The Elemental Educator Podcast

Getting someone’s attention is only the beginning. David Babcock explains how humour, trust and the right next question can turn a passing interaction into a meaningful conversation.

He arrives as Ron Burgundy—but the man behind the character has a much bigger story. A professional Will Ferrell impersonator and experiential marketing specialist, David joins Tyler on The Elemental Educator to explore what trade shows teach us about human behaviour, why a crowd is not the same as a business result, and what rebuilding after 2008 taught him about trust.

We put his ideas to the test through Principle or Preference, a live rebuilding tier list, and a final choice between attention and trust. Along the way, David explains why confidence can follow action, how to welcome people without trapping them in a pitch, and why the next 60 seconds matter so much.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Turning attention into a useful introduction

• Humour, hospitality and reading the room

• Rebuilding after losing a business and a home

• Confidence, expertise, adaptability and relationships

• What a trade-show robot reveals about human connection

• Why trust became David’s foundation

CHAPTERS

00:00 Episode trailer

00:55 David arrives as Ron Burgundy

04:17 From costume contest to a business

11:01 Grounded Moments: attention versus impact

13:56 What trade shows teach you about people

18:21 The question that creates a warm introduction

24:13 Hospitality: make the other person the main character

30:15 Choosing the right character for the room

34:58 Principle or Preference

40:05 Headwinds & Tailwinds: starting over in 2008

44:20 Ranking what it takes to rebuild

53:26 Why confidence comes after action

55:41 Ripples of Change: selling an outcome

56:55 Turning curiosity into a real conversation

1:04:16 AI, human connection and the robot story

1:07:04 Spark or Burn: when gimmicks become strategy

1:10:00 Final Answer: attention or trust?

1:12:21 Why trust became non-negotiable

1:13:30 The previous guest asks about gratitude

1:15:38 What happens after the attention?

EXPLORE DAVID’S WORK

https://ronburgundyimpersonator.com/

Subscribe to The Elemental Educator for more conversations about values, adversity, change and decisions.

What would you put in the “Necessary” tier when rebuilding? Tell us in the comments.

#TheElementalEducator #DavidBabcock #HumanConnection

What does it cost to lead when teachers are under pressure—and everyone is watching? Alberta Teachers’ Association President Jason Schilling joins Dr. Tyler Comeau for The Weight of the Chair.

In this episode of The Elemental Educator Podcast, Jason shares his perspective on Alberta education, classroom conditions, teacher advocacy, and the difficult decisions behind the ATA presidency. He also opens up about the moments the cameras don’t capture: frustration, grief, isolation, criticism, and the effort it takes to show up again.

Through the show’s Earth, Air, Water, and Fire segments, Tyler and Jason explore the values that ground a leader, the pressure of representing a profession, the courage to ask for help, and why gratitude keeps coming out on top. There’s humour here, too—from Jason’s first job selling ice cream to the story behind “Shill dog.”

This conversation is for teachers, school leaders, aspiring educators, and anyone who carries responsibility for other people.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why Jason connects teacher working conditions with student needs

• What happened before he faced the cameras following Bill 2

• His mother’s advice: don’t panic and don’t give up

• The emotional toll of public leadership

• Learning from criticism and keeping classroom needs in focus

CHAPTERS

00:00 Cold open: The weight of leadership

01:13 The Weight of the Chair — introduction

01:24 How did Alberta education get here?

05:08 Representing 51,000 teachers

07:23 Why Jason puts teachers first

08:18 EARTH: Values and grounded moments

09:21 The first-job challenge

13:21 Getting fired—and finding opportunity

16:01 The person behind the ATA presidency

16:55 Bill 2: The moment before the cameras

19:45 “Speak again”: A lesson from King Lear

24:00 Principle or preference?

28:02 AIR: Pressure and difficult moments

31:17 His mother’s advice: Don’t panic, don’t give up

34:16 What actually helps you reset?

