September 29, 2025 • 53 mins
What you’ll get from this episode Principal-certified wellness coach and former Canadian National Barefoot Water Ski team member Michelle Sigmann breaks down how high performance translates to schools: unlearning to truly listen, building connection through communication, and replacing willpower myths with daily, sustainable habits. We examine the balance of luck and skill, the leadership cost of poor listening, and practical routines leaders can implement tomorrow to strengthen mental health, model calm under pressure, and drive lasting change. Connect With Me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elemental_educator YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ElementalEducator TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elemental.educator Website: https://www.elementaleducator.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-comeau-961a49310/ For speaking, consulting, coaching, guest recommendations, or other inquiries tyler@elementaleducator.com Connect With Our Guest Website: https://www.wellnessmichelle.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellefitnessmomma #ValuesBasedLeadership #WellnessForLeaders #MindsetInPractice About the Elemental Educator Elemental Educator equips leaders with actionable strategies anchored in values (Earth), adversity navigation (Air), change implementation (Water), and bold decision-making (Fire). Each conversation translates lived experience into practical moves that unlock potential in schools and organizations.
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Episode Transcript
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(01:01:23):
Who's been your biggest influence?
This question is interesting.
I get this asked a lot and I have many.
I would say that in education, it was a
principle when I first started teaching
who saw things in me that I
didn't see in myself at the time.
(01:01:44):
And I grew up very, always trying
to strive for more and, but never,
I think truly believed in what I was capable of.
And this principle did that for me.
And I think that really at the
age I was at then as an adult,
accelerated kind of my next steps.
Okay. And what about the other side?
(01:02:07):
Oh, that's a, so I have many as well.
I mean, I've got two young kids and I
think that, you know, when you have kids,
they're a massive influence on you because I think it makes
you think and change and reflect
in different ways.
(01:02:28):
I had lots of influencers growing up that, you know,
brought me to my elite athlete world.
It was my coach, you know, I'm always
going to, you know, give credit to my parents
because, you know, they provided me
with the opportunities and yeah, my family.
(01:02:48):
I haven't asked this on the
show yet, but I'm curious to see
how much of your journey was luck versus skill.
Luck versus skill. Wow.
So I've actually never been asked that question.
And it's interesting because when I
think about luck, I think about, you know,
(01:03:09):
being in the right place at the right time, saying yes to
the right opportunities and skill.
I believe that people are born naturally with some skill,
but I think the majority of your skill
comes through your mindset and your
ability to see things differently.
And so I think when I think about luck, I think part of
(01:03:33):
that goes into the mindset that you have,
because when you have a mindset that you can do more and be
more, you see things in a different
way and think doors open up for you.
So I think that luck, you can create more
opportunities for yourself with luck when you
see things differently. If that makes sense.
(01:03:54):
It's like the old phrase, you have to have skill to be
lucky and you have to have luck to have skill.
They kind of go hand in hand. Alchemists, welcome to a new
episode. We've got an amazing guest,
Michelle Segment with us, who is a principal certified
wellness coach and a mom of two who
understands the challenge of balance in a busy life. She
supports both adults and kids in building
daily habits for their goals, strengthening mental health
(01:04:15):
and fuel lasting transformation.
A former member of the Canadian National Barefoot Water Ski
team, Michelle knows the power of
discipline and performance. She leads workshops for
principals, coaches, parents and athletes,
offers one-on-one coaching and has developed a wellness
curriculum tailored for school leaders.
Michelle has authored my personalized school setting
(01:04:36):
workbook, published articles through
the Ontario Principals Council and has been featured on
multiple podcasts. Her mission is
to help others believe in themselves, admit to personal
growth and unlock the next level
that they're meant to be at. Michelle, welcome to my show,
The Elemental Educator. It is my pleasure
to have you on today. Thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you, Tyler, for having me here.
(01:04:58):
Alchemists, my one request before we get into our first
segment. It would mean everything to me.
If you head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe at
Elemental Educator. Growing the
channel enables me to bring on incredible guests like
Michelle and continue delivering the best
show I can for you. That being said,
we're going to get into our first segment.
(01:05:23):
Rooted in wisdom driven by purpose, grounded moments is all
about our values. And there's
no better way to see what we truly value, Michelle, than to
play a game. Are you ready to play?
Yeah, love games.
All right, Michelle, I'm going to give you a scenario and
you can reply in one of two ways.
It's either a principle, which means it's
something that is a part of your everyday
life, its core value, or a preference, meaning it's okay if
(01:05:45):
not everybody does it. Ready to go?
Okay, waking up before 6 a.m.
Preference.
Daily exercise, no matter what.
Ground purpose.
No phones during meals.
That's a ground in purpose.
Carry on luggage only.
That would be a preference.
(01:06:05):
Coffee before anything.
Oh, yes, that is a grounded purpose.
One day a week needs to be off social media.
That would be a preference.
Making your bed every morning.
Here, that's really good for you. But my hours are
different than my husband's. So I'm going to say
that that would be a
(01:06:26):
preference, but it's not always possible.
There's no screens in the bedroom.
Yes, absolutely. Grounded purpose.
Dressing sharp while at home.
Oh, yes. You know, look good, feel good. I always say that.
So I try my best, but I will tell you,
I have some very comfy clothes that I
just... I'm going to call this one a preference.
I'm going to call this a preference.
(01:06:46):
And the opposite of the first
one, never working on tasks after 6.
It's tough. In the amount of jobs that I carry, I will say
that my balance is very good,
but times of the day is not always going to meet that 6
p.m. So I'm going to say it would be a
preference. And there's our first segment game, Michelle.
The goal of it is to establish what we
(01:07:07):
truly value. We have to stand by them. And I want to ask
before we fully get into this segment here,
what's the most important thing that the audience needs to
know about you in order to understand
your story for the rest of the show? So I think the most
important thing I want people to know
about me is that I haven't had anything come easy to me in
life and that I really, truly believe in
(01:07:30):
how I ground this work for my kids in kindness and hard
work gets you everywhere in life.
And who I am is exactly who I am in all parts of my life.
So I'm honest, I'm authentic,
I'm a hard worker, and I believe that I can do more than
what I can, but nothing's come easy.
So when I tell my story, people see me on Instagram and
(01:07:55):
they think, "Oh, how do you do all
those things?" And I said, "Everything takes time." And
that's where a lot of my work is done through
with habits and consistency to prove that I wasn't where I
am right now, 15, 20 years ago. I wasn't
where I am now a year ago. And that consistency in habits,
(01:08:18):
it truly works and it is a huge part
of my story. What's one of the topics that you have
established that's now become a non-negotiable
for you? My morning routine. I've spoke about this on other
places, but I have a story that
(01:08:40):
from an athlete into where I am now, I kind of lost myself
for a really long time. And I really
grounded myself in my morning routine. That's kind of where
I started. And with a busy schedule
and busy kids, it's kind of my happy place before I have to
give to everybody else. And so I give
(01:09:01):
myself that time to journal and meditate or read or
whatever it is that I need to do in that morning,
enjoy the cup of coffee, that kind of purpose, and then my
workout. And I find after that,
I feel like I've given enough to myself. And at that time,
and I can then continue as a leader in
a school, and then also being a mom and a wife and giving
(01:09:23):
back to my family. How long is your morning
routine? So this is also, I would not recommend right off
the bat. I will tell you it started as,
you know, a 20 minute thing. It's now a good hour and a
half. So I am up between 430 and 445.
(01:09:44):
Again, you have to understand too, I'm a principal during
the day, but I also have a wellness
business. So I sometimes that early morning is getting some
work done, much needed work that I
didn't have time for in the evening, the evening before,
and then dedicating at least 30 to 45
minutes for my workout. Awesome. And with all the neural
(01:10:05):
wellness that you've put on to students,
teachers, principals, you've been a part of the hiring
talks before, what are the top three things
you look for in a team member? Yeah, so I struggle when it
comes to interviews because I, you know,
I've always said I'd rather, you know, someone follow me
around for a couple months and get to
(01:10:26):
know me or me do the same to somebody else because I think
it's very hard to see who someone truly is
through questions. However, in saying that I, you can get
some questions that really pull out
authenticity. So what I want to see is authenticity and
honesty. I want to see passion for kids.
(01:10:50):
And with that passion comes, you hear it in the stories
that they tell, you hear it in, you know,
the way they present themselves when they talk about kids
and families, like they just glow.
And yeah, I want to, I want to bring a new strength to my
team. So I'm always looking for
something that our school doesn't have. You know,
curriculum, you can teach anyone to teach
(01:11:12):
curriculum, but you can't teach people to be intuitive to
kids and to know kids and to engage
students and families in different ways. That, that is,
that comes with a character trait of a person.
So. And I sit back down and think about the same thing
right there. I'm with you, team Michelle.
I love to hear stories. I love their passion. I love to
(01:11:35):
hear that somebody can show how dedicated
they are to the community because they love it. You know, I
completely agree that it's a really
hard thing to actually discover in an interview process.
I've become a fan of reference checking,
you know, the top five people that we wanted to interview.
And, you know, I mean, the conversations,
sometimes it's, you know, sometimes it's informed the
interview and made it a little bit better to
(01:11:56):
have that reference check done. You know, there's been
instances where you catch somebody saying
something and it's the opposite of what the reference have
said. And you don't need that
awkward conversation, but the conversation is you're
putting your team first, you're putting your team
forward. And that's what matters the most, especially in
that leadership position. You know,
you're surrounding yourself with a team that wants to work
(01:12:18):
towards that common goal and not somebody
that's just looking for a job. Michelle, before you came on
the show, I asked you to just give me a
quote that you wanted to bring on the show. And the one you
brought was, we may not always have
the power of control, which shows up at our door, but we
always have the power to decide what stays
and what goes. And what I would love to know is where did
you discover this quote and why did you
(01:12:39):
choose to bring it on the show today? So, you know, there's
two books that I've read of Cleo
Wade's and she has some great insight. And I'm such a quote
person because when I see a quote or read
a quote or hear a quote, I often just take a minute to
reflect on what that means to me.
