The 100 Percent Principal Podcast
Tired of school change efforts that stall, or worse, never get off the ground? If you’re a principal, assistant principal, or instructional coach who is ready have a transformative impact on the teachers you serve then School Leadership Reimagined is for you. Each week, Robyn Jackson will share counterintuitive strategies to help you dramatically improve instruction. You’ll discover how to motivate your teachers, help them be accountable, overcome toxic cultures, and transform your school. No more pulling teeth with resistant teachers. No more constantly fighting fires. No more running out of steam mid-year. Regain your time, Reignite your passion, and Rethink what’s possible. Stop settling for status quo. It’s time to reimagine school leadership. Visit SchoolLeadershipReimagined.com to download the free resources that come with each episode
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When was the last time things were going well in your school?
10/14/2026
When was the last time things were going well in your school?
Things are finally going smoothly in your school. The new systems are working. The fires have died down. And instead of enjoying it, you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Before you go looking for the next thing that's wrong, I want you to consider something: what if the things that no longer demand your attention are the clearest evidence that what you've built is working? Because sometimes progress doesn't look like a big win. Sometimes it looks like nothing happened. What you'll learn: In this episode of The 100% Principal, I'm sharing Issue #027 of the newsletter, and it starts with a principal in Buildership University Office Hours who shrugged when I asked how things were going. Her school was running better than ever, and she didn't trust it. We'll talk about: Why we've been trained to fix what breaks instead of building what won't The hero stories we tell about principals (and what Moneyball has to do with it) Why a good system quietly removes the need for heroics What it costs you when you tie your value to struggle How to recognize the quiet evidence that your systems are working This is one of those episodes that's going to change what you notice when you walk through your building this week. Resources mentioned: 🏫 Learn more about Buildership University: 📬 Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter: This episode comes from The 100 Percent Principal Weekly, my newsletter where every Friday I share one thing you can take straight into Monday to move the needle toward 100%. You're listening to The 100 Percent Principal Podcast, where those ideas come to life. Subscribe at
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Why the moles keep showing up
10/07/2026
Why the moles keep showing up
What if the five different staff problems you’re dealing with right now… aren’t actually five different problems? One team is pushing back. Another agrees in the meeting but does something completely different afterward. Another is trying, but implementation is all over the place. And there’s that team you have to constantly check on just to keep the work moving. It’s easy to see each one as a separate problem that needs a separate solution. But what if they’re all part of the same pattern? In this episode, I’ll show you why the recurring staff problems you’re dealing with may be pointing to a bottleneck—and why finding that bottleneck can help you stop playing school leadership Whack-A-Mole. I’ll also introduce you to Serena, an experienced principal who thought she had a laundry list of problems across six very different grade-level teams. Once she stopped trying to solve them one at a time and identified the bottleneck underneath the pattern, every team started moving within one week. Not perfectly. Not all in the same way. But they were finally moving in the same direction. YOUR 100% MOVE: Choose one staff problem you’ve already had to address more than once. Instead of asking, “How do I solve this again?” ask: Where else is this same pattern showing up? You may discover that you don’t have five different problems. You may have one pattern. And that pattern may be pointing you toward your bottleneck. FREE WEBINAR The 3 Bottlenecks Keeping Your Staff From Getting on the Same Page (and What to Do About Them) Join me live on October 8 or October 10 to learn the three bottlenecks that keep staff from getting on the same page, how to identify which one may be creating the patterns you’re seeing in your school, and what you need to build so staff alignment doesn’t depend on you constantly driving the work. Show up live and you’ll also receive my Staff Resistance Response Guide. REGISTER HERE: Because you don’t need to get better at Whack-A-Mole. You need to find out why the moles keep showing up. #StaffAlignment #SchoolPrincipal #EducationalLeadership #LikeABuilder
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Why Your Best School Improvement Strategies Still Aren’t Working Together
09/30/2026
Why Your Best School Improvement Strategies Still Aren’t Working Together
What if all the strategies you’re using are good…and they’re still not going to get you the result you want? Most principals have been trained to collect strategies: fill your toolbox, attend the conference, save the PDF, try the new protocol, implement the research-based practice. But there’s a problem. A collection of good strategies does not become a system just because they all work. In this episode, I’m breaking down the difference between a collection of strategies and a true system—and giving you a simple test you can use to determine which one you actually have. You’ll discover: • Why “this strategy works” is not enough reason to add it to your school • How we were trained to become collectors instead of curators • The three things every true system needs: integrated, interdependent, and independent • Why five strategies working is not the same as five strategies working together • How to evaluate the initiatives and strategies already operating in your school • Why adding another good strategy may actually make the problem worse • How hidden bottlenecks can keep you and your staff working hard without moving forward together Because your staff cannot align around a pile of good ideas. They need a system. Take the Staff Alignment Bottleneck Assessment: Find out the #1 hidden bottleneck that may be keeping your staff from getting on the same page so you can stop throwing good strategies at the wrong problem. If this episode helped you rethink how you’re approaching the work in your school, subscribe for more practical Buildership strategies that help you build a school where your staff does the right work, the right way, for the right reasons—even when no one is looking.
