Teaser:

“Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to Improve the quality of life and leadership for assistant principals. Together we can achieve that by focusing on three things:Escaping the tyranny of the urgentEngaging in strategic behaviors each dayAnd, most importantly, becoming outstanding developers of teacher talent”
That’s how I began Episode 1 of APP back on August 26, 2021. It is a bit early to celebrate our fourth birthday but the content of this episode seems like a better fit for July, and as the podcast has grown by over 50% in the first half of this year, I think it is a good time to look at several of the foundational concepts I reference frequently.

Sponsor Spot 1:Before we get started, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Show Intro

Celebrations:

• Happy birthday to the pod! And still excited about 100K and continuing growth

Key Points Part 1

• Why redo episode 1?
  • Quality (lol)
  • My thinking has changed
  • So many new listeners – need to share core beliefs
• Strategic Leadership Consulting: the original value proposition
  • Escape the gravitational pull of urgency
  • Understand organizations and change
  • Become a purpose-driven strategic leader
• The three primary responsibilities of leaders
• The Eisenhower Matrix (3 v 2, protect and sustain)
• What does Support and Grow actually mean?
• The six dimensions (dive into this in episode 179)
  • People are the purpose
  • Purpose as a battleground
    • Test scores
    • Individual leaders’ purpose
    • Unit level purpose
    • Contested purpose: New signs in national parks echoing or previewing the narrative and values that will dominate our schools (“any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”)
    • Why do we have schools?
      • Systems level – complex and messy
      • Human level – clear
  • Structures
  • Resources
    • Distinguishing between Static and dynamic
    • Time and attention as the most valuable resources
  • External forces
  • Internal forces – an actionable definition of culture!
• Support
• Grow
• Change leadership = alignment leadership

Sponsor Spot 2:I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…
Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions.
And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more. It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Key Points Part 2

• Strategic leadership
  • Urgent leaders
  • Strategic leaders
  • Four questions strategic leaders ask:
    • Is this simply urgent, or is it important?
    • What’s the problem?
    • How can I make this better right now?
    • Who can I grow today?

• What’s changed
  • Now I have a book
  • People before purpose (because people are the purpose)
  • Support and grow as explicit concepts

Summarizing (The big takeaway)

• People are the purpose
• We support people by aligning the organization to make their work easier
• We grow people by developing their KSDH
• Leaders use change processes to align the organization
• Support and Grow – it is the way we move our schools forward

*See also, Episode 179 from November, 2023

Sponsor Links:

IXL: http://ixl.com/assistant

Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/

Episode Links:

153: Holding Up the Mirror

Close

• Leadership is a journey and thank you for choosing to walk some of this magical path with me.
• You can find links to all sorts of stuff in the show notes, including my website https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
• I love hearing from you. If you have comments or questions, or are interested in having me speak at your school or conference, email me at [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn.
• If you are tired of spending time putting out fires and would rather invest time supporting and growing teachers, consider reading my book, A School Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose. The book is available on Amazon. You can find links to it, as well as free book study materials on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/reclaiming-purpose.html
• Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
• Remember the secret to good leadership:
  • Be intentional in choosing how you will show up for others
  • Be fully present
  • Ask reflective questions
  • And then just listen
  • Don’t overcomplicate it, the value is in the listening.
• Have a great rest of the week!
• Cheers!

Frederick’s Links:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: