Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

Latest Episodes:

87. You Are Not The Only One: Leading Yourself Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

As a leader, you need to learn how to separate yourself from your team. Because if you try to stay at the same level as your teachers or the other staff, your business will implode.

In this special three-part series titled You Are Not the Only One, we open the closed doors to real stories of real people so we can start to normalize the struggle, the joy, the grief, and the milestones of what it takes to build a school of excellence. I hope that through this series, you'll be able to release some of the shame and guilt that you have associated with leadership. I hope that you can laugh and connect, and find relevance in some of the similar challenges.

Links mentioned:

The Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ is the #1 community & training program specifically designed for early childhood school leaders and owners who are committed to building schools of excellence. You get 24/7 access to exclusive templates & training to help you motivate your staff and build a collaborative culture that positively impacts the lives of children. Plus the support & accountability you need to create massive momentum.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

It’s lonely at the top. PERIOD. But thankfully, you no longer have to go it alone. We’ve compiled a series of resources to shorten the learning curve and support you on your leadership journey. Learn more about our School Leadership Tool Kit here.

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life.

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

Skills to Build Awareness Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

When was the last time you felt truly seen?

I’m talking about the type of connection where you feel heard, validated, and unafraid of being judged—where you feel safe enough to be fully vulnerable.

For me, it was when I met up with my friend from high school during a conference in Dallas. We rented an Airbnb, ordered takeout, and hung out just like the old days.

We spent 18 hours in that Airbnb, but only 5 of them were spent sleeping. For the other 13, we connected on a level that had me opening up about things I hadn’t talked about in more than a decade.

Why? Because I trusted that not only could I be honest with her, but she would also be honest with me.

Having relationships that are mutually vulnerable is essential to developing self-awareness, which is a core component of building schools of excellence.

In this week’s bonus podcast episode, I offer a series of tactical tips for building self-awareness for yourself and your staff.

These are the same strategies I use with members inside my Director's Inner Circle & Owner's HQ, where school leaders learn how to support their staff and build cultures of excellence.

In addition to the impact of genuine friendships, this episode covers:

The importance of knowing your priorities
Why you should get comfortable with receiving feedback
Self-awareness as a skill (that takes lots and lots of practice!)

When you increase your capacity for looking inward, you create a ripple effect of change outward. And that is the mark of an effective school leader.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

While self-awareness is an important aspect of school leadership, it’s not the only one! Check out our Time Management and Accountability Bundle to improve your time management skills and learn how to hold staff and parents accountable.

More about the show:

86. Plan the New School Year with Wise Decision Making Filters Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

Today’s episode will help enlighten you on planning the school year with discernment and wise decision-making filters. Because if we don't filter, everything becomes important, we then lack focus, and it's difficult to plan and be prepared. This invites chaos, uncertainty, and a lot of ambiguity into the day or year and doesn't allow us to follow through and be accountable. Understanding your business objectives, setting clear financial goals, investigating the impulse of projects and stress testing the calendar for this upcoming school year will certainly put you in good form throughout the school year.

Tune in to learn more about:

Understanding the business objectives
Setting clear financial goals
Auditing your expenses
Defining and scoping projects
Stress testing the calendar

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Join the conversation in our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolsofexcellencelounge

To download the worksheet, and PDF to guide you through the whole process of planning the new school year with wise decision-making filters HERE.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

85. The Paradox of Self Reliance and Community May 30, 2022

Show notes

This episode is from a live training where I share with you an interesting topic of the paradox of self-reliance and community.

Full schedules are not full lives. As leaders, we have to recognize that no one is coming to check on us or manage our workload. When we are stuck in our stories, our minds are trying to protect us and the ego wants to make our story unique to us; nobody has this level of difficulty. We need to lean on a community and realize that we are not alone, but we also need to know how to rely on ourselves.

Schools that stand the test of time are those that can evolve and reinvent themselves, and self-reliance and community are integral pieces to the long-term sustainability of your school.

Tune in to learn more about:

Thinking independently and embracing your individuality
Why self-reliance and community are integral pieces to the sustainability of your school
How to create a community of self-reliance with your team
Coaching the concept of self-reliance and building community
Difference between being needy and asking for support

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Join the conversation in our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolsofexcellencelounge

I invite all of you interested in leaning into the community to our owner's group, our legacy mastermind for our highest tier of owners:

http://chanie.me/jointhedic

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

84: A Letter of Appreciation & Gratitude for Yourself May 24, 2022

Show notes

In today's episode, I share a compelling practice of self-love and self-recognition; writing a letter of gratitude to yourself. Writing this letter to yourself is a radical opportunity to pause and appreciate who you are and where you've been while providing inspiration for your next stage of growth. Gratitude is a huge part of the School of Excellence Framework and as a director or owner, it is important that you realize that it is very different from gratitude for others. When we show ourselves gratitude, we give ourselves permission to reflect on and accept everything that we've been through.

In a nutshell, I talk about:

Why it is important to show gratitude to yourself, for things that you have done or have to do
Leaning into your emotions, fully expressing them to get space for other beautiful emotions
The 6 incredible steps on how to write a gratitude letter to your former self

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Access the free resource to write your letter of gratitude and appreciation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IjWtyucqwAyXRGYHy8bLwnsPn9wBoGEv/view?usp=sharing

Join the conversation in our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolsofexcellencelounge

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

83. Strategies to Help your Staff Think Big Picture May 16, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we dive into how you can help your staff to start thinking of the big picture by understanding the bigger context.

