Accelerate Your Performance

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...

The health of a school district is a leading indicator of the health of a community. That's what our guests in this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast share. Today, Dr. Janet Pilcher invites 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 discuss how to b...

There is a subconscious behavior that is common in organizations and can be dangerous to the culture. It's called We/They communication. We/They communication occurs when a leader or employee positions themselves positively at the expense of someone else. We've all done it at one time or another, probably not realizing that it is harmful. We/They communication can have damaging consequen...

What does it take to develop high-performing leaders? In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Sally Sugg, the Superintendent of Shelby County Public Schools in Shelbyville, Kentucky, joins us as our guest. Dr. Janet Pilcher interviews Dr. Sugg on the importance of leadership development. Dr. Sugg explains why she thinks leadership development is such a critical component fo...

The teacher is the most important variable that affects student achievement. Going into this new academic year, our schools face significant teacher shortages. In the last few podcast episodes, we have focused on this topic and ways to work toward a solution for teacher recruitment and retention. In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses the importance...

A current issue many leaders in education face is lower numbers of teachers entering the field and a growing number of teachers leaving. What will it take to address this issue? How can leaders help keep their high-performing teachers and help them feel satisfied in their jobs? This podcast episode is a call to action for leaders to shift their focus to retaining teachers and staff. Dr. Janet Pilc...

How can leaders keep their high-performing teachers? Recent studies indicate that helping employees feel valued and appreciated is key. One study found that 93% of employees who reported feeling valued at work said that they are more motivated to do their best. Another study found that 79% who left their job reported that a lack of appreciation was a key factor for leaving. In this week’s Accelera...

55% of educators indicate they’re ready to leave the profession earlier than planned due to burnout. In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance Podcast, Dr. Sarah Miller, Director of Partnership and Student Services for TeacherReady, and Dr. Amy Fowler, Coach Director Studer Education Team join us to talk about teacher retention and recruitment. They discuss the most common factors for tea...

Safety is debatably one of humanity's foremost values. We desire to not only survive but to also feel safe and secure. How much more important is this ideology to the development of children? The safety within schools and colleges should be sought after with determination, not only for the students, but for the parents, staff, and surrounding community. In today’s episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher i...

Many leaders within education are experiencing higher turnover rates than usual. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 300,000 teachers and school staff left the field between February 2020 and May of this year. In this episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses a reflection she had while driving in her car after a session where members of her team pre...

What does it take to help prepare students for life beyond the classroom? As you'll hear in today's episode, our guest, Dr. Mark Martin, shares that dreaming big and thinking outside the box have a tremendous impact on students. Dr. Martin is the Superintendent of Meade County Schools in Brandenburg, Kentucky. His bold and innovative leadership is a model for us all. Listen as he discuss...

In preparation for our in-person event, Destination High Performance: Organizational Excellence , on July 28th and 29th, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses how leaders can practice synthesizing to help them see the bigger picture. Most individuals and leaders stop at analysis, but Dr. Pilcher explains how it is important to go the step further and combine our analyses from multiple sources of information...

Making sure that parents and students feel heard and that students feel supported in their learning and growth are key responsibilities for a leader in education. How can you sincerely, methodically, and purposefully show them that you are doing everything you can to listen to them and take action? Listen as Dr. Janet Pilcher interviews the 2022 recipient of the Human Rights Award, Matt Hillmann,...

We all face adversity from time to time at work. Maybe we don't achieve the goals we had hoped to. Perhaps an unexpected challenge keeps us from making the progress we wanted to. It's these times when our inner drive must keep us going. Our inner drive helps infuse us with a sense of purpose in our work and brings meaning to it. It brings an urgency to stay committed to doing our best ev...