The 100 Percent Principal Podcast

Robyn Jackson

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

  1. 1d ago

    Before you change anything, hear me out.

    You made a plan for the school year. You've been following it. But now the first round of data is coming in, and the numbers aren't looking good. Do you stick with your plan? Make adjustments? Or throw the whole thing out and start over? I've been facing that same question in my own business recently. After six weeks of implementing a carefully designed plan, our results were actually WORSE than before we started. My first instinct was to pivot. But something I heard on a podcast made me realize that I needed to rethink my entire relationship with data. In this episode of the 100 Percent Principal Podcast, I'm sharing why the way we've been trained to use data may be keeping us stuck, why disappointing results can send us chasing the wrong solutions, and how Builders approach data differently. You'll discover why data meetings often leave teachers feeling defensive, the difference between reacting to numbers and understanding what's producing them, and the ONE question that can change how you approach your school's results. Because when we use data to judge whether we're succeeding or failing, we end up trying to fix the numbers. But when we use data to understand what's getting in the way of our vision, we start fixing the conditions that produce those numbers. In this episode: Why disappointing data makes us want to abandon our plans The realization that changed my relationship with data How we learned to treat numbers as judgments Why data meetings often create defensiveness instead of improvement How Builders use data to identify what's actually getting in the way Your 100% Move for this week Your 100% Move: Before you abandon your plan or introduce another strategy, look at your data and ask, "What's getting in the way of our reaching our vision?" #Buildership #SchoolPrincipals #SchoolImprovement #DataAnalysis #100PercentPrincipal

  2. Oct 21

    What if you're solving the wrong problem?

    I had a contract. I had a deadline. And I had a problem. Last week, I got on Zoom with my editor and told her something no author wants to say. In this episode, I share what happened on that call, what I discovered while writing my new book, and why it might change how you think about the problems you've been trying to solve in your school. If you've ever worked hard to fix something at your school, only to watch it come right back a few weeks later, this one is for you. I'd love to hear from you. What's one thing about your school you've been trying to change but haven't been able to, despite your best efforts? Tell me in the comments. 📬 Get one thing every Friday you can take straight into Monday. Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter: https://100percentprincipal.com

  3. Oct 14

    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: https://buildershipuniversity.com/  📬 Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter: https://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 https://100percentprincipal.com/

  4. Oct 7

    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: https://buildershipuniversity.com/bottleneck  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

  5. Sep 30

    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: https://builderbottleneck.scoreapp.com/  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.

  6. Sep 23

    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 — https://builderbottleneck.scoreapp.com/  📬 Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter — https://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 to the 100 Percent Principal Newsletter: 100percentprincipal.com  🏫 Learn more about Buildership University: https://buildershipuniversity.com  👥 Join the 100 Percent Collective: https://buildershipuniversity.com/collective

  7. Sep 16

    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 https://100percentprincipal.com.  → Subscribe at 100percentprincipal.com

  8. Sep 9

    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: https://buildershipuniversity.com/collective  Learn more about Buildership University: https://buildershipuniversity.com  Subscribe to The 100% Principal Newsletter: https://100percentprincipal.com  Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe so you don't miss next week's 100% Move.

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About

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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