Episode 188: The Human Side of Leadership with Todd, Dominic, and Darrin

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 00:01

All right, everybody. Welcome back into Leaning Into Leadership podcast. This is episode one hundred eighty eight and we are back for a mid month episode here in January of twenty twenty five with my buddies, Todd Bloomer and Dominic Armando and fellas. We are in the middle of just this insane Arctic blast all over the country right now. I know we were texting with each other yesterday about how

stinkin' cold it is everywhere and Dom you got snow. It's minus one here in Omaha as I speak with you guys and Todd it's probably 55 and you guys are all in parkas or something in San Antonio but it's certainly cold right now. So fellas welcome into the show, good to see you. Todd I'm gonna come to you first just a little hello.

Dominic Armano (: 00:35

Yep.

Todd Bloomer (: 00:42

you

Dominic Armano (: 00:50

Good to see you guys.

Todd Bloomer (: 00:53

Let's go. Chance that we might have snowfall in San Antonio, Texas. so, South Texas over through Houston, all bracing for some.

unpredictableness, all bracing for some unpredictableness over the next three or four days. So, you know, as far as being a school leader, you know, they don't train you, I guess, to prepare for snow days in college. And so we're getting ready to do that. And all the dominoes that go with canceling school, athletic events, scheduled observations, you know, minutes for school. So just a lot of stuff that goes into canceling school.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 01:21

Yeah.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 01:34

Yeah, think there's certainly a, know, everybody's excited when there's a snow day and everybody wants to know, we have to make this one up? But those are hours in the day, minutes in the day, heck, for school leaders that you're not gonna get back. And that's certainly tough. So Dominic, how are you today,

Dominic Armano (: 01:51

Doing great. You know, we have 22 degrees here. We're off for MLK, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We did get some snow. Not the big one that I was hoping for. It's been a while, but we got about four inches or so, enough for the kids to play outside and get the snow blower going. But like you said, unfortunately, and I'm going to say unfortunately, because even as a principal, we really love those snow days. We were already off, so kind of hit on perfect timing. Would have been nice if it came tonight and to tomorrow, but you know, it is what it is.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 02:21

Yeah, there you go. There you go. Absolutely. So, so guys for, for this episode, just, think like we did in December, let's just kind of go round Robin with some questions that, that are just fresh on your mind. What are some things that maybe you guys are thinking about? I'm going to go first this time. the first one that I want to lead with, and I wrote a blog post about this, late last week. I was in a school, one of the schools that I support here in my local area.

actually back in November having a conversation with the principal, the athletic director about when you have to make those hard decisions, you know, and in their case, there was a, you know, difficult decision they were going to make that was going to impact the school community. And certainly they knew they were going to face a little bit of scrutiny. But it was the right decision without question. Sitting down with them earlier this week, now a couple of months removed and they've, you know, now

the announcement of the person that's replacing the one that they moved on from. It's interesting when you see the human side of leadership and I think something people don't see that those of us who have sat in the chair know is the effect that those hard decisions have on the leader. You everybody wants to question you, everybody wants to criticize you or celebrate you.

I mean, if it's a decision that my gosh, it's about time. I mean, you'll get all types of different reactions, but your own personal and professional weight that you carry when you make those tough decisions is something I think a lot of people don't see. And Todd, I'm going to come to you on this one first. Not that there are more or less difficult decisions, elementary versus secondary, but certainly at the high school level.

I moved on from a wrestling coach, a couple of basketball coaches, a football coach, a band director. mean, there are maybe more opportunity to have to make some of those tough choices that can face some pretty heavy criticism. So where I want to go with this is maybe share a little bit of what the average person doesn't know.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 04:43

that a leader goes through when those tough decisions are made. then also, I don't know, Todd, you've done it for a long time. You've done it exceptionally well. What's maybe a little piece of advice or a little bit of insight you can share about when the time comes, you've got to make that decision. How do you take care of yourself?

Todd Bloomer (: 05:01

Yeah.

Dr. P great great blog post, by the way, I really, you know, brought up lot of memories and thought of things. I'm glad we're talking about it today. It's never easy because we're in a people business. And when we talk about a school being a family, we talk about caring for people. When we have to make decisions that affect people, people's livelihoods, their career path, it is difficult. I think one of things that people don't realize is that we take these decisions to heart, and we really make the best decision that we possibly can.

