Your Morning Boost: A School Leadership Podcast

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Your Morning Boost: A School Leadership Podcast episodes

October 21The Meeting Isn’t the Work
The Meeting Isn’t the Work
A meeting can feel incredibly productive without actually producing very much.
We talked. We shared ideas. Everyone contributed. We may have even scheduled another meeting. But when people walk out of the room, what is actually different?
This week, we look at one of the easiest traps in school leadership: confusing conversation with progress. Some meetings absolutely need to happen. The problem isn’t meetings themselves. It’s bringing people together without being clear about what the work is supposed to accomplish.
We explore why repeated conversations carry a cultural cost, how poor follow-through slowly teaches people that their time and thinking may not matter, and why leaders should match the communication tool to the work. Sometimes the answer is a full meeting. Sometimes it’s an email. Sometimes three people simply need 15 minutes together.
The real test is simple: what moved because we met?
If a meeting ends without a decision, a clear next step, an assigned owner, or a problem that is meaningfully closer to being solved, leaders should ask whether the meeting was the right tool in the first place.
What You’ll Hear:
Why productive conversation isn’t always productive work
The cultural cost of repeatedly reopening the same issues
Why unclear outcomes can lead to disengagement and multitasking
How to decide between a meeting, an email, or a smaller conversation
Why every meeting should leave something different behind
How clear ownership and next steps turn discussion into momentum

Key Takeaways:
A meeting can feel productive while creating very little actual change
Leaders should decide before a meeting what should be different when people leave
Reopening the same issues without clear records or follow-through erodes trust
The communication tool should match the work
Every meeting should end with a decision, a clarified next step, or an assigned owner
Meetings should create momentum, not simply consume time

🎧 Listen to Your Morning Boost:
https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost
16 min
October 14Families Don’t Experience Departments. They Experience Your School.
Families Don’t Experience Departments. They Experience Your School.
Schools organize themselves into departments because it makes the work manageable.
Families don’t experience us that way.
When a parent reaches out with one problem, they aren’t thinking about student services, communications, counseling, administration, or which department owns the answer. They simply see their child’s school — and every handoff, delayed response, and communication gap becomes part of that experience.
In this episode, we sit down with Ian Nenke to explore what school leaders can learn by looking at our systems through the eyes of families. We talk about parent communication, cultural differences, responsiveness, trust, and why sometimes the best thing a leader can do is take ownership of finding an answer rather than sending a family somewhere else.
We also look at how easily internal structures can become external frustration. One example: a single parent email with several questions that ultimately touched four different offices. From the school’s perspective, that may make organizational sense. From the family’s perspective, it can feel fragmented, slow, and confusing.
The question isn’t simply whether each department is doing its job well. It’s whether the entire experience makes sense from the other side.
What You’ll Hear:
Why families experience the school as one system, not separate departments
How handoffs and communication gaps can quickly become trust problems
Why a quick, honest response matters even when you don’t yet have the answer
Why taking ownership often matters more than knowing exactly who “owns” the issue
How small, sincere interactions help families decide whether a school feels responsive, connected, and human

Key Takeaways:
Families experience the whole school, not the organizational chart
A short, honest response is often more valuable than silence
Leaders build trust by taking ownership and helping families find answers
Small interactions across a school can strengthen the sense of community
Seeing the school through a parent’s eyes can reveal gaps that internal structures hide

🎧 Listen to Your Morning Boost:
https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost
17 min
October 07You’re Going to Get Some of This Wrong
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?

School leaders know that culture, identity, language, and lived experience matter. We know we shouldn't make assumptions. But sometimes knowing what we don't know can make us hesitant to engage at all.

Adam is joined by Dr. Shelley Jones-Holt for a conversation about cultural fluency, curiosity, mistakes, and what it means to keep learning as a leader. They explore whether fear of saying the wrong thing can become its own leadership barrier—and why becoming more culturally fluent may require accepting that we won't always get it right.

The goal isn't perfection. It's having the humility, curiosity, and courage to learn when we miss something.

Dr. Jones-Holt has served education for more than 20 years as a teacher, principal, district administrator, superintendent, college faculty member, executive mentor, and equity leadership coach.

Learn more about Dr. Shelley Jones-Holt at Dr. Shelley Speaks or connect with her on LinkedIn.
𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵: 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰@𝘥𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
27 min
September 30Not Everything Needs to Become an Initiative
Schools are really good at launching things. New programs. New frameworks. New language. New training.

But what if the work we are trying to improve is already happening somewhere in the organization?

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, we reflect on the difference between introducing something new and strengthening what already exists. A story from years ago about a districtwide instructional initiative raises a simple leadership question: before we launch, how well do we understand the current reality?

Sometimes people need new learning. Sometimes they need greater consistency. And sometimes the expertise we need is already right down the hallway.

Before the next good idea becomes another initiative, take a look at what is already working.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.
13 min
September 23The Conversation You’re Avoiding Is Getting More Expensive
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲?

Years ago, Adam found himself frustrated with a successful coach whose decisions were affecting participation in other programs. Adam hinted at the problem, talked generally about supporting the whole school, and waited for the coach to recognize what seemed obvious.
There was just one problem: he had never actually told him.

When Adam finally shared the data and clearly explained the concern, the coach understood. He cared about the school and wanted the entire program to succeed. The conversation Adam had avoided for years turned out to be one the coach was perfectly capable of having.

