The Authority Podcast — Expert Insights and Fresh Ideas for Education Leaders

Dr. Karen Johannesen Brock has been an educator and educational consultant for more than three decades. She has assisted more than one hundred schools and districts with implementing instructional coaching and design as well as professional learning plans and school-improvement plans and has worked at the state, school, and district levels.  Our conversation centers on her book Coaching for Multil...

Today we present a great conversation with returning guest Danny Bauer of Better Leaders Better Schools and Glenn Robbins, superintendent of Brigantine Public Schools in New Jersey. Danny and Glenn have co-authored the new book Calm in the Chaos , applying ancient Stoic wisdom to the demands of school leaders.  Our conversation covers: Summary of ancient Stoic wisdom and philosophy The Obstacle is...

There’s clear research demonstrating that professionals who are mentored out-earn and outperform those who are not. They also have greater satisfaction and lower rates of burnout. However, only a little over one-third of professionals have a mentor. I spoke with Andy Lopata about this valuable topic.  Andy is a specialist speaker on professional relationships, mentoring, networking and social medi...

For this episode, it was a pleasure to speak with Ari Gerzon-Kessler about the critical topic of authentic family engagement.  Ari leads the Family Partnerships department for the Boulder Valley School District (CO) and is an educational consultant working with schools and districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships. He’s author of On The Same Team: Bringing Educators &...

My guest, Chris Hood, is a keynote speaker who specializes in merging customer success with digital strategy.  His background includes leading digital strategy at Google and innovating storytelling technologies at Fox and Disney. He offers a Fractional Chief Customer Officer practice to help organizations align closely with customer needs.  Additionally, Chris influences the Gaming and AI sectors,...

Dr. Anthony Muhammad is an author and international thought leader who currently serves as the CEO of New Frontier 21 Consulting, a company dedicated to providing cutting-edge professional development to schools all over the world.  He served as a practitioner for nearly twenty years, as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, was named the Michigan Middle School Principal of the Year in 20...

Erin Diehl is a Business Improv Edutainer, Failfluencer, and Keynote Speaker.  She created improve it!: a unique professional development company that uses improvisational comedy and experiential learning to sharpen leaders and teams so they can thrive in ever-changing environments, and do it with a whole lot of laughs along the way. Having spoken on global stages with companies, including Amazon,...

Today we're sharing an episode originally published on Transformative Principal. Over the course of 600 episodes, Jethro Jones has inspired principals and aspiring administrators to stop putting out fires and start leading. Listen and subscribe: https://transformativeprincipal.org Show Notes: Emotional Connection - Research in MESSY started at the beginning of the pandemic.  There will always be t...

Today I'm excited to bring you a conversation from Sideline Sessions, another series I host on the BE Podcast Network. On Sideline Sessions, I speak with coaches and performance experts from across the sporting landscape — including the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, youth academies, and more — to draw out their practical advice and deep insights for those who coach at the youth and scholastic levels,...

Emer O’Donnell has over 20 years of experience in psychology, working in global organizations and as a qualified behavioral change coach. She joins the show to discuss the critical and timely topics of stress and anxiety in our teenagers.  Emer’s book is called Understanding Teen Stress & Anxiety . A warning for listeners: this episode features a brief discussion of teen suicide.  Our conversa...

Today, I’m discussing a research-based method for hands-on leadership development with Dr. Michael Palanski, a social scientist and Professor of Management in the Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. Michael is an active researcher in the area of leader development and business ethics and teaches classes in leadership, business ethics, and cross-cultu...

For Teacher Appreciation Week, we bring you an extra “Best Of” episode focused on supporting teachers.    Amber Harper, a kindergarten teacher, podcaster, and Teacher Burnout Coach joined the show to talk about her book Hacking Teacher Burnout .   We discussed: Amber’s “burnout story” and how she came to this work What makes teacher burnout different from the burnout in other roles and professions...

Danielle Nuhfer is a former public school teacher turned coach who has spent the last 20+ years navigating the ebbs and flows of the current school system, while helping her clients prioritize their own well-being. She focuses on helping teachers to be their best inside and outside their classrooms and schools. In this episode, we talk about the advice in her book, The Path of the Mindful Teacher...

In this "Best Of" episode, I speak with Nolan Bushnell — the “father of electronic gaming” who has founded 20+ companies, including Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s — and Dr. Leah Hanes, CEO of the Two Bit Circus Foundation.   Nolan and Leah are currently working together on the gamified education company ExoDexa and have co-authored the book Shaping the Future of Education: The ExoDexa Manifesto , an...

Kristin Vogel-Campbell, Ed. D. has twenty years of experience in Special Education. She is currently a Coordinator of Special Education for the San Mateo Foster City School District.  Kristin’s research centers the perspectives of parents and families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds. Her book is Partnering with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families in Special Educat...

In this "Best Of" episode, we replay my conversation with veteran K–12 educator, speaker, and author Patrice Bain.  As a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year and a Fulbright Scholar in Europe, she has been featured in national and international podcasts, webinars, presentations, and popular press, including NOVA and Scientific American. Patrice is co-author of Powerful Teaching and author of...

Michelle P. Maidenberg, Ph. D., MPH, LCSW-R maintains a private practice in Harrison, NY. She is also the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of “Thru My Eyes”, a nonprofit 501c3 organization, and an adjunct faculty member at New York University (NYU) teaching a graduate course in Mindfulness Practice.  Her latest book is Ace Your Life: Unleash Your Best Self and Live the Life You Want . We talk abou...

Today I’m pleased to share an episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast on which I was a guest.  If this is the year you plan to get that promotion or level up your career, what is your pathway to growth?  It can’t be to do more, spend more time on the job, and work harder. You have to be more intentional and strategic to create whatever is next for you and your career.  But what are the right moves? ...

With over two decades of business experience and a Masters of Science, Brian Carter is an accomplished keynote speaker, author, comedian, marketer, salesperson, leader, teammate, and bestselling author of multiple books.  He's regularly booked by major bureaus with and satisfied clients like Microsoft, McDonald's, JP Morgan, as well as non-profits, the public sector, and national and state associa...

Dr. Katie Novak is an internationally-renowned education consultant, a graduate instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, and the best-selling author of 14 books on inclusive practices, with over 250K books sold worldwide.  Her latest book is UDL Now! (Third Edition): A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms . In this impor...

Dr. David L. Schreiner is a values-driven leader and a passionate advocate for rural hospitals, having spent most of his life in small towns and working within small communities. His research focuses on improving executive communication. His new book is Be the Best Part of Their Day: Supercharging Communication with Values-Driven Leadership . We talk about: The relationship between leadership and...

James Anderson is a prominent Australian-based international speaker, author, and educator deeply committed to enhancing our capacity for effective learning. His notable concept of Learnership, raising the status of learning from an act to an art, offers a powerful framework to comprehend and enhance our engagement in the learning process, ultimately helping schools to create the paradigm shift th...

Caitlin Drago — a Los Angeles-based actor turned upstate New York-based certified leadership coach, trainer, and facilitator — works with leaders and teams to help them to listen to one another, communicate and connect, using improvisation as a platform for interactive learning. In this episode, we discuss ideas from her book, Approaching Improv: Communication and Connection in Business and Beyond...

Dr. Thomas R. Guskey is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. He is known throughout the world for his work on student assessment, grading and reporting, professional learning, and educational research.  Guskey is author/editor of thirty books, including his latest, Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reforms (Corwin). We discuss: What is the purpose of...

For nearly three decades, Kyle McDowell, a former Sr. Executive turned leadership coach, has amassed an impressive track record of delivering superior results while also cultivating authentic leaders and driving cultural change. Prior to exiting Corporate America, he led tens of thousands of employees at some of the biggest companies in the country.  We discuss his Wall Street Journal and USA Toda...