42:22 Acting quickly without losing perspective

44:01 WATER: Asking for help and leadership isolation

47:58 Stage fright and preparing to perform

53:02 FIRE: Why gratitude wins

56:33 Decisions people judge without the full picture

58:23 When the criticism is right

59:47 Why leaders need people they can trust

1:00:37 Keeping the focus on classroom needs

1:03:15 The question passed from guest to guest

1:04:22 Closing reflections

GUEST

Jason Schilling — President, Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA)

Learn about the ATA: https://teachers.ab.ca/

HOST

Dr. Tyler Comeau

The Elemental Educator Podcast

Phil Januszewski returns to The Elemental Educator after making one of the biggest decisions of his career: leaving the classroom after 20 years to become a full-time speaker.

This time, we go much further than the usual conversation about happiness, self-care, and avoiding burnout.

Phil believes we have more control over our ability to flourish than we sometimes admit. So I put that belief under pressure.

What if the workload keeps growing?

What if your boundaries are quietly punished?

What if leadership tells you to “protect your energy” while refusing to fix conditions within their control?

And eventually, what happens when the environment begins affecting safety, health, or your ability to do work you can ethically stand behind?

Phil’s new book, Too Damn Happy: Flourishing in a Tired and Uninspired World, explores how small, intentional choices can build a life with more joy, energy, connection, and purpose without pretending the difficult parts of life do not exist.

Get Too Damn Happy:
https://TooDamnHappy.com

Connect with Phil Januszewski:

Website: https://philjanuszewski.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhilJanuszewskiSpeaks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philjanuszewski

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@philjanuszewski

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philjanuszewski

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philjanuszewski

X: https://x.com/philjanuszewski

Positive Growth Clothing Store:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PositiveGrowthStore

Join the Positive Growth Lounge email list:
https://mailchi.mp/efbb1914fa7b/join-the-positive-growth-lounge-email-list

Chapters:

00:00 Who owns your wellbeing?

00:30 Was leaving teaching actually worth it?

04:03 Phil returns and Too Damn Happy

06:30 Happiness when nobody is watching

08:40 When positivity feels fake

11:46 Why giving something matters

14:10 An Old Fashioned at 6 AM

24:17 What leaving the classroom actually cost

27:04 “What if I made the wrong decision?”

31:34 Learning to control the controllables

33:57 Acceptance vs resignation

36:28 Ranking the advice exhausted people hear

55:06 Ripples of Change

55:22 The tiny decisions that change a life

57:35 Are you busy or is your life full?

1:01:42 Why givers struggle to receive

1:03:10 The biggest lie about burnout

1:04:51 When personal responsibility goes too far

1:08:04 Who owns employee wellbeing?

1:09:07 The five-level stress test

1:13:18 Level Five: when the system crosses the line

1:13:55 What Phil still gets wrong

1:14:30 The question designed to ruin relationships

1:19:36 What flourishing actually means

What happens when commitment becomes so strong that changing course feels like betrayal?

Colin is pursuing an outcome nobody can guarantee: becoming an MMA champion after beginning the journey at 28. But this conversation isn't really about fighting. It's about what happens when something matters enough that you're willing to commit without being able to control the result.

We explore the line between conviction and rigidity, instinct and evidence, dedication and self-destruction.

Colin opens up about fatherhood, faith, ambition, pain, sacrifice, rebuilding his life around an uncertain goal, selling part of what represented his financial backup plan, and learning how to surround himself with people capable of telling him when he's wrong.

And underneath it all is a question every leader eventually faces:

When should you stay the course, and when should new information change your mind?

Because refusing to quit and refusing to learn are not the same thing.

The Elemental Educator explores leadership and decision-making under pressure through conversations about values, adversity, change, judgment, and the choices we make when there is no perfect answer.