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam explores the hidden cost of conflict avoidance, the stories leaders begin telling themselves when frustration goes unspoken, and why waiting isn't always neutral.

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
18 min
September 16Stop Planning for Perfect People
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢?

After a long holiday break, Adam walked into a professional-development day with a packed agenda and plenty to accomplish. The teachers walked in wanting to talk, reconnect, and catch up—and the longer they talked, the more frustrated he became.

Then came the uncomfortable realization: part of that day’s professional learning was about why teachers shouldn’t expect students to return from a long break and immediately be ready to jump back into academics.

Adam had planned for students to be human. He had forgotten the adults were, too.
In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam explores how leaders sometimes create plans for people with unlimited attention, perfect context, and no competing priorities—and then blame engagement when real people don’t behave according to the plan.

Sometimes what we call an engagement problem is actually a design problem.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
17 min
September 09You Don’t Need Everyone on Board
You don’t need everyone on board.

That may sound like a strange thing for a school leader to say. But there comes a point in leading change when our responsibility has to shift from persuasion to implementation.

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam shares a leadership experience that forced him to reconsider what “buy-in” really means. When a significant programming change was necessary to better serve students, how long should leadership continue trying to persuade those who still disagree? The question became: Was the responsibility to keep persuading people until everyone agreed—or to the students the change was intended to serve?

This episode explores the difference between consensus and commitment, why disagreement can be healthy, and what leaders owe people before expecting an organization to move forward. Consensus and commitment are not the same thing.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.
18 min
September 02When Did You Last Change Your Mind
When was the last time someone actually changed your mind?

Experience should make us better leaders. We recognize patterns, anticipate problems, and learn from mistakes. But experience can also create a subtle leadership trap: the longer we're in leadership, the easier it becomes to accumulate evidence that we're right.

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam explores what happens when positional authority and experience make it less likely that people will challenge our thinking. Through real leadership experiences, he examines the difference between being decisive and being closed to disagreement—and why the absence of disagreement isn't necessarily evidence of agreement.

You don't have to change your mind every time someone challenges you. But changing your mind has to remain possible.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
15 min
August 26Every Walkthrough Teaches Twice: What Your Feedback Really Says
What does your walkthrough feedback teach teachers about what you actually value?

During the first weeks of school, it's easy for leaders to walk into classrooms looking for November-level instruction. But August has a different purpose. Teachers are building relationships, establishing routines, creating trust, and laying the foundation that rigorous learning will depend on all year.

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam Busch explores why relationships and academics aren't competing priorities—and why the things leaders choose to notice during classroom walkthroughs matter more than we may realize. Because every walkthrough teaches twice.

Teachers notice what leaders ask about, what they write down, what they acknowledge, and even what they fail to mention. If we say relationships and classroom culture matter but only provide feedback about pacing and learning targets, we've taught something about our priorities whether we intended to or not.

What we acknowledge, we promote.

This week's reflection challenges school leaders to think differently about early-year walkthroughs, sequence instructional expectations appropriately, and use everyday feedback to reinforce the culture and instructional environment they want to build.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
17 min
August 19When “This Isn’t Working” Is Actually Useful Feedback
It happens almost every time. A new system launches, something goes wrong, frustration builds, and someone says, “This isn’t working.”

But does an early problem mean the idea is bad—or are we simply learning something we couldn’t see during planning?

In this episode of Your Morning Boost, Adam Busch shares a real experience implementing a new MTSS system and explores one of the hardest parts of leading change: knowing when to adjust, when to stay the course, and how to tell the difference.

You’ll hear why early implementation problems aren’t necessarily a verdict—they’re evidence. The challenge for leaders is learning how to interpret that evidence.

This episode explores how to:
Separate normal implementation friction from genuine design problems
Listen to frustration without immediately abandoning the work
Turn vague complaints into useful feedback
Prioritize which problems actually need to be fixed
Close the feedback loop with staff
Balance responsiveness with resolve

A successful launch may not be one where nothing goes wrong. It may be one where we learn quickly enough to make the system better without losing sight of why we built it in the first place.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost-a-school-leadership-podcast--6630377/support.

Thank You for Listening! This has been an episode from The FowardED Network—Where we are Advancing Voices and Shaping Education. We are dedicated to supporting everyone invested in K-12 success: teachers, leaders, parents, and community advocates.

Want to keep the conversation going?
Subscribe: Never miss an insight. Hit the subscribe or follow button on your podcast app to automatically receive our next episode.
Share the Knowledge: If this episode provided value, please take a moment to rate and review us! Your five-star reviews help new teachers, parents, and leaders find our network.
Explore the Network: This show is just one part of the ForwardEd Network family. Head over to our network page to explore our full roster of interconnected podcasts, including CTRL Shift Lead, Vice Principal UnOfficed, From Carpool to College, and Your Morning Boost.
Connect with Us: Have a question or an idea for a future episode? Reach out to us at [email protected] or find us on social media using the tag #theForwardEDnetwork.

Ready for your next boost? Browse our catalog and discover your next great listen on The ForwardED Network.

This episode includes AI-generated content.
21 min

About Your Morning Boost: A School Leadership Podcast

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Your Morning Boost is a school leadership podcast for principals, assistant principals, superintendents, district leaders, instructional leaders, and aspiring administrators.

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