3 Ideas From Me

I.

“The disciplined life looks impressive, but the well-designed life lasts longer. Before you try to find more willpower, design your environment and arrange your day so you’re more likely to follow through.”

​II.

“The most expensive part of a bad habit is rarely the action itself, but rather the identity it quietly reinforces underneath. The issue isn’t skipping once. It’s that you practiced being someone who skips.

Now, that doesn’t mean you need to be perfect. Everyone falls off from time to time. But it is good to have a plan for getting back on track quickly. And try to find a small way to practice being the type of person you want to be today.”

To quote fellow C-suite consultant Mahan Tavakoli, “Many leaders aren’t even taking a six-week course or picking up a book. We’ve reached a point where time scarcity is used as a valid excuse for intellectual stagnation. We often promote people based on technical expertise and then expect them to lead by osmosis.”

In short, the current reality is that there’s a belief in a lack of time for leadership development, yet leaders are expected to have difficult conversations about performance, hold people accountable and execute seamlessly.  

District leaders know the pressure well: scores need to improve, and the list of possible solutions is long—new curricula, intervention blocks and additional benchmark testing.

Most leaders have tried many of these approaches, often with real commitment and significant investment. And yet reading and math scores don’t always move the way anyone hopes they will.

What I’ve seen work, consistently and across grade levels, is something that doesn’t show up in most academic improvement plans: giving students genuine ownership over their own learning.

I don’t mean token leadership roles or a student council that plans assemblies. I mean weaving student ownership into the daily academic fabric of a school, through goal-setting, progress monitoring, and accountability. The idea is that students experience school as leaders of their education rather than merely enduring it.

K12 leaders who build strong relationships inside and outside their school buildings can more confidently lead their districts through inevitable periods of adversity, Superintendent Bill Runey contends.

“If you build a culture of positivity, then when negativity happens it’s like tossing a marble into the ocean,” Runey says on the latest episode of District Administration’s “A Good Lesson” podcast. The episode is titled “A Leadership Team That’s Built Differently.”

“If you don’t have a culture of positivity, it’s like dropping a bowling ball into a bathtub.”

If you’ve ever watched “The Bear,” you know the moment. The tickets start piling up. The kitchen gets loud. Everyone is moving fast, but not always in the same direction.

What separates chaos from a functioning kitchen isn’t effort; it’s clarity—what stays on the menu, and what gets cut because the system can’t sustain it. Sounds like the modern school system, right?

This is the point in the year when next year’s budget stops being theoretical. Adjustments to staffing, downsizing, and in some cases, upsizing, are happening now.

Join Us for the TALAS & Central TALAS Summer Leadership Summit 

TALAS and Central TALAS invite you to the annual Summer Leadership Summit, a powerful two-day gathering of superintendents, senior district leaders, and educational partners dedicated to advancing Latino leadership across Texas.

“Fuerza in Our Roots, Poder in Our People” celebrates the cultural heritage, collective strength, and shared commitment that unite Latino educational leaders. This summit honors the power of our history, values, and purpose in driving student success and shaping the future of education.

June 22–23, 2026 | Concordia University

June 22, 2026

Lunch and two breakout sessions

Evening Inaugural President’s Dinner (additional cost) recognizing outstanding chapter leadership and L3 Cohort 12 participants

June 23, 2026

Breakfast and lunch

Three breakout sessions

Featured breakout with Miguel Cardona, former U.S. Secretary of Education

Closing keynote and book signing with author Robert Alfaro, Baloney, Baloney, Baloney!

Together, we will explore how our roots ground us, our people uplift us, and our unity empowers the future of education.

Early Bird registration is available through March 30, 2026.Don’t miss this inspiring and impactful leadership experience!

Cancellation & Refund Policy

All registration and sponsorship fees are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, your registration or sponsorship fee will be considered a donation to TALAS. Upon request, a donation acknowledgment letter will be provided for your records.