Chapter:
00:00 What Are You Actually Certain About?
02:16 Why This Is Bigger Than Becoming Champion
07:28 The Hidden Safety of Starting Over
09:45 Can You Actually Trust Your Gut?
13:15 When Fatherhood Changes Success
13:48 Principle or Preference?
16:36 When the Problem Can't Be Fixed by Working Harder
22:38 Learning to Hit and Be Hit
28:56 What If the Dream Stops Being Realistic?
31:10 The Beliefs We Stop Questioning
35:43 What Going All In Actually Costs
37:26 Building a Team That Can Tell You You're Wrong
39:57 Dedication or Self-Destruction?
41:28 Selling the Backup Plan
43:02 100% Alignment Without 100% Certainty
44:05 When the Mission Starts Feeding on Sacrifice
45:27 What If He Never Becomes Champion?
46:58 Instinct, Courage, Humility or Faith?
49:59 The Question Beneath the Entire Conversation

Follow Colin's journey through Impossible:
impossibledocumentary.com

Learn more about Elemental Educator and Tyler Comeau:
https://www.tylercomeau.ca

Leadership culture tells us to finish what we start.

Push through. Stay disciplined. Keep the commitment. Don’t quit.

But what happens when continuing is no longer the courageous decision?

In this episode of The Elemental Educator, Tyler Comeau sits down with writer David Deane Haskell for a raw conversation about boundaries, change, perseverance, discomfort, identity, and the difficult moment when a plan that once made sense stops fitting the reality in front of you.

One story becomes particularly important.

David had made the plan. He had booked the flight. He had every logistical reason to continue. Yet something about the decision no longer felt right. Eventually, the entire plan changed.

That raises a much bigger leadership question:

How do you tell the difference between discomfort you need to endure and information that should cause you to reconsider the decision?

Because resilience matters.

So does judgment.

And mature leadership sometimes means having enough courage to keep going, while other times having enough courage to change course.

In this conversation:

• Why boundaries matter
• When persistence becomes unhealthy
• Why changing a decision is not necessarily failure
• How reflection changes judgment
• The role of discomfort in difficult decisions
• Why leaders should pay attention when circumstances change
• How to stay grounded without becoming rigid

Chapters:
00:00 Why We’re Terrified of Not Knowing
05:58 When Pushing Harder Starts Hurting You
09:23 The Relationships You Stop Chasing
12:42 Principle or Preference?
19:36 The Stories We Build to Survive
27:56 Why Awareness Can Take Decades
30:12 Self-Help Advice Worth Questioning
36:49 When Something Has to Change
37:34 The Flight He Almost Forced Himself to Take
41:33 Is This Discomfort or Information?
45:40 The Risk of Being Completely Seen
50:09 What You Can Actually Control
51:05 Surrender, Boundaries, Stillness, Truth
53:56 What Were We Really Solving?
57:15 The Question for the Next Guest

Connect with Tyler
tylercomeau.ca

Connect with David
https://www.daviddeanehaskell.com/

In this episode of the Elemental Educator podcast, host Tyler Comeau sits down with LaVonna Roth, the creator of the globally recognized SHINE framework, to untangle a profound human paradox: How do leaders build massive platforms helping others recognize their value while simultaneously battling deep internal struggles with self-worth?

LaVonna opens up about her personal journey of growing up without her biological father and how that foundational absence unintentionally weaponized her psychology. For years, she chased accolades, joined every club, and achieved elite educational milestones—not out of pure passion, but as a defense mechanism to prove her worth to someone who wasn't there.

Through a life-altering car accident and years of radical self-reflection, LaVonna learned how to rewrite her internal narrative and re-architect her organization's core philosophy around a single umbrella value: a Heart for Humanity. This conversation delivers a masterclass in shifting from external validation to intrinsic confidence, optimizing team dynamics, and navigating leadership through structural empathy.

The Excellence Trap: Most high-achievers believe their perfectionism and intense work ethic are their greatest strengths. In reality, these are often deep-seated trauma responses designed to protect you from abandonment and rejection. True leadership scale doesn't come from proving people wrong; it comes from healing the need to prove anything at all.

