SPEAKER_11 0:24

Welcome to Ed Leadership on Tap, episode number twenty. Gentlemen, how are you guys?

SPEAKER_10 0:31

We're we're we're we're dragging in, Dr. G. Worn out, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Worn out, but there's a little energy with summer coming around, but uh exhausted with all the things end of year. Yes.

SPEAKER_11 0:42

Between graduations, graduation parties, helping kids move back from college.

SPEAKER_10 0:49

Yeah, yeah. And work. I forgot about that. Yeah, let's add that in there too, on top of it. A little bit of that, throw it.

SPEAKER_11 0:57

I have a little less work than you guys, but still, I still have a job. He's a bragger. So, with that, we want to apologize that it has taken us uh a little bit longer than usual to air our final episode of the season.

SPEAKER_10 1:11

Yes, this is the uh conclusion of season one of Ed Leadership on Tap. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with you guys this year.

SPEAKER_11 1:18

It has I'm looking forward to another season.

SPEAKER_10 1:22

Yep. Yep. I think we've been renewed.

SPEAKER_11 1:25

Yes, I think so. We are gonna take a little break and do some recording and probably some relaxation as well. But um, as I stated in the last episode, we would love to do a summer uh episode. If you can send us any questions you may have, they can be work-related, personal related. You can ask Dave what's the biggest fish he's ever caught. You can ask Crow what position he played in baseball. You can ask me what's the like.

SPEAKER_10 1:51

Like your fastest uh or your longest uh bicycle ride? Correct.

SPEAKER_11 1:55

Yeah, anything.

SPEAKER_10 1:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_11 1:57

So do that at info at edleadership on tap.com. Send us some questions, and we'll be glad to put a summer episode out.

SPEAKER_10 2:04

So did we get any feedback from episode 19 with the great Matt Kriner?

SPEAKER_11 2:10

We actually did, and um we had a brand new listener, Deepish Adwani, who um responded to Matt's me before we when times go bad, and we before me when times are well. He said, This is the mindset I've tried to live by as a leader. Okay failures are always mine, successes is always the teams. Full stop. When something goes wrong, your team should never have to wonder if you'll throw them under the bus. And when something goes right, they should feel it genuinely, not performatively. That simple shift in ownership builds more trust than any process or framework ever could. It goes a long way.

SPEAKER_10 2:55

I love that. Yeah. I mean, it is definitely about your team.

SPEAKER_11 2:58

So Deepish, thank you for the feedback.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Yeah, I I heard something just real quick along those lines this week that I that I think is important to remember. A lot of that is the is the public conversation about uh what went wrong or what went right. I do think it we can't overlook, and I don't think that was anyone's intention, we can't overlook, there's still that need to hold someone accountable when um when maybe that was you know a deficiency somewhere is what led to the struggle. But I heard something this week about having that conversation in private. When you're gonna have the the constructive or critical conversation, have that in private um in terms of how to how to handle kind of the public nature of of what goes well and what doesn't go well. I think this is a great approach.

SPEAKER_11 3:38

Yep. Exactly. You see that in sports a lot. You know, those conversations are held in private, not in front of a microphone.

SPEAKER_10 3:44

Absolutely. Well, speaking of sports, our question on episode 19 is what is that sports power you would like for one day? And and you know, I talked about being Pat Mahomes for one day. I think Gilbert, you talked about um ski jumping, I believe.

SPEAKER_11 4:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_10 4:02

Give me the Nolan Ryan fastball. Absolutely. Well, our longtime listener, Nancy, talked about playing tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and the great Travis Kelsey for one game.

SPEAKER_11 4:13

I'd like to have his personal life for one day. See what that's like. Hang out with Taylor a little bit. There you go.

SPEAKER_10 4:20

Yeah, his second most popular person in that uh in that relationship.

SPEAKER_11 4:25

So thanks to all our listeners for the feedback. Uh continue uh giving us feedback as we love it. Uh you guys ready for the final episode of season one.

SPEAKER_09 4:35

Yeah. Our greatest hits.

SPEAKER_11 4:44

All right. Welcome back to, like we said, our final episode. And David, you mentioned our greatest hits.

SPEAKER_09 4:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_11 4:51

I think what we decided to do is to kind of look back to on season one and share some of our uh most memorable moments.

