Accelerate Your Performance
by Studer Education
Latest episode
Build a Winning Culture: Lessons from the Milwaukee Brewers
Build a Winning Culture: Lessons from the Milwaukee Brewers
About this podcast
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 9 Pillars of Leadership Excellence, Janet underscores the importance of seamlessly integrating each practice to deliver positive and impactful results. For each leadership practice she introduces, Janet provides a solid foundation and then collaborates with coaching experts to dig deeper and demonstrate its practical application. Janet also interviews leaders and partners who excel at the tactics to hear about their implementation journeys, hurdles they’ve faced, and their notable achievements. To bring it all together, she offers a broader perspective on leadership, interviewing guests about a diverse array of topics on their paths to achieving organizational excellence.
Follow for weekly insights and actionable strategies to accelerate your performance and become your best at work!
Episodes
The newest 50 of 456 episodes
- Build a Winning Culture: Lessons from the Milwaukee Brewers · 13 min · Episode 455How can an organization build a winning culture in which everyone can succeed and contribute? In October 2026, the Brewers captured their first World Series championship. Their…
- Using Everyday Actions to Make Strategic Plans Successful · 10 min · Season 8 Episode 454What actions can leaders take each day to make a strategic plan successful and achieve meaningful results? Strategic plans are important for organizations. They help define an…
- Using Feedback to Improve: The Plus/Delta Process · 20 min · Season 8 Episode 453How can educational leaders collect feedback to improve their processes and organizational culture? Feedback is a gift, and it is most meaningful when it is collected from those…
- Learn From Lived Experiences - Part 2 · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 452Every 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…
- Learn From Lived Experiences - Part 1 · 19 min · Season 8 Episode 451Education is constantly changing, and with change comes new challenges. In navigating those challenges, leaders can draw on the lived experiences of strong leaders—because…
- The Power of People, Work, & Mattering: Reflecting on 450 Episodes · 8 min · Season 8 Episode 450Since 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…
- Listen to Learn, Act to Improve · 21 min · Season 8 Episode 449Good 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…
- Build Stronger Teams by Including Students and Families · 25 min · Season 8 Episode 448When schools, students, and families work together, everyone wins. The truth is that teachers, families, and students have the same goal – student success. Therefore, building…
- Show Gratitude for the Gift Called "Teacher" · 18 min · Season 8 Episode 447Teachers 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…
- Care, Concern, and Community · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 446Good 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…
- Getting and Keeping Team Members Engaged: Part 2 · 22 min · Season 8 Episode 445Getting 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…
- Getting and Keeping Team Members Engaged: Part 1 · 18 min · Season 8 Episode 444Employee 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…
- Drive Improvement Through Leading and Learning · 26 min · Season 8 Episode 443Continuous improvement is grounded in learning. In fact, continuous improvement necessitates a mindset that focuses on continued learning and growth and that acknowledges that…
- The Bottom Line · 12 min · Episode 442In 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…
- Know Your "Why" · 18 min · Season 8 Episode 441Dr. 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…
- Become a Student of Leadership · 19 min · Season 8 Episode 440Even 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…
- Change Is Everyday Business · 12 min · Season 8 Episode 439Change 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…
- Change Organizational Culture With Standards of Excellence · 22 min · Season 8 Episode 438People 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…
- Enhance the Student Experience with Student Rounding · 5 min · Season 8 Episode 437On 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…
- Using Scorecards to Keep the Strategic Plan “Alive” · 26 min · Season 8 Episode 436As 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…
- Add Voice and Value with Rounding and Recognition · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 435Employees 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…
- Connecting to Purpose: The Little School District That Could · 8 min · Season 8 Episode 434Bright 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…
- Build a Feedback Culture · 7 min · Season 8 Episode 433In 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 –…
- Get Aligned: Strategic Plans, Scorecards, and Measures that Matter · 18 min · Season 8 Episode 432Every day in an organization, good work is being done. Ensuring that all this good work is aligned and focused on the same goals and outcomes is what Superintendent Michael Maine…
- Listen, Learn, Improve: The Gift of Feedback · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 431Getting feedback is one thing; capturing feedback with the mindset that it is a gift is another. The idea that “feedback is a gift” relates to proactively seeking feedback to…
- DHP 2026 Virtual K12 Leadership Conference Launch · 7 min · Season 8 Episode 430Good leaders continuously seek improvement; they want to grow and learn. They lead the way in growing, improving, and surpassing status quo. The 9 Pillars of Leadership…
- Words Have Power · 5 min · Season 8 Episode 429"Words have power," which is why Dr. Janet Pilcher issues a call for leaders to be thoughtful of words, choosing them carefully and using them in positive ways. Leaders model how…