Watch Next (Playlists & Videos)

📺 Leadership Masterclasses: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator

Connect With Guest (LaVonna Roth)

• Website: http://www.igniteyourSHINE.com
• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lavonnaroth
• LinkedIn Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/igniteyourshine/
• Instagram Personal: http://instagram.com/lavonnaroth
• Instagram Business: http://instagram.com/igniteyourSHINEnow
• Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/lavonnaroth
• Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/igniteyourSHINE
• Email Contact: [email protected]

Connect With Host (Tyler Comeau)

• Website: https://tylercomeau.ca
• Speaking & Consulting Inquiries: [email protected]
• Podcast Guest Inquiries: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elemental_educator
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555973948902&mibextid=JRoKGi
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator
• Audio Podcast Feed: https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/
• Read "The Elemental Leader" Book: https://www.routledge.com/The-Elemental-Leader-Unlocking-Your-Potential-Through-Values-Perseverance-Adaptability-and-Innovation/Comeau/p/book/9781041006084
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-comeau-961a49310/

Timestamps

0:00 - The Paradox of Worth and Achievement

3:40 - Grounded Moments: The Hierarchy of Core Values

7:34 - Deconstructing the SHINE Framework

15:54 - Game: Principle or Preference

20:30 - Headwinds & Tailwinds: Overcoming the Biological Father Narrative

28:49 - Game: Flip the Script

31:31 - Ripples of Change: From Framework to Movement

44:03 - Spark or Burn: The Constant Risk of Entrepreneurship

47:13 - Game: Word Versus Word

50:04 - Advice to My 5, 13, and 20-Year-Old Self

Are you leading from your strengths or from your historical wounds? In this data-driven and emotionally resonant episode, Tyler Comeau breaks down the psychology of validation with international speaker and educational consultant LaVonna Roth. LaVonna exposes how the trauma of abandonment can masquerade as high-achieving perfectionism and people-pleasing. She shares the exact architecture of her famous SHINE framework (Self, Heart, Inspire, Navigate, Exceptional) and explains how shifting organizational culture away from rigid credentials toward intrinsic human gifts can dramatically minimize people problems and accelerate company growth. Perfect for educators, corporate executives, and anyone looking to reclaim their personal narrative.

Beat My Score From This Episode:
https://www.whattimeswhat.com

Most people think the education crisis is about funding, technology, or curriculum.

They're wrong.

After spending three decades leading enterprise technology teams and engineering large-scale software systems, Chris Roberts stepped into a high school classroom and discovered a problem that few people are willing to talk about. Many students aren't struggling because they lack intelligence. They're struggling because foundational skills were never fully built in the first place.

In this episode of The Elemental Educator Podcast, Chris shares what happened when he left corporate leadership and inherited classrooms filled with students who couldn't access higher-level math because basic number relationships, multiplication facts, and foundational thinking skills had never become automatic.

What followed challenged many of the assumptions educators, parents, and policymakers hold about student achievement.

This conversation explores cognitive load, mathematical thinking, accommodations, technology dependence, educational equity, leadership, and what it actually takes to help students succeed.

Chris brings a unique perspective shaped by decades of executive leadership, systems thinking, mathematics education, and firsthand classroom experience.

If you're an educator, school leader, parent, policymaker, or anyone concerned about the future of learning, this episode offers an uncomfortable but necessary conversation.

Contrarian Insight
Many people believe the solution to struggling students is more technology, more accommodations, or easier access to information.

Chris argues that the real solution may be rebuilding foundational knowledge and cognitive fluency so students can think deeply without exhausting their mental bandwidth on basic tasks.

Watch Next
Elemental Educator Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator

Guest Links
Chris Roberts:
Social:
https://facebook.com/whattimeswhat
https://instagram.com/whattimeswhat
https://youtube.com/@classicaleducationfoundation
https://www.tiktok.com/@whattimeswhat
Web:
https://whattimeswhat.com
https://classicmathgames.com
https://classical-education.org
Email:
[email protected]

Host Links
Tyler Comeau
Website:
https://tylercomeau.ca
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercomeau
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tylercomeau
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator
Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator

Timestamps
0:00 - The Hidden Education Crisis
1:20 - Why Students Freeze During Math
4:00 - Leaving Corporate Leadership for Teaching
7:10 - The Afghan Refugee Student Story
11:45 - Why Foundational Skills Matter
18:20 - The Cognitive Bandwidth Problem
25:05 - Education as a Pathway Out
34:00 - Calculators, Accommodations & Learning
42:15 - What Schools Are Missing
51:30 - Leadership Lessons from the Classroom
59:00 - Building Better Thinkers
1:05:00 - Final Reflections

SHOW NOTES
What happens when a corporate technology executive trades the boardroom for a high school classroom?

After 30 years leading enterprise IT teams, Chris Roberts entered education and discovered a troubling reality: many students are struggling not because they lack intelligence, but because foundational skills were never fully developed.

In this episode, Chris and Tyler explore mathematical thinking, cognitive load, technology dependence, student motivation, educational equity, and why rebuilding foundational knowledge may be one of the most important challenges facing modern education.

A powerful conversation for educators, leaders, parents, and anyone concerned about the future of learning.

In this powerful episode of the Elemental Educator Podcast, host Tyler Comeau sits down with veteran educator, former school head, and curriculum coordinator Terri Walker to dissect the real reason teachers are leaving the profession in droves. The conventional blueprint of modern education is obsessed with giving teachers more: more tech, more professional development, and more checklists. Yet, the data and raw reality reveal that teachers aren't leaving because they lack skill—they are leaving because they are completely out of breath. Terri shares her raw, personal journey from feeling dry and drained by top-down administrative mandates to launching "Dance to Your Own Drum," a thriving global community designed explicitly to give educators the sacred space they need to heal, reflect, and restore.

We pull back the curtain on the "do it for the kids" trap, exploring why this self-sacrificing narrative has caused massive psychological damage to modern educators. Terri breaks down her core framework—that your thoughts create your feelings, your feelings drive your actions, and your actions dictate your results—offering a highly practical anchor for educators navigating environments that feel entirely out of control. If you are an administrator looking to fix a toxic school culture, or a classroom teacher holding your breath until the next school break, this conversation delivers the exact paradigm shift required to transition from systemic survival to autonomous fulfillment.

One of the most provocative revelations in this episode completely upends the traditional view of professional development. While school divisions spend millions on new literacy strategies and curriculum workbooks, Terri’s research and global community data prove that teachers are actually drowning in strategies. The most impactful, life-saving intervention for a burning-out educator is not a better teaching tool; it is the radical introduction of unscheduled space. True fulfillment cannot be institutionalized from the top down—it must be reclaimed from the inside out by stopping the urge to carry the weight of an entire system on your shoulders.

🔄 Watch Next (Playlist)

Maximize your leadership impact. Watch the full Elemental Leadership playlist here:

https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/

👥 Connect with Guest

• Terri’s Newsletter: https://www.dancetoyourowndrum.co/subscribe
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-walker-coaching/ 

🎙️ Connect with Host (Tyler Comeau)

For Speaking and Consulting Inquiries:

Email: [email protected] 

For Podcast Guest Inquiries:

Email: [email protected] 

• Website: https://tylercomeau.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elemental_educator 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555973948902&mibextid=JRoKGi 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator 
• Podcast Platforms: https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/ 
• Buy the Book ("The Elemental Leader"): https://www.routledge.com/The-Elemental-Leader-Unlocking-Your-Potential-Through-Values-Perseverance-Adaptability-and-Innovation/Comeau/p/book/9781041006084 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-comeau-961a49310/ 

⏳ Timestamps

0:00 - The Obsession with "More" in Education 1:25 - Terri Walker’s Global Journey 3:10 - Accountability vs. Core Values 4:15 - Grounded Moments: Controlling Your Thoughts 6:25 - The Scripted Initiative That Broke the Camel's Back 9:55 - Game: Principle or Preference 12:35 - Reclaiming Agency and Teacher Confidence 16:15 - The Dangerous Weight of "I'm Just a Teacher" 20:30 - Building a School Culture of Trust 23:50 - Game: Flip the Script on Limiting Beliefs 27:00 - Deconstructing the Total Self-Sacrifice Myth 28:15 - Launching Dance to Your Own Drum Without Certainty 30:40 - Why Educators Need Sacred Space Over More PD 36:55 - One Tiny Prompt to Create Breathing Room Next Week 40:10 - Keeping the Corporate World and Coaching Space Separate 45:00 - Game: Final Answer (Finding the North Star Value) 48:30 - Overcoming the Lifelong Fear of Failure 50:15 - Final Question: What Are You Carrying That Isn't Yours?

