Control+Shift+Lead - ForwardEd

About Control+Shift+Lead - ForwardEd

Control+Shift+Lead is a podcast about leadership in education—for educators at every level, not just those with a title. Hosted by Jim Wichman and Adam Busch, the show explores the real decisions, tensions, relationships, and mindset shifts that shape leadership in today’s schools. From instructional leadership and school culture to decision-making, innovation, staff development, student experience, and organizational change, each episode focuses on what it actually takes to lead with clarity, intention, and agency. Control+Shift+Lead is built around honest conversations, practical ideas, and real-world experiences from educators who are doing the work. Some episodes feature guests. Others put Jim and Adam into the leadership questions schools are wrestling with right now. The show is for principals, assistant principals, district leaders, instructional coaches, aspiring administrators, teacher leaders, and educators who want to strengthen their impact from wherever they lead. TAKING CONTROL Moving beyond constant reaction and becoming more intentional about the decisions, systems, and priorities that shape your school. DRIVING THE SHIFT Challenging assumptions, navigating change, building stronger cultures, and helping people move forward together. LEADING WITH PRESENCE Strengthening relationships, listening well, building trust, and staying connected to the people behind the work. Because leadership in education is not simply a position. It is the way you influence people, shape conditions, make decisions, and help your organization move forward. Control+Shift+Lead is part of the ForwardEd Network: Advancing Voices, Shaping Education.

Publisher

ForwardEd Network

Category

education · education · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 May 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

23 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   The Meeting Isn’t the Work - Your Morning Boost: A School Leadership Podcast

   The Meeting Isn’t the Work A meeting can feel incredibly productive without actually producing very much. We talked. We shared ideas. Everyone contributed. We may have even scheduled another meeting. But when people walk out of the room, what is actually different? This week, we look at one of the easiest traps in school leadership: confusing conversation with progress. Some meetings absolutely need to happen. The problem isn’t meetings themselves. It’s bringing people together without being clear about what the work is supposed to accomplish. We explore why repeated conversations carry a cultural cost, how poor follow-through slowly teaches people that their time and thinking may not matter, and why leaders should match the communication tool to the work. Sometimes the answer is a full meeting. Sometimes it’s an email. Sometimes three people simply need 15 minutes together. The real test is simple: what moved because we met? If a meeting ends without a decision, a clear next step, an assigned owner, or a problem that is meaningfully closer to being solved, leaders should ask whether the meeting was the right tool in the first place. What You’ll Hear: Why productive conversation isn’t always productive work The cultural cost of repeatedly reopening the same issues Why unclear outcomes can lead to disengagement and multitasking How to decide between a meeting, an email, or a smaller conversation Why every meeting should leave something different behind How clear ownership and next steps turn discussion into momentum Key Takeaways: A meeting can feel productive while creating very little actual change Leaders should decide before a meeting what should be different when people leave Reopening the same issues without clear records or follow-through erodes trust The communication tool should match the work Every meeting should end with a decision, a clarified next step, or an assigned owner Meetings should create momentum, not simply consume time 🎧 Listen to Your Morning Boost: https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost (https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost)

2. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Student Behavior: What Actually Changed?

   Kids are different now. We hear it in schools all the time—but is it actually true? Adam Busch and Jim Wichman are joined by Jessica Cabeen and Meg Simon to wrestle with what's really changed about student behavior, attention, relationships, and the way schools respond to young people. Jessica offers a useful challenge: maybe the kids haven't changed as much as leaders need to change. From there, the conversation explores behavior as communication, the conditions adults create for students, changing expectations around compliance, and what today's students may be telling us about schools. The conversation also turns the question back on educators. If we're frustrated that students aren't responding the way they once did, are we adapting our practices—or expecting students to adapt to systems that haven't changed with them? What You'll Hear: Why behavior can be understood as a form of communication How adult-created conditions influence student behavior What changing attention habits mean for schools The difference between compliance and meaningful engagement Why leaders may need to examine their own willingness to change The power of noticing students and making sure they know they matter Control Shift Lead is hosted by Adam Busch and Jim Wichman on the ForwardEd Network. Listen and follow Control Shift Lead: https://push.fm/fl/csl

3. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Families Don’t Experience Departments. They Experience Your School. - Your Morning Boost: A School Leadership Podcast

   Families Don’t Experience Departments. They Experience Your School. Schools organize themselves into departments because it makes the work manageable. Families don’t experience us that way. When a parent reaches out with one problem, they aren’t thinking about student services, communications, counseling, administration, or which department owns the answer. They simply see their child’s school — and every handoff, delayed response, and communication gap becomes part of that experience. In this episode, we sit down with Ian Nenke to explore what school leaders can learn by looking at our systems through the eyes of families. We talk about parent communication, cultural differences, responsiveness, trust, and why sometimes the best thing a leader can do is take ownership of finding an answer rather than sending a family somewhere else. We also look at how easily internal structures can become external frustration. One example: a single parent email with several questions that ultimately touched four different offices. From the school’s perspective, that may make organizational sense. From the family’s perspective, it can feel fragmented, slow, and confusing. The question isn’t simply whether each department is doing its job well. It’s whether the entire experience makes sense from the other side. What You’ll Hear: Why families experience the school as one system, not separate departments How handoffs and communication gaps can quickly become trust problems Why a quick, honest response matters even when you don’t yet have the answer Why taking ownership often matters more than knowing exactly who “owns” the issue How small, sincere interactions help families decide whether a school feels responsive, connected, and human Key Takeaways: Families experience the whole school, not the organizational chart A short, honest response is often more valuable than silence Leaders build trust by taking ownership and helping families find answers Small interactions across a school can strengthen the sense of community Seeing the school through a parent’s eyes can reveal gaps that internal structures hide 🎧 Listen to Your Morning Boost: https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost (https://push.fm/fl/yourmorningboost)

Reach and audience

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Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.