Accelerate Your Performance

In this Accelerate Your Performance Podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses her soon-to-be-released book, Hardwiring Excellence in Education: The Nine Principles Framework . The book reflects our team's and partners' work across the country with the Nine Principles. Listen now as Janet explains the importance that the core values from the Nine Principles Framework (discussed in her...

In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Matt Hillmann, Superintendent of Northfield Public Schools, to discuss the progress and successes his district has had along their continuous improvement journey. Dr. Hillmann cultivates a culture of positivity and recognition through systems, his "what's next?" philosophy and a commitment to continuo...

In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Bradley Roberson, Superintendent of Oxford School District in Oxford, Mississippi, to share how he implements intentional systems with tactics such as rounding and scorecards to further continuous improvement in his district. Mr. Roberson has fostered a culture of continuous improvement through truth, trust, and...

In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Shawn Tennenbaum, Superintendent of San Benito High School District, and the district's Board President, John Corrigan, to discuss the great impact leader rounding has had on their district. This has allowed them to understand how constituents feel about developing a new school, engage in one-to-one conversatio...

In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Lupita Hightower, Superintendent of Tolleson Elementary School District, to share about her district's successes and learnings from their continuous improvement journey. Dr. Hightower was recently awarded Arizona Superintendent of the year. During the conversation, Dr. Hightower discusses leader engagement, bui...

In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Sergio Mendoza, Superintendent of Burton School District; David Shimer, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services; and Julissa Leyva, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, to discuss their improvement journey and the tactics they used to reach successful outcomes in their district. In this episode,...

In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites back Terrie Morgan, Superintendent of Hardin County Schools, to discuss how she uses different leadership and strategic tactics to improve her district. Terrie discusses how tactics, such as scorecards, strategic planning, and surveys, have helped her district's improvement journey. Listen now to hear about...

In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Terrie Morgan, Superintendent of Hardin County Schools, as a guest on the Accelerate Your Performance podcast. Terrie discusses how she got involved with Girls, Inc. The initiative inspires the future of young students and serves as their connect to purpose so they can learn about what future career paths are possible for them. Terrie and Janet discuss wh...

How can you grow your commitment to excellence by leading with transparency and trust? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Rob Clayton, Superintendent of Warren County Public Schools, to discuss how he effectively models “cascading information” and leads with transparency and trust. Listen as Dr. Pilcher and Mr. Clayton explain how leading with tra...

In a Harvard Business Review article, Jesse Sostrin stated, "One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading." In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher utilizes this article to discuss the importance of a leader's understanding of how to effectively delegate. Listen as Janet explains how leaders can em...

How can you work to overcome division, create unity, and strengthen relationships in your district? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Ed Manansala, County Superintendent of Schools for El Dorado County in California, and Dr. Ken Futernick, writer and educational consultant, to discuss how they worked together to find solutions for these issue...

What habits might be holding you back? In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses how starting the year with a "stop doing," or bad habit to break, can help you be a better leader, employee, and person. She explains how she will practice the act of leaving behind her phone and breaking the habit of dependency. She encourages us all to consider what o...

What impact would it have on children's futures if they were dramatically prepared to enter Kindergarten?  That's the mission of our guest in today's Accelerate Your Performance Podcast episode.  Today, Rina Irwin, CEO of the Child Development Centers, Inc. and a 2022 Difference Maker Award winner joins us to discuss her passion and commitment to preparing children for a successful...

What does it mean to be a learning leader? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Mark Bielang, Superintendent of Portage Public Schools and winner of a 2022 Difference Maker award, to be a guest. Mark discusses why being a learning leader helps him lead his team, and he also shares about his commitment to prioritizing the student voice. Listen as he...

Striving to be an excellent leader and accomplish great goals in an organization takes commitment and hard work. In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Xavier De La Torre, Superintendent of Ysleta Independent School District and recent recipient of a 2022 Difference Maker Award, to share about his district's improvement journey. Ysleta Independent S...

What does it take to be a collaborative leader who leads transparently and commits to improvement in an organization? In today’s Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Jeff Dellutri, Superintendent of Fox Point-Bayside School District, to discuss his ‘why’ for committing to the work of improvement. Listen as he shares about the results he has seen from applying the...

"We have to know we will prevail and do so by facing the brutal facts." - Dr. Janet Pilcher. Sometimes having an overly optimistic attitude and disregarding perceived negative data can be harmful to an organization and individual. In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Pilcher discusses how you must often be a realist and address the hard facts while continuing t...

How do you gather, analyze, and implement data in order to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion? In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Angela Frazier Arthur, Vice President of Student Services at Waukesha County Technical College, and Sherry Simmons, Chief Diversity and Compliance Officer at Waukesha County Technical College, to discuss how they gathere...

Recently, we hosted our annual What's Right In Education (WRIE) conference in Pensacola, Florida, where we heard from leaders in education across the country about the successes and struggles they have encountered on their continuous improvement journeys. In today's Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher summarizes some of her favorite parts of WRIE and reflects o...

In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites back a guest we have had the pleasure of hosting before, Dr. Jennifer Lowery, Superintendent of Tea Area School District in South Dakota. Dr. Lowery discusses how she has fostered growth in her school district through commitment to improvement, focusing first on culture and a commitment to excellence. Listen as D...

Steve Jobs once said there is something that separates successful entrepreneurs from non-successful ones... perseverance. What does it take to lead with perseverance? According to Dr. Janet Pilcher in this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, you need passion to fuel your perseverance and enhance your skills as a leader. According to Marcel Swamp, "Passion is the engine that pu...

Two-way communication is key between leaders and board members. In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites Dr. Nate Nelson, Superintendent of the Porterville Unified School District, and Lillian Durbin, President of Trustees at the district, to share with us how they foster a strong relationship and communication between school leaders and the board. Listen as t...

Communication can be one of the biggest challenges for an organization. In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher shares several tips on how leaders can work towards being better communicators. She explains how to quickly get to the heart of a topic when communicating and how to do it concisely and with simplicity.   This episode addresses questions, such as: What are...

How can you appeal to both logic and emotion to properly communicate and cascade the right information to the right people at the right times? This week on our Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites back Dale Shaver, Director of Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use, and Laura Catherman, Director of the Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington Workforce Development Board, to...

"A kind act, a selfless sacrifice, and a sincere connection may make a difference in someone's day... in someone's life." This week some of our colleagues have been struggling with sadness, grief, and the pain of loss. In this Accelerate Your Performance episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher explains the value of kindness and the profound impact it can have on ourselves and those around u...