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What to Do When Staff Push Back on Something You Thought Everyone Agreed To
09/23/2026
What to Do When Staff Push Back on Something You Thought Everyone Agreed To
You stood in front of your staff, shared the vision, and watched everyone nod. So why does it feel like nobody actually agreed to anything? In this episode of The 100% Principal, I'm sharing this week's newsletter issue, and it starts with a principal I coach who got blindsided months after his back-to-school meeting. He'd shared his vision. His staff nodded. No objections. Then a teacher looked at him and said, "I never agreed to YOUR vision." That one sentence is the whole episode, because it exposed something most principals get wrong about what a nod actually means. We'll talk about: Why a nod in your August staff meeting was never the same thing as agreement The difference between "resistant to change" and "resistant to being changed," and why it changes how you respond to pushback Three questions to ask before you decide you have a resistance problem on your hands What happens to your school, your strongest staff, and your vision when you mistake pushback for opposition This is one of those episodes that's going to change how you hear the next complaint that lands on your desk. Resources mentioned: 📋 Take the Bottleneck Assessment — 📬 Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — This episode comes from The 100 Percent Principal Weekly, my newsletter where every Friday I share one thing you can take straight into Monday to move the needle toward 100%. You're listening to The 100 Percent Principal Podcast, where those ideas come to life. 📩 Subscribe to the 100 Percent Principal Newsletter: 🏫 Learn more about Buildership University: 👥 Join the 100 Percent Collective:
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Why does this work keep coming back to you?
09/16/2026
Why does this work keep coming back to you?
I don’t know if this has started happening to you yet this school year, but I’m willing to bet it has. Something you thought you had already handed off has somehow found its way back to you. A meeting you weren’t supposed to be facilitating. A decision you thought had already been made. A priority everyone agreed to, but you are somehow still reminding people about. And every time it happens, it reinforces this little voice in your head that says, “See? This is why I have to stay on top of everything.” I get it. Because if every time you step back, something starts to drift, stepping back can feel irresponsible. But what if the fact that the work still depends on you does not mean it must always depend on you? What if the work coming back is actually showing you something your school has not yet learned to carry without you? That’s what I’m digging into in this week’s podcast The Work That Keeps Coming Back to You. This episode came from this week's 100% Principal Newsletter where every Friday I send you one thing you can take straight into Monday that will actually move the needle toward 100%. Join me at . → Subscribe at
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Is Your 100% Vision Just Last Year’s Plan With a New Number?
09/09/2026
Is Your 100% Vision Just Last Year’s Plan With a New Number?