- From Survey Results to Real Growth · 29 min · Season 8 Episode 428Improvement is a team effort, and teams must support one another to be able to move forward together. As Dr. Jennifer Kubista, Superintendent of Central School District 13J in…
- Lead With a People-First Mindset · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 427In this episode, Dr. KK Owen, a leader coach at Studer Education, shares that “our best chance of success is through our people.” As she explains, it’s for this reason that…
- Service Matters: Lead With Excellence · 15 minAccording to Dr. Reggie Todd, the guest in this episode, “Service excellence is critical because it directly shapes the experiences people have with an organization.” The truth…
- Use Words With Purpose · 10 minDo you want to improve your communication skills but don’t know how to get started? This episode of the Accelerate Your Performance podcast is for you! Join Dr. Janet Pilcher in…
- Tackle Communication Barriers · 12 min · Season 8 Episode 424Effective leadership necessitates effective communication. If you want to grow your communication skills, join Dr. Janet Pilcher this week for the second episode in a series…
- Pillar 3: Communicate for Alignment · 12 min · Season 8 Episode 423“Great leadership requires leaders to be great communicators.” That’s why Dr. Janet Pilcher shares a deeper dive into Pillar 3: Communicate for Alignment, one of the overarching…
- Power of the Pause: Reflecting on How to Improve Processes · 23 min · Season 8 Episode 422Sometimes, a pause is all that is needed to get an organization moving faster. This may sound counterintuitive, but, as Dr. Casey Blochowiak explains, pausing to reflect on what…
- 9 Pillars of Leadership Excellence: An Operating System for Results · 17 min · Season 8 Episode 421Join Dr. Janet Pilcher, Founder and President of Studer Education, as she reflects on four decades in education leadership and shares why this moment calls for greater focus…
- Change Your Organization’s Culture One Conversation at a Time · 18 min · Season 8 Episode 420Are you looking for an effective way to shift organizational culture? Listen to hear why Ms. Marni Herrington, Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer of the Oxford…
- Small Conversations, Big Impact: Strengthening Culture Through Rounding · 16 min · Season 8 Episode 419When applied consistently and effectively, one simple practice can have a tremendous impact on culture and create a ripple effect across your organization. What is that practice?…
- Building Lasting Impact with 9 Pillars for Leadership Excellence · 8 min · Season 8 Episode 418Join Dr. Janet Pilcher, Founder and President of Studer Education, as she welcomes the new year with reflections on a longstanding commitment to worthwhile work that helps…
- Express Gratitude for Those on Your Journey · 9 min · Season 7 Episode 417Join Dr. Janet Pilcher, Founder and President of Studer Education, for the final Accelerate Your Performance episode of the year as she reflects on the moments, partnerships, and…
- The Case for Celebrating Bright Spots · 7 min · Season 7 Episode 416It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of leadership, but what if our most powerful tool is simply focusing on what's working well? Listen as Dr. Janet Pilcher…
- Keep Your Organizational Flywheel Spinning with Gratitude · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 415Consistent practices keep the organizational flywheel spinning, and one practice is essential, especially during the holidays: gratitude. In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher…
- Culture and Strategy Go Hand in Hand · 25 min · Season 7 Episode 414"Culture and strategic improvement—those are inseparable." This is a guiding philosophy of Dr. Jamie Burkhart, Director of Women in Leadership at the Missouri Association of…
- Achieve Equity Through Systems Alignment · 21 min · Season 7 Episode 413"Education is truly the conduit to freedom." This powerful belief drives Superintendent Dr. Tremayne Clardy of the Verona Area School District. Joining Dr. Janet Pilcher, he…
- Stop the Blame Cycle: 3 Steps to Process Improvement · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 412Recurring problems demand a shift in focus. In this final rapid-fire episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher shares three essential steps to move away from blame and toward process…
- Cut Through the Noise: 3 Steps to Build Board and Community Trust · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 411External noise is a constant, yet you can be a source of stability and trust. Dr. Janet Pilcher shares three actionable steps educational leaders can take to proactively share…
- Retention Is Your Strategy: 3 Leader Actions to Secure Talent · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 410October burnout is real, and the first 90 days are critical for new hires. Don't leave retention to chance. In this second rapid-fire episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher shares three…
- The Precision Budget: 3 Steps to Protect What's Important · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 409In the first of four rapid-fire episodes, Dr. Janet Pilcher delivers three essential steps educational leaders can take right now to protect their mission and secure their…
- Use Feedback to Unlock Operational Excellence · 16 min · Season 7 Episode 408Join Dr. Janet Pilcher as she welcomes Joseph Murley, Director of Finance for Barren County School District, to discuss how a district-wide survey revealed a surprising breakdown…
- Getting 1% Better Every Day · 21 min · Season 7 Episode 407Visions in Education, a charter school serving nine counties across Northern California, is thriving—even as many districts face declining enrollment. Listen as Chief Operations…
- Why Coaching and Improvement Work Never Ends · 17 min · Season 7 Episode 406In this final live episode from the Destination High Performance K-12 Leadership Conference, Dr. Janet Pilcher welcomes Dr. Heidi Eliopoulos, Superintendent of the School…
