EDUCATOR INSIGHTS

Hello Insightful Educators

One of my favorite things to do is grab coffee with someone and catch up on the books, podcasts, TED talks, articles, shows, and people influencing them.

So, alongside the full newsletter, I push out a weekly edition of insights I think you will find influential in your journey as an Insightful Educator.

Think of it as you and I grabbing coffee and jamming on what’s influencing us at this time.

Feel free to reply with what you are finding helpful and invite a friend to subscribe! The more people around the table…the better!

What I’m Reading Now: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Leadership Starts with Us

I recently read Extreme Ownership—a book written by two former Navy SEALs—that has surprisingly relevant wisdom for those of us leading schools. I know this is a bit outside what I typically recommend, but I really found a lot of key takeaways for myself personally and professionally as an educator and school leader. At its core, the book argues that the best leaders take full responsibility for everything in their world. No blame-shifting. No excuses. Just ownership. Full stop. Extreme Ownership reminds us that the most powerful change starts with us: our mindset, our communication, our ability to model responsibility under pressure. It’s a great reminder that even in the chaos of school life, we have more agency than we think. And when we lead with ownership, we invite others to do the same.

Two key quotes:

“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”
—A powerful reminder that culture starts at the top. If something’s off in your school or team, this invites deep reflection before assigning blame.

“Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.”
—A call to radical responsibility that helps us reclaim agency and model accountability.

Podcast To Listen To

Many of you may not know that I also host a podcast: The Flourishing Schools podcast! This podcast is dedicated to discussions around the idea of re-imagining education and building schools that are designed to help students flourish. Episodes feature leading thinkers and experts, as well as students, families, and community members, and covers issues related to adolescent mental health, project-based learning, teacher burnout, transformative leadership and much more

Here’s an episode I really enjoyed with my friend and fellow educator Dr Logan Kruck discussing how schools can weave wonder and imagination into their curriculum

Take a listen:

Thoughts I’m Pondering

You can complement this edition of Educator Insights with the WHY A COMMUNITY OF PRACTITIONERS MATTERS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS edition of The Insightful Educator newsletter

In this edition, I unpack why school leaders operate best when they do so together

The most transformative school leaders I know are not just brilliant—they’re connected.

They’ve learned that the way through the loneliness of leadership isn’t to tough it out, but to walk together

Read it for yourself here:

Join the Journey

I’m in the midst of creating some really powerful resources to inspire, uplift, encourage and bring together visionary, upstream educators and leaders just like you to curate a community of practice ready to change the narrative of education!

These resources will include

• Digital ebook to help school leaders flourish and thrive as they foster human-centered education at their sites

• Video courses aimed at offering inspired strategy for those ready to do something new and unique in education

• Curated cohorts of like-minded, like-hearted visionaries to come together and learn with and from one another

• Mountain retreats aimed at re-centering the work of education in human and communal flourishing

If that sounds interesting…hit me up!

Follow and share this newsletter and join me on this mission to reimagine education!!!