Is your 100% Vision actually running your school, or just sitting on top of the same plan you had last year? I sat down with a group of principals who had already written their 100% Visions and built their school improvement plans around them. But when I covered their vision with my hand and read the rest of the plan, I couldn't tell what promise they'd made to their students. In this episode, I break down why so many principals believe in 100%, work hard to pursue it, and still end up reproducing the exact same work they were doing before — and I show you how to turn your vision into a filter that decides what stays, what goes, and what you can finally take off your plate without guilt. In this episode, you'll learn: Why a bold new vision can make your staff feel pressure instead of possibility How to tell if your school improvement plan was actually built from your vision — or just labeled with it The difference between reacting to data and responding to it Why "be stubborn on the vision, flexible on the details" changes what belongs on your plan How to find the one obstacle standing between your school and its vision, and remove it in 90 days Timestamps: 0:00 — Why your 100% Vision might be quietly making your job harder 1:15 — The plan that looked right on paper (a principal group's SIP, reviewed) 6:45 — What I'm Seeing: the "Temu version of Buildership" 11:15 — How We Were Trained: vision as slogan, not filter 15:30 — The 100% Principle: turning your vision into a filter 22:45 — What's At Stake: why an unfiltered vision becomes pressure instead of possibility 28:45 — Your 100% Move: the hand-cover test to try this week Resources & Links: Join the 100% Collective: Learn more about Buildership University: Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter: Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you don't miss next week's 100% Move.
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Your Staff Can Be Wonderful and Still Not Be Aligned
09/02/2026
Your Staff Can Be Wonderful and Still Not Be Aligned
Your staff can be wonderful—and still not be fully aligned. That doesn’t mean you have a bad team. Your teachers may care deeply, work hard, and genuinely want students to succeed. But good people can still operate from different beliefs about what matters, which students can succeed, and what counts as success. In this episode of The 100% Principal, Robyn Jackson explains why appreciating your teachers and challenging “good enough” are not opposites. You’ll discover: The difference between having a good staff and an aligned staff Why the back-to-school honeymoon fails in two predictable places How celebrations can become an unspoken transaction Why 100% must be treated as a decision rather than a goal How a 100% Vision creates urgency without creating blame A practical way to name the gap without putting good teachers on trial Subscribe to The 100% Principal Weekly: https://100percentprincipal.com
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Why Principals Have to Keep Repeating Themselves
08/26/2026
Why Principals Have to Keep Repeating Themselves
If you're forwarding the same email for the third time, repeating the same announcement in every staff meeting, or getting on the PA system to say something you already sent in writing — you're not managing communication. You're stuck in a cycle, and it started before your staff ever missed a deadline. In this episode, I break down why so many principals get trapped repeating themselves, why sending more information doesn't fix the problem, and what it actually takes to build a communication system your staff can trust — before the school year runs away from you. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why treating communication like a delivery service backfires, even when the information is sent clearly and repeatedly • The real difference between giving your staff information and actually communicating with them • Why "everything matters" ends up meaning nothing matters to your staff • How to test any message before you send it, using three simple questions • What your weekly staff email reveals about your school's real communication system Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a review — it helps other school leaders find the show.
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Your Teachers Don’t Need More PD. They Need Implementation.
08/19/2026
Your Teachers Don’t Need More PD. They Need Implementation.
A principal brought her beginning-of-the-year PD plan to BU Office Hours recently. Earlier in the summer, she had introduced her teachers to our Rigorous Unit Planning Process. The session had gone beautifully. The teachers understood it. They were excited about it. She had even shared the idea with parents, who loved the thought of their children learning to think—not simply complete assignments. Still, she was worried. Her teachers would soon be expected to use the process for their own unit planning. What if they weren’t ready? Did she need to provide more training? It was a perfectly reasonable question. But as we talked, I realized that another round of training might actually postpone the very thing she wanted to produce. That conversation stayed with me because principals everywhere are planning PD right now—and many are working very hard to create engaging sessions that still leave teachers with the hardest part to complete on their own. I call it great PD with implied homework. In this week’s episode, I explore why even excellent professional development so often fails to survive contact with real classrooms—and what to do instead. If you’re planning PD for your teachers this fall, this one may change what you put on the agenda.
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The Budget Changed. Your Vision Didn’t.
08/12/2026
The Budget Changed. Your Vision Didn’t.
