Accelerate Your Performance
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
434 episodes
Build a Feedback Culture
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 provi...
Get Aligned: Strategic Plans, Scorecards, and Measures that Matter
Every 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 of Martin County, Florida calls getting “locked tight,” and Super...
Listen, Learn, Improve: The Gift of Feedback
Getting 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 better understand what is working well and what needs improvem...
DHP 2026 Virtual K12 Leadership Conference Launch
Good 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 Excellence frame these kinds of continuous improvement efforts and shape ho...
Words Have Power
"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 to use words effectively, and operationalizing values, including ...
From Survey Results to Real Growth
Improvement 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 Oregon states, “You have to be reflective and working hard together....
Lead With a People-First Mindset
In 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 people need to understand that they are valued and that they bring valu...
Service Matters: Lead With Excellence
According 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 is that service matters, and service excellence is an all day, ever...
Use Words With Purpose
Do 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 the third episode in a series focused on communication and Pillar ...
Tackle Communication Barriers
Effective 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 related to Pillar 3: Communicate for Alignment. In this e...
Pillar 3: Communicate for Alignment
“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 9 Pillars of Leadership Excellence. Join h...
Power of the Pause: Reflecting on How to Improve Processes
Sometimes, 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 may be bogging down systems and processes allows organizations to ...
9 Pillars of Leadership Excellence: An Operating System for Results
Join 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, consistency, and action. In this episode, Dr. Pilcher exp...
Change Your Organization’s Culture One Conversation at a Time
Are 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 School District in Mississippi...
Small Conversations, Big Impact: Strengthening Culture Through Rounding
When 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? Rounding.In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher welcomes Saman...
Building Lasting Impact with 9 Pillars for Leadership Excellence
Join 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 educational leaders make a meaningful, lasting difference. I...
Express Gratitude for Those on Your Journey
Join 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 lessons that shaped Studer Education’s path. Dr. Pilcher...
The Case for Celebrating Bright Spots
It'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 explains how recognizing bright spots creates a powerful loop of pu...
Keep Your Organizational Flywheel Spinning with Gratitude
Consistent practices keep the organizational flywheel spinning, and one practice is essential, especially during the holidays: gratitude.In this episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher explains how intentional appreciation connects people back to the...
Culture and Strategy Go Hand in Hand
"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 School Administrators (MASA)....
Achieve Equity Through Systems Alignment
"Education is truly the conduit to freedom."This powerful belief drives Superintendent Dr. Tremayne Clardy of the Verona Area Scho...
Stop the Blame Cycle: 3 Steps to Process Improvement
Recurring 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 improvement. Learn what it takes to reframe discussions, conduct a system au...
Cut Through the Noise: 3 Steps to Build Board and Community Trust
External 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 their story and build strong allies. In five minutes, learn how to a...
Retention Is Your Strategy: 3 Leader Actions to Secure Talent
October 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 intentional executive actions to help leaders secure their best people...
The Precision Budget: 3 Steps to Protect What's Important
In 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 future. Listen now and learn how to operationalize your ...