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The biggest leadership wins in schools rarely look big in the moment. They show up as a quick hallway check-in, a follow-up after a hard day, or a decision made with a child’s future in mind. We sit down with Michelle Pourchot, a veteran educator who served 29 years in Title I schools and spent 20 years as an elementary principal, to get honest about what actually moves a campus forward.

We talk about the leadership mindset she carried from kindergarten teacher to reading specialist to principal, and why relationships are not optional if you want real academic growth. Michelle shares how one intense year in a high school setting changed the way she led in elementary school, especially around retention and the long-term consequences of early decisions. If you care about school culture, instructional leadership, staff morale, and student engagement, you’ll hear practical reminders you can use immediately.

Michelle also explains why she wrote The 30-Day Leadership Challenge, a no-fluff leadership development resource built around action steps to grow confidence, influence, and impact. We close with encouragement for new administrators on setting healthy boundaries and avoiding burnout, plus what excites her about the future of education through student leadership opportunities.

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Great2Lead:

30 Day Leadership Challenge: Practical Lessons to: Build Confidence, Gain Influence, and Lead with Impact (Amazon)

TikTok: @great2lead

Instagram: @great2lead

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Every leader leaves an imprint, but the uncomfortable truth is that we’re doing it whether we mean to or not. So I’m putting a name to the daily work of educational leadership: LeadPrinting. Your LeadPrint is the impact you leave on your staff, students, teams, and school culture. LeadPrinting is the intentional process that creates that impact through the choices and behaviors you repeat every day.

I walk through the LeadPrinting Framework I’ve been developing from my experiences as a teacher, coach, military soldier, and high school principal. The framework is simple on purpose, built around five actions we can actually use on a busy campus: Own It, Set It, Model It, Coach It, and Build It. We talk about why leadership starts with personal responsibility, how clear expectations make accountability fair, why modeling matters more than slogans, and how coaching turns “gotcha” compliance into real growth.

We also zoom out to why this is a cycle, not a checklist. Schools change, people change, challenges change, and strong leaders return to ownership and start again. Along the way, I connect the framework to the 1% Better mindset and the compounding power of habits in school improvement and leadership development.

Listen, pick one action to apply tomorrow, then subscribe, share this with another school leader, and leave a quick review so more educators can find the show.

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Leadership doesn’t fail because educators don’t care. It fails when we bury people under noise, overthinking, and systems no one can carry into a tough hallway moment. I sit down with Jove Stickle, a former social studies teacher, multi-sport coach, and middle school principal who now mentors and coaches other leaders, to talk about what actually holds up when the job gets heavy.

We dig into the turning points in Jove’s educational leadership journey: the classroom habits that built credibility, the coaching lessons that taught him to keep feedback simple, and the reality of becoming the principal in a building where your coworkers used to be your friends. He’s honest about what he’d change, how trust can fracture when roles shift, and why working longer hours is not the same as leading well. If you care about school culture, staff morale, and sustainable principal practices, you’ll hear plenty you can apply right away.

Jove also shares the framework behind his upcoming book, “Lighting the WICK of Leadership,” built around WICK: work hard, act with integrity, be committed, be kind. We talk about giving trust before you try to “earn” it, building standards that stay steady, and where education is heading as schools rethink technology overload and refocus on core skills and character.

Connect with Jove Stickel Here:

nstagram @Jovestickel

X @Jovestickel

Tik Tok @Jovestickel

YouTube @JoveStickel

website Jovestickel.com

substack Jovestickel.substack.com

email Principalstickel@gmail.com

phone (573) 692-3448

New Book Coming Soon! "Lighting the WICK of Leadership"

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