Principals are constantly told to “do more with less.” But doing the same work with fewer people, less money, less time, and less support is not resourcefulness. It’s making bricks without straw. In this episode, I break down why shrinking budgets are quietly shrinking schools’ visions—and how Builders keep pursuing 100% without pretending that resources don’t matter. THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE SUPPORTING STRUGGLING STUDENTS IMPLEMENTATION KIT Strengthen Tier 1 Support by helping your staff create SUCCESS Plans that make better use of the intervention capacity you still have: WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER: • What new RAND research reveals about the shift from school improvement to financial survival • Why “maintaining our gains” can become a respectable-sounding way to lower expectations • How eliminated positions create invisible transfers of work to principals • The difference between being resourced and being resourceful • Why programs, positions, and purchases cannot become the anchor for your vision • How a principles-based ONE Plan helps you pivot without diminishing the result • How to identify what your school should stop, redesign, or request when resources shrink • The five questions in a one-page Priority Protection Plan Budget cuts don’t merely reduce what is available. They reveal which gains were truly built into the school—and which were being propped up by programs, positions, and purchases that worked only while the funding lasted. A smaller budget may require a different pathway. It does not require a smaller vision. SUBSCRIBE TO THE 100% PRINCIPAL WEEKLY Get the complete newsletter delivered every Friday:
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Your Staff Doesn’t Have to Agree to Be Aligned
08/05/2026
Your Staff Doesn’t Have to Agree to Be Aligned
If every staff disagreement eventually lands in your office, you may not have a staff-conflict problem. You may have a home-base problem. In this episode, Robyn Jackson explains why trying to get everyone to agree makes the principal personally responsible for holding the entire faculty together. Drawing on patterns from the Staff Alignment Bootcamp and findings from the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, she examines how growing social divisions are already showing up in schools—and why harmony is not the same as alignment. You’ll discover: Why the principal becomes home base when the school’s purpose is not How principals were trained to mistake agreement and visible harmony for a healthy culture Why resistant teachers often gain concessions but never experience real power How a 100% Vision, mission, and core values help a faculty navigate disagreement How to return a divided staff to home base without forcing consensus or manufacturing compliance Your staff does not have to share the same politics, personalities, experiences, or preferred strategies. They need a purpose strong enough to hold their disagreements—and a way to align their behavior with what they have collectively promised students. Get one practical Buildership idea you can take straight into Monday. Subscribe free to The 100% Principal Weekly:
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The Danger of Making Your Vision "More Realistic"
07/29/2026
The Danger of Making Your Vision "More Realistic"
This week on The 100% Principal Podcast, Robyn Jackson unpacks a pattern she caught in three separate conversations this week: school leaders quietly shrinking their vision because they've stopped believing their staff can rise to it. If you're a K12 principal or school leader heading into back-to-school planning, this episode names the hidden ceiling on your own vision — and the one sentence that can break it. Get the newsletter every Friday: 100percentprincipal.com
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Everything's Sexy in August | Why Your Vision Keeps Fading By November
07/22/2026
Everything's Sexy in August | Why Your Vision Keeps Fading By November
A principal built a vision with her staff at Bootcamp. A year later, they could still recite it word for word — but nothing else about the school had changed. In this episode, I break down why the excitement you build in August isn't the same as the systems that carry a school through the whole year, and the three questions that tell you whether you're launching or building. Want a new episode like this every Friday? Subscribe to the newsletter at 100percentprincipal.com
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Your Biggest Accountability Problem Isn't Your Staff
07/15/2026
Your Biggest Accountability Problem Isn't Your Staff
Your accountability problem probably isn't your staff. It's every process you've built without asking one question: what is this actually teaching people? In this episode, I break down why tightening your systems doesn't fix accountability, the real reason your staff was gung-ho in August and checked out by October, and the one question you can run against any policy on your desk in fifteen minutes. Plus, what the Buildership model (Purpose, People, Process) actually requires, and how it connects to the Staff Alignment Bootcamp. Get the newsletter every Friday: 100percentprincipal.com Join the Staff Alignment Bootcamp: BuildershipUniversity.com/bootcamp
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But My Staff
07/08/2026
But My Staff
Do you have a vision for your school but secretly doubt your teachers will get there with you? You're not alone — and you're not wrong to feel it. But the doubt isn't about your teachers. It's about a belief nobody has ever directly addressed. In this episode, I share the realization that stopped me cold this spring: I've spent twenty years trying to convince principals to believe in 100% student success. And I've been arguing the wrong thing the entire time. Every principal I've ever worked with already believes every kid deserves to succeed. What they don't believe is that their staff can get there with them. And that one belief is costing them everything. If you've ever settled for compliance because alignment felt impossible, this episode is for you.
