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Real Talk School Leadership with Dan Mault
Real Talk School Leadership is a podcast for educators, administrators, and change-makers who believe schools can be better — and are willing to do the work to make it happen.
Hosted by Dan Mault, elementary school principal and Creativity & Change Leadership graduate student, this show dives into the real conversations behind leadership in today’s schools. Each episode explores creativity, organizational change, team dynamics, and innovation through the lens of everyday practice — from building strong staff cultures and navigating challenges to rethinking systems and empowering diverse thinkers.
Blending research with real-world experience, Dan shares reflections from the principal’s office, lessons from graduate coursework, and practical strategies grounded in frameworks like FourSight, the 4 Ps of Creativity, and collaborative problem solving. You’ll hear honest insights, actionable ideas, and stories from the field designed to help you lead with clarity, empathy, and purpose.
This isn’t about quick fixes or trendy buzzwords.
It’s about people.
It’s about process.
And it’s about creating schools where both adults and students can thrive.
If you’re ready for authentic conversations, thoughtful leadership, and practical creativity in education — welcome to Real Talk School Leadership.
Real Talk School Leadership with Dan Mault
Episode #7 - Understanding People: The Key to Better Teaching and Stronger Teams
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In this episode of Real Talk School Leadership, we take a step back from systems and strategies to focus on something that sits at the center of it all — understanding people.
We spend a lot of time in education talking about curriculum, instruction, and outcomes. But the reality is, none of that works the way we want it to if we don’t truly understand the students in front of us, the colleagues we work with, and the teams we’re part of.
Grounded in research from Carl Rogers, Amy Edmondson, Daniel Goleman, and Zaretta Hammond, this episode explores how understanding people impacts:
- Student engagement and willingness to take risks
- Teacher collaboration and team dynamics
- Leadership decisions and school culture
We unpack the idea that behavior is often just the surface — and how shifting from “What’s wrong?” to “What’s happening?” can completely change how we respond in classrooms, meetings, and leadership situations.
We also connect this back to previous conversations around thinking preferences and the problem-solving process (Clarify → Ideate → Develop → Implement), showing how understanding how people think leads to better outcomes for everyone.
Because at the end of the day, better schools aren’t built through better systems alone. They’re built through better understanding of people.