So when we're making these decisions, I think sometimes people think it's black and white for us, and we just make the decision. And we don't factor into the human element of what's going on. And so what I would say to just any leader that's out there that has to make these decisions, you know, do your homework, do what's right by your kids and do what's right by your community. Do what's right by, you know, the people on your committee that you're using to make decisions or your leadership team. And then at end of the night, if you've done all that, you can lay your head on the pillow at night, knowing that you've made the best decision for your school.

and for your students. And ultimately, that's who we're serving. We're serving our student body in our community. And I wish every decision we could make would make everybody happy. But that's why we're an administration. We're paid to do these, make these tough things. And so I think one of things that you have to really surround yourself with is knowing that you made the right decision by kids. And if you can do that, then you can lay your head on the pillow at night. Doesn't make it any easier. So then you have to look for that outlet. What is that outlet? Is it running? Is it walking with your with your wife? Is it, know, spending time with your children? You know, what

are you doing outside of school to try to disconnect? But in this day and age of social media, you can't disconnect because someone's posting something online to criticize your decision. You know, someone will post something, man, great decision. And then four people will post something that says terrible decision. And you only focus on the stuff that's negative. And so it can really eat away at you if you don't put something for it. So I would say that's best advice I would give anybody. Make decision based on what's best for the students in the school. It all works out at the end if that's in your forefront. If Darren, if that's your light,

Todd Bloomer (: 07:02

of where you're going in leadership that works out and then find something to relieve the stress. You know, my daughter does yoga in the morning at 530. I can't do yoga, but maybe it's getting up, hitting the gym, it's walking, it's going and grabbing a burger with friends, it's reaching out to someone like Darren Pepper or Dominic Armano to say, you know, hey, help me walk me through this and help out. And so you can't carry it yourself, but at the end of the day, if you do what's right by kids, the decisions usually work themselves out.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 07:27

Excellent. Done.

Dominic Armano (: 07:30

Yeah, mean, I honestly don't think anyone could answer it as good as Todd answered it. I mean, I think it was perfect, quite honestly. You know, I wish when you're talking to new leaders, I wish there was a way or something to say, do X, Y, and Z, and it'll make those decisions easier. But unfortunately, it's not, you know? And there isn't one thing to do, but...

I really do believe in Todd what you were saying that as long as you're making the decisions based on what's good for children and what's good for kids, then you're heading in the right direction. I think that's what you kind of have to hang your hat on is, you know, I have a little message on my desk that says, always remember to ask, how is this good for children? And I feel like if you're making those decisions and you keep that in the forefront of the decision making process, you know, you yourself then can...

put your head on the pillow at night and say, you know, I did what I had to do and I did it because that's what's right by kids. You know, the other thing I would say too is, you know, as long as you stay true to yourself. And I also believe that not that it'll make those decisions easier, but having relationships with people and building a positive, trusting relationship with your community, with your teachers, with the parents, with upper administration.

Having that relationship makes it a little bit easier in the long run because if you are honest and open about your decisions and all of your decisions and if you communicate and people understand you and understand what your mission is, what your vision is and what you value, they might give you some criticism about the decisions you make. But if you stay in line and if you're still you and you have those relationships, it tends to go a little bit easier even though there are some criticisms.

I feel like people eventually will say, you know what, that's just Mr. Armando. He did what he had to do. Even though we disagree with it, he did what he had to do, and we trust him, and we value him. And so I would say, as a whole, just continue to make those relationships, to build those relationships, and keep on the forefront of your mind your decision-making process. For me, it's the kids, and for you, could be something else. But yeah, I wish there was another solution or.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 09:46

you

Dominic Armano (: 09:48

or like a magic wand that you could wave to make it happen or make you feel good about it, unfortunately there isn't. It's just gonna be difficult, but that's kinda where you are.

Todd Bloomer (: 09:57

Hey Darren, one of the things that I found at secondary that is a lot easier, I would say, than Dom in elementary school is two years ago, we hired a new dance director and a new cheerleading coach.