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You’re Trying to Fix Staff Problems With the Wrong Tools
07/01/2026
You’re Trying to Fix Staff Problems With the Wrong Tools
Are you beating yourself up because you just don't have enough time, bandwidth, or follow-through to finally get your staff aligned? What if the problem was never you? In this episode, I'm breaking down why every staff alignment tool you've been given — the culture retreats, the PLC protocols, the buy-in campaigns, the accountability conversations — was designed to produce compliance, not alignment. And compliance is not alignment's cheaper version. It's alignment's wrong destination. You've been using the tools correctly. You've been getting exactly what they were designed to give. The problem isn't your execution. The problem is that no compliance tool was ever built to get you to 100% staff alignment — and no amount of additional time, energy, or focus on your part will change that. By the end of this video you'll know: — Why your staff alignment problems keep coming back every August — Why the tools you've been given were designed for symptom relief, not a cure — What it actually takes to build real, lasting staff alignment in your school This is Issue #012 of the 100% Principal Newsletter. Every week I take one thing every principal is wrestling with, show you why it's so hard, and give you the 100% approach that will actually move your school forward. 📩 Get the full newsletter every Friday: https://100percentprincipal.com 🏗️ Ready to stop treating the symptoms and start building real staff alignment? The Staff Alignment Bootcamp is where that work happens: https://buildershipuniversity.com/bootcamp
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Why Removing Underperforming Teachers Won't Save Your School
06/24/2026
Why Removing Underperforming Teachers Won't Save Your School
A principal recently told me she'd "almost gotten rid of her duds." Just a few more underperforming teachers out, she said, and her school would really take off. I knew different. In this episode of The 100% Principal Podcast, I break down why removing underperforming teachers won't save your school — and what's underneath every staff problem you've been fighting all year. If you've ever told yourself "if I could just get this one teacher out…" or "once we hire the right person…" or "once these last few resisters retire…" — this episode is for you. ▸ IN THIS EPISODE What I keep hearing on coaching calls (and why it always ends the same way) The difference between compliance and alignment — and why mistaking them keeps you stuck The six default staff alignment strategies most principals run without realizing it The diagnostic question that reveals whether your school is running on alignment or on you Why 100% staff alignment is the only path to 100% student success ▸ GET THE 100% PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER Every Friday I take one thing every principal struggles with, show you why it's so hard, and give you the 100% approach that will move your school forward. Join 26,000 principals who read it every week: → ▸ ABOUT ROBYN Dr. Robyn R. Jackson is the founder of Buildership University and the creator of the Buildership framework. She's the bestselling author of 13 books including Never Work Harder Than Your Students, and she's spent over 20 years coaching principals across the US, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, and Asia to break through the Leadership Ceiling and build schools where 100% student success is an operating reality. ▸ CONNECT Newsletter: Buildership University: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-jackson-mindsteps/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100percentprincipal/
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Why AI Keeps Disappointing Principals (And what to do instead)
06/17/2026
Why AI Keeps Disappointing Principals (And what to do instead)
Every principal I know is starting to play around with AI, using it to write faster, produce more, get more off their plate. And most of them are walking away disappointed. In this episode I'm talking about why AI keeps falling flat for principals — and what the actual line is between what AI should handle and what it should never touch. We tried to teacher-proof teaching for decades. Smart boards. Scripted curricula. Packaged observation frameworks. Every single one ended up in a supply closet. Now we're reaching for AI with the same hope. And it's failing for the exact same reason. If you've ever felt like AI was creating more work instead of less, or like something important got outsourced that wasn't supposed to, this episode is for you. In this episode: Why principals in both the "barely using it" and "all in" camps are struggling the same way The graveyard of tools that were going to change everything (and what AI has in common with all of them) The one question to ask before you open any AI tool What a 100% Principal never outsources to AI (and why) 🎯 Want to go deeper? Join me for the 100% AI Playbook Masterclass on June 23rd, 7pm ET. Five tools. Built together. Deployed immediately. Get your ticket: https://buildershipuniversity.com/masterclass 📩 Get the full newsletter every Friday: 100percentprincipal.com
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5 Books Every Principal Should Read This Summer (None of Them Are About Schools)
06/10/2026
5 Books Every Principal Should Read This Summer (None of Them Are About Schools)
Every year I step completely outside education and bring back five books that have nothing to do with schools — and everything to do with building one. This is my 2026 Summer Reading List, and it's the hardest one I've ever put together. None of these books are education books. But every single one has something real to say about the culture you're trying to build — and the kind of principal you're becoming while you build it. The 5 books on this year's list: Leading with Dignity by Donna Hicks Originals by Adam Grant One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton & Jimmy Page Strong Ground by Brené Brown The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader by Melissa Murray After you watch, I’m curious. Tell me what books you’re reading right now in the comments. I’ll be reading every one and who knows? Your suggestion might just end up on next year’s list.
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The Only Permission You Need
06/03/2026
The Only Permission You Need
You already have a vision for your school. You have probably had it for years. The problem is not that you cannot see it. The problem is that you have been waiting for someone else to tell you that you are allowed to believe in it. In this episode of The 100% Principal, I am talking about the permission gap — why the vision problem most principals face is not a skill gap or a knowledge gap, but a permission gap. And why the only person who can close it is you. We cover: — Why the end of the year feels like this (and what the sneaking "I want more" feeling is really telling you) — How vision committees are designed to produce consensus — and why that is the exact opposite of what you need — The difference between a vision statement and a 100% Vision — What it actually costs to keep shrinking your vision to fit what you think others can handle — The one question to ask before you write another plan this summer This episode is for the principal who already knows what they want and has not yet given themselves permission to say it out loud. 📩 Get The 100% Principal Newsletter every Friday: https://100percentprincipal.com 🏃 The 100% Vision Sprint — enrollment closes June 8: https://buildershipuniversity.com/sprint/
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Tents and bicycles
05/27/2026
Tents and bicycles
If you've ever stood in front of your staff in August full of hope and found yourself rationalizing data in May — this episode is for you. In this episode, I'm breaking down why the leadership playbook is keeping you and your teachers stuck in the same loop every single year — and why the only thing that actually breaks it isn't a new program, a new framework, or a new acronym. It's a 100% Vision. I'll show you exactly what that means, why it changes the math for your entire school, and how principals like Trina, Francina, Kevin, and Ashley used it to get results most people said weren't possible.
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The year you wanted vs the year you got
05/20/2026
The year you wanted vs the year you got
You have a School Improvement Plan. You might not have a vision. And that difference explains everything about why your year keeps ending up in the same place. Most principals think the gap between the year they planned and the year they got is a follow-through problem. A staff problem. A prioritization problem. It isn't. It's a clarity gap — and your SIP, no matter how well-written, can't close it. In this episode I walk you through exactly what separates a school improvement plan from a 100% vision, why that distinction matters more than any strategy you'll set this fall, and the three questions that will tell you immediately whether your vision is clear enough to actually run your building. If your staff works hard but the initiatives still stall, if you're the only one who can see what's possible, if October keeps breaking your momentum — this episode is for you. 📩 Get the full newsletter every Friday: Resources mentioned: Learn more about the upcoming free one-hour session on May 28th at 7pm ET called the 100% Vision Session: Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — one thing every Friday you can take straight into Monday: 100percentprincipal.com This episode comes from The 100 Percent Principal Weekly—my newsletter where every Friday I share one thing you can take straight into Monday to move the needle toward 100%. You’re listening to The 100 Percent Principal Podcast, where those ideas come to life. Subscribe at
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Decisions vs Choices
05/13/2026
Decisions vs Choices
You've given the feedback. Done the modeling. Sent them to PD. And some of your teachers are still making the same mistakes they were making in September. Before you write that final evaluation, I want you to consider something: are you judging their decisions — or are you examining their choices? There's a difference. And it changes everything about how you develop teachers. What you'll learn: In this episode of The 100% Principal, I'm sharing Issue #005 of the newsletter — and it starts with something Michael Beasley said in an interview that made me put down my crochet hook mid-stitch. One sentence that named something I've been trying to articulate for years about the way we treat the people we lead. We'll talk about: Why the reflective questions we were trained to ask in post-observation conferences are failing your teachers The difference between a will problem and a skill problem (and why it still comes down to choices) A simple four-level framework for matching your support to where your teachers actually are What it costs you when you don't make this shift This is one of those episodes that's going to make you rethink something you've been doing all year. Resources mentioned: 📖 Never Underestimate Your Teachers — https://mindsteps-inc.myshopify.com/products/never-underestimate-your-teachers 📬 Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — https://100percentprincipal.com 🏫 Learn more about Buildership University — https://buildershipuniversity.com Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — one thing every Friday you can take straight into Monday: 100percentprincipal.com This episode comes from The 100 Percent Principal Weekly—my newsletter where every Friday I share one thing you can take straight into Monday to move the needle toward 100%. You’re listening to The 100 Percent Principal Podcast, where those ideas come to life. Subscribe at