SPEAKER_10 4:59

Yeah, I think anytime that you kind of hit the end of a school year or moving into summer, I think all great educators are reflective and think about how the year went and things that were uh successes and areas of growth to, you know, kind of reset for the next school year. So we decided to kind of look back and listen to some of our uh favorite uh segments from season one. All right, Dr. G, why don't you kick us off here?

SPEAKER_11 5:25

Yes, I want to go back to episode two where we had uh Mandy Alexander talking about building relationships. And she discussed um for those that that may not be in their wheelhouse, something simple that they can do in order to uh strengthen that skill set. Take a listen.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

I think if I'm thinking of someone that it might not be natural for them to walk the halls and look for people, I think um one of the things is put it on your calendar. Um you might need to put time where it's just a campus day where once a week I'm gonna go around the campus and I have no agenda other than to listen and watch and maybe take some notes of how are you doing, how can I help? Um, I think those two questions are really great questions. Um, because you don't there's no agenda except how are you doing and how can I help? And I think um one of the things that goes really far with our parents, I think, is um taking the time to just reach out and call. How is, you know, if there's children that have been down to the counseling um office for some different things or kids that have been sick, um, just taking the time to call and see how they're doing, taking the time to sit down with them. Um, teachers that are maybe nervous about sitting down with uh parents having conversations. Hey, let's let's meet, we'll meet in the conference room, I'll be there too. I'll get it kicked off, and you just can warm the room up and calm everyone down and start with the positives of this child that you're meeting with, and then you watch that parent smile and the child sit up a little bit taller, and then you kind of move into some other things. But um I think helping um helping remove obstacles for um just good relationships and open doors with our with our families and our community. I think that's a big part of being a building leader.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

One of the things I love about that is because it it implies authenticity. You're going to to talk to that teacher, you're going to connect with that teacher, not because you need something from them or want something from them. You're going without an agenda, um, which I think you have to do sometimes to show that yes, the work's important. Yes, I want to be here to lift up your work, but sometimes I want to check in on you as a human being too.

SPEAKER_10 7:42

Yeah, and I think I think the piece of it is being intentional, putting it on your calendar um and and just going around and having authentic conversations. And and, you know, that's not something that, you know, maybe is natural to people, but if you put it on your calendar and say, I'm going to do this for 30 minutes, it it makes a big difference in your building.

SPEAKER_11 8:02

Yeah, and I love the part about you know calling a parent. Yeah. Because you build those relationships with parents. Yep.

SPEAKER_10 8:08

Yep. I mean, sometimes the parents only get called for, hey, guess what little Gilbert did? You know? And and, you know, just maybe you see someone in the hall, you say, you know, I'm gonna reach out.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Man, that kid's done a really good job. Yeah, mean means a lot. Uh, it means a lot to any parent. It especially means a lot when that is the only call they're used to getting is maybe that negative one.

SPEAKER_10 8:28

So all right. Dave, what you got? You know, I want to go back to uh episode seven where we talked about feedback and knowing the value and the the different types of feedback that you can provide to your staff. Let's give it a listen.

SPEAKER_11 8:43

The first, of course, is appreciation. You know, giving a teacher, hey, great job today. You know, that's that's a simple appreciative uh feedback right there. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

I think too, when you're looking at appreciation, one of the things important to remember is not everyone's got the same love language, so to speak. Uh, I think we've referred to that before, but sp specifically some teachers that I worked with on my campus, you know, had very different ways that they wanted to receive that. Some wanted that public recognition, uh, some wanted a private note, and it meant different things to different people. So I think that's where the relationship piece comes back in. How well do you know your staff?

SPEAKER_11 9:18

I would venture to guess that the three of us probably didn't care too much for that public feedback.

SPEAKER_10 9:24

Not at all. Not at all. No. The notes or you know, stopping by my classroom, hey, I was in here and I really noticed that you did that. I really appreciate how you did that, much more than whole group appreciation. That was that I don't like that at all. You don't want your name on the marquee. No, thank you. No, thank you.

SPEAKER_11 9:43

And another purpose of feedback is for coaching. And that's non-evaluative. That's when you're trying to grow your people.

SPEAKER_10 9:51

Yeah, I think, you know, particularly from the lens where I sit with the human resources piece, our goal in any, you know, and let's focus here on education, is to grow our employees, to get them better. Um, and you know, I think that coaching model and coaching conversations, and even if you got to the place where there's a growth plan that has to come into place, that is still non-evaluative, um, but it is coaching someone to improve in their craft.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

I think this one is so powerful. When you get, we talked culture earlier, when you get a culture where people not only are are not reluctant about coaching, but embrace coaching, that's where you have a district that's going to take off and thrive.

