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The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast | The #1 Downloaded School Leadership Show

by Daniel Bauer Loves School Leadership

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Latest episodes

Why Disengaged Students Don't Need Another Intervention with James McLamb

October 14, 2026 · 43 min

Disengaged students aren't a content problem. Teens aren't a problem to be solved — they need someone to teach them how to think about themselves. Youth life coaching gives disengaged students what curriculum can't: a growth mindset, a…
What the Apple Store Creator Would Do as a Principal with Ron Johnson

October 11, 2026 · 47 min

School leadership isn't the education business. It's the relationship business, and every interaction launches, deepens, or restores one. Principal leadership and school culture come down to relationships, says Ron Johnson, the executive…
Selfmentorship: Why Great Principals Don't Wait for a Coach with Danny Bauer

October 7, 2026 · 46 min

Selfmentorship is the leadership skill no one teaches principals. Stop waiting for a coach and learn to close your own leadership gaps. Selfmentorship is the leadership skill most principals and school leaders were never taught: turning…
Why Relationship-Building Gives Secondary Teachers Time Back With John Whalen and Doug Overton

October 4, 2026 · 52 min

Relationship-building in secondary schools has a reputation problem. Content-focused teachers stacked with seven or eight periods a day treat connection as a nice-to-have they don't have time for. John Whalen and Doug Overton, co-founders…
Why "Just Be Resilient" Is Burning Out Your Staff with Steph Hawkins

September 30, 2026 · 38 min

Teacher burnout won't be fixed with more grit. When resilience becomes the plan, schools stop redesigning the work that's draining staff. Teacher burnout and staff wellbeing get the headlines, but school leaders are missing two quieter…

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Why Classroom Management Is Killing Student Leadership with Rachael Thrash

September 27, 2026 · 49 min

Leads education and innovation at Big Bad Boo Studios, where she builds multicultural animated content that helps kids navigate conflict, identity, and belonging. Rachael Thrash has spent 25 years designing curriculum and student…
The 4 Branches of Creativity Most School Leaders Ignore with Susan Riley

September 23, 2026 · 48 min

Creativity in schools isn't about talent, it's a system. Budget cuts and constraints make your team more creative, not less.Creativity in schools gets treated like an elective — something reserved for art class and cut the moment budgets…
How to Delegate Everything in Your Head Without Hiring Anyone with Kati Cahill

September 20, 2026 · 50 min

Delegating feels impossible when you run a school alone — until you turn what's stuck in your head into a playbook someone else can run. Delegation is the hardest skill for a principal running a school without an assistant principal…
Why Getting Answers From AI Is Hurting Your Leadership with Bill Renner

September 16, 2026 · 53 min

Currently in his eleventh year of school administration and his twenty-fifth in education, Bill Renner has run the full course through the Ruckus Maker system — the Mastermind, one-on-one coaching, and now Digital Danny. A middle school…
Why Student Behavior Won't Change Until the Adults Do

September 12, 2026 · 48 min

Student behavior changed when the adults did: 25 discipline calls a day dropped to about one. Here's the adult-first work behind it. School discipline problems don't start with the kids. Sarah spent years answering 20 to 25 walkie calls a…
How to Make Better Decisions Without More Information with David Samuelson and Mary Call Blanusa

September 9, 2026 · 48 min

Leading the Alliance for Decision Education's work to make decision science part of core curriculum are David Samuelson, the organization's Executive Director, and Mary Call Blanusa, its Director of Public Policy. Samuelson spent his…
Fred Holmes on Why He's Never Missed a Wednesday Mastermind

September 2, 2026 · 40 min

Over two decades in Memphis-area schools will teach you how to spot a leader who's still growing. Fred Holmes — known inside the Ruckus Maker Mastermind as the Velvet Hammer — started as a science teacher in Shelby County Schools, moved…

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About the show

BETTER LEADERS BETTER SCHOOLS is the most downloaded podcast for K-12 school leaders — sitting in the TOP 0.5% of over 2 million podcasts worldwide. Launched in 2015, BLBS exists for one kind of leader: the Ruckus Maker — the principal who refuses to default to the status quo and is creating a campus experience worth showing up for. Every week, host Danny Bauer sits down with the sharpest minds in leadership, learning, and culture. No permission slips required. Turn your commute, your workout, or your chores into the best professional development of your career. Do School Different.