI in buying back time and simplifying marketing systems
• How to track baselines and lead sources to make smarter decisions
• Why clarity on your values attracts your ideal families
• How to stay ahead of change without losing your focus

Key Insights

• “Sales is service. You’re not pushing — you’re inviting families into something that matters.”
• “If you want consistent enrollment, follow up on the platforms your parents actually use.”
• “There’s no money in being neutral. Your values are your magnet.”
• “AI should help you work smarter, not harder. Use it to reclaim time for leadership.”

Memorable Quotes

“Marketing doesn’t need to be frantic — it needs to be rhythmic.” — Chanie Wilschanski

“Be authentic. Be visible. Be the local expert. That’s timeless marketing.” — Nick Williams

“The best marketing strategy isn’t about chasing trends — it’s about building systems that keep working while you lead.” — Chanie Wilschanski

Reflection Prompts

1. Which part of your marketing is built on rhythm — and which still feels reactive?
2. Are your systems making your brand more human or more complicated?
3. What would it look like to be known as the trusted local expert in your community?

Episode Resources

• Explore Nick’s work at childcarebusinessgrowthlive.com

Take the Schools of Excellence 5 Gear Diagnostic to identify your biggest growth opportunity in:

Enrollment, Staff Culture, Parent Engagement, Financial Health, or Strategic Growth 👉 schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic

Leadership is heavy in ways no one talks about.

We expect long hours, enrollment pressure, staff turnover, and parent demands — but the invisible weight of leadership isn’t in the spreadsheets. It’s in the emotions, expectations, and energy you absorb every day.

In this powerful conversation, Chanie redefines burnout and exposes why the “fix-it-fast” advice doesn’t work. Because burnout doesn’t come from working too hard, it comes from becoming the system.

If you’ve been the leader who holds everyone else’s fear, absorbs everyone’s disappointment, and smiles while suffocating inside, this episode is your permission to stop.

Learn how to trade survival for sustainability by building rhythms that distribute the weight, not systems that keep you holding it all.

Join the live workshop, Delegation Isn’t the Finish Line: Ownership Is to learn how to build rhythms that hold you steady.

Register at: schoolsofexcellence.com/delegation

What You’ll Learn

• Why traditional definitions of burnout miss the real cause
• The difference between working hard and becoming the system
• Why “fix-it-fast” solutions (like pizza parties) don’t actually work
• How to identify invisible labor,  and stop carrying what’s not yours
• The power of rhythms to distribute emotional and operational weight
• What it means to be an “all-seasons leader” — not just calm-weather leadership

Key Insights

• Burnout doesn’t chase weakness — it preys on competence.
• The body keeps score when you carry what’s not yours to hold.
• You don’t need to get stronger — you need to be held.
• Systems alone can’t save you; rhythms sustain you.
• Calm isn’t forever. Leadership is who you are under pressure.

Memorable Quotes

“Burnout isn’t working too hard, it’s becoming the system.”

“If burnout can find you because you’re extraordinary, then rhythms can hold you because you’re extraordinary.”

“You don’t need to get stronger. You need to be held.”

“Leadership isn’t what happens in the calm. It’s who you are when the pressure knocks.”

Reflection Prompts

1. Where are you holding what isn’t yours to hold?
2. What invisible weight are you carrying for your team or school?
3. What would change if your leadership wasn’t a solo sport?

Next Step

Take the Schools of Excellence 5 Gear Diagnostic to identify your biggest growth opportunity in: Enrollment, Staff Culture, Parent Engagement, Financial Health, or Strategic Growth 👉 schoolsofexcellence.com/diagnostic