SPEAKER_11 10:33

And when you have that positive coaching culture in your campus, it makes that third purpose of feedback much more easier and palatable. And that's uh evaluation.

SPEAKER_10 10:46

Absolutely. I mean, you know, the evaluation piece, and when we focus on, let's just say, in the on the teacher realm with T test right now, um, the goal is growth. It is not a I got you. It's hey, what can we do to improve the craft of what's going on? Um, and and I think that evaluation helps to guide that.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah, and Dr. G, you nailed it if that coaching piece is taking place along the way, it kind of reminds me of like formative versus summative assessment. There shouldn't be any surprises by the time you get to that evaluation because you've already set goals, you've talked about those things, you've established what it is that you're working on, how how progress is coming. So there should be no surprises if you're coaching well by the time you get to the evaluation.

SPEAKER_10 11:25

Well, and don't you think part of that cycle in there, Michael, is is one thing is that meaningful feedback along the way.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Yeah, nothing worse than finding out in uh you know April that someone thinks that you weren't doing something well. If I'm not doing something well, I'd love to know early on so that we can have some coaching conversations around it and I can try to get better.

SPEAKER_11 11:44

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right. And most um state evaluation systems or processes have like a minim minimum number of walkthroughs that you must do, but you shouldn't stick to that minimum number. It should always be uh probably twice what the minimum number is.

SPEAKER_10 12:03

Well, and do they even have to be written down? Right. Can you can you just walk through to see what's going on? Um and I mean sometimes that's more you you you garner more of what's actually going on in the classroom than you know scheduled walkthroughs or scheduled evaluations. You really see at the heart what's going on in that classroom.

SPEAKER_11 12:22

You know, you remind me of Judy Gilbo, one of my uh principals at my first uh AP job. Uh every morning after the announcements, elementary school, after the announcements, she would take a walk around the school and just pop into classrooms and pop out. Didn't write anything down. She would just go in, observe, and you're right, it doesn't have to be written down.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

It's the pulse of what's going on.

SPEAKER_11 12:46

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Yeah, you learned so much about the culture of your school when you're doing that in those little moments. When you're when you're getting in and out of rooms, you're you're seeing some of that from the kids, you're hearing from the teachers in the moment.

SPEAKER_11 12:57

You know, that appreciation piece is is so underrated. Um because nothing makes a teacher stay more than just a little note in their mail in their mailbox.

SPEAKER_10 13:11

Or a high five or a hey, you know, peek in the room and and hey, I really liked how you did that.

unknown 13:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Yeah. And and I think along with that, truly growing them in the work they do. You know, I think that absolutely teachers like all of us want to feel appreciated in our work, but they want it to be real and meaningful feedback that we're getting also. And sometimes the the most impactful thing you can do is help someone through struggle in their work. So it's not just just emphasizing the good, but recognizing, hey, this is an area we need to grow, working with them on that, and then being able to celebrate the progress together.

SPEAKER_10 13:48

And you know, I think one of the things we talked about in that is having a culture in your school of feedback. Um, you know, by the end, there shouldn't be surprises. You know, everybody should pretty much know where they stand in terms of quality of work because that culture's been established in your campus.

SPEAKER_11 14:06

And how important that coaching piece is, not only outside coaches from the district level, but but also within your school as well.

SPEAKER_10 14:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

All right, Crow, what was your greatest hits from season one? I want to jump back to episode 14. Definitely one of my favorite guests we had this year uh was Dr. Mike Finnegan. Dave, I've known you, know that you've known him for a long time. Um, and he's he's one of those guys that when you're have him here talking to him, you know, I'm just literally taking notes in my phone about some of what he says. Um, you touched on where he said, you know, having conversations with others be interested, not interesting, and so on and so forth. But there's so many things he said. One of my favorites is right here, let's have a listen.

SPEAKER_07 14:45

Learning is messy, and I think the best leaders understand that they play in a sandbox every day around uncertainty and conflict. And so when you play in uncertainty and conflict, you're giving up control, uh, and you're you're willing to play in the mess. And that's where I think the beauty of leadership comes in because then it's then it's collaborative, it's it's all hands on board.

