The Growth in Educational Leadership Podcast

In this week's episode, I share strategies for staying composed when an unexpected interview question catches you off guard. One blip doesn’t mean failure. 
I explain that many questions link to the Looking At Our School (LAOS) leadership competencies, and offer practical tools: don’t confuse surprise with difficulty, give yourself permission to pause, listen for the competency being assessed, decide on one main point, connect the question to an existing experience, use action verbs to organise my thoughts, break multi-part questions into smaller parts, and ask for clarification when needed. 
I stress not inventing answers and instead be authentic, then recovering and moving on.  I end with a 10-second/60-second practice challenge.
You can learn more about the “Help! I Have an Interview in a Week” course here: https://www.orladempseycoaching.ie/page/247284
TIMESTAMPS
00:35 Episode Setup and Context
01:28 Why Surprise Happens
04:12 Pause and Stay Composed
06:10 What They’re Assessing
08:05 One Clear Main Point
09:16 Reuse Your Best Stories
10:24 Verbs and Structure Tools
12:22 Clarify and Stay Honest
15:45 Recover Practice and Wrap
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In episode 58 of the Growth in Educational Leadership podcast, I share practical tips to stop rambling in leadership interviews, based on issues that often come up in mock interviews with my clients. 
I explain that interview answers should focus on the words the panel wants to hear, not everything I want to share, and that each answer needs one clear core message. I recommend answering the question in the first sentence, using one strong example, keeping context brief, and using a tight SAR/STAR-style structure (short situation, focused actions with strong “I + verb” statements, and a clear result). I also emphasize knowing the destination of the answer, stopping once the question is answered, and practicing cutting answers down (including reducing filler words) to fit within about 90 seconds to two minutes. 
For lots more support like this, check out my leadership course, Help! I’ve an Interview in a Week available here: https://www.orladempseycoaching.ie/page/247284
TIMESTAMPS
00:53 Stop Rambling Overview
01:59 Couse Intro: Help! I've an Interview in a Week
03:56 Use Panel Keywords
05:26 Define Your Core Message
08:23 Lead With Answer
09:36 One Example and Structure
10:31 Keep Context Short
11:24 Strong Verbs and Actions
13:14 Know Your Destination
14:53 Zip It Up
16:03 Practice Cutting Answers
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In episode 57 of the Growth and Educational Leadership podcast, I discuss handling multi-part interview questions that can throw school leaders off under pressure. I explain practical strategies such as asking permission to use a notepad, requesting clarification or repetition, and taking a brief pause to process before answering. 
I show how to decode questions by pulling out the key verbs (e.g., led, engaged, overcame, evaluated) and then chunking the response into clear sections, using sequential language and the rule of three to keep it structured without sounding scripted. I highlight common mistakes like overexplaining context, focusing too long on the first part, and rushing the rest, and I recommend keeping the impact short at the end. 
Learn more about 'Help! I’ve an Interview in a Week' here: https://www.orladempseycoaching.ie/page/247284
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Recap
01:34 Why Multi-Part Questions Trip Us Up
02:25 Use Notes and Ask Clarification
07:45 Decode Questions With Verbs
09:07 Chunking and Rule of Three
10:21 Check Back and Keep Impact Brief
12:10 Stay Grounded and Avoid Common Mistakes
13:58 Structure Without Sounding Scripted
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In this episode of the Growth in Educational Leadership podcast, I speak with Anne Jan Van Den Dool, an educational leadership specialist and director at Poel Management, about his 20+ years across primary, secondary, and vocational education, including interim school leadership. He describes learning leadership “the hard way” after becoming a young middle leader, realising that leading teachers is a different profession requiring skills, knowledge, and an identity shift, including clearly “saying goodbye” to the teacher team. 
We discuss differences between Dutch and Irish middle leadership roles, leadership responsibility for teaching quality, aligning school values across all practices, and respecting the school as a system. Andjan explains interim leadership during high-stress periods, em
He explores trust, vulnerability, “limbo” as a growth phase, burnout as feedback, and urges leaders to be true rather than wise.
TIMESTAMPS
01:25 Early Leadership Lessons
05:43 Teacher or Leader Identity
11:19 Responsibility for Quality
14:32 Values and Vision Hiring
19:14 Interim Principal Work
22:40 First Weeks Under Pressure
25:33 Why Middle Leaders Matter
29:02 Repairing Trust and Culture
29:58 Trust and Insecurity
31:34 Leading with Vulnerability
33:51 Identity Stories in Leadership
36:41 First Days as Middle Leader
38:44 The Gift of Limbo
41:35 Rethinking Career Paths
46:09 Burnout and Balance
49:46 When Leaders Feel Stuck
54:10 Be True, Not Wise
56:25 Connect and Closing
CONTACT DETAILS
Contact Anne Jan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annejanvandendool/
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In this week's episode, I welcome Shane Leaning to the Growth in Educational Leadership podcast, and we discuss his work in Shanghai, including leadership development through Education Leaders and his not-for-profit Work Collaborative, which grew out of his book Change Starts Here, on how schools build confidence to lead sustainable change amid external pressures. 
We explore “othering” as distancing people by treating them as different, including a self-protective form linked to imposter feelings and a more destructive form rooted in stereotypes, and how it shows up in schools as “us and them” divides between leaders and staff. 
Shane shares cross-country similarities in challenges like teacher retention and what systems might learn from each other, plus intercultural examples from UK-China meeting norms. 
We discuss identity in staffrooms, psychological safety, feeling heard, and gratitude as practical ways to build connection and reduce miscommunication.
CONTACT DETAILS
Learn more about Shane's work on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaningshane/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leaningshane/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
00:45 Shane’s Leadership Work
02:11 How His Projects Evolved
06:02 Defining Othering
11:14 Shared Global Challenges
15:16 Messy Humans and Stereotypes
19:56 Us and Them in Schools
28:15 Culture Clash in Meetings
31:14 Empathy in Interviews
35:24 Awareness Over Assumptions
37:25 Shane’s Podcasts and Wrap-Up
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