In this episode of The Elemental Educator Podcast, host Tyler Comeau sits down with veteran, ironman finisher, and best-selling author Scott to dissect the ultimate paradox of achievement: why reaching your highest external goals can actually hide your deepest internal wounds. Scott shares his raw journey from chasing "scoreboard moments"—like completing an grueling 140.6-mile Ironman or engineering patented inventions—to losing everything in a life-altering "lightning strike" event that forced him to look inward.  The breakthrough moment happens when Scott pulls back the curtain on the grueling reality of his 11-month Ironman training and a bloody country-road bike wreck that radically shifted his perspective on pain. Instead of offering sugar-coated internet solutions or a generic seven-step formula for happiness, this conversation provides a data-driven, deeply moving masterclass on navigating what Scott calls the "fiery middle"—the uncomfortable space where you are too far from where you started to turn back, yet too far from your destination to see the way forward. If you are currently feeling numb, stuck on a treadmill of endless production, or struggling to find your true center mass, Scott’s framework will teach you exactly how to stop running, face your past, and embrace the beautiful reality of sacrificing who you thought you had to be.  

🧠 Contrarian Insight (Our Distorted Reality)Most self-help gurus tell you that if people don't recognize your value, you simply need to work harder until they do. This episode completely flips the script. Scott argues that chasing external validation is a trap, and that true success is entirely non-transactional. If you are hanging trophies on your wall to convince other people who you are, you are operating out of emptiness. True alignment means becoming completely self-sufficient and realizing that "success teaches you nothing, while failure gives you everything you need to move forward."  

🔄 Watch Next
Maximize your leadership journey by diving into our dedicated growth playlist:https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/

👥 Guest Connections & Resources
Scott's Best-Selling Book: Wake Up to Die Again

🎙️ Host Connection Block (Tyler Comeau)
For Speaking and Consulting Inquiries: Email: [email protected]
For Podcast Guest Inquiries: Email: [email protected]
Website: https://tylercomeau.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elemental_educator
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555973948902&mibextid=JRoKGi
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator
Podcast Platform: https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/
Book: https://www.routledge.com/The-Elemental-Leader-Unlocking-Your-Potential-Through-Values-Perseverance-Adaptability-and-Innovation/Comeau/p/book/9781041006084
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-comeau-961a49310/

⏱️ Timestamps 
0:00 - The Paradox of Achievement & Scoreboard Moments
1:54 - Reaching Internal Fulfillment Through Subtraction
3:16 - High School Lightning Strikes & Choosing the Army
5:16 - Finding Clarity in the Quiet Absence of Noise
7:25 - Entering the Four Elemental Segments
8:00 - Grounded Moments: What Iron Man Taught Scott About Sacrifice
11:48 - Dissecting True Self-Correction vs. Outward Identity
14:38 - Behind the Bestselling Book: Wake Up to Die Again
18:05 - Game: Principle or Preference Rapid Fire
21:10 - Redefining Success: Why Accolades Are Garbage
25:01 - Headwinds & Tailwinds: The Reality of the Hardest Day
26:30 - The 64-Mile Bike Crash & Pushing Through Stitches
29:26 - Rejecting Broken Promises & Choosing Yourself
31:48 - Flipping the Script on Pain, Vulnerability, and Worth
35:54 - Navigating the Fiery Middle Without Giving Up
38:40 - The Cost of Creation: Overcoming the Internal Critic
43:30 - Warning Signs of Disconnection & Clearing the Office Walls
46:55 - Tyler’s Counter-Perspective on Trophies vs. Memories
49:15 - How to Guard Your Nuance: Who Are Your Medals For?
50:35 - Spark or Burn: The Road to Security Without Applause
51:40 - Lessons From the Atlanta Airport Security Line
56:10 - When Did We Stop Noticing Each Other?
57:40 - Elemental Game: Final Answer
58:50 - The Intimate Dedication to Family
1:01:35 - Answering the Leadership Vault Question
1:02:40 - Question Left for the Next Podcast Guest

💬 Community Question
QUESTION - What is the one non-essential habit, belief, or metric you need to subtract from your life this week to get closer to who you actually are? Drop your perspective in the comments below!