SPEAKER_11 15:12

You know, he had some of the best analogies of a sandbox, but yeah, it it it's it leadership is messy. And I don't know about you guys, but at first I hated the the feeling of losing control.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Yeah, and that's that's one of those those things that I think was is so hard as a a new leader is you feel like you're supposed to have all the answers. I'm supposed to be in control, I'm supposed to have every situation mastered. And I like that he's he's kind of just saying, embrace that you're not always going to. And sometimes the power is in relinquishing that control and and finding those that you can collaborate with that can help you.

SPEAKER_10 15:49

Yeah, embrace the mess. I mean, that's part of leadership. You have to be okay with that. And um, like you said, many of the things he brought up were just like great sound bites and really had a lot of um insight to leadership, not only in education, but leadership outside of education. All right, Dr. G, what's your next one?

SPEAKER_11 16:10

All right, I want to go back to episode five, our first in the chair segment, where we had the great Dr. Brad Schnoutz, former superintendent of Grapevine Colleville Independent School District.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Legendary guess.

SPEAKER_11 16:22

Yes. So take a listen.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

First and foremost, what I try when whenever there's conflict, I always have to just kind of you know give up the ego, and you have to show humility and you have to understand, you try to just um try to I really try to to to come at it from a neutral mindset and just kind of forget my perspective or my opinion for a minute, and just I'm willing to kind of be open and listen and just learn and go, how can I see this from their perspective and their side? Well, if you if you really, you know, kind of you know, neutralize yourself for a minute and and you're able to kind of get in their shoes, and and it it may be totally off. It may be like, man, I can't I can't get there, but I I'm gonna try everything I can to listen, to hear you, to see if if maybe there is a kind of a win-win and and and maybe I can give a little bit so so we can get there.

SPEAKER_10 17:14

You know, I think what's what's so powerful with that is sometimes you you have to just get everything out of your mind and listen and and put your ego aside and try to put yourself in the shoes of the person you're visiting with. And and you know, I think I think he's very truthful with that. Sometimes you can't get there, but do everything in your power to get on their side.

SPEAKER_11 17:37

Yes, to me, some of the best leaders have always been the humble ones, at least for me. Because uh, you know, you know that they care for their people. It's not about them.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Uh like a leader who's highly competent and also humble. Like, you know, you know that they're fully capable of taking command and taking charge when need be, but they don't need the whole world to know that. That you know, they're they're not having to prove that to others around them. They're they're leading with humility and leading with heart.

SPEAKER_11 18:05

Dave, what you got next?

SPEAKER_10 18:07

So my next one comes from another guest, and that guest was the principal of Marcus High School, Dr. Cody Kunz. We've all worked with them, so let's give them a listen. So we've kind of talked about this uh throughout our first few um episodes, and and we've talked about those top three leadership qualities. So if we were to say, you know, Cody, what what would you say are the top three things um you know someone needs to have to become a high quality educational leader? What would kind of be your top three?

SPEAKER_06 18:41

You know, I think the I think it's changed over the years, honestly. Um, and even from my time as a as a ninth grade campus principal to now being a comprehensive high school principal, um I think number one is you you have to have intestinal fortitude. Um and I actually I'll give this credit to uh to my boss. And and my boss is the old principal at Marcus. So that's a really cool dynamic, and and he's a phenomenal leader. Um and and I think because of that, it's been a very seamless transition. And you know, when you follow somebody really good, sometimes that's hard. If you follow somebody really good that's now your boss, that's even harder. Um but that doesn't intimidate me because he is such a great leader and he's been such a great support. So uh the way he put it was he said you have to have a stomach for the fight, you know, and then we've had that conversation multiple times, but it's not an easy job. And you have to want to engage in the difficult aspects of the job in order to do it effectively, because if you don't have that, it can be crippling because you're going to face incredible challenges in that role. Um, but but I think that's why great leadership matters is because we have to have great leaders in those roles to help people navigate those difficult situations. And so I would say intestinal fortitude would be number one. I think in the same breath, um, humility and and a sense of just being genuine. I mean, it's it is a people business. And if you lose sight of that, then we're missing the mark. I mean, every everything we do is about serving other people, whether it's our staff, our kids, the community. Um, so I think being genuine and just having humility about you and knowing that you don't always know everything and you don't always have the right answer and being able to admit when that's the case, I think it goes a long way with showing people that they can trust you and that you're going to listen and you're going to make a decision that's bit rooted in what's best for the people involved, not just a personal agenda. And I think you can so when you have intestinal fortitude, sometimes I can conflict with that idea of humility, but I think being able to balance those two things matters. And then at the end of the day, it's just a heart of service. I think you know, we we exist to serve kids and families. And if if if the kids aren't there, there is no school, there is no purpose for education. So um, you know, it it is it's about serving others, and I think it's really easy to get it to get tied up in the minutiae of what we do and lose sight of the fact that we're working with kids and families, and when you're dealing with humans, there's a lot of variables involved. So um being able to have an anchor that is the service mentality allows you to navigate all of those different variables because at the end of the day, if you're doing what's best for kids, you're not gonna miss the bottom line right there.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Everything he spoke to talks servant leadership, and that's something that I really appreciate. I think when you we've spoken about relationships, we've spoken about culture, all of these things. I think when you have someone who's a servant leader that's really willing to dive into the work, that's willing to put their own ego aside, that's willing to serve others for the betterment of the whole, I think that's where all those things come together.

SPEAKER_11 21:40

I think one of the interesting, interesting things I heard is that his three traits have changed from when he started. So for those of you that are just starting your leadership journey, just know whatever three traits you think are the most important may not be the same ones in ten years.

SPEAKER_10 21:59

Well, and I think You know, w we we just talked about Dr. Finnegan talking about the mess of being a leader. He talks about having the stomach for the fight and being willing to, you know, have that intestinal fortitude to lead.

SPEAKER_11 22:13

And we get another mention of the word humility.

SPEAKER_10 22:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 22:18

Coincidence?

SPEAKER_10 22:21

Perhaps. All right. Crow, what do you have for your uh greatest hits part two?

SPEAKER_02 22:27

I want to jump back to episode 16 next. One of the things that I love, and it's interesting, isn't it, how how much of our favorite parts of the season are words of wisdom from other people. Like the the wisdom all came from others, but hey.

SPEAKER_10 22:38

Hey, the smartest people in the room is the room, and we're clearly not in it, guys.

SPEAKER_11 22:43

We have some great friends.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_11 22:45

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Now we we've looked at leadership from different angles. And we in this particular episode, we went assistant principal, and Mary Smith's an associate principal at Grave One High School. And uh she really spoke to giving yourself some grace as a new leader, but then also uh a role that you can serve even while not having all the answers, is to be the right kind of calm presence on a campus. Let's hear what she said.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

You have to be calm. You can be a tornado inside your head, but you have to put off warmth and calm. And I'll say this best. Mike Auto one time told me, Mary, this building could be on fire. And I would look at you and run to you, and you would say, Okay, Mike, we're going to exit out this door and your kids are gonna go here. And I never knew that about myself, truly, until someone pointed it out. Because if you are hyper-aware and you are responding in a way that causes stress, everybody's gonna feed off of you. And so as a new leader, I would say, even if you don't know the answers, because you don't have to, you don't have to know everything. You just take a deep breath and you say, Okay, I will get back to you.

SPEAKER_11 23:54

You know, when I was in high school a long time ago, Crow.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

That was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_11 24:00

I did a paper on Ernest Hemingway's tragic hero. And the one, the main characteristic of a Hemingway hero was grace under pressure.

SPEAKER_08 24:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 24:11

That no matter how chaotic it may be around you, you have to be calm. And so that's always stuck with me. So when Mary mentioned that, I was like, yes.

unknown 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Was Hemingway in that class actually?

SPEAKER_11 24:25

He was teaching it.

SPEAKER_10 24:26

Yeah, I think it is that just, you know, that we we talk about the duck mentality, you know, the feet going a thousand miles underneath the surface, but on the top, everything looks calm. And and I think that's a really strong trait of an effective leader of just being the calm presence, uh, even in the middle of chaos.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Yeah, it's it's such a delicate balance because having that humility that we keep talking about while projecting a calm confidence. You know, you want people to look at you and say, everything's gonna be okay. Even when it's a bad day, even when it's you know, there's turmoil and and chaos around. I can look to this person and they are calm and confident, which gives, I think, your whole campus some peace of mind. All right, what's another great one you have for us here, Dr. G?

SPEAKER_11 25:10

All right, I'm gonna take you back to episode six with Dr. Sally Osborne talking about her perception of leadership when she first started. Take a listen. So, Sally, you've led in the classroom at the campus level as a liaison. How has your idea of leadership changed over time?

SPEAKER_03 25:30

I think one of the things that I thought I kind of equate it to becoming a parent. Before you do it, you think everybody that's doing it has it all figured out. And then you realize that nobody knows what they're doing and they're all figuring it out as they go. And that was something that I just kind of thought, oh, once you move into a principal role or any sort of leadership role, you're gonna you're gonna know exactly what you're doing.