And I had students on the panel and student voice allowed for student input, obviously, but it also allowed once we had selected the candidates for those student leaders that were on the dance team to go back to their their friends, their parents and spread the good word about the person that we hired like they and they felt really good about it. I challenged them at the end. You know, hey, this is your pick. I'm not going to be in practice every day, but I need you to go back to your teammates, your parents and really help this

this person be successful. And I knew they were going to be successful because we did a good job vetting them. But having that student voice sometimes in these tough situations, if you have to move on, allows for you to have those people go out in the community and spread your goodwill. You can't do that for every position that you have. I've done it for assistant principal, I've done it for dance team directors, I've done it for some coaching positions. But when you can, you think about it, student voice is such a component of students, a school success. And if you're a lot, if you can get student voice and buy in,

99 % of the time your pick is the same pick as the kids and you're able to kind of rock and roll from there So if you can use voice, I think that helps in these difficult transitions

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 11:19

Yeah, I think that's huge right there guys. really do. think obviously the more of the different constituents you can get involved in that process, the better. And certainly when you can have students be a part of that selection process so that they take some ownership is essentially what you're talking about. I think that's just really, really fantastic. Okay, let's dive into one of your questions.

And and see see where we can go from here Dom. I'm going to come to you with your round robin question

Dominic Armano (: 11:54

All right, so mine is about public relations. And I feel like public relations in education isn't really discussed as much as it should be, right? So as administrators, we were never taught about branding, creating a mission or vision for your schools or any of the other key aspects that goes into the public relations side of what we do. So I guess my question is, let's talk a little bit about the importance

of being a champion for your school and how do you overcome your maybe fear of putting yourself out there when you're a new administrator and you you don't want to be accused of just being a showboat or being flashy or being that guy on social media so that's my question you know it's something that I feel like I've definitely kind of tweaked over the years but I kick it to my two friends that I'm doing this much longer and

Well, get it going.

Todd Bloomer (: 12:55

Tom, I think you're doing a really good job of promoting right now your campus through social media. While I don't know some of your teachers, I feel like I'm able to get a peek in the classroom with some of the things that you're highlighting and sharing. so I, know, it's a cliche, but if you're not telling your story, someone else is. And so one of things that we've done, and I'm really proud of myself, you know, we've been on social media since 2010. We've really used it to help brand and connect our student body. And I think nowadays,

parents are all on social media also and you have to meet them where they're at. So whether it be Facebook, Instagram, know, X, I think you have to promote. And I think kids want to see themselves promoted. And I think parents want to see themselves promoted. And I would say one of the things that if it's heartfelt and genuine, I wouldn't care if someone thought you were being a showboat. You're highlighting and celebrating the successes of your teachers of what you have. And lastly, I'll share with this. So many parents have choice. They can go to, you know, Saveville Elementary School or they can go to, you know, down the road for me, Harmony Hills Elementary School.

if they wanted to. So the social media allows for them to be able to have to shop your school and see what is important. And I'll end with this. What you put out on social media is what you value. And if you value student success, student involvement, happiness, kindness, that and that's all that you're putting out there, that becomes the narrative that your community sees.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 14:15

Yeah, think just to build on that, think all of that is so, so, so accurate. And I think back to something that you were saying, Dom, in the previous question, where that need for...

people to know who you are, to know what you stand for and to really, you know, like, okay, I get it. This is what Dominic Armani was all about, whether or not we agreed with his decision. That's a big part of why building that brand of why telling your story is just so critical because you know, as Todd talks about the social media piece, I mean, let's face it, unfortunately, most, not all, but most people.

love to go to social media to complain. You know, they want to go on social media and I don't know, it's like they're looking for strength in numbers, you know, I mean, I got this raw deal from such and such teacher or whatever. And we know that's going to happen. But, you know, we certainly need to as George Currow said, we need to speak the positive so loud that you can barely hear the negatives and

the more that we are talking about what's happening in our schools and and not just arbitrarily talking about it. Tie it to what specifically do you care about? What do you value as a school? What is it you're trying to accomplish? What is that that clear, compelling vision that I talk about all the time here on the podcast? Anything that connects to that, anything that moves you closer to that, anything that demonstrates that that's what we should be celebrating. That's what we should be talking about, whether that's something that our staff is doing.

something that our kids are doing or even something we see in our community that aligns with that. Or highlighting the partnerships that we've created to help move us closer to that. That's why that branding, that telling the story is so important. And you're so right. I mean, we just don't do enough of this in prep programs. I don't want to say there aren't any because I would bet that there are now some that-

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 16:26

you know, those master's programs that maybe have a course or they've at least embedded some things around creating and building the narrative that you want around your school. But certainly when I went through my master's program, heck, when I went through my doc program, nothing about that at all, you know, and it's, it's an essential element. So man, that's an awesome question. I love that one. I'm glad we got a chance to kind of chop it up on that one a little bit. Mr. Bloomer. Yeah. Mr. Bloomer, what are you thinking about today?

Dominic Armano (: 16:43

Yep

Dominic Armano (: 16:52

Thanks guys, that was great.

Todd Bloomer (: 16:54

Yes, sir. You know, would say, Dom, before I jump in, I would say, if you're not the social media guy, you find somebody on your campus that is. Gone are the days of not having that. I don't like Facebook, so I can't do it. I don't like X or whatever. Somebody's got to do it. So find somebody and be their part. So here's what I would say. Sometimes in education, I'll use an analogy. We only.

We only see what we see. We only see the same people in the same swimming pool, the same people in the same arena. our ideas are kind of limited to geographically where we're at, to think of what we have.

You know, Darren, you've been all over schools in Nebraska, now all over the country, and, Dom, you know, the greater New York City area. You know, what am I missing? And maybe not missing is the word, but what are you seeing that you think right now is something that is unique to school leadership? And that could be either the way a principal is carrying themselves, the way a principal is using something in their classroom, I'm sorry, in their campus. What is something that does not need to be specific only to the Great Plains of

of Nebraska or the city of New York? What is something that you say, hey, right now, this guy's killing it. And this is what I want to share with everybody because, you know, I'm in San Antonio, Texas. I've got a good PLN of people. But if I only talk to the same people, I only get the same ideas generated. What am I missing? What's out there? And I will, just because, Darren, you've been in more schools a little bit, a variety of schools, and not that he hasn't, but you're kind of trying

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 18:38

We lost your audio, Todd.

Dominic Armano (: 18:45

No, technical difficulties.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 18:48

Yep.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 18:54

Try again.

Yeah, yeah, you're there.

Todd Bloomer (: 18:58

So sorry.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 19:00

That's okay. So do this. Just say that last piece again, you know, whatever your question was going to be of me, just go ahead and state that. I'll splice it together.

Todd Bloomer (: 19:09

OK, I'm sorry about that, Darren. And so Darren, my question really is, you've been in a lot of classrooms over the last couple of weeks. What am I missing? What's out there that you want to share with the rest of the world?

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 19:21

And that's such a good question. you know, yeah, yeah. And I'm sitting here, you know, if you're watching the YouTube version, you're seeing me kind of staring off into space, like trying to think of, you know, something really, really good. Because, I mean, the truth is so many administrators do so many good things and so many of them do it well together.

Dominic Armano (: 19:24

It really is.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 19:45

I'm going to go in this direction. I've got a couple things that I will share. So one of my principals here that I work with in Omaha, Nebraska, actually in Papillion La Vista, his name is Jeff Spilker. So Jeff is the principal of Papillion La Vista High School South. And on a regular basis, Jeff shares with his staff what he calls his leadership shares. So every week he is sending

a newsletter, but it's not just the school's newsletter with, we've got this going on and here's what's on the calendar and you know, so and so's birthday. It's not that. It is specifically leadership shares. So things that he is finding, whether those are blog posts from people, podcasts, quotes that he sees, all kinds of different things. And part of what Jeff's goal is there is he wants to really encourage

those aspiring leaders in his building, they do a wonderful job at his school of growing leaders from within. And so he's sending this staff wide, but I think it's really kind of a cool thing to share other people's leadership pieces because again, it's an opportunity for them to grow, but it also demonstrates to the staff, the continued dedication that Jeff has.

to growing as a leader because he's got to find this. He's got to curate all of this information. And I think it's really kind of an interesting avenue. