INTRO:  This episode is coming out just as I have returned from co-presenting at a conference hosted by the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (or COSA). During our presentation, we talked about distinguishing between reform and transformation. Specifically, that reform is usually made up of outside forces telling you what to do, coaching for compliance and using sticks and carrots to get results. Whereas transformation is about establishing your district’s compelling purpose. It relies on cycles of inquiry and peer coaching, and adjusting the goal, when appropriate. It relies on appreciative inquiry, the act at looking at what’s going well and then working to get more of it. My guest today talks about one of the more challenging issues urban school districts face: segregated schools. In this case, in Louisville, KY, the schools were integrated and served as a successful model for the nation. Political interests forced a change, and my guest, Sheldon Berman, was Louisville’s superintendent at the time. In his words, “there was a collective interest in retaining the best integrated school district.” Want to know what happened? Listen to his After Action Review.

In the episode, we also talk about an article Shelley wrote: Taking a Stand Against Divisive Concepts Laws. We talk about how to be a principled leader, one that works to reclaim the narrative, that when you’re defending, you’re losing (advice from one of Shelly’s former board members). 

Thanks for tuning in. I’m Peter Stiepleman and this is An Imperfect Leader

BIO: Dr. Sheldon Berman is a veteran superintendent having served 28 year in Hudson and Andover, MA, Jefferson County (Louisville), KY, and Eugene, OR. During his tenure in Andover, he launched a new strategic plan focused on innovation and authentic learning. This included capstone projects for 5^th, 8^th and 12^th graders, innovation labs and maker spaces, and a high school global network focused on the United Nations sustainability goals. On January 1, 2021, Dr. Berman was appointed AASA’s Lead Superintendent for Social-Emotional Learning.

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An Imperfect Leader is sponsored by Yondr. 

Schools around the world are seeing the damaging effects of phones on student engagement, social development, and mental health.

Yondr has developed a unique product and program to allow schools to become phone-free, from arrival to dismissal.

Learn why 1 Million Students use Yondr every day.

MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS. MAXIMIZE LEARNING POTENTIAL.

Go to overyondr.com to learn more.

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast 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.

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NEW EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

"What do we want to create together?" 

So proud to have co-written the foreword with Zach Taylor to this essential book on Human-Centered School Transformation. If you're a school leader looking to make sense of what you know to be true about schools, check it out. If you're a corporate leader, you will find a pathway to better results in every page.

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AN IMPERFECT LEADER IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

My book,  An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available at Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com to order a copy. 

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.

INTRO: Hello, Imperfect Leaders! Our family recently held a reunion to celebrate my son, Ezra’s, graduation, and my father’s significant birthday. We were all together – it was really very nice. In fact, a few weeks earlier, my nephew, Henry, graduated from college. Many of us traveled to be there with him. While we were at his graduation, we had an opportunity to go the campus art gallery to see his senior thesis. Henry’s art technique uses something called automatic drawing, which challenges the artist to fully let go of their consciousness and seek something called the flow state. It is in that flow state that much is revealed. Our thoughts, our fears, our wishes – it’s what an artist, Phillip Guston, calls “letting go of something inside.”

Looking at his artwork, I am so impressed with Henry’s willingness to be vulnerable and honest about life. As all of us are human, we all struggle with the voices in our heads that say we are not smart enough, or work hard enough. We allow others to define us. This week (and every week), my guests are willing to share their experiences and give insights into what they learned.

This week’s guest is good at this. This week’s guest is not my typical guest. Sometimes, I invite education-adjacent leaders to participate in the podcast, but my guest isn’t that, either. Here’s the thing. The more I host this podcast and the more I have opportunities to coach corporate clients as well as superintendents, the more I see the similarities when it comes to leadership. Superintendents have to foster trust-based relationships with teachers, principals, parents, children, their boards, and the community. Business leaders have similar relationships they must build and maintain. Superintendents, just like business executives, must cultivate high performing teams. My guest is Doug Younger, and he is not a superintendent, but an entrepreneur and CEO. He has some good insights around his three values: planning, passion, and optimism. Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Today on an Imperfect Leader, Douglas Younger III is my guest. Doug is an accomplished technologist in cutting-edge industries such as software as a servicer (SaaS), artificial intelligence, virtual reality, powered-exoskeletons, implantable medical devices, and advanced medical imaging. He is the Founder and CEO of 3STEPS4WARD, a marketing company, he’s a lecturer at Cal State University, and he’s the host of Twist of Fate, A Small Business Podcast.

It’s a great episode full of incredible insights! Thanks for tuning in!

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An Imperfect Leader is sponsored by Yondr. Schools around the world are seeing the damaging effects of phones on student engagement, social development, and mental health.

Yondr has developed a unique product and program to allow schools to become phone-free, from arrival to dismissal.

Learn why 1 Million Students use Yondr every day.

MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS. MAXIMIZE LEARNING POTENTIAL.

Go to overyondr.com to learn more.

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast 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.

www.peterstiepleman.com

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.

Intro: Hello Imperfect Leaders! On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane with recorded wind speeds of 140 miles per hour devastated communities in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. I remember being a teacher in Missouri, and hearing reports of families heading north to find refuge all along the Mississippi River.