SPEAKER_10 25:56

And magically it's just going to happen. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

And you realize everyone's figuring it out, which I think gives you a little bit more empathy to some of the decisions people make because you know everybody's doing the best they can with the information they have and the tools they have, and they're also learning. Um, so I think that was a big thing that I learned just from getting to work with so many people in the district the last couple of years.

SPEAKER_10 26:18

You know, I I love that thought. You know, I think people who have not sat in the seat before um do have that perception. And and, you know, we've had this conversation before about, you know, sitting in the assistant principal seat, kind of looking at the principal, wondering, yeah, what do they do all day? You know? And and then you get in the seat and you realize, oh, here's what they do. And and you realize you don't have all the answers, but you surround yourself with great people who can help.

SPEAKER_11 26:45

Yeah, I mean, think about it. Those of you that have kids, remember that first day home from the hospital? I mean, what was that feeling like?

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Yeah, that's I think my wife and I had tears. I guarantee you we had tears, scared to death. And and I think that there's a lot of um that feeling that can come with finally being in that chair as the leader of a campus or the leader of an organization. And I I can't count the number of people that I've talked to as leaders in those roles in a vulnerable moment that were willing to admit they were feeling some imposter syndrome or something. Like, am I am I really the right person for for this after all? But just much like a parent, like no one's ever fully prepared for that. You're not fully prepared to take on that that campus either. Um, but you lead with heart and you put the right people around you to Dave's point, and I think it's gonna it's gonna end up working out okay.

SPEAKER_11 27:34

Yeah, and that's some that's some great advice, Crow, because those of you that are thinking of going into leadership, don't make the determination on whether you think you're ready or not. Because it's like you said, you'll never be ready.

SPEAKER_10 27:50

Never ready for it, right?

SPEAKER_11 27:51

All right, Dave, what's your last one?

SPEAKER_10 27:54

All right, gentlemen. Well, I am going to go to um episode 11, and we had a great conversation with Chansey Shope, and we talked about leadership and mental health. Let's give it a listen.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

One of the things that we've talked about is trying to maintain like a work-life balance of sorts and the and the benefits that come from that. So, how can a leader establish and maintain healthy boundaries between the demands of their professional life and then their personal well-being?

SPEAKER_04 28:23

Isn't that the cutest question we ever get asked?

SPEAKER_10 28:27

Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

I asked the cutest question today. Go ahead and hang it up.

SPEAKER_04 28:32

We should have a little something to pass to the cutest question of the day. Um you guys take a walk. You know, there's what what can we do? Like what are the coping mechanisms? Get out, get out of your space. I mean, if you're at work and you're stuck and you're feeling overwhelmed, get up. Um if you are feeling like you're you have all this energy that's negative energy, go get it out somehow. Go work out, go ride your bike.

SPEAKER_11 29:08

Um and don't feel guilty about it.

SPEAKER_04 29:11

No, do not feel guilty about it. In fact, feel proud about it. Feel proud that you were taking care of yourself. I know that then that's the cue too, right? Like it's so cheesy sounding, you know, you've got to take care of you to take care of other people. But it is 100% true. Like as a parent, all of us can look at each other and say, if if I'm not doing okay, like you said earlier, Dave, right? Like if I'm not doing okay or if I'm giving too much at work, I don't have anything left to give at home. And at the end of the day, cliche as that is, at the end of the day, truly, if if I'm not taking care of my people at home, then what's the point of any of this? As a as a leader, yes, I'm I'm making more money and I'm I'm able to really hone in on you know these these characteristics that I feel to be really important for me. Um But what is my number one? And and that that's a big question too, though, for leaders. Do they even see do our leaders see their family as number one or do they see this job and their career as number one? Because you can't have work-life balance if if work is more important than life.

