322. Leading With Intention: Featuring Michael D. Nelson & Peter DeWitt

What does it truly mean to lead with intention in today’s fast-paced educational landscape? In this powerful episode of Aspire to Lead, I’m joined by Michael D. Nelson and Peter DeWitt, authors of Leading With Intention: How School Leaders Can Unlock Deeper Collaboration and Drive Results. Together, we explore how school leaders can move beyond just checking off tasks to reconnecting with their core purpose and fostering meaningful engagement in their work.

We dive into practical strategies for setting personal and professional goals using success criteria, building deeper academic and social-emotional connections within school communities, and overcoming common barriers that hinder intentional leadership. This conversation is packed with insights to help you reignite your passion, strengthen collaboration, and drive impactful change in your school community.

About Michael D. Nelson:

Michael Nelson co-facilitates coaching, keynotes, and workshops with Peter DeWitt. He is co-author of the best-selling book, Leading With Intention: How School Leaders Can Unlock Deeper Collaboration and Drive Results (Corwin. 2024) that he wrote with Peter DeWitt.

Michael is the co-host of Corwin’s Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast, and the co-author of the Finding Common Ground blog for Education Week. He created the Instructional Leadership Network for the Washington Association of School Administrators. Read more about him here. 

There is no more noble profession than that of an educator was what Michael Nelson’s mom said almost every day while he was growing up. For almost 40 years, 

Michael has been an educator. His mom would be pleased.  

Even though Michael still considers “teacher” as his primary title, he has served in roles of principal, district instructional leader, superintendent, and currently as assistant executive director developing programs and initiatives for superintendents and district leaders in the state of Washington.  

One foundational leadership value in which Michael leads is the development of a kind, compassionate, and empathetic culture rooted in belonging and equity. He describes his leadership work as building human connectedness, recognizing you must always model what you lead as you build teams of individuals supporting students in their learning. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe awarded him with their official blanket for building a collaborative partnership between the Tribe and school district, the highest honor of the Tribe and the first non-Tribal member to receive this blanket.

Michael has received many state and national awards during his time as a principal and superintendent. As a principal, he was acknowledged by Pacific Lutheran University as its Outstanding Recent Alumni in 1997. At the same time, the school he was leading as principal received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education.   

As a superintendent, he was named Washington state’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year. During his tenure as superintendent, Michael was elected President of the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) by his peers.  

While WASA President, he was one of two superintendents in the nation selected to participate in the Embark Program facilitated by the United States Navy. He spent time on the USS Ronald Reagan learning from all levels of the men and women serving on this aircraft carrier. He also has received the Washington State Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Educating the Whole Child Award.  

Follow Michael D. Nelson:

Website: https://instructionalleadershipcollective.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suitguymike/ 

 

About Peter DeWitt:

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For the last 10 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books. 

DeWitt’s professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy. His work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week with Michael Nelson, which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week’s A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, research, trauma and many other educational topics. ​

Additionally, DeWitt is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan. He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State’s (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences), and sits on numerous advisory boards. 

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books. Click on title to purchase. They include:

Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press. 2012).

Flipping Leadership Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin Press. 2014)

Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward).

School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin Press/ Ontario Principals Council. 2017).

Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018). 

Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020).

Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin Press. Learning Forward. 2021).

De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works (Corwin Press. 2022). 

Leading with Intention – How School Leaders Can Unlock Deeper Collaboration and Drive Results (co-authored with Michael Nelson. Corwin Press. 2024).

Peter’s articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages. 

Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Learning Forward, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), University of Oklahoma, Cognition Education (New Zealand), Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), Victoria Department of Education (Australia), University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the National Education Association (NEA), New Brunswick Teacher’s Association (Canada), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Education Scotland (Scotland), Glasgow City Council (Scotland), Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait) the National Association of School Psychologists, ASCD, l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO), the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO), and the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), National School Climate Center, GLSEN, PBS, NPR, BAM Radio Network, ABC, and NBC’s Education Nation.

Follow Peter DeWitt:

Website: https://instructionalleadershipcollective.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter_dewitt518/ 

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My New Book “The Language of Behavior” is Coming Out Soon!

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Contact Joshua Stamper  for presentations on Leadership Capacity, Mental Health Strategies, Alternative Behavior Practices, Leadership Development, and Innovative campus systems.

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