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Your Schedule Is Lying to You
05/06/2026
Your Schedule Is Lying to You
You've spent real time on your vision. You can articulate it. Your staff has heard it. You believe it. And your master schedule is quietly working against every word of it. Why? Because nobody taught you to look at the schedule the right way: as a mirror for your vision, not a logistics problem to survive. And once you see it that way, some problems you've been fighting for years turn out to have a twenty-minute solution. In this episode I'm going to show you how to read your master schedule the way I read it, and what to do when what you find doesn't match what you say you believe. In this episode I break down: Why your master schedule is the most honest document in your building The one question that changes everything about how the scheduling process starts The scheduling decision that made teachers start recommending students for honor without anyone asking them to What "change your core values or change your schedule" actually means, and the principal whose teachers changed the schedule themselves once they saw the misalignment The specific 15-minute move you can do this week to find the gap between your vision and your schedule What you'll learn: In this episode I'm going to show you how to read your master schedule the way I read it, and what to do when what you find doesn't match what you say you believe. I break down: — Why your master schedule is the most honest document in your building — more honest than your vision statement — The one question that changes everything about how the scheduling process starts — The scheduling decision that made teachers start recommending students for honors — without anyone asking them to — What "change your core values or change your schedule" actually means — and the principal whose teachers changed the schedule themselves once they saw the misalignment — The specific 15-minute move you can do this week to find the gap between your vision and your schedule 🤔 QUESTION OF THE DAY: Pick one thing from your vision. Now ask yourself: does it have protected time in your master schedule? Resources mentioned: Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — one thing every Friday you can take straight into Monday: Get your copy of the Master Scheduling Playbook here This episode comes from The 100 Percent Principal Weekly—my newsletter where every Friday I share one thing you can take straight into Monday to move the needle toward 100%. Subscribe at
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How to Hire Teachers Who Actually Fit Your School Culture
04/29/2026
How to Hire Teachers Who Actually Fit Your School Culture
Most principals walk out of a hiring interview with a feeling. A 100% Principal walks out with evidence. In this episode, I'm breaking down the three-stage hiring system that changes who applies, who you interview, and who actually shows up in your building every day. What you'll learn: Why your job posting is filtering for the wrong people (and how to fix it in under 5 minutes) The one question that reveals what a candidate actually believes — versus what they know to say Why a sample lesson in the second interview is the least useful thing you can ask for — and what to do instead The real cost of a will-based misalignment hire and why it almost never shows up in year one Resources mentioned: How to Hire Your Next Master Teacher Playbook — The 100% Collective — Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — one thing every Friday you can take straight into Monday: 100percentprincipal.com
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How to Give Your Staff an End of Year They'll Never Forget
04/22/2026
How to Give Your Staff an End of Year They'll Never Forget
Your last culture-building moment of the year is already underway — and most principals are about to waste it. It's April. The energy has gone flat. Your teachers are still showing up but everyone is running on fumes. And somewhere in the back of your mind is a thought you haven't said out loud: I'm not sure this year went the way I wanted it to. I've watched principals turn around brutal years in the last six weeks of school. I've also watched great years fall apart in a bad June. Both are possible right now — in your building. What you do in the next six weeks doesn't just close out the year. It writes the story your staff and students carry into September. In this episode I break down: Why the end of the year shapes how people remember everything that came before it — The Meaning → Moment → Memory framework that turns a forgettable June into the most powerful culture-building opportunity you have left Two specific moves you can make this week — one for your students, one for your staff — that change how they walk back through your doors in September 🤔 QUESTION OF THE DAY: What does the end of this year need to prove about your school? What's the one thing you want your staff to believe about themselves when they walk out that door at the end of the year? This episode came from this week's 100% Principal Newsletter where every Friday I send you one thing you can take straight into Monday that will actually move the needle toward 100%. Join me at https://100percentprincipal.com.