SPEAKER_10 30:22

Yeah. So we've we've talked about that on here is you know, I struggle with the work-life balance. I I think I've gotten better at it. Um, but you know, I kind of came to the realization that, you know, none of us are irreplaceable. And, you know, if something happened to me, if I got hit by a car walking out of here today, you know, I hope I hope everybody'd say a few nice words about me. And guess what? The job would be posted tomorrow and someone would come in and and fill that. So, you know, the that that family and friends, uh, you got to remember to pour into them as well.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Not surprising because Chansey is is a wise person, but to me, you know, that really was one of the more profound moments of this year. And it the work that we do is incredibly important and and it matters, and it's important to pour your heart into it while you're there. But you also have to have some perspective, you know, in in this life. And and the notion, and she kind of alludes to it there, the notion of work life balance has kind of become trite, something we, you know, halfway joke about. But the reality is, you know, every leader who puts work first is gonna end up disappointed. And and I think ultimately the the leaders who who do put their life first and do put their families first and do have their priorities in the right place, that that's not at the that's not a detriment to the work that you do while you're at school. That's gonna enhance the work that you do while you're at school.

SPEAKER_11 31:50

And I like how she mentions not being confined by where you are, because if you're feeling stressed and you're in your office, go outside, take a walk around the perimeter of the school. Something as simple as that will make a difference.

SPEAKER_10 32:04

Well, I think that little piece is ideal for right now. As school's getting out, taking some time this summer to recharge your battery, um, and really just kind of setting that that balance right over the summer. All right, Crow, what is your final snippet uh of season one?

SPEAKER_02 32:22

All right, as we close out today and wrap up uh the past in season one and look towards season two, uh I thought of one that we, a topic that we covered this year that was very future focused, and that's the episode that we had on AI. Um, we talked about AI and and the the evolution of education a little bit, and we're gonna see, you know, when you look back on education for the last 200 years, so much of it still looks the same in terms of what a classroom looks like and and what a the the role of the teacher and the role of of the leader. But we're seeing, I think more than ever before in education, we're seeing revolutionary changes at the campus level. And AI is just one example of that. Let's listen to what we talked about a few weeks ago when discussing AI. I think the interesting thing about that quote and it is it connects really well to what Dr. G said. AI is a resource. And so when you're preventing your students from having any access to that resource out of fear, you're actually setting them up for some long-term struggle because they're not going to be equipped with the things that other kids are equipped with. And as you said, AI is not going anywhere. Like uh who raise your hand if you think AI won't be here in five or ten years.

SPEAKER_11 33:28

The genie is out of the bottle. Oh, it's out. It's out.

SPEAKER_02 33:31

So we need to learn how to interact with it.

SPEAKER_11 33:34

You know, one of the things that um I think is going to change is that learning is going to become a lot more student focused because especially at the secondary level, students will be able to direct their own learning with AI. With a teacher as a facilitator.

SPEAKER_10 33:54

Yeah, and I think what what we've seen not only in education, but in other businesses, is people better get used to it and and figure out how to use it obviously in a positive way. Um, but you know, if if you don't get on board with it, then you're gonna get left behind.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

And we've talked on here, we've joked about the number of years we've had collectively in education, you know, Dr. G more than the rest of us, but uh but decades in education. And I would say at no point from my time as a student to my time as a teacher to my time in the last few years, did I did I think to myself, man, 10 years from now, the work we do is gonna look dramatically different. But I'll tell you what, guys, in this moment, right now, 10 years from now, the work we do is gonna look dramatically different. I agree with you 100%.

SPEAKER_11 34:43

Absolutely. Yes. So it's been a great season, lots of great moments, lots of great guests, lots of great listeners as well.

SPEAKER_10 34:52

Great times with you guys. Please share uh our podcast with uh any of your friends, colleagues, you know, the more listeners we have, uh, the more information that we can receive from y'all and and and make this the podcast that really helps aspiring leaders.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

And if you had a favorite moment from this season that we didn't mention, please reach out and share with that with us. We'd love to hear it. All right, gentlemen. Well, it is that time.

SPEAKER_10 35:17

It's one of my favorite times. Our on tap segment.

SPEAKER_11 35:21

Let's go.

SPEAKER_10 35:30

All right, gentlemen, let's wrap up season one with a on tap segment. And uh a little bit different today. Um, here is the question of the day. What is one song that makes you think of summer? All right, Gilbert.

SPEAKER_11 35:46

You know, this song I always picture with bright sunshine, hot temperatures. It has to be for me, Katrina and the Waves. I'm walking on sunshine.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Great song, great song. Interestingly enough, uh, you know, that is actually on the soundtrack for American Psycho, which I know is not where you're going with that, but that's uh a wild little connection there. Wow. All right, nice connection.

SPEAKER_11 36:10

Dave, what you got?

SPEAKER_10 36:11

You know, when I think of summer, the artist that always pops in my head is the late, great Jimmy Buffett. And you could pick numerous songs from Margaritaville to changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, but the one that always kind of hits me is Boat Drinks. Okay.