Seeing the big picture, getting into the details, seeing the details, and connecting it all back to the bigger picture can be a beautiful dance. Helping teachers to start thinking about the big picture is essential because that is how you create a consistent alignment that is connected with your company’s mission and culture.

Tune in to learn more about:

Intentional time blocking within staff meetings for the big picture
Unshackling yourself from assumptions and biases, and inviting new ideas
Strategies to get teachers to start thinking in alignment with the big picture (especially if they're nervous to share their ideas)
Why our teams need to start thinking about the big picture and linking it with their daily habits

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Access the free resource to help your staff think big picture here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SHOM_54mOs0_3MIIrnrrUOn080HAgsId/view

Want your staff to be more confident? Grab the Confidence and Resiliency Training here: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/confidence-resiliency-training/

Ever wish you knew EXACTLY what to say to a Teacher, Parent, or Admin Team in a Hard Moment? You can now with the Scripts Workbook here: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/script-workbook/

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

From the Archive: How to Run the End of Year Staff Meeting with Reflective Questions May 12, 2022

Show notes

May is an incredible time for reflection regardless of whether you run a 10-month or a 12-month academic school year. End-of-year reflections serve two important purposes - a gauge for determining how we can continuously improve on our processes and a reminder of the kind of mistakes we've made so that we can avoid making them in the subsequent years. The only way to have awareness of how far you've come is by being reflective of what you've done in the past academic year.

In today's, from the archive, episode, I will take you through how to run an end-of-the-year staff meeting. I share with you some of the critical questions you should ask your staff, and how to use their feedback as a resource for future improvement. If you've been wanting to know how schools of excellence conduct their end-year staff meetings and why these meetings are usually very productive, this episode is for you!

Remember, part of being an educator and building a school of excellence is wanting to consistently get better. And understanding how to wrap up the year really well is important in ensuring that your September is set up for success.

In a nutshell, I speak about:

The 3 reasons why an end-year review is so critical for your staff.
The top 5 questions you need to ask at your end-year staff meetings.
How to deduce meaningful information from the responses your staff give to the questions you ask.
Strategies for helping your teachers own their development, become more accountable and believe that they have what it takes to teach in a school of excellence.

...and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Access the End of Year Reflective Questions Workbook for $9 HERE

Access the School of Excellence Time Management Bundle for $47 HERE

More about the show:

82. Priorities Reset: Reflect, Restore, Recast Part 2 May 09, 2022

Show notes

This is part 2 of this exclusive inside look at a members-only call on Priorities Reset: Reflect, Restore and Recast. In today's episode, we're digging into the third phase of the priorities reset call, where we recast our commitments into a real calendar and decide what we want to invite back and what we can eliminate.

We share insights into the habits that we need to stop doing, besides checking emails, but to stop the thoughts in our minds that are not serving us, that are being toxic for our life, our relationships, and the goals that we want to hit in our life.

What do you want to invite back into your life and what will you no longer be doing? What do you want your new priorities to be? What habit do you want to stop doing and what will be the reminders to stop this habit?

In a nutshell, we talk about:

What you are no longer doing for the next 90 days.
An insight on the physical things you need to stop doing and thinking about

Choosing what makes sense for you and what makes sense as your next step.

The transforming leadership drill of accountability
Stress testing your commitments
Opening a brand new Google Calendar and then start recasting your school commitments

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

81. Priorities Reset: Reflect, Restore and Recast Part 1 May 02, 2022

Show notes

This episode is an inside look at a members-only call on Priorities Reset. This session is divided into three core parts; reflect, restore and recast. In part 1, we are going to reflect on our last 90 days and then restore ourselves to what our current priorities are. Part 2 will look at the commitments we'll recast in our next 90 days.

20% of your time (and your budget), is your margin. And margins aren't created by default - you have to be honest, give yourself grace and create one. As a school director, it's all about setting the right practices. What story is your calendar telling you? You need to reflect on your commitments, restore yourself in their alignment, and recast into a life that you want for yourself.

In a nutshell, we talk about:

How you can filter where your time should go
Current commitments that you can completely let go off
Becoming aware of invisible labor by taking an inventory of your commitment

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

80. Build to Last: How to Navigate and Deal with Conflict Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to the final part, part 4, of the Build to Last workshop series. From improving our mindsets and inviting calm to learning about theme days, time blocking, and calendar creation to our previous episode: building a culture of excellence, it has been a transformational experience.

In today's episode, I share tips on inner team conflicts and understanding how to navigate these conflicts. As directors and owners, we spend an average of 4 hours a day fielding interruptions and navigating conflicts with teachers. How do we understand, show up and navigate conflict while discerning that different types of conflict require different solutions without getting overwhelmed?

In a nutshell, we talk about:

Types of interchain conflict and understanding how to navigate them
How to hold your staff accountable without being overwhelmed
Avoiding hints and encouraging the use of direct, clear, and kind approaches to conflict resolution
The 6 key performance assessments
How to show up in difficult conversations
Important strategies for navigating conflicts with confidence and grace
More about our flagship programs the Director’s Inner Circle & Owners Only HQ

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Download the workbook here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mzS7qxZksrvGkDlAI7ji58nPwakPEZlk/view?usp=sharing

To get 40 other scripts in our scripts workbook: http://chanie.me/scripts

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show: