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PODCAST

Accelerate Your Performance

Studer Education

Accelerate Your Performance is a weekly podcast hosted by Dr. Janet Pilcher, Managing Director of Studer Education and author of Hardwiring Excellence in Education. Every week, Janet highlights tactical and actionable strategies that leaders in educational organizations can hardwire to meet successful student, service, and people outcomes. Listen now, and you’ll see why it’s ranked by ListenNotes in the top 5% of podcasts worldwide.As she introduces a variety of pivotal leadership practices from the

education management

All Episodes

15:42

Learn From Lived Experiences - Part 2

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/10/05

Every leader brings their own story to the table because leadership is shaped by lived experiences. These experiences influence how leaders lead, connect with others, and influence the culture of an organization. Lived experiences (both personal and professional) can help leaders understand the people they serve and lead with greater purpose, authenticity, and empathy. In the last episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher began a conversation with Mr. Bradley Roberson, a Studer Education Leader Coach and a ...

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18:36

Learn From Lived Experiences - Part 1

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/09/28

Education is constantly changing, and with change comes new challenges. In navigating those challenges, leaders can draw on the lived experiences of strong leaders—because experience is one of life’s greatest teachers. Bradley Roberson, retired superintendent of Oxford County Schools in Mississippi and now a Studer Education Leader Coach, has led through many seasons of change in education. Throughout his career, he has held firmly to a guiding belief: “Every kid that comes through every syst...

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7:50

The Power of People, Work, & Mattering: Reflecting on...

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/09/21

Since 2019, Dr. Janet Pilcher has used this podcast to share the stories of effective leaders—their successes, their challenges, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Across 449 episodes, those stories have revealed countless lessons worth remembering and milestones worth celebrating. As Dr. Pilcher reflects, “Here’s what I’ve learned over 449 episodes: We are all connected, and how we treat one another matters.” Leaders have an important role to play in helping people recognize thos...

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20:32

Listen to Learn, Act to Improve

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/09/14

Good leaders listen with intention and then act on what they learn. Listening to those closest to the work provides the most meaningful and accurate information because they are the ones that know the work best. These people can share what’s working well, what needs to be improved, what problems need to be solved, what potential solutions might look like, why organizations are achieving the results they are achieving, how to scale positive results, and so much more. Listening to those closest...

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24:55

Build Stronger Teams by Including Students and Families

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/08/31

When schools, students, and families work together, everyone wins. The truth is that teachers, families, and students have the same goal – student success. Therefore, building teams that allow everyone to work together for this shared goal helps bring the goal to fruition. Everyone has a valued voice on the team, and leaders build the culture for these teams to thrive and invite people to the table to share their voices. Listen as Dr. Janet Pilcher and Keri Jo Sapp, the principal of Oxf...

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17:35

Show Gratitude for the Gift Called "Teacher"

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/08/24

Teachers are a gift to the world, and the work they do each day is transformational. They leave special marks on our lives, and their work is impactful. Teachers need to be reminded how remarkable and appreciated they are; they need to be reminded that their work matters in so many ways. This episode is about the big and small ways we can show appreciation and the impact that those demonstrations have on educators. The truth is that all employees and leaders need to know they are appreciated,...

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16:21

Care, Concern, and Community

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/08/17

Good leaders are effective at showing care and concern for others. Acts of care and concern can be demonstrated in both expected ways (such as check-in meetings) and unexpected ways (such as difficult conversations). The bottom line is that when people feel cared for, they are more engaged, feel a deeper investment to their work, and feel safe. In environments that build these feelings, a community is built and supported. People just want to know they are valued and that their work matters.&n...

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22:18

Getting and Keeping Team Members Engaged: Part 2

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/08/10

Getting and keeping employees engaged is hard, intentional work, but it's worth the continuous time and effort. As Lana Fontenot, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and External Relations at South Louisiana Community College, states, "Engagement is not a one-time thing, it happens day in and day out, year-round. You never stop doing it. It's not a check the box." In the first part of this two-part interview, Dr. Janet Pilcher and Ms. Fontenot discussed the importance of getti...

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18:02

Getting and Keeping Team Members Engaged: Part 1

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/08/03

Employee engagement is key to a successful organization, and getting team members engaged should begin even before their first day of work as a new hire. New hires naturally feel a mix of excitement and anxiety, but leaders must capitalize on the excitement while minimizing the anxiety to stimulate employee engagement from the outset. According to Lana Fontenot, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and External Relations for South Louisiana Community College, effective pre-boarding a...

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25:49

Drive Improvement Through Leading and Learning

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/07/27

Continuous improvement is grounded in learning. In fact, continuous improvement necessitates a mindset that focuses on continued learning and growth and that acknowledges that there is always something new to discover. Through this learning, growth occurs, and growth facilitates improvement. As Brian Alaback, Director of Professional Learning for Escambia County Public Schools in Florida so aptly shares, “if I don't have the mindset of continuing to grow and learn, then it doesn't matter what...

