Right now, schools everywhere are ramping up test prep, adding review sessions, and trying to make sure nothing slips through the cracks before testing begins. In this episode, I'm breaking down the three biggest mistakes I see schools make right before testing season and show you how these mistakes quietly undermine results even when everyone is working hard. Plus, I'll show you exactly what to do instead so your efforts actually pay off. You'll hear a smarter, more strategic way to approach these final weeks so you and your students can go into this years' tests with clarity and confidence because you've directed your team's energy where it matters most #LikeABuilder.

By this point in the school year, I see the same pattern play out over and over again: a system isn't working, so we compensate. We work around the gaps, carry the weight ourselves, and tell ourselves it's just what this season requires. But over time, that compensation drains our capacity, and eventually, it drains something even more dangerous: our belief that a better solution is possible. In this episode, I talk about that "compensation cycle," how broken systems train us to survive instead of replace, and why awareness alone doesn't lead to action. If you've ever known something needed to change but felt too depleted to even imagine a different way, this episode will help you step out of the compensation cycle and start building real success #LikeABuilder.

We all love a good redemption story in schools—the students who struggle for years and finally turn things around. Those stories make us feel good. They also let us avoid a harder question: why did success take so long in the first place? During Coaching Week, that question kept coming up for me, and it forced me to look at how deeply we've normalized struggle and delayed success in the systems we call "good." In this episode, I challenge the idea that suffering is a necessary part of learning, examine what our favorite stories reveal about our expectations, and explore what changes when we stop centering heroics and start interrogating design, #LikeABuilder.

I see this pattern over and over again: capable principals implementing solid ideas, working hard, and still feeling like progress won't hold. When that happens, we usually assume the problem is us—our clarity, our follow-through, our leadership—or we blame the moment we're in. In this episode, I unpack a harder truth that explains why so much good work fades, even when the strategies are sound. If you've ever wondered why effort keeps increasing but results don't, this conversation will help you see your school (and your role) differently, #LikeABuilder.

I know I sound obsessed with vision, but in this episode, I'll explain why I can't stop talking about it. You see, everyone says you need a vision—but very few people can explain why it actually matters once the real work starts. In this episode, I unpack what a vision really does when things get messy: when district priorities shift, when parents push, when politics creep in, and when you're genuinely unsure what move to make next. Plus, I'm sharing the 4 reasons vision matters more than you think. Two will surprise you. One is about what YOU get out of this, not just your school. So if you think vision is a luxury that can wait until you've got everything else figured out, think again. Tune in to discover what happens when administrators finally get a true 100% vision #LikeABuilder.

If you've ever felt like you're working incredibly hard but not actually building toward anything meaningful, you're not crazy, and you're not alone. You might be operating with a borrowed vision without even realizing it. In this episode, I'm going to walk you through the four types of borrowed visions: vision by compliance, vision by comparison, vision by inheritance, and vision by avoidance. By the end of this episode, you'll know whether your vision is borrowed, and more importantly, you'll understand why that matters. None of these feel wrong in the moment but that's what makes them so dangerous. Because once you see the difference between borrowed and owned, you can't unsee it and you can finally start building what you truly believe in #LikeABuilder.

Last week I shared my big lesson going into 2025—be boring, stop chasing shiny objects, double down on what works—and this week I'm back with the honest truth: I failed. Or did I? The year I hoped would be calm and predictable turned into a scramble to survive as the world shifted under our feet. But something unexpected happened along the way. I'd just misunderstood what boring actually means. If you're feeling the stress of a world that won't stop changing, if things that used to work aren't working anymore, if you're pivoting and doubting yourself and wondering if you're doing it all wrong I want to encourage you that you can still be boring #LikeABuilder.

As we close out 2025, I'm pressing rewind and revisiting the episode where I named the single biggest lesson I wanted to carry into the new year. Consider this a time capsule from the end of 2024—a look at what I believed mattered most and the mindset I was determined to adopt. This week, you'll hear that original episode. Next week, I'll return with a frank reflection on how it played out, what surprised me, and the insights you can use as you prepare for your own year ahead.