SPEAKER_11 36:31

Boat drinks. I'm gonna have to listen to that one. Boat drinks.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Yep. I don't know if I'm familiar with that, but it sounds great right now. It does sound great right now.

SPEAKER_11 36:38

The boat or the drink?

SPEAKER_02 36:39

A little bit of both. Crow, what do you have, sir? Man, when I'm thinking uh what we're talking about in particular in education, I gotta go Alice Cooper, school's out for summer. Um, that you know, that's what that's what I envision playing in the background when we're running out of the building at the end of the year, kids are running out of the building. But if I may, and I know I'm breaking the rules, can I have a an honorable mention?

SPEAKER_11 37:04

I guess you've been breaking the rules all season, so what's to stop you now?

SPEAKER_02 37:09

All right, another one I love, and and I'm taking you back to my senior year, 1999, one of the worst songs ever, but one of the best worst songs ever. LFO Summer Girls. Do you remember this one? I do not know this one. All right, do you need to listen to it on the way home? You know, uh, there's there's New Kids on the Block references, Macaulay Culkin references from Home Alone, Michael J. Fox is Alex P. Keaton. We got Billy Shakespeare, oh my gosh, Boogaloo Shrimp. All the random things you could throw into a 90s boy band pop summer song that's awful, but still so incredibly catchy are in LFO's Summer Girls.

SPEAKER_11 37:48

Full of pop culture references. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Yeah, you'll you'll regret it probably, but you'll you'll be bouncing along at the same time.

SPEAKER_11 37:58

All right. So uh we normally do more than one item, but uh since it's our last episode and we are heading into summer, we decided to have a little fun and kind of suggest uh some things for fellow educators, administrators uh to do on vacation. So why don't we give them a top ten list of vacations for educators this summer?

SPEAKER_10 38:26

Just like Dave Letterman.

SPEAKER_11 38:28

That's right, just like Dave Letterman. We ready?

SPEAKER_10 38:31

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_11 38:32

All right, number 10, a trip to a country where they don't speak the language. So for once, nobody asked them to explain anything.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Number nine, a silent meditation retreat. They've spent 180 days telling kids to be quiet, time to enjoy some.

SPEAKER_10 38:50

Number eight, Las Vegas, because after a year of grading on a curve, they deserve to gamble with their own money for a change.

SPEAKER_11 39:00

Number seven, a cruise where someone else is responsible for 3,000 people's behavior and safety.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Number six, camping in the wilderness. No Wi-Fi, no parent emails, and no reply all.

SPEAKER_11 39:14

Oh, that's a big one for you, Crow.

SPEAKER_10 39:15

I feel that one. Number five, Disney World, where they wait in line for two hours and think still shorter than back to school night.

SPEAKER_11 39:24

Number four, a trip to Washington, DC to personally deliver a list of school supplier seats to Congress.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Here, here. Number three, an all-inclusive resort where the only question they have to answer is red or white.

SPEAKER_10 39:38

Number two, a trip to the library just to sit there alone in silence and not be asked for anything.

SPEAKER_11 39:46

And the number one vacation for educators this summer staying home, sleeping until noon, and telling everyone they went to Europe.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

I'll take a little bit of all of the above.

SPEAKER_11 39:58

All right. So, listeners, thank you for hanging out with us this year and putting up with uh corny jokes and uh old man jokes and Aggie jokes, all of the above.

SPEAKER_10 40:10

It's been a good time, guys. Yep. Thank you guys. We we hope that each episode has brought some information that you can uh take and use in your day-to-day activities and some fun at the end as well.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

And I think as our look back on the year demonstrates, some of our best learning came from other people hanging out with us. And so look forward to that next year in season two, having some more special guests that we can learn from.

SPEAKER_11 40:33

That's right. So if for any chance you want to reach out over the summer, you can reach us at info at edleadershipontap.com.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

That's info at edleadershipontap.com.

SPEAKER_10 40:44

And you can always reach us on the socials on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter.

SPEAKER_11 40:49

Or you can even send us a text or a voicemail right there on whichever app you listen to our podcast on, where it says send the text, press that button.

SPEAKER_10 41:00

We want to wish all of our listeners a great and relaxing summer. Recharge those batteries and be ready for the next school year.

SPEAKER_11 41:07

Until next time.

SPEAKER_10 41:08

Keep leading.