And this quote is near and dear to my heart because it
(01:13:03):
really speaks about the mind.
And in the world that we live in, you know, it's so easy to
get wrapped up in things that we can't
control. And it's so easy to make, complain and make
excuses about things we can't control.
But we have so much power in our mind and we have so much
(01:13:25):
power in what we decide to read,
the people we decide to surround ourselves with, the
messages that we choose to believe about
ourselves and others, the perception we see. And so when
this quote says, you get to decide what
stays and what goes, we actually do. We have a filter
system in our reticular activating system
in our mind, right? We get to say, this is great. I'm going
(01:13:48):
to let this come in and then I'm getting
rid of it because it's not serving me or it's not serving
my family or the people that I lead.
And so often as a principal, I have to do that. I have to
filter things through for my staff
and for my families and my kids. And I truly have the
message of, you know, we can only control this
piece. So let's focus here. Let's focus on the control. And
(01:14:11):
those other things that come in,
they're just waves that are passing and some of them we're
going to learn from and use and others
we're just going to let them keep going. And when you do
that, when you take that control back over
and say, I get to decide what stays and what goes, you do
have different perspective, you see things
differently, and you also create more positive
(01:14:32):
opportunities for yourself. And that's where I
truly, I live by this quote, I really
do. And so kudos out to Cleo Wade for that.
Yeah. You know, the picture of how we can control things
and it can be really difficult,
especially when negative information, even positive
information, you know, we can't control
(01:14:53):
what shows up as information. Walk me through how you take
that and you actually have the ability to
say, no, that's not something I'm willing to go through
with. So, I mean, we, we as people have
to make many different, many, many decisions throughout the
day. And as a, as a principal and
a leader, you know, we make even more. And as a, as a mom,
(01:15:14):
you know, you make even more. So,
I had to work really hard on this. And like I said, I won't
go into my deepest story before, but
that's, that's a big part I had to learn
because I, what I was holding on to before
were things that I couldn't control. And I was, you know,
taking those on and making it a part
of my narrative, which was actually taking me in a more
(01:15:36):
negative path. And so that was one of the
first things I did. And through doing that was, you know,
they call them affirmations. I call them
power statements. You know, I always joke that a power
statement is a statement you give to
yourself, but they say the powerhouse is your mitochondria.
So I do get that. I'm not, I'm not
saying science can't be involved in this, but the power
(01:15:59):
statement is you're, you're telling yourself
something you want to believe. And when we go through our
day to day things and statements are
said that may meet that we can't control, that maybe have a
negative impact or a situation happens
or the weather changes, or, you know, we, we didn't go the
(01:16:19):
route we wanted to go, we have to get used
to interrupting our thoughts. And it takes time and
consistency. And I would say, if, if everybody
did this, we would live in a perfect world. So it's, it's
takes time. It takes a habit of,
you know, saying those statements to yourself when a
(01:16:40):
situation happens or a statement is said, or
whatever it happens that may be not something that's going
to serve you, being able to stop,
interrupt your thought, and then change your thought
pattern. And you do that through power
statements. You can do that through practicing, giving
yourself times throughout the day where
(01:17:00):
you're just sitting in your thoughts. And I mean, it's not,
it's not realistic to say you're going
to give yourself 10 minutes, but I'm talking about, you
know, a minute or two, three to four times a
day to just sit in your thoughts. Another thing is using
timers on your cell phone. We, we know we
carry our cell phones around like they're, you know, our
purse, like they're just everywhere with us.
Having those timers that remind you of those power
(01:17:22):
statements and remind you about the thought
process and keeping in control of what you can control and
letting out things that you can't
control. So those are just some quick things. There's,
there's lots that I do around teaching
about that. It is definitely step one when it, when it
comes to you trying to achieve a goal,
you have to start with your mind. You
(01:17:43):
have to start with your thought process,
because it is, our mind is the
most powerful thing that we have.
What's an example of a power thought that you use?
Uh, so if we use the control one, it could be, I am in
control of my day. I choose positivity
and I will conquer whatever comes at me today. That is an
(01:18:05):
example of one power statement.
I was listening to someone a few years
ago and they said the best thing you can do
when you wake up in the morning and
say something to yourself every day.
And it was so simple for them to get out of bed, take a
minute before they needed to go,
you know, and say it's going to be a
great day. And I didn't adopt that fully,
but at some point in my morning routine, I
(01:18:26):
tell myself it's going to be a great day.
The purpose for that, you know, we, we
have, we had a student that, you know,
one particular student, where every time
they walked into the building, they said,
it's going to be a great day. And I actually think it's the
best thing that somebody could
do because it brightens up their faces and it brightens up
the faces of those around them.
When we hear it, it brightens my face and I've adopted
(01:18:49):
saying it as well because the power of
even just starting with a simple phrase puts you into that
mindset to start your day the best way
possible. So I appreciate you sharing that. That being
said, what's a hill that you're willing to
die on Michelle? Oh gosh, this, you know what? This is such
a great question, Tyler, because
I, I die in a lot of Hills, I'm going to tell you, but the
(01:19:11):
one that I will stand true to all the time
is communication. The way you communicate with each other
and yourself matters the most. And when I,
you know, first got my first school as a principal, I said,
I'm going to have a word of the year.
(01:19:32):
And every year for the last three and a
half years, I've had a word of the year.
And the first year that I was at my new school, it was
communication. And I would hold everybody
accountable for both the way they communicate with others
and themselves. And I would do it in a way
that allows for growth and opportunity. And you can give as
(01:19:56):
much feedback as you want. You can
disagree with someone, you can have a debate, but when you
do it with kindness in your communication,
you, you can grow so much more from both sides. But when
you enter a conversation with judgment
and assumptions and negative perceptions, the other person
(01:20:20):
that you're on the other side with,
they shut down. They're not hearing you. So it is the hill
that I'll die on is the communication.
And I will call every student on it, every, every teacher
on it, every parent on it, I will call
myself on it, friends and family, we, you know, when we can
communicate more effectively with
(01:20:40):
ourselves and each other, you know, the growth is immense.
It's huge. What's your word this year?
So it's funny because, yeah, I've actually started thinking
about my next year. So the first year was
communication. The second year was accountability. And then
(01:21:02):
this past year was connection. And every
year we build on those words. And so we don't throw away
communication to adopt accountability,
we then bring on accountability with the intent of
continuing communication and they go hand in hand.
And then the same to connection. So I've been playing
around with this year's word, but I,
(01:21:24):
I'm leaning on intentionality because I've got some, some
things up my sleeve around that.
How do you create ownership around people acting this way?
Again, I'm going to go back to consistency and habits. So
as a leader, and I'm, I'm not just
speaking myself as a leader, I'm speaking to, you know, the
(01:21:46):
leaders in my building as well.
When you can model it and show up that way every day, the
most that you can, it's going to create
sustainability because people are going to start to adapt,
right? And people are going to start to
invest in what that word means. And investment needs to be
individualized. I can't force somebody
(01:22:09):
to invest in something that I'm invested in. They need to
believe it for themselves and also see
themselves within that investment. And so when it comes to,
I mean, the very first year with
communication, it was bringing it into every staff meeting.
It was bringing it in to my parent
community meetings. It was bringing it into assemblies,
bringing it into the messaging that
(01:22:30):
went out in our weekly newsletters. It was the
conversations in the hallways. It was when I
heard of a conflict that happened between, you know, two
students, I'm bringing that forward.
When I hear about something that was done in the community
that was, you know, said or done about
our school, I brought it back. And it was just that
consistency that builds sustainability.
(01:22:52):
And that's when you build the investment
and it's never going to be perfect. I mean,
that would be great if everyone, you know, 100% of your
whole school, I've got a big school,
I've got about 700 students and, you know, 50 staff plus
staff members. But when you have,
you know, 95% for the most part
(01:23:12):
on board, it's pretty powerful.
Michelle, have you heard of an elevator pitch before?
Oh my gosh, I have, but now I can't think of what, what the
context there is. You got it.
You may have to. So the duration of an elevator ride, you
have 15, 20 seconds to share your idea
with whoever's riding the elevator with you. And right now
I'm riding it. And so are the people
listening here and I want to come back to our hill to die
(01:23:36):
on communication. And so I want your
best pitch 15 to 20 seconds here on why communication
should be the number one priority
that a leader focuses on. So, okay. So communication is the
most important skill as a leader. And the
reason for that is when you can communicate effectively
with each other, so others, and then
(01:23:58):
they can see you communicating effectively with yourself.
It builds investment. It builds
investment in the messages that's coming out of your voice.
It's, it's building investment into
the feedback that you're giving back and forth and is what
allows others to grow. And when you
can grow and you have investment because you're
communicating effectively, you can make change in
(01:24:19):
your buildings, in your students. And like I said, power,
power happens. And it always comes back to
communication. Communication is what gets you in the door.
It shows you how to overcome adversity
with people or how you can implement change, how you can
make decisions. If you're not communicating,
you're not functioning. And that's actually going to be a
really good segue into our next segment
(01:24:40):
where we talk about adversity. In headwinds and tailwinds,
we get down to the mistakes we've made
and what's in the aftermath to learn. To get into the
comfort zone, Michelle, of mistakes,
we're going to play another game. And this is a different
game. It's brand new on the show today.
(01:25:01):
One that we're going to try out here. This is adversity.
And have you done a mad lib before?
No, I don't think I ever. It's usually like, Hey, we read
through the blanks and it's like,
okay, fill this in now with a verb or an adjective. We're
going to go through that full process,
but I'm going to ask you to fill in some blanks for me. And
they can be the honest truth or you
can totally make them up. You ready to give it a try? Okay,
(01:25:23):
I'm ready. Okay. I once had to blink
well blank. I once had to, gosh, I'm not
good on the spot like this. I once had to
wear running shoes when I was barefoot water skiing.
(01:25:46):
There's a story behind that. And I
can't wait to get into that moment.
I realized I had to grow when blank happened. The moment I
realized I had to grow was when
I woke up one morning and looked in the
mirror and I didn't see myself anymore.
I failed at blank, learned blank, and now I blank.
(01:26:13):
Oh gosh, can I remember all that? I
failed. I'm not a good test writer. So I failed.
My personal trainer exam. And then I
learned that I had the ability to teach
it in a different way. And now, you
know, 20 years later, I'm a wellness coach.
(01:26:37):
Okay, last one here. My most
ridiculous leadership moment involved a blank.
Okay. My most ridiculous leadership moment
was creating a TikTok dance for my students
and performing it in front of all the parents and students.
(01:26:58):
But it was the best. I loved it.
So, but it was ridiculous. That was great. You know, you
did such a good job with the game and
first time playing the game on the show. I like it better
than the game I think I was playing before,
but I want to take a minute and just say, hey, listeners,
alchemists, we played make it worse
before and this is an adversity Madlib. Let me know. Send
an email, drop a comment, DM me,
(01:27:21):
tyler at elementaleducator.com or on Instagram at
elementaleducator. Which one did you prefer on the
show? We play them to create comfort, but we also play them
to bring joy to the listeners.
And so which one did you enjoy the most? And Michelle, with
unpacking some of this adversity
here, what is something that you realized you had to
unlearn? Oh, you know, we do a lot of
(01:27:46):
unlearning every day in the work that we do as educators.
I've learned a lot around diversity
and getting to know people and their stories for who they
are. And so around communication,
but also accountability and connection.
(01:28:07):
I've really had to unlearn the way that I hear
angry parents or angry teachers or angry students. And you
know, the person that I am and I am so
passionate about what I do and so I, you
know, used to take things very personal.
(01:28:28):
I always kind of looked at things as an attack. Something I
had to unlearn was that I had to just
be an attentive listener and hear people
and see people for who they are and not
in a way of what I think their agenda
is or what I think their perception is,
(01:28:49):
is that I just need to listen to the
words. And when I started to do that,
it really changed who I was as a leader because it allowed
me, number one, to listen attentively
with the opportunity to learn and grow. But then also it
built a stronger connection with the person
on the other side of the table. And I really realized that
(01:29:11):
unlearning the way you hear things
and allowing you to open up your mind and listen more
attentively, that can be a massive
change, especially in such a diverse world that we live in.
So I think, I mean, I've unlearned so
much and I could probably, if I had to just make a long
(01:29:32):
list, but that one I think would be
the most recent one over the last couple years that has
really changed myself as a leader.
And as a person because anything we do in
our leadership transfers into our outside
world too with our families
and the other parts of our life.
(01:29:55):
You know, I used to think that when people are parents or
teachers or caregivers approached me
with news to share or were upset about something that they
were angry or they just wanted to get
it off their chest. And sometimes it would be what I
learned is they often come to you because
they're scared or they care. And acknowledging that can
fully change that environment. And so
I started every conversation with every parent, whether
(01:30:17):
it's a good conversation or I know it's
going to be a tough conversation. You know, we just go on
even in the future, if it's going to be a
difficult one, you know, we're having this
conversation, but I see how much you care
and what you're doing. And I want to work with you to make
sure that the caring leaves you feeling
safe, leaves you feeling confident. And when you start that
way, you totally shift the mindset of
(01:30:38):
the conversation from an angry one to a collaborative one.
And I've had more progress and learned more
about people by letting them know and putting my wall down
and not being defensive on my end.
So I just say, you know, I'm here to learn your story, to
do the best I can. What's going to make
this a win for you? You know, instantly practicing that and
projecting everything that I thought I
(01:31:00):
stood for, because, you know, I thought
if somebody came in angry at some point,
we didn't have that honest
conversation with them and they were still angry.
I'm curious, I'm curious, Michelle,
if you're willing to get into this,
what's one of the biggest mistakes
you've made? Like in my life or just.
(01:31:21):
Yeah, it could be. Yeah, I'll let you
take it how you want to take it. It could be.
We could be talking about leadership too. I
guess mistakes. It's hard because I don't,
I don't regret very much in my life. I've
definitely had some, some very hard times.
(01:31:42):
Is there a difference between regretting
something and it being a mistake though?
Um, I don't know. Like I think about mistakes as, you know,
when we make a mistake, we're growing
from it where we're taking that mistake
and learning from it regret. I feel like it's
(01:32:04):
maybe something I said I'm still going to, I guess I'm
still going to learn from it.
But maybe I wish I hadn't said it because it maybe would
have changed a trajectory. So
no, I do think they're kind of similar. Maybe I think of
regret as a little harsher than a mistake,
but I think I'm going to go back to, um, you know, being an
(01:32:25):
athlete. Um, and, and, and this is maybe
where I say like, I don't regret anything,
but I was, I was at the peak of my career,
my athletic career when I got diagnosed with extreme
arthritis in both my shoulders. And
as a young athlete who didn't know about recovery, didn't
(01:32:46):
know about how to take care of my body,
properly at no fault of anyone's. I think it's just, you
know, the time that we were in,
it's not the way it is today. I think that, um, when I
think about that moment, I wish that
I had learned a little bit more about taking care of my
body because I think that I would
(01:33:09):
possibly be in, you know, had taken my career further where
they were talking about the X games
and the Olympics. And, um, you know, I had just made team
Canada. I was, you know, number one in
Canada and fourth, I was eighth in the world. And, uh, you
know, I just felt I was in my early
twenties at the peak of my, my career. I just skied in the
world championships and, and then,
(01:33:31):
not being able to move my shoulders and having extreme
pain, you know, getting an MRI and them
telling me that, you know, I, if I ever, you know, wanted
to throw baseball with my kids or do all of
those things, I would need to, I would need to quit my
sport. And so I, I often, and it is a
huge part of my story. And I think where, where I go now
with being a wellness coach, but also a
(01:33:53):
leader and a principal and, and a mom is, uh, you know,
really being intentional and, and, and
purposeful when it comes to taking care of yourself, your
mind, your body. Uh, yeah. So I
don't know if that answers your question, but it's, it is
something I often think about, uh, when it
comes to maybe not a mistake, but maybe something that I
(01:34:15):
would have changed in order to have a
different trajectory. How did you shift your mindset there?
Yeah. This one, um, this one was,
it was hard. And I think that no matter what you go through
in life, whether it's, you know,
a massive traumatic event or whether it's a
(01:34:36):
big failure or whether it's just, you know,
as this small mistake that you make, you got to, you got to
frame your mind with the opportunity
to just know that you can keep going. And for me, it took a
really long time. I had identified
myself as an athlete forever. Um, you know, I had always
(01:34:58):
known that it wasn't going to be a full-time
career. You know, I'd always known that I wanted to, you
know, get married and have kids, but I
didn't think it was going to end that early. And I, and I
pictured, you know, more medals and, and
more successes with my sport and possibly being the first
ever to, uh, you know, be in the X games
(01:35:18):
for that sport, you know, so I did go into a really dark
place. Like I, I, I was probably, uh, you know,
I wouldn't label it, um, diagnosed depression, but I was in
a really dark place and I had to,
I had to force myself to see myself for somebody else, you
know, someone besides just an athlete.
(01:35:40):
And so, you know, that's when I went to school and I, you
know, started, I always knew I wanted to
be in education, but I, you know, I just kind of put my
focus there. And then I put my focus into
exactly what I teach now through, you know, positive
statements and power statements and
morning routines and, you know, being able to see yourself
(01:36:00):
for other things, um, outside of maybe
just your job or, or a title as a mom or a wife and seeing
more for yourself, I think really helped
me shift the way I thought, but also it allowed me to see,
see more, which created more opportunities.
(01:36:23):
How do you take the learning from that process and apply it
to the adversity you're facing now?
Uh, it's emotional. I'll tell you that because I did learn
a ton about myself and it goes back to my
grounded beliefs in, you know, when I'm meeting adversity
(01:36:43):
right now, I often just go back to,
you know, this is a moment in time and I can get through
it. And what can I learn from this
adversity to allow me to grow and to, um, in, in the role
that I play now often is also how can I
then now teach others? Um, because, you know, I, I always
(01:37:07):
do things for myself with the ability to
inspire and teach others because I, you know, look at
others to, for that same thing. And I like to
be able to give back. And because I'm, you know, working on
myself every second of every day,
I often like to be able to share, you know, what works,
(01:37:29):
what doesn't work. And, um, yeah.
And even the best leaders, when we talk adversity talks
changing the road and they often go hand in
hand with each other. So I appreciate you sharing
adversity, helping you grow, helping you go forward.
And, and with that, you know, we're ready
to talk not so much about the adversity,
but the change we're going to action on it. And so we're
(01:37:50):
going to bring up our third segment here,
our water element, small shifts, big waves and ripples of
change. We discover how to make a
lasting impact and we're going to play another game here,
Michelle. This one is not fill in the
blank. It's not principle or preference, but we're actually
(01:38:11):
going to get into some coaching advice
because that's what we're here for.
That's why you're here as an expert.
You know, we're all, we're all leaders in some capacity.
And so I'm going to ask a question
and in the shortest reply possible, I want your best
advice. Okay. Let's start with what's one
thing leaders should stop doing immediately.
Judgment. Stop having judgment. What's your
go-to strategy when everything feels overwhelming?
(01:38:33):
Breathing and writing things. What's a mindset
shift that changed your life? Seeing the good. What's the
best advice you'd give your younger
self? Learn these strategies earlier in life. What's one
thing people think matters, but it
really doesn't people's perception of you. There we go.
Some quick tips. I appreciate that. We're
going to get into some of those actually here. You know,
(01:38:54):
they're quite interesting to me. Your
responses, how are your leadership styles changing from now
to what it was in your first year? So
it is a lot of what I just said to and the
quick answers, although I did, I was quick,
was quick Tyler. I was going to elaborate
on all of them, but I'm like, he said quick.
I would say that I take things less personal now. And I do
(01:39:17):
when I say no judgment, I just mean that
everybody that comes into education are there for kids.
Like they wouldn't have come into education.
And so when you see somebody doing something that might not
align with your vision or that,
you know, might just not be, you know, the height that you
(01:39:38):
want it to be, take a step back
with no judgment and look at the
steps that you want to take forward.
Taking things personal. So when I said that, you know,
don't allow others people's perception.
It's not that you don't want to learn from other people,
because that's not what I mean by it. What
I mean by it is that when we focus too much on what other
(01:40:01):
people think of us, we lose sight of
who it is that we want to be. And when you can, you know,
open yourself up to feedback and hear it
and take in what's going to help you grow
and then leave out things that don't align,
that's where you're able to get to, you know, really get to
(01:40:22):
know yourself and grow yourself
and focus less on what other people think
and more on how you're growing through that.
So that's how I've grown to. And that's why
I'm giving that back as leadership advice.
I think that's great advice. You know, that's from, you
know, from you to share. I totally agree
on that idea. You know, early on, we take things so
(01:40:45):
personally and I feel like I got a little bit
ahead of the game, but I don't feel like I am my job. And I
feel like a lot of people with leadership,
you know, they do. And when you feel that way, every
decision, you know, is a way to go because
it's your identity to separate your job from your identity
is a really important thing because
it lets you lead with transparency because we don't feel
(01:41:05):
like you have to shelter and protect
your personal, your your personal identity, that
separation. It's it's crucial for moving forward.
And so I appreciate the story on it that, you know, you
mentioned what steps do you take,
you know, after that? So the first step is, is processing
(01:41:26):
what it is that I need to change. So
making it making it make sense to me. So depending whether
I'm getting that feedback from another
colleague, or I'm getting that feedback from, you know, a
parent, or I'm getting that feedback from
my husband, I often get feedback from my husband, which is
great. But I first just have to process
it. And then I have to, you know, and then I try to work
(01:41:49):
through it about how how is this going to
make sense to me? And how am I going to use this as growth
without changing who I am? Because,
again, it goes back to people are going to constantly, as
as leaders, especially give you
give you feedback. And sometimes it's not
(01:42:10):
always great. And you then have to say, okay,
I'm going to listen because I want to be able to listen
attentively, maybe this is good feedback,
and then I just now need to process it. And so I process
it, I think about where it fits,
and then I try to roll it out
authentically. So, you know, I'm going to give a really
(01:42:33):
funny example. And it's not a leadership example. But the
way that and I communication is huge,
but the way that I communicate sometimes with my husband, I
never realized that I was often
using a statement that would not acknowledge what he was
saying, but just bring it back to what I
(01:42:55):
wanted. And so he kept he kept saying like, I'm hearing
you, but this is this is not a great way
to communicate. Anyway, I had I had to start stopping
myself and hearing myself do it. And
then I had to figure out every time we enter a
conversation, I have to be very cognizant that
I'm not going to do it. And then over time, now it's
changed, right? So I know that's a silly
(01:43:18):
example, but it's something so simple. But that's when it
comes to changing and feedback, it has to
make sense to you, you can't just do something because, you
know, someone tells you to do it,
if it doesn't make sense to you, or you can't authentically
do it, then you're not being true
to yourself. And so so I really believe in that. And I I
try that when I'm, you know, when I'm
(01:43:38):
sharing a vision for teachers as well as that goes back to
that investment piece, right? It takes
time so you can keep giving similar feedback, but and over
time, you're going to start to see some
of that change because people are starting to invest in it
and make sense to them. And you know,
you kind of hit a bunch of questions there that I wanted to
follow up with. You covered everything
(01:44:00):
from the, you know, the best ways to implement change, how
to break it down into smaller steps.
And it's actually those consistent actions that represent
the change process being long lasting.
So with that, we're going to go away from how we actually
go about change to that decision making
process. And it's going to bring us to our last element,
the fire element in our final segment.
Hey, just right quick here, alchemists. If you're enjoying
(01:44:20):
the show and you're listening to us on
Apple, make sure you take some time to put a review on the
show. And if you're on Spotify,
make sure you give us a five star rating. When you give
those ratings, it helps improve the reach
of the show. My goal is impact. So I'm trying to impact as
many people as I can, the lives of
leaders, educators, the people trying to make a difference.
And the only way that's going to
happen is if we support each other by giving that review or
(01:44:43):
giving that rating. Thank you so much
for taking some time. Now let's get into Sparker burn.
[Music]
In Sparker burn, we either have the decisions that spark
success or burn lessons into our memory.
And to kick off this segment, let's make some big decisions
that you have to live with. This is
(01:45:04):
final answer. And it's a would you rather style with no
explanation behind the would you rather.
Ready to give it a try? Okay. Okay. Would you rather lead
without recognition or follow with full
credit? Lead without recognition. Would you rather make
bold mistakes or play it safe and miss out?
Bold mistake. Would you rather work with someone who's
(01:45:25):
honest but harsh or kind but unclear?
Honest but harsh. Would you rather
rebuild trust or start fresh with someone new?
Start fresh with someone new. Would you rather have a full
calendar or never know what's coming
up? A full calendar. Would you rather give feedback or
receive it? Right now I'd rather,
(01:45:46):
I want to learn to give hard feedback where I'm at. Would
you rather mentor someone difficult or be
mentored by someone demanding? Mentor someone difficult.
Would you rather succeed quietly or
fail loudly? Succeed quietly. Would you rather lead someone
(01:46:06):
that challenges you or someone that
agrees with you? No, challenges me. Would you rather
overcome adversity alone or support someone
through their adversity? Support someone else through
theirs. Michelle, what's the hardest
decision you ever had to make? This is a hard question.
Hard leadership move. You know, I've
(01:46:28):
had to have some pretty courageous conversations over the
years. And some of the decisions that
have to come out of those critical conversations were my
hardest because I knew where my intentions
were, but I don't always think that the other person on the
(01:46:52):
other side knew where my intentions
were coming from. And I think that's the hardest part. And
then, you know, without sharing, you
know, too much information about the critical
conversations, but you have to have them as a
leader. And you have to make tough decisions with the
educators that you work alongside with and
lead that don't always make sense to them. And I know for
(01:47:17):
myself, my intentions are always for
student success. And with at the same time trying to honor
what my teachers are growing in as well.
But it doesn't always it doesn't always turn out that way.
And so I think that's the hardest
decisions and things to make is is through how to go about
(01:47:40):
those critical conversations. And I think
that's we could do a whole other conversation about that
with leadership. But yeah, I would say
through that were my hard decisions.
How do you separate emotion from logic?
So that's a really tough one. And that comes with time,
(01:48:01):
time and work, because I think there's some
people that have been in leadership most of their career
and still can't do it. When it when we
think about social emotional learning, we do need to be
present with our thoughts, but we also need
to be able to control our emotions when it comes to
different points in in leadership. And so
(01:48:25):
I never want to come across cold like I
don't care. But I have to be careful not to
give off my emotions to them, because it's not about me at
that time. And so I really try to
come across empathetic and honest and authentic without
(01:48:49):
protruding my own emotion on them,
because I want my intention to come across as true as I can
and allow them to receive it the way that
it's going to be received. How do you make
sure your values show up in your decisions?
Yeah, so that so that's a very tough one as a leader,
because my values are the same in
(01:49:14):
my leadership as in my house. And it just goes back to
kindness and and and honesty,
but also, I believe really strongly in getting out of your
comfort zone and growing. And so
you know, I you have to you just really have to be able to
(01:49:40):
I'm gonna I'm messing up here because
I'm just thinking about back to the other question. But
when you first walk into a building,
when you are a leader, one of the first things you have to
decide is what your why is right,
why you're doing what you're doing, and
what makes you the leader that you want to be,
(01:50:01):
and how are you going to model and share your growth, as
well as pushing others. And so I think
when you write that down and know what that that why is and
what the purpose is, and that every
decision you make, no matter what's coming at you, you need
to go back to that first. And one of the
(01:50:21):
things I've always said is it doesn't matter what school
I've been at, whether it be a teacher as a
vice principal, now as a principal, I'm the same person
from every school. And I stay true to that.
And you could call any colleague or any
person and I'm the same person. And so
that's often advice that I give new leaders is never change
who you are. As a person, and as a
(01:50:45):
leader, you want to change and shift and grow from the
learning that you get in the different
buildings you go in. But when it comes to those core values
of who you are, you need to stay true
to those because that's going to be the legacy that you'll
leave with those with those teachers
without those that place. So I'm a big fan of bringing the
(01:51:08):
why into every single year. And I'm
also a big fan of, you know, the whole show is centered
around the earth element and how we
ground ourselves in those decisions. And it's really
dependable on those values. So to cycle
it back to that, Michelle, I really appreciate what you
just said. Our last segment here used to be
listener questions and I'm shifting it to something a
(01:51:28):
little different for the show.
You're going to be the first one, which is the coolest
thing, but it also makes it the
shortest segment for us today. You know, next time I have
you on, you'll get the full benefit of this.
And maybe, you know, the last episode I ever record will
bring you back on for the final episode to
wrap it up. What I want to do is I want my guests to leave
one question for the next guest. So you
(01:51:50):
have no idea who's going to be on next, what we're going to
be talking about, what their level of
expertise is or where it's going. But what's one question
that you'd like me to bring to the next
guest on the show? One question is what is unique to you?
What makes you stand out from others?
Perfect. I'll make sure that our next guest gets that
(01:52:11):
question and it's fullest and we'll do our
best to pull an answer from them. And then they will pass
it on by sharing another question in
the future with coming guests. And hopefully, you know, we
can maybe see this come full circle and
wrap it up by bringing that final question back to you. And
with that, Michelle, you know, I just
want to take some time and say thank you for connecting.
Thank you for joining the show.
And it meant a lot to have a great conversation. You know,
(01:52:32):
I really appreciate the value you brought
to this show. And I hope that the listeners have some good
and full feedback on it, too.
Well, thank you, Tyler. I've loved this is the first
podcast that I've been on where we've played
games. And so I'm in. Have me back. You know, I do want to
ask before we fully wrap up, how can
people get in touch with you if they want to learn more?
(01:52:54):
Maybe they want to pursue coaching or just
learn from you. Yeah, so lots of different ways you can get
me on LinkedIn just under Michelle
Sigmund. You can get me on Instagram at Michelle Fitness
Mama. You can check out my website,
wellness, Michelle.com. And that has everything that I do
(01:53:16):
in terms of my wellness business. It's
got my goal setting workbook on there. It's got a little
bit more about me. And the other podcast
I've been on is on that website as well.
So you can listen to more about my story.
Who's been your biggest influence?
This question is interesting.
I get this asked a lot and I have many.
I would say that in education, it was a
principle when I first started teaching
who saw things in me that I
didn't see in myself at the time.
(01:01:44):
And I grew up very, always trying
to strive for more and, but never,
I think truly believed in what I was capable of.
And this principle did that for me.
And I think that really at the
age I was at then as an adult,
accelerated kind of my next steps.
Okay. And what about the other side?
(01:02:07):
Oh, that's a, so I have many as well.
I mean, I've got two young kids and I
think that, you know, when you have kids,
they're a massive influence on you because I think it makes
you think and change and reflect
in different ways.
(01:02:28):
I had lots of influencers growing up that, you know,
brought me to my elite athlete world.
It was my coach, you know, I'm always
going to, you know, give credit to my parents
because, you know, they provided me
with the opportunities and yeah, my family.
(01:02:48):
I haven't asked this on the
show yet, but I'm curious to see
how much of your journey was luck versus skill.
Luck versus skill. Wow.
So I've actually never been asked that question.
And it's interesting because when I
think about luck, I think about, you know,
(01:03:09):
being in the right place at the right time, saying yes to
the right opportunities and skill.
I believe that people are born naturally with some skill,
but I think the majority of your skill
comes through your mindset and your
ability to see things differently.
And so I think when I think about luck, I think part of
(01:03:33):
that goes into the mindset that you have,
because when you have a mindset that you can do more and be
more, you see things in a different
way and think doors open up for you.
So I think that luck, you can create more
opportunities for yourself with luck when you
see things differently. If that makes sense.
(01:03:54):
It's like the old phrase, you have to have skill to be
lucky and you have to have luck to have skill.
They kind of go hand in hand. Alchemists, welcome to a new
episode. We've got an amazing guest,
Michelle Segment with us, who is a principal certified
wellness coach and a mom of two who
understands the challenge of balance in a busy life. She
supports both adults and kids in building
daily habits for their goals, strengthening mental health
(01:04:15):
and fuel lasting transformation.
A former member of the Canadian National Barefoot Water Ski
team, Michelle knows the power of
discipline and performance. She leads workshops for
principals, coaches, parents and athletes,
offers one-on-one coaching and has developed a wellness
curriculum tailored for school leaders.
Michelle has authored my personalized school setting
(01:04:36):
workbook, published articles through
the Ontario Principals Council and has been featured on
multiple podcasts. Her mission is
to help others believe in themselves, admit to personal
growth and unlock the next level
that they're meant to be at. Michelle, welcome to my show,
The Elemental Educator. It is my pleasure
to have you on today. Thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you, Tyler, for having me here.
(01:04:58):
Alchemists, my one request before we get into our first
segment. It would mean everything to me.
If you head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe at
Elemental Educator. Growing the
channel enables me to bring on incredible guests like
Michelle and continue delivering the best
show I can for you. That being said,
we're going to get into our first segment.
(01:05:23):
Rooted in wisdom driven by purpose, grounded moments is all
about our values. And there's
no better way to see what we truly value, Michelle, than to
play a game. Are you ready to play?
Yeah, love games.
All right, Michelle, I'm going to give you a scenario and
you can reply in one of two ways.
It's either a principle, which means it's
something that is a part of your everyday
life, its core value, or a preference, meaning it's okay if
(01:05:45):
not everybody does it. Ready to go?
Okay, waking up before 6 a.m.
Preference.
Daily exercise, no matter what.
Ground purpose.
No phones during meals.
That's a ground in purpose.
Carry on luggage only.
That would be a preference.
(01:06:05):
Coffee before anything.
Oh, yes, that is a grounded purpose.
One day a week needs to be off social media.
That would be a preference.
Making your bed every morning.
Here, that's really good for you. But my hours are
different than my husband's. So I'm going to say
that that would be a
(01:06:26):
preference, but it's not always possible.
There's no screens in the bedroom.
Yes, absolutely. Grounded purpose.
Dressing sharp while at home.
Oh, yes. You know, look good, feel good. I always say that.
So I try my best, but I will tell you,
I have some very comfy clothes that I
just... I'm going to call this one a preference.
I'm going to call this a preference.
(01:06:46):
And the opposite of the first
one, never working on tasks after 6.
It's tough. In the amount of jobs that I carry, I will say
that my balance is very good,
but times of the day is not always going to meet that 6
p.m. So I'm going to say it would be a
preference. And there's our first segment game, Michelle.
The goal of it is to establish what we
(01:07:07):
truly value. We have to stand by them. And I want to ask
before we fully get into this segment here,
what's the most important thing that the audience needs to
know about you in order to understand
your story for the rest of the show? So I think the most
important thing I want people to know
about me is that I haven't had anything come easy to me in
life and that I really, truly believe in
(01:07:30):
how I ground this work for my kids in kindness and hard
work gets you everywhere in life.
And who I am is exactly who I am in all parts of my life.
So I'm honest, I'm authentic,
I'm a hard worker, and I believe that I can do more than
what I can, but nothing's come easy.
So when I tell my story, people see me on Instagram and
(01:07:55):
they think, "Oh, how do you do all
those things?" And I said, "Everything takes time." And
that's where a lot of my work is done through
with habits and consistency to prove that I wasn't where I
am right now, 15, 20 years ago. I wasn't
where I am now a year ago. And that consistency in habits,
(01:08:18):
it truly works and it is a huge part
of my story. What's one of the topics that you have
established that's now become a non-negotiable
for you? My morning routine. I've spoke about this on other
places, but I have a story that
(01:08:40):
from an athlete into where I am now, I kind of lost myself
for a really long time. And I really
grounded myself in my morning routine. That's kind of where
I started. And with a busy schedule
and busy kids, it's kind of my happy place before I have to
give to everybody else. And so I give
(01:09:01):
myself that time to journal and meditate or read or
whatever it is that I need to do in that morning,
enjoy the cup of coffee, that kind of purpose, and then my
workout. And I find after that,
I feel like I've given enough to myself. And at that time,
and I can then continue as a leader in
a school, and then also being a mom and a wife and giving
(01:09:23):
back to my family. How long is your morning
routine? So this is also, I would not recommend right off
the bat. I will tell you it started as,
you know, a 20 minute thing. It's now a good hour and a
half. So I am up between 430 and 445.
(01:09:44):
Again, you have to understand too, I'm a principal during
the day, but I also have a wellness
business. So I sometimes that early morning is getting some
work done, much needed work that I
didn't have time for in the evening, the evening before,
and then dedicating at least 30 to 45
minutes for my workout. Awesome. And with all the neural
(01:10:05):
wellness that you've put on to students,
teachers, principals, you've been a part of the hiring
talks before, what are the top three things
you look for in a team member? Yeah, so I struggle when it
comes to interviews because I, you know,
I've always said I'd rather, you know, someone follow me
around for a couple months and get to
(01:10:26):
know me or me do the same to somebody else because I think
it's very hard to see who someone truly is
through questions. However, in saying that I, you can get
some questions that really pull out
authenticity. So what I want to see is authenticity and
honesty. I want to see passion for kids.
(01:10:50):
And with that passion comes, you hear it in the stories
that they tell, you hear it in, you know,
the way they present themselves when they talk about kids
and families, like they just glow.
And yeah, I want to, I want to bring a new strength to my
team. So I'm always looking for
something that our school doesn't have. You know,
curriculum, you can teach anyone to teach
(01:11:12):
curriculum, but you can't teach people to be intuitive to
kids and to know kids and to engage
students and families in different ways. That, that is,
that comes with a character trait of a person.
So. And I sit back down and think about the same thing
right there. I'm with you, team Michelle.
I love to hear stories. I love their passion. I love to
(01:11:35):
hear that somebody can show how dedicated
they are to the community because they love it. You know, I
completely agree that it's a really
hard thing to actually discover in an interview process.
I've become a fan of reference checking,
you know, the top five people that we wanted to interview.
And, you know, I mean, the conversations,
sometimes it's, you know, sometimes it's informed the
interview and made it a little bit better to
(01:11:56):
have that reference check done. You know, there's been
instances where you catch somebody saying
something and it's the opposite of what the reference have
said. And you don't need that
awkward conversation, but the conversation is you're
putting your team first, you're putting your team
forward. And that's what matters the most, especially in
that leadership position. You know,
you're surrounding yourself with a team that wants to work
(01:12:18):
towards that common goal and not somebody
that's just looking for a job. Michelle, before you came on
the show, I asked you to just give me a
quote that you wanted to bring on the show. And the one you
brought was, we may not always have
the power of control, which shows up at our door, but we
always have the power to decide what stays
and what goes. And what I would love to know is where did
you discover this quote and why did you
(01:12:39):
choose to bring it on the show today? So, you know, there's
two books that I've read of Cleo
Wade's and she has some great insight. And I'm such a quote
person because when I see a quote or read
a quote or hear a quote, I often just take a minute to
reflect on what that means to me.
And this quote is near and dear to my heart because it
(01:13:03):
really speaks about the mind.
And in the world that we live in, you know, it's so easy to
get wrapped up in things that we can't
control. And it's so easy to make, complain and make
excuses about things we can't control.
But we have so much power in our mind and we have so much
(01:13:25):
power in what we decide to read,
the people we decide to surround ourselves with, the
messages that we choose to believe about
ourselves and others, the perception we see. And so when
this quote says, you get to decide what
stays and what goes, we actually do. We have a filter
system in our reticular activating system
in our mind, right? We get to say, this is great. I'm going
(01:13:48):
to let this come in and then I'm getting
rid of it because it's not serving me or it's not serving
my family or the people that I lead.
And so often as a principal, I have to do that. I have to
filter things through for my staff
and for my families and my kids. And I truly have the
message of, you know, we can only control this
piece. So let's focus here. Let's focus on the control. And
(01:14:11):
those other things that come in,
they're just waves that are passing and some of them we're
going to learn from and use and others
we're just going to let them keep going. And when you do
that, when you take that control back over
and say, I get to decide what stays and what goes, you do
have different perspective, you see things
differently, and you also create more positive
(01:14:32):
opportunities for yourself. And that's where I
truly, I live by this quote, I really
do. And so kudos out to Cleo Wade for that.
Yeah. You know, the picture of how we can control things
and it can be really difficult,
especially when negative information, even positive
information, you know, we can't control
(01:14:53):
what shows up as information. Walk me through how you take
that and you actually have the ability to
say, no, that's not something I'm willing to go through
with. So, I mean, we, we as people have
to make many different, many, many decisions throughout the
day. And as a, as a principal and
a leader, you know, we make even more. And as a, as a mom,
(01:15:14):
you know, you make even more. So,
I had to work really hard on this. And like I said, I won't
go into my deepest story before, but
that's, that's a big part I had to learn
because I, what I was holding on to before
were things that I couldn't control. And I was, you know,
taking those on and making it a part
of my narrative, which was actually taking me in a more
(01:15:36):
negative path. And so that was one of the
first things I did. And through doing that was, you know,
they call them affirmations. I call them
power statements. You know, I always joke that a power
statement is a statement you give to
yourself, but they say the powerhouse is your mitochondria.
So I do get that. I'm not, I'm not
saying science can't be involved in this, but the power
(01:15:59):
statement is you're, you're telling yourself
something you want to believe. And when we go through our
day to day things and statements are
said that may meet that we can't control, that maybe have a
negative impact or a situation happens
or the weather changes, or, you know, we, we didn't go the
(01:16:19):
route we wanted to go, we have to get used
to interrupting our thoughts. And it takes time and
consistency. And I would say, if, if everybody
did this, we would live in a perfect world. So it's, it's
takes time. It takes a habit of,
you know, saying those statements to yourself when a
(01:16:40):
situation happens or a statement is said, or
whatever it happens that may be not something that's going
to serve you, being able to stop,
interrupt your thought, and then change your thought
pattern. And you do that through power
statements. You can do that through practicing, giving
yourself times throughout the day where
(01:17:00):
you're just sitting in your thoughts. And I mean, it's not,
it's not realistic to say you're going
to give yourself 10 minutes, but I'm talking about, you
know, a minute or two, three to four times a
day to just sit in your thoughts. Another thing is using
timers on your cell phone. We, we know we
carry our cell phones around like they're, you know, our
purse, like they're just everywhere with us.
Having those timers that remind you of those power
(01:17:22):
statements and remind you about the thought
process and keeping in control of what you can control and
letting out things that you can't
control. So those are just some quick things. There's,
there's lots that I do around teaching
about that. It is definitely step one when it, when it
comes to you trying to achieve a goal,
you have to start with your mind. You
(01:17:43):
have to start with your thought process,
because it is, our mind is the
most powerful thing that we have.
What's an example of a power thought that you use?
Uh, so if we use the control one, it could be, I am in
control of my day. I choose positivity
and I will conquer whatever comes at me today. That is an
(01:18:05):
example of one power statement.
I was listening to someone a few years
ago and they said the best thing you can do
when you wake up in the morning and
say something to yourself every day.
And it was so simple for them to get out of bed, take a
minute before they needed to go,
you know, and say it's going to be a
great day. And I didn't adopt that fully,
but at some point in my morning routine, I
(01:18:26):
tell myself it's going to be a great day.
The purpose for that, you know, we, we
have, we had a student that, you know,
one particular student, where every time
they walked into the building, they said,
it's going to be a great day. And I actually think it's the
best thing that somebody could
do because it brightens up their faces and it brightens up
the faces of those around them.
When we hear it, it brightens my face and I've adopted
(01:18:49):
saying it as well because the power of
even just starting with a simple phrase puts you into that
mindset to start your day the best way
possible. So I appreciate you sharing that. That being
said, what's a hill that you're willing to
die on Michelle? Oh gosh, this, you know what? This is such
a great question, Tyler, because
I, I die in a lot of Hills, I'm going to tell you, but the
(01:19:11):
one that I will stand true to all the time
is communication. The way you communicate with each other
and yourself matters the most. And when I,
you know, first got my first school as a principal, I said,
I'm going to have a word of the year.
(01:19:32):
And every year for the last three and a
half years, I've had a word of the year.
And the first year that I was at my new school, it was
communication. And I would hold everybody
accountable for both the way they communicate with others
and themselves. And I would do it in a way
that allows for growth and opportunity. And you can give as
(01:19:56):
much feedback as you want. You can
disagree with someone, you can have a debate, but when you
do it with kindness in your communication,
you, you can grow so much more from both sides. But when
you enter a conversation with judgment
and assumptions and negative perceptions, the other person
(01:20:20):
that you're on the other side with,
they shut down. They're not hearing you. So it is the hill
that I'll die on is the communication.
And I will call every student on it, every, every teacher
on it, every parent on it, I will call
myself on it, friends and family, we, you know, when we can
communicate more effectively with
(01:20:40):
ourselves and each other, you know, the growth is immense.
It's huge. What's your word this year?
So it's funny because, yeah, I've actually started thinking
about my next year. So the first year was
communication. The second year was accountability. And then
(01:21:02):
this past year was connection. And every
year we build on those words. And so we don't throw away
communication to adopt accountability,
we then bring on accountability with the intent of
continuing communication and they go hand in hand.
And then the same to connection. So I've been playing
around with this year's word, but I,
(01:21:24):
I'm leaning on intentionality because I've got some, some
things up my sleeve around that.
How do you create ownership around people acting this way?
Again, I'm going to go back to consistency and habits. So
as a leader, and I'm, I'm not just
speaking myself as a leader, I'm speaking to, you know, the
(01:21:46):
leaders in my building as well.
When you can model it and show up that way every day, the
most that you can, it's going to create
sustainability because people are going to start to adapt,
right? And people are going to start to
invest in what that word means. And investment needs to be
individualized. I can't force somebody
(01:22:09):
to invest in something that I'm invested in. They need to
believe it for themselves and also see
themselves within that investment. And so when it comes to,
I mean, the very first year with
communication, it was bringing it into every staff meeting.
It was bringing it in to my parent
community meetings. It was bringing it into assemblies,
bringing it into the messaging that
(01:22:30):
went out in our weekly newsletters. It was the
conversations in the hallways. It was when I
heard of a conflict that happened between, you know, two
students, I'm bringing that forward.
When I hear about something that was done in the community
that was, you know, said or done about
our school, I brought it back. And it was just that
consistency that builds sustainability.
(01:22:52):
And that's when you build the investment
and it's never going to be perfect. I mean,
that would be great if everyone, you know, 100% of your
whole school, I've got a big school,
I've got about 700 students and, you know, 50 staff plus
staff members. But when you have,
you know, 95% for the most part
(01:23:12):
on board, it's pretty powerful.
Michelle, have you heard of an elevator pitch before?
Oh my gosh, I have, but now I can't think of what, what the
context there is. You got it.
You may have to. So the duration of an elevator ride, you
have 15, 20 seconds to share your idea
with whoever's riding the elevator with you. And right now
I'm riding it. And so are the people
listening here and I want to come back to our hill to die
(01:23:36):
on communication. And so I want your
best pitch 15 to 20 seconds here on why communication
should be the number one priority
that a leader focuses on. So, okay. So communication is the
most important skill as a leader. And the
reason for that is when you can communicate effectively
with each other, so others, and then
(01:23:58):
they can see you communicating effectively with yourself.
It builds investment. It builds
investment in the messages that's coming out of your voice.
It's, it's building investment into
the feedback that you're giving back and forth and is what
allows others to grow. And when you
can grow and you have investment because you're
communicating effectively, you can make change in
(01:24:19):
your buildings, in your students. And like I said, power,
power happens. And it always comes back to
communication. Communication is what gets you in the door.
It shows you how to overcome adversity
with people or how you can implement change, how you can
make decisions. If you're not communicating,
you're not functioning. And that's actually going to be a
really good segue into our next segment
(01:24:40):
where we talk about adversity. In headwinds and tailwinds,
we get down to the mistakes we've made
and what's in the aftermath to learn. To get into the
comfort zone, Michelle, of mistakes,
we're going to play another game. And this is a different
game. It's brand new on the show today.
(01:25:01):
One that we're going to try out here. This is adversity.
And have you done a mad lib before?
No, I don't think I ever. It's usually like, Hey, we read
through the blanks and it's like,
okay, fill this in now with a verb or an adjective. We're
going to go through that full process,
but I'm going to ask you to fill in some blanks for me. And
they can be the honest truth or you
can totally make them up. You ready to give it a try? Okay,
(01:25:23):
I'm ready. Okay. I once had to blink
well blank. I once had to, gosh, I'm not
good on the spot like this. I once had to
wear running shoes when I was barefoot water skiing.
(01:25:46):
There's a story behind that. And I
can't wait to get into that moment.
I realized I had to grow when blank happened. The moment I
realized I had to grow was when
I woke up one morning and looked in the
mirror and I didn't see myself anymore.
I failed at blank, learned blank, and now I blank.
(01:26:13):
Oh gosh, can I remember all that? I
failed. I'm not a good test writer. So I failed.
My personal trainer exam. And then I
learned that I had the ability to teach
it in a different way. And now, you
know, 20 years later, I'm a wellness coach.
(01:26:37):
Okay, last one here. My most
ridiculous leadership moment involved a blank.
Okay. My most ridiculous leadership moment
was creating a TikTok dance for my students
and performing it in front of all the parents and students.
(01:26:58):
But it was the best. I loved it.
So, but it was ridiculous. That was great. You know, you
did such a good job with the game and
first time playing the game on the show. I like it better
than the game I think I was playing before,
but I want to take a minute and just say, hey, listeners,
alchemists, we played make it worse
before and this is an adversity Madlib. Let me know. Send
an email, drop a comment, DM me,
(01:27:21):
tyler at elementaleducator.com or on Instagram at
elementaleducator. Which one did you prefer on the
show? We play them to create comfort, but we also play them
to bring joy to the listeners.
And so which one did you enjoy the most? And Michelle, with
unpacking some of this adversity
here, what is something that you realized you had to
unlearn? Oh, you know, we do a lot of
(01:27:46):
unlearning every day in the work that we do as educators.
I've learned a lot around diversity
and getting to know people and their stories for who they
are. And so around communication,
but also accountability and connection.
(01:28:07):
I've really had to unlearn the way that I hear
angry parents or angry teachers or angry students. And you
know, the person that I am and I am so
passionate about what I do and so I, you
know, used to take things very personal.
(01:28:28):
I always kind of looked at things as an attack. Something I
had to unlearn was that I had to just
be an attentive listener and hear people
and see people for who they are and not
in a way of what I think their agenda
is or what I think their perception is,
(01:28:49):
is that I just need to listen to the
words. And when I started to do that,
it really changed who I was as a leader because it allowed
me, number one, to listen attentively
with the opportunity to learn and grow. But then also it
built a stronger connection with the person
on the other side of the table. And I really realized that
(01:29:11):
unlearning the way you hear things
and allowing you to open up your mind and listen more
attentively, that can be a massive
change, especially in such a diverse world that we live in.
So I think, I mean, I've unlearned so
much and I could probably, if I had to just make a long
(01:29:32):
list, but that one I think would be
the most recent one over the last couple years that has
really changed myself as a leader.
And as a person because anything we do in
our leadership transfers into our outside
world too with our families
and the other parts of our life.
(01:29:55):
You know, I used to think that when people are parents or
teachers or caregivers approached me
with news to share or were upset about something that they
were angry or they just wanted to get
it off their chest. And sometimes it would be what I
learned is they often come to you because
they're scared or they care. And acknowledging that can
fully change that environment. And so
I started every conversation with every parent, whether
(01:30:17):
it's a good conversation or I know it's
going to be a tough conversation. You know, we just go on
even in the future, if it's going to be a
difficult one, you know, we're having this
conversation, but I see how much you care
and what you're doing. And I want to work with you to make
sure that the caring leaves you feeling
safe, leaves you feeling confident. And when you start that
way, you totally shift the mindset of
(01:30:38):
the conversation from an angry one to a collaborative one.
And I've had more progress and learned more
about people by letting them know and putting my wall down
and not being defensive on my end.
So I just say, you know, I'm here to learn your story, to
do the best I can. What's going to make
this a win for you? You know, instantly practicing that and
projecting everything that I thought I
(01:31:00):
stood for, because, you know, I thought
if somebody came in angry at some point,
we didn't have that honest
conversation with them and they were still angry.
I'm curious, I'm curious, Michelle,
if you're willing to get into this,
what's one of the biggest mistakes
you've made? Like in my life or just.
(01:31:21):
Yeah, it could be. Yeah, I'll let you
take it how you want to take it. It could be.
We could be talking about leadership too. I
guess mistakes. It's hard because I don't,
I don't regret very much in my life. I've
definitely had some, some very hard times.
(01:31:42):
Is there a difference between regretting
something and it being a mistake though?
Um, I don't know. Like I think about mistakes as, you know,
when we make a mistake, we're growing
from it where we're taking that mistake
and learning from it regret. I feel like it's
(01:32:04):
maybe something I said I'm still going to, I guess I'm
still going to learn from it.
But maybe I wish I hadn't said it because it maybe would
have changed a trajectory. So
no, I do think they're kind of similar. Maybe I think of
regret as a little harsher than a mistake,
but I think I'm going to go back to, um, you know, being an
(01:32:25):
athlete. Um, and, and, and this is maybe
where I say like, I don't regret anything,
but I was, I was at the peak of my career,
my athletic career when I got diagnosed with extreme
arthritis in both my shoulders. And
as a young athlete who didn't know about recovery, didn't
(01:32:46):
know about how to take care of my body,
properly at no fault of anyone's. I think it's just, you
know, the time that we were in,
it's not the way it is today. I think that, um, when I
think about that moment, I wish that
I had learned a little bit more about taking care of my
body because I think that I would
(01:33:09):
possibly be in, you know, had taken my career further where
they were talking about the X games
and the Olympics. And, um, you know, I had just made team
Canada. I was, you know, number one in
Canada and fourth, I was eighth in the world. And, uh, you
know, I just felt I was in my early
twenties at the peak of my, my career. I just skied in the
world championships and, and then,
(01:33:31):
not being able to move my shoulders and having extreme
pain, you know, getting an MRI and them
telling me that, you know, I, if I ever, you know, wanted
to throw baseball with my kids or do all of
those things, I would need to, I would need to quit my
sport. And so I, I often, and it is a
huge part of my story. And I think where, where I go now
with being a wellness coach, but also a
(01:33:53):
leader and a principal and, and a mom is, uh, you know,
really being intentional and, and, and
purposeful when it comes to taking care of yourself, your
mind, your body. Uh, yeah. So I
don't know if that answers your question, but it's, it is
something I often think about, uh, when it
comes to maybe not a mistake, but maybe something that I
(01:34:15):
would have changed in order to have a
different trajectory. How did you shift your mindset there?
Yeah. This one, um, this one was,
it was hard. And I think that no matter what you go through
in life, whether it's, you know,
a massive traumatic event or whether it's a
(01:34:36):
big failure or whether it's just, you know,
as this small mistake that you make, you got to, you got to
frame your mind with the opportunity
to just know that you can keep going. And for me, it took a
really long time. I had identified
myself as an athlete forever. Um, you know, I had always
(01:34:58):
known that it wasn't going to be a full-time
career. You know, I'd always known that I wanted to, you
know, get married and have kids, but I
didn't think it was going to end that early. And I, and I
pictured, you know, more medals and, and
more successes with my sport and possibly being the first
ever to, uh, you know, be in the X games
(01:35:18):
for that sport, you know, so I did go into a really dark
place. Like I, I, I was probably, uh, you know,
I wouldn't label it, um, diagnosed depression, but I was in
a really dark place and I had to,
I had to force myself to see myself for somebody else, you
know, someone besides just an athlete.
(01:35:40):
And so, you know, that's when I went to school and I, you
know, started, I always knew I wanted to
be in education, but I, you know, I just kind of put my
focus there. And then I put my focus into
exactly what I teach now through, you know, positive
statements and power statements and
morning routines and, you know, being able to see yourself
(01:36:00):
for other things, um, outside of maybe
just your job or, or a title as a mom or a wife and seeing
more for yourself, I think really helped
me shift the way I thought, but also it allowed me to see,
see more, which created more opportunities.
(01:36:23):
How do you take the learning from that process and apply it
to the adversity you're facing now?
Uh, it's emotional. I'll tell you that because I did learn
a ton about myself and it goes back to my
grounded beliefs in, you know, when I'm meeting adversity
(01:36:43):
right now, I often just go back to,
you know, this is a moment in time and I can get through
it. And what can I learn from this
adversity to allow me to grow and to, um, in, in the role
that I play now often is also how can I
then now teach others? Um, because, you know, I, I always
(01:37:07):
do things for myself with the ability to
inspire and teach others because I, you know, look at
others to, for that same thing. And I like to
be able to give back. And because I'm, you know, working on
myself every second of every day,
I often like to be able to share, you know, what works,
(01:37:29):
what doesn't work. And, um, yeah.
And even the best leaders, when we talk adversity talks
changing the road and they often go hand in
hand with each other. So I appreciate you sharing
adversity, helping you grow, helping you go forward.
And, and with that, you know, we're ready
to talk not so much about the adversity,
but the change we're going to action on it. And so we're
(01:37:50):
going to bring up our third segment here,
our water element, small shifts, big waves and ripples of
change. We discover how to make a
lasting impact and we're going to play another game here,
Michelle. This one is not fill in the
blank. It's not principle or preference, but we're actually
(01:38:11):
going to get into some coaching advice
because that's what we're here for.
That's why you're here as an expert.
You know, we're all, we're all leaders in some capacity.
And so I'm going to ask a question
and in the shortest reply possible, I want your best
advice. Okay. Let's start with what's one
thing leaders should stop doing immediately.
Judgment. Stop having judgment. What's your
go-to strategy when everything feels overwhelming?
(01:38:33):
Breathing and writing things. What's a mindset
shift that changed your life? Seeing the good. What's the
best advice you'd give your younger
self? Learn these strategies earlier in life. What's one
thing people think matters, but it
really doesn't people's perception of you. There we go.
Some quick tips. I appreciate that. We're
going to get into some of those actually here. You know,
(01:38:54):
they're quite interesting to me. Your
responses, how are your leadership styles changing from now
to what it was in your first year? So
it is a lot of what I just said to and the
quick answers, although I did, I was quick,
was quick Tyler. I was going to elaborate
on all of them, but I'm like, he said quick.
I would say that I take things less personal now. And I do
(01:39:17):
when I say no judgment, I just mean that
everybody that comes into education are there for kids.
Like they wouldn't have come into education.
And so when you see somebody doing something that might not
align with your vision or that,
you know, might just not be, you know, the height that you
(01:39:38):
want it to be, take a step back
with no judgment and look at the
steps that you want to take forward.
Taking things personal. So when I said that, you know,
don't allow others people's perception.
It's not that you don't want to learn from other people,
because that's not what I mean by it. What
I mean by it is that when we focus too much on what other
(01:40:01):
people think of us, we lose sight of
who it is that we want to be. And when you can, you know,
open yourself up to feedback and hear it
and take in what's going to help you grow
and then leave out things that don't align,
that's where you're able to get to, you know, really get to
(01:40:22):
know yourself and grow yourself
and focus less on what other people think
and more on how you're growing through that.
So that's how I've grown to. And that's why
I'm giving that back as leadership advice.
I think that's great advice. You know, that's from, you
know, from you to share. I totally agree
on that idea. You know, early on, we take things so
(01:40:45):
personally and I feel like I got a little bit
ahead of the game, but I don't feel like I am my job. And I
feel like a lot of people with leadership,
you know, they do. And when you feel that way, every
decision, you know, is a way to go because
it's your identity to separate your job from your identity
is a really important thing because
it lets you lead with transparency because we don't feel
(01:41:05):
like you have to shelter and protect
your personal, your your personal identity, that
separation. It's it's crucial for moving forward.
And so I appreciate the story on it that, you know, you
mentioned what steps do you take,
you know, after that? So the first step is, is processing
(01:41:26):
what it is that I need to change. So
making it making it make sense to me. So depending whether
I'm getting that feedback from another
colleague, or I'm getting that feedback from, you know, a
parent, or I'm getting that feedback from
my husband, I often get feedback from my husband, which is
great. But I first just have to process
it. And then I have to, you know, and then I try to work
(01:41:49):
through it about how how is this going to
make sense to me? And how am I going to use this as growth
without changing who I am? Because,
again, it goes back to people are going to constantly, as
as leaders, especially give you
give you feedback. And sometimes it's not
(01:42:10):
always great. And you then have to say, okay,
I'm going to listen because I want to be able to listen
attentively, maybe this is good feedback,
and then I just now need to process it. And so I process
it, I think about where it fits,
and then I try to roll it out
authentically. So, you know, I'm going to give a really
(01:42:33):
funny example. And it's not a leadership example. But the
way that and I communication is huge,
but the way that I communicate sometimes with my husband, I
never realized that I was often
using a statement that would not acknowledge what he was
saying, but just bring it back to what I
(01:42:55):
wanted. And so he kept he kept saying like, I'm hearing
you, but this is this is not a great way
to communicate. Anyway, I had I had to start stopping
myself and hearing myself do it. And
then I had to figure out every time we enter a
conversation, I have to be very cognizant that
I'm not going to do it. And then over time, now it's
changed, right? So I know that's a silly
(01:43:18):
example, but it's something so simple. But that's when it
comes to changing and feedback, it has to
make sense to you, you can't just do something because, you
know, someone tells you to do it,
if it doesn't make sense to you, or you can't authentically
do it, then you're not being true
to yourself. And so so I really believe in that. And I I
try that when I'm, you know, when I'm
(01:43:38):
sharing a vision for teachers as well as that goes back to
that investment piece, right? It takes
time so you can keep giving similar feedback, but and over
time, you're going to start to see some
of that change because people are starting to invest in it
and make sense to them. And you know,
you kind of hit a bunch of questions there that I wanted to
follow up with. You covered everything
(01:44:00):
from the, you know, the best ways to implement change, how
to break it down into smaller steps.
And it's actually those consistent actions that represent
the change process being long lasting.
So with that, we're going to go away from how we actually
go about change to that decision making
process. And it's going to bring us to our last element,
the fire element in our final segment.
Hey, just right quick here, alchemists. If you're enjoying
(01:44:20):
the show and you're listening to us on
Apple, make sure you take some time to put a review on the
show. And if you're on Spotify,
make sure you give us a five star rating. When you give
those ratings, it helps improve the reach
of the show. My goal is impact. So I'm trying to impact as
many people as I can, the lives of
leaders, educators, the people trying to make a difference.
And the only way that's going to
happen is if we support each other by giving that review or
(01:44:43):
giving that rating. Thank you so much
for taking some time. Now let's get into Sparker burn.
[Music]
In Sparker burn, we either have the decisions that spark
success or burn lessons into our memory.
And to kick off this segment, let's make some big decisions
that you have to live with. This is
(01:45:04):
final answer. And it's a would you rather style with no
explanation behind the would you rather.
Ready to give it a try? Okay. Okay. Would you rather lead
without recognition or follow with full
credit? Lead without recognition. Would you rather make
bold mistakes or play it safe and miss out?
Bold mistake. Would you rather work with someone who's
(01:45:25):
honest but harsh or kind but unclear?
Honest but harsh. Would you rather
rebuild trust or start fresh with someone new?
Start fresh with someone new. Would you rather have a full
calendar or never know what's coming
up? A full calendar. Would you rather give feedback or
receive it? Right now I'd rather,
(01:45:46):
I want to learn to give hard feedback where I'm at. Would
you rather mentor someone difficult or be
mentored by someone demanding? Mentor someone difficult.
Would you rather succeed quietly or
fail loudly? Succeed quietly. Would you rather lead someone
(01:46:06):
that challenges you or someone that
agrees with you? No, challenges me. Would you rather
overcome adversity alone or support someone
through their adversity? Support someone else through
theirs. Michelle, what's the hardest
decision you ever had to make? This is a hard question.
Hard leadership move. You know, I've
(01:46:28):
had to have some pretty courageous conversations over the
years. And some of the decisions that
have to come out of those critical conversations were my
hardest because I knew where my intentions
were, but I don't always think that the other person on the
(01:46:52):
other side knew where my intentions
were coming from. And I think that's the hardest part. And
then, you know, without sharing, you
know, too much information about the critical
conversations, but you have to have them as a
leader. And you have to make tough decisions with the
educators that you work alongside with and
lead that don't always make sense to them. And I know for
(01:47:17):
myself, my intentions are always for
student success. And with at the same time trying to honor
what my teachers are growing in as well.
But it doesn't always it doesn't always turn out that way.
And so I think that's the hardest
decisions and things to make is is through how to go about
(01:47:40):
those critical conversations. And I think
that's we could do a whole other conversation about that
with leadership. But yeah, I would say
through that were my hard decisions.
How do you separate emotion from logic?
So that's a really tough one. And that comes with time,
(01:48:01):
time and work, because I think there's some
people that have been in leadership most of their career
and still can't do it. When it when we
think about social emotional learning, we do need to be
present with our thoughts, but we also need
to be able to control our emotions when it comes to
different points in in leadership. And so
(01:48:25):
I never want to come across cold like I
don't care. But I have to be careful not to
give off my emotions to them, because it's not about me at
that time. And so I really try to
come across empathetic and honest and authentic without
(01:48:49):
protruding my own emotion on them,
because I want my intention to come across as true as I can
and allow them to receive it the way that
it's going to be received. How do you make
sure your values show up in your decisions?
Yeah, so that so that's a very tough one as a leader,
because my values are the same in
(01:49:14):
my leadership as in my house. And it just goes back to
kindness and and and honesty,
but also, I believe really strongly in getting out of your
comfort zone and growing. And so
you know, I you have to you just really have to be able to
(01:49:40):
I'm gonna I'm messing up here because
I'm just thinking about back to the other question. But
when you first walk into a building,
when you are a leader, one of the first things you have to
decide is what your why is right,
why you're doing what you're doing, and
what makes you the leader that you want to be,
(01:50:01):
and how are you going to model and share your growth, as
well as pushing others. And so I think
when you write that down and know what that that why is and
what the purpose is, and that every
decision you make, no matter what's coming at you, you need
to go back to that first. And one of the
(01:50:21):
things I've always said is it doesn't matter what school
I've been at, whether it be a teacher as a
vice principal, now as a principal, I'm the same person
from every school. And I stay true to that.
And you could call any colleague or any
person and I'm the same person. And so
that's often advice that I give new leaders is never change
who you are. As a person, and as a
(01:50:45):
leader, you want to change and shift and grow from the
learning that you get in the different
buildings you go in. But when it comes to those core values
of who you are, you need to stay true
to those because that's going to be the legacy that you'll
leave with those with those teachers
without those that place. So I'm a big fan of bringing the
(01:51:08):
why into every single year. And I'm
also a big fan of, you know, the whole show is centered
around the earth element and how we
ground ourselves in those decisions. And it's really
dependable on those values. So to cycle
it back to that, Michelle, I really appreciate what you
just said. Our last segment here used to be
listener questions and I'm shifting it to something a
(01:51:28):
little different for the show.
You're going to be the first one, which is the coolest
thing, but it also makes it the
shortest segment for us today. You know, next time I have
you on, you'll get the full benefit of this.
And maybe, you know, the last episode I ever record will
bring you back on for the final episode to
wrap it up. What I want to do is I want my guests to leave
one question for the next guest. So you
(01:51:50):
have no idea who's going to be on next, what we're going to
be talking about, what their level of
expertise is or where it's going. But what's one question
that you'd like me to bring to the next
guest on the show? One question is what is unique to you?
What makes you stand out from others?
Perfect. I'll make sure that our next guest gets that
(01:52:11):
question and it's fullest and we'll do our
best to pull an answer from them. And then they will pass
it on by sharing another question in
the future with coming guests. And hopefully, you know, we
can maybe see this come full circle and
wrap it up by bringing that final question back to you. And
with that, Michelle, you know, I just
want to take some time and say thank you for connecting.
Thank you for joining the show.
And it meant a lot to have a great conversation. You know,
(01:52:32):
I really appreciate the value you brought
to this show. And I hope that the listeners have some good
and full feedback on it, too.
Well, thank you, Tyler. I've loved this is the first
podcast that I've been on where we've played
games. And so I'm in. Have me back. You know, I do want to
ask before we fully wrap up, how can
people get in touch with you if they want to learn more?
(01:52:54):
Maybe they want to pursue coaching or just
learn from you. Yeah, so lots of different ways you can get
me on LinkedIn just under Michelle
Sigmund. You can get me on Instagram at Michelle Fitness
Mama. You can check out my website,
wellness, Michelle.com. And that has everything that I do
(01:53:16):
in terms of my wellness business. It's
got my goal setting workbook on there. It's got a little
bit more about me. And the other podcast
I've been on is on that website as well.
So you can listen to more about my story.
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