In this special joint episode of Leaning Into Leadership and The Assistant Principal Podcast, Dr. Darrin Peppard teams up with Dr. Frederick Buskey to explore how school leaders can take a more strategic, sustainable approach to planning for the year ahead.

Together, they walk through a four-phase leadership cycle — Prepare, Perform, Refine, and Renew — with clear examples and strategies for turning vision into actionable leadership habits. From setting a focused instructional plan and building relational momentum to addressing systemic barriers and reflecting on Growth, this episode is packed with practical tools leaders can use immediately.

They also share insights into their new collaborative initiative, Middle Ground: Leadership Excellence Network, a cohort-based leadership experience in partnership with the North Carolina Middle Level Educators Association (NCMLE). This program is designed to provide wraparound support for middle school principals through Coaching, workshops, and peer connection throughout the school year.

Key Topics:

• How to create daily leadership practices tied to big goals
• Using Clarity to drive instructional priorities
• Leveraging team alignment and inter-rater reliability
• The power of intentional culture-building
• Systems that free up time — like tiered behavior and email strategies
• Tools like SWOT and Start-Stop-Continue-Consider for reflection and renewal
• The launch of the Middle Ground cohort for North Carolina middle school leaders

Resources & Links:

• Get Darrin’s Principal Planning Tool 
• Learn more about Frederick at frederickbuskey.com
• Join the NCMLE Middle Ground: Leadership Excellence Network –   If you are super interested but don’t live in NC, drop me a line and we’ll figure out a way to support you.
• Subscribe to the Leaning Into Leadership Podcast
• Sign up for Darrin’s weekly leadership email at roadtoawesome.net
• Frederick’s Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting
• Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a
• The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

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Darrin Peppard Dr. Darrin Peppard

Dr. Darrin Peppard is an author, leadership coach, consultant, and speaker focused on organizational culture and climate, and growing emerging leaders. Darrin is the best-selling author of the book Road to Awesome, and is the host of the Leaning into Leadership podcast. As a ‘recovering high school principal’, Darrin shares strategies and lessons learned from 26 years in public education to help leaders gain clarity, find joy in their work, and walk in their purpose.