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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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One frustrated moment with a parent turned into a leadership habit that lasted for years: Todd Bloomer walked out of his office, sat on a literal red bench, and finally had space to breathe. That small reset became a bigger idea about sustainable educational leadership and it eventually became his new book, Finding Your Red Bench. We’re catching up with Todd after his first year as Director of School Leadership for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, where he supports principals across different school settings and learns firsthand that a job title doesn’t equal trust.

We dig into what changes when you move from running one building to coaching leaders across many. Todd breaks down why influence beats authority, how to build rapport in a new system, and what he learned when he stepped in as an interim K–8 principal and had to cover everything from instruction to maintenance. We also talk about presentations that respect educators’ time, leadership lessons learned the hard way, and why “putting yourself first” isn’t selfish when principal burnout is pushing good people out of the profession.

The red bench concept ties it all together: a practical way to reclaim joy on campus, quiet the noise of criticism, and lead with purpose. Todd explains his month-by-month guide built around school operations, campus culture, and self-care for educators, plus reflection questions you can use all year. If you’re a principal, assistant principal, or district leader trying to stay grounded, this conversation is your reminder to protect what matters. Subscribe, share this with a fellow leader, and leave a five-star review if it helps you find your own red bench.

Connect with Todd Bloomer:

Finding Your Red Bench (Amazon):

Todd Bloomer's Website:

Episode 35:

The Blueprint: Survive and Thrive as a School Administrator:

X- @bloomer_sa

LinkedIn- @Todd Bloomer

Instagram- @Todd_Bloomer_Author

Tik ToK- @todd_bloomer_author

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School leaders spend all year pushing professional development, coaching cycles, and growth plans but the hardest mirror to face is our own. We dig into what it really means to “Be The Change” as educational leaders: not with slogans, but with daily behaviors that shape school culture, protect staff morale, and influence how the community experiences education.

We start with the reality that your presence sets the tone. The attitude you choose, the language you use in difficult moments, and your ability to stay calm under pressure all model the culture you’re trying to build. We also talk about raising your capacity through the “Law of the Lid” so your leadership doesn’t cap the growth of your teachers. From there, we make a practical shift from management to development, from compliance to coaching, and from oversight to true investment in people.

Then we move beyond the school doors. If you don’t tell your school’s story, someone else will and it usually won’t be charitable. We share strategies for shaping public perception through consistent school communication, social media highlights, staff spotlights, and transparent problem-solving. We also get direct about education advocacy: building networks through regional and state associations, and inviting legislators into your building so policy decisions connect to real classrooms and real kids.

You’ll leave with concrete next steps, including writing a personal mission statement and choosing one change you’ll make immediately in how you lead. Subscribe for more educational leadership and principal development conversations, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the one leadership habit you’re committing to next.

Personal Mission Statement Guide:

Where to Start? Guide:

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Can you be a public school principal and openly follow Jesus without crossing the line into pushing beliefs on others? We’ve been sitting with that tension for a long time, because public school leadership demands fairness, trust, and service for everyone, including students, staff, and families with completely different faiths or no faith at all. What we’ve learned is simple but challenging: our beliefs matter most in what people experience from our leadership.

We tell a personal story of growing up in church, drifting, and then coming back to faith in a way that reshapes purpose, career, and calling as an educator. From there, we get practical about what “living your faith” can look like in a public school setting: listening well, speaking with care, forgiving, showing grace, holding boundaries, and treating people with dignity even when you disagree. That’s not a sermon. That’s school culture.

We also connect the dots between everyday educational leadership and the principles many of us already teach and use, including servant leadership, integrity, and consistent care. If you’ve read authors like John C. Maxwell, Stephen Covey, or John Gordon, you’ll recognize how often strong leadership overlaps with values that shape how we coach teachers, support students, and restore relationships after mistakes.

If you’re heading into a new school year and want to lead with conviction and compassion, press play. Subscribe, share this with a fellow educator, and leave a review so more school leaders can find it. What’s one way you’re setting the tone in your building this year?

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Most educators have felt it: you walk into a conference excited, sit through a few great moments, then go home with so many notes you can’t tell what to do first. Robert Hinchliffe and I get honest about why conferences are often hit or miss, how we keep them from turning into information overload, and what “good PD” looks like when you’re responsible for real results in a real school.

We break down the Nebraska Admin Days experience from the inside, from state-driven literacy and compliance updates to the reality of choosing sessions, presenting to peers, and trying to learn while you’re also on the hook to deliver. We also talk about what we’re actually looking for as attendees: we want to feel inspired, but we also need practical takeaways we can implement on Monday. Along the way, we share strategies like dividing and conquering with your admin team, selecting sessions that match your school goals, and networking with presenters to learn the “how” behind buy-in.

Then we get into the money question. With professional development budgets shrinking, we compare the true cost of sending multiple people to a conference versus bringing a speaker to your school for staff-wide training. We also zoom out to leadership and culture: take care of the adults who take care of kids, tell better public education stories, and start the year with the mindset that this season can be your best yet.

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Connect with Robert Hinchliffe:

Website: https://roberthinchliffe.com/

Tik Tok: @rhperspective

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Two rival high schools can share a zip code and still feel like different worlds. When consolidation finally becomes real, leaders inherit decades of pride, fear, and unfinished arguments, and the smallest decision can feel personal. We sit down with Derek Cantrell, principal of Alleghany High School in Covington, Virginia, recently named the 2026 Virginia Outstanding High School Principal, to unpack how he helped bring two communities into one school without erasing what people loved about the past.

We dig into what made the merger possible, what made it hard, and the specific trust building moves that mattered most: advisory meetings that surfaced real concerns, student shadowing and tours to reduce anxiety, summer events designed to create low pressure connection, and a communication roadmap built on intentional “over communication.” Derek shares how they honored key traditions while creating new systems that helped staff and students feel like one team, not two groups forced to share a building.

Then we shift into instructional leadership and the day to day reality of being present in classrooms while managing nonstop demands. Derek explains his “people over paperwork” mindset and how he uses AI in school leadership to reduce repetitive work, including custom GPTs that turn observation notes into actionable feedback, plus tools for standards alignment, assessment rigor checks, and faster data review. He also shares practical advice for administrators who want to lead change, build culture on purpose, and use systems to move attendance and engagement.

If you want the full playbook, Derek also points listeners to Better Together and his resource hub at bettertogetherleadership.org, and you can connect with him on LinkedIn or X at Derekcatch19. Subscribe, share this with a leader who’s navigating big change, and leave a review so more educators can find the show.

Connect with Derek Cantrell:

Website: Bettertogetherleadership.org

Book: https://a.co/d/0d4btKQ1

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekcantrell19/

X: https://x.com/Derekcatch19

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