⚖️ Affiliate Disclaimer
This video is not sponsored. Some links in this description may be affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to make a purchase, the channel will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Elemental Educator network!🎧 

 Learn how to successfully lead massive AI implementation in education while protecting staff well-being and maintaining data privacy in this exclusive interview with veteran school district leader Dr. Tom D’Amico.  In this episode of the Elemental Educator podcast, host Tyler Comeau sits down with Dr. Tom D'Amico, the recently retired Director of Education for the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Tom successfully scaled artificial intelligence across an entire school district, but his core thesis challenges the entire EdTech industry: change management is a human leadership problem, not a software problem. Throughout this masterclass on educational leadership, Tom breaks down how to navigate the rise of "shadow AI" in K-12 systems, resolve internal friction between IT departments and teaching staff, and establish clear guiding principles that protect student data privacy without stifling rapid innovation.  Drawing from his unique background transitioning from a Master of Physical Education and NHL off-ice official into a national voice for educational technology, Tom brings a refreshingly practical coaching mindset to institutional change. He shares the sobering professional failure early in his career that solidified his value-based framework, why mandatory district-wide training sessions rarely build authentic capacity, and his exact three-step playbook for school principals to roll out AI literacy starting tomorrow. Whether you are a superintendent, principal, or forward-thinking educator, this conversation provides the blueprint for building an innovative school culture where human relationships always take precedence over technology.  

Connect with Dr. Tom D'Amico
Website/Consulting: Contact via Tyler Comeau speaker inquiries.

🔗 Connect with Tyler Comeau (Host)
For Speaking and Consulting Inquiries:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://tylercomeau.ca

For Podcast Guest Inquiries:
Email: [email protected]
Podcast: https://elementaleducatorpodcast.transistor.fm/

Social Media & Video Content:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elemental_educator
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555973948902&mibextid=JRoKGi
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-comeau-961a49310/

Grab Tyler’s Book, "The Elemental Leader":
Book Link: https://www.routledge.com/The-Elemental-Leader-Unlocking-Your-Potential-Through-Values-Perseverance-Adaptability-and-Innovation/Comeau/p/book/9781041006084

Timecodes
0:00 - Leadership over tools in change management 1:06 - Introducing Dr. Tom D'Amico 2:05 - Operationalizing "Use the group to change the group" 4:08 - The real meaning of delegation and trust 5:21 - From physical education to EdTech leader 7:23 - The summer schedule choice: Spanish or programming? 9:53 - Game: Principle or Preference 11:33 - The balance of data privacy standards vs. shadow AI 13:26 - The Ottawa checklist model for trust and innovation 16:21 - A career-defining failure: The online calculus course 17:42 - Establishing the "Why" behind district AI implementation 21:52 - Hot Seat: High-profile data breach protocol 23:39 - Hot Seat: Navigating staff anxiety and tech pushback 24:41 - Hot Seat: Handling a principal moving too fast 25:48 - Hot Seat: Overcoming a split senior leadership team 28:07 - Game: Flip the Script on AI replacing leaders 31:48 - Preventing emotional exhaustion through coherence 33:17 - How to spark ripples of change at scale 35:12 - Setting up monthly interdepartmental leadership monitoring 36:31 - The single biggest EdTech mistake senior leaders make 37:12 - 3 practical actions to build AI literacy tomorrow 39:46 - Launching a consulting company after retirement 42:28 - Game: Final Answer (Why culture always wins) 45:21 - Bringing authentic student voice and agency to the table 46:36 - The grade 12 physical education teacher who sparked a legacy