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Why Principals Slip Back Into Leadership When Things Get Hard
04/15/2026
Why Principals Slip Back Into Leadership When Things Get Hard
Every morning you walk into school with a plan. And by 9am it's gone. You're constantly interrupted, constantly pulled into decisions that aren't yours to make, constantly the person everyone is waiting on before they can move. You probably think you have a boundaries problem. You don't. You have a systems problem. And those two problems have completely different solutions. I was on a podcast recently where the hosts threw every crisis scenario at me they had — low morale, declining scores, surface-level compliance, staff resistance. And every single time I kept arriving at the same answer. Not because I was being stubborn. Because it's the only answer that actually works. In this episode I'm going to show you exactly what's happening when a Builder slips back into leadership under pressure — and what you have to build right now so your school stops running on you. In this episode I break down: — Why good principals lose their 100% vision under pressure — one reasonable decision at a time — The real reason your staff keeps pulling you into every meeting and waiting for your green light — What the difference between a time problem and a systems problem actually means for your school — The specific move you can make this week to start fixing it — not next semester, this week 🤔 QUESTION OF THE DAY: Where is your school running on you right now instead of on what you built? This episode came from this week's 100% Principal Newsletter — where every Friday I send you one thing you can take straight into Monday that will actually move the needle toward 100%. Join me at https://100percentprincipal.com.
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What Is the 100Percent Principal Podcast? Everything You Need to Know Before April 15th
04/08/2026
What Is the 100Percent Principal Podcast? Everything You Need to Know Before April 15th
After eight years, this podcast has a new name, a new format, and one very specific focus: principals who have decided that 100Percent student success isn't an aspiration. It's something they're going to build. In this first episode, I'm telling you exactly what The 100Percent Principal Podcast is, who it's for, and what you can expect every week when you show up. Whether you're a sitting principal, an aspiring one, or a district leader who supports them, there's something here for you. Subscribe to the newsletter at 100percentprincipal.com and I'll see you April 15th.
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I Have a Big Announcement (No, This Is Not an April Fools Joke)
04/01/2026
I Have a Big Announcement (No, This Is Not an April Fools Joke)
For the last four weeks I've been naming something you already knew but couldn't say out loud — what's happening with your students, your teachers, your communities, and why everything you were trained to do feels like it's working less than it used to. Today is the final episode of this series. And I have two things for you: the answer you've been waiting for, and an announcement I've been sitting on for a long time. I'll give you the answer first. The announcement comes at the end — and no, before you say anything, I know what day it is. This is not a joke.
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There’s a new kind of teacher: Why everything you know about leadership just changed
03/25/2026
There’s a new kind of teacher: Why everything you know about leadership just changed
The teacher you were trained to lead and the teacher standing in your building right now are not the same person, and nobody told you that. That’s why in this episode, I’m going to show you exactly who the New Teacher is, why the tactics that used to work have stopped working, and what it actually takes to reach a teacher who evaluates authority, interrogates truth, and is no longer defined by the profession the way teachers used to be. It’s not you. It’s not them. It’s that the old playbooks no longer work. So you can stop blaming yourself, stop blaming your staff, and start building a school worth committing to #LikeABuilder.
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