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11:40

The Bottom Line

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/07/20

In today’s episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher implements her own advice to “face the brutal facts” in education. As educational leaders in both K12 and higher education face a changing landscape, Dr. Pilcher explains that it’s crucial for leaders to attend to the bottom line to provide what’s best for students. Listen as she encourages the practice of facing the brutal facts and responding in positive ways by using scorecards and short cycles of improvement; having open conversations with ...

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18:23

Know Your "Why"

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/07/13

Dr. Howard Spearman, one of the 2026 Studer Education Difference Maker Award winners, believes that knowing your "why" is essential for a leader. Without knowing your why, Dr. Spearman shares that a leader can "lose their way." When a leader knows their why, students and communities thrive, and outcomes are met. Dr. Spearman is an example of how knowing and living your why reaps benefits. Listen as he shares with Dr. Janet Pilcher his experiences with aligning daily work with the why and the ...

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19:15

Become a Student of Leadership

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/07/06

Even the best leaders know that they can continue to learn. That mindset is partially what makes them good leaders; they continue to seek ways to improve. In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher talks with Dr. Vincent June, one of those great leaders who continues to seek ways to improve. His leadership has had a tremendous impact on the institutions and communities that he has served. As a result, he was the recipient of a 2026 Studer Education Difference Maker Award. Listen as Dr. June shares ca...

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11:50

Change Is Everyday Business

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/06/22

Change is everyday business for leaders, and employees rely on leaders to guide them through change by effectively managing and leading change efforts. Listen as Dr. Janet Pilcher reflects on the idea that change is everyday business and shares three key concepts related to how leaders can effectively manage and lead the "everyday business" of change: Align leader behaviors that produce results and consider what this means in relation to change.Apply tactics to show people that they are...

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21:48

Change Organizational Culture With Standards of...

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/06/15

People want to do good work, and they want to work in an organization that has a positive work environment. According to Kelly Krostag, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resource Services for Escambia County Public Schools in Florida, a positive work environment “is the culture,” and she shares that developing, implementing, and living standards of excellence in the organization can transform organizational culture. In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher talks with Ms. Krostag about how th...

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4:49

Enhance the Student Experience with Student Rounding

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/06/08

On the heals of Studer Education's 2026 Destination High Performance Higher Education Conference, Dr. Janet Pilcher reflects on the event and her takeaways. She calls out an idea shared by Dr. Brendan Kelly, President of Eastern Michigan University: the idea that education institutions serve and support students best when they align "what they do" with what students want and need -- not what the institution wants and needs. Listen as Dr. Pilcher shares a way to identify what students wa...

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26:15

Using Scorecards to Keep the Strategic Plan “Alive”

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/06/01

As Dr. Kristine Strickland, Chancellor of Fletcher Technical Community College, proposes in this week’s episode, strategic plans are important…if they don’t sit on a shelf to collect dust. Rather, as Dr. Strickland shares, strategic plans must be “alive” in daily work and conversations to keep everyone in an organization aligned with the goals and priorities outlined in the strategic plan. Scorecards are one effective way to keep strategic plans alive and a central focus of daily work. ...

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16:04

Add Voice and Value with Rounding and Recognition

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/05/18

Employees want to feel valued and heard at work. When they feel this way, they feel safe sharing ideas, are motivated to do their best, and see the impact of their contributions and the contributions of others. In these ways, value and voice build a strong workplace culture. Rounding and recognition can help add value and voice to an organization to a strong culture. Listen to this conversation between Dr. Janet Pilcher and Mr. Bill Adams, a Studer Education Leader Coach, to lear...

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7:54

Connecting to Purpose: The Little School District...

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/05/11

Bright spots of good work are all around us in organizations. It is a leader's responsibility to create ways for people to harvest the stories of these bright spots. These stories reinforce why someone's work is valued, the impact it has on others, and how individual contributions make a positive impact. “Connecting to Purpose" is a tactic outlined in Pillar 4 of the 9 Pillars of Leadership Excellence that highlights an approach to sharing bright spots. Connecting to Purpose stories are power...

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7:22

Build a Feedback Culture

Accelerate Your Performance ·

2026/05/04

In preparation for an upcoming webinar, Dr. Janet Pilcher provides a brief introduction to the idea that feedback is a gift. She discusses how feedback is a two-way gift – leaders must provide and receive feedback. Feedback is a gift that provides valuable data that informs solid decisions, but it must be received with the right mindset. Listen as Janet shares tips for receiving feedback in the “right” way; explains how leaders must provide meaningful, constructive feedback; and explains how ...

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