Episodes

May 29, 2023

Your Money or Your Mission? (Challenge #69)

This is a weird episode for me, as I try to keep things pretty evergreen on this show. However, a recent university closure hit a little close to home for me, and got me thinking about the precarious balance of …

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May 22, 2023

Is It OK to be Ambitious? (Challenge #68)

There’s a bit of conventional wisdom that floats around, especially in mission-driven fields, that the best leaders are the reluctant ones. The ones who never sought power, but accepted the mantle when it was thrust on them, ...

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May 15, 2023

Burnout is Sneaky! (Challenge #67)

So back in Episode 60, I mentioned the bonkers life I was expecting during April and May, between working on TWO different universities’ re-accreditations, moving house, multiple hiring processes, the end of the school and fi...

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May 8, 2023

Why What You Think Doesn’t Matter (Challenge 66)

When you are a leader, what you think does not matter. Well, OK, it’s not the ONLY thing that matters. You do need to have a vision and goals of your own. But if you don’t have a critical mass …

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May 1, 2023

What To Do When You’re No Longer the Hero (Challenge #65)

Once upon a time I was the person who would check my email one last time before bed, or come in early on short notice to prep for an event. These days my work is a lot less urgent and …

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April 24, 2023

So What is Leadership Coaching, Anyway? (Challenge #64)

You may remember that back in episode 48, I announced my word of the year is clarity. And as I reach the 1/3 mark of 2023, I am feeling a good bit clearer on who I am as a leader …

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April 17, 2023

How to Survive Budget Season (Challenge #63)

Because many educational leaders find the first half of the spring semester the most stressful time of year, I’ve been talking a lot about the squishy side of kind leadership lately: self care and avoiding burnout and what-no...

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April 10, 2023

Why Your Team Is NOT Your Family (Challenge #62)

Let’s just go ahead and get right down to it: your team at work is not your family, and believing otherwise will lead you down a disastrous path. It makes sense that people often compare the two because a cohesive …

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April 3, 2023

Is your Cup Empty or Cracked? (Challenge #61)

You know how there are a few leadership sayings that have become overused almost to the point of cliché? “You can’t pour from an empty cup” is one of those for me. But then something struck me. Is there a …

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March 27, 2023

How to Stop Burnout Before it Starts (Challenge #60)

As you're about to hear, I’ve got a lot going on, which my YOLO side always loves, but only up to a certain point. In the past, seasons like this have brought on overwork, or even outright burnout. I plan …

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March 20, 2023

How to be a Powerfully Vulnerable Leader (Challenge #59)

I talk a lot about setting and maintaining strong boundaries on this podcast. That’s for a simple reason. Many principled leaders, your host included, suck at boundaries. However, too much of any good thing leads to its own p...

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March 13, 2023

Kind Leadership Comes Back Around: A Pop Culture Parable (Challenge #…

As long time listeners know, the Kind Leadership Challenge isn’t my only podcast. I also co-host Zilch! A Monkees Podcast. On the surface, Zilch! and the Kind Leadership Challenge are as different as two podcasts can be. An...

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March 6, 2023

How to Create a Psychologically Safe(r) Team Culture (Challenge #57)

When I was on a recent coaching call, my prospective client and I got onto the topic of Psychological Safety. It’s a theory that this person really resonates with, and I find it interesting as well. After we geeked out …

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Feb. 27, 2023

First Principles February: How Kind Leadership Can Change the World (…

Talk about a convenient coincidence! As I was starting to write this final episode of First Principles February, I got a notification from Facebook. The group chat function for the Kind Leadership Challenge community was fina...

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Feb. 20, 2023

First Principles February: How can Kindness create an excellent organ…

Welcome back to First Principles February! This week is all about the second skill of kind leadership, managing effectively. As I discussed in episodes 53 and 54, Kind Leadership is ultimately about making decisions that hea...

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Feb. 13, 2023

First Principles February: How Can Kindness Make You a Confident Lead…

Welcome back to First Principles February! To celebrate the first anniversary of the kind leadership challenge and all the amazing growth we’ve experienced over the past year, I’m releasing a 4 part series on the basics of Ki...

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Feb. 6, 2023

First Principles February: What Is Kind Leadership? (Challenge #53)

Greetings Kind Leaders and welcome to First Principles February! A little over a year ago, on February 1, 2022, I launched the kind leadership challenge podcast. To mark this anniversary month, we’re going back to the first p...

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Jan. 30, 2023

What if there's still too much to do? (Challenge #52)

So let's say you followed all my advice in episode 51 last week, but still have more to do than you can manage. Don't worry, I'm not going to blame you or tell you to "hustle harder". I totally believe …

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Jan. 23, 2023

How To (Finally!) Tackle Your To-Do List (Challenge #51)

So, we’re getting into late January. For those of you like me whose work is based on the educational calendar, the spring semester is in full swing. If you’re doing well, you’re still hanging on to the word of the …

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Jan. 16, 2023

When's the Last Time You Asked for Help? (Challenge #50)

So, stop me if you’ve ever believed one of these toxic leadership myths: Good Leaders have all the answers. Good Leaders can look at any situation and immediately know what to do. Good Leaders have a clear vision at all …

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Jan. 9, 2023

Who Will Tell You When You’re Being an Idiot? (Challenge #49)

One of the things I talk about a lot on the Kind Leadership challenge is the way in which leadership is a team sport. Creating collaboratively is one of the three core skills of kind leadership, because all of us …

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Jan. 2, 2023

And My Word for 2023 is...Clarity! (Challenge #48)

So I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger in episode 47, when I discussed my opinions about new year’s resolutions, and how I found it much more productive to instead pick a word of the year. I try …

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Dec. 26, 2022

Why New Year's Resolutions Suck--And What To Do Instead (Challenge #4…

Pretty much every year around this time, I sit down with a notebook or Word document and make my goals for the new year. For many years this planning session would yield a long-ish laundry list of personal and professional …

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Dec. 19, 2022

The Godfather’s Guide to Saying No—Kindly! (Challenge #46)

I talk a lot about establishing boundaries in your own leadership practice, and how to use them to protect your team as a whole. And everyone listening to this probably agrees that boundaries are a good thing. But HOW do …

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