Our school system welcomed families, and quickly learned of their very specific needs. The children had been through a great deal of trauma. What I didn’t know until now was that after Katrina, in 2014, the New Orleans Public Schools transitioned from a traditional school district to a 100% charter school district. The superintendent would be hired by a school board, and it would be their responsibility to oversee and authorize each charter school (working with each charter school’s own school boards). What a task!

My guest this week describes that important work. Dr. Avis Williams is the New Orleans superintendent. She reminds us that “When you’re bringing people together around an issue, there is a difference between buy in and commitment (you’ll hear her say, “if people can buy in, they can be bought out.”). Listen for it. 

She also describes the creation of a Joyful Educator Collaborative where she convenes teachers to learn more about what is going well as well as areas for continued growth. Thanks for tuning in!

Bio: Dr. Avis Williams is the superintendent of schools for the NOLA Public Schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to her historic appointment to lead the Nola Public Schools, Dr. Williams served as superintendent of Historic Selma City Schools in Selma, AL for five years. 

An award-winning educator and sought-after speaker, she is a native of Salisbury, NC.  A product of poverty, Dr. Williams dreamed of being a teacher from an early age.  As a first generation 4-year college student, she followed the path of her older siblings and joined the Army right after high school. While in the Army, she was stationed at Fort Jackson, SC, Yongsan, Korea, and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. 

Further Info: Dr. Williams is a leader, a learner, and an author. She is the author of Welcome to Chase Shadows and of professional articles like Leading with Joy as a Prerequisite to Better Outcomes. Additionally, she has a professional book (co-authored with Bren Elliott) coming out soon.

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This episode is brought to you, in part, by the Waters Center for Systems Thinking. The Waters Center helps people understand what systems thinking is and how to incorporate the Habits, tools and concepts of systems thinking into their work and life to achieve desired results. To learn more, go to waterscenterst.org.  

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast 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.

www.peterstiepleman.com

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.

Intro:  Hello Imperfect Leaders. I am publishing this episode on October 9. I feel an incredible amount of grief and rage and loss for the people of Israel. I feel an incredible amount of grief, too, for the innocent Palestinians in Gaza who are powerless to stop Hamas from bringing about the destruction of their homes and their lives, not to mention the devastation to so many of our hopes for peace and the dream of two states.

The last time I felt this sense of loss was nearly 28 years ago, on November 4, 1995. On that tragic day, we learned that Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated. We feared the progress made during the Oslo Accord would be lost. So much loss. Loss is a profound and sometimes paralyzing feeling. It can push us into despair. School leaders must regularly deal with loss.

This week, my guest, Dr. Uyi Osunde uses his After Action Review segment to discuss loss and the promise he made to never allow someone to feel alone, to grieve alone. There’s a good deal of advice for leaders at every level.

Thanks for tuning in.

Bio: Dr. Uyi Osunde has been the superintendent of schools in Stratford, Connecticut since 2021. Dr. Osunde possesses a wealth of school leadership experience, serving as a high school principal, an assistant principal and counselor in Connecticut high schools. 

Further Info: In 2014, a former colleague of Uyi's, Scott Goldsmith, wrote an incredibly moving piece. He chronicled Uyi's college and professional football career in such a human-centered way. I urge listeners to follow the link to learn more about Dr. Osunde's life and tremendous display of resilience.

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This episode is brought to you, in part, by the Waters Center for Systems Thinking. The Waters Center helps people understand what systems thinking is and how to incorporate the Habits, tools and concepts of systems thinking into their work and life to achieve desired results. To learn more, go to waterscenterst.org.  

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An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast 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.

www.peterstiepleman.com

Book Update!

Imperfect Leaders! My book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is available on Amazon.com. If there is no hyperlink to follow, please go to Amazon.com or peterstiepleman.com. You can order it there.

AND if you liked it, would you please leave a positive review on Amazon?

Imperfect Leaders, in my third year as a superintendent, I learned about what can only be referred to as opportunity hoarding (in my recorded intro, I didn't know who coined the phrase - Charles Tilly appears to be an original thinker on this term).

What do I mean by opportunity hoarding? Well, we allowed 8^th graders to take Algebra 2 (they had taken Algebra 1 in 6^th grade and Geometry in 7^th grade and NOW they were taking Algebra 2). The problem was there were only 5 kids assigned to the class and they had a full-time teacher. The regular 8^th grade math class had more than 30 kids in the class. It was opportunity hoarding and what’s worse, my kid was one of the 5. I decided we needed to eliminate the option. We worked with families to find options for the handful of families who wanted their children to take Algebra 2. 

Dr. Mike Rossi is my guest today. In the first segment, he talks about engaging his community (spotlighting student and employee voice) and using appreciative inquiry questions like “WHAT DO WE DO WELL” to frame the district's goals.

Then, in our second segment, his After Action Review is similar to mine. It’s about making the decision as a new superintendent to eliminate the advanced math track at his middle schools in July. So when parents got their child’s schedule, the advanced class was not there. His description of 500 parents packed into an auditorium all lined up behind microphones to give him feedback… well, he paints quite a picture. 😳

Thanks for tuning in!

BIO: Dr. Michael Rossi is my guest. Michael has spent his entire 36-year professional career in education, as a teacher, coach, supervisor, college professor, principal, and, for the last 19 years, as a public-school superintendent.  Michael is the superintendent for Lenape Valley Regional High School in Stanhope, N.J.

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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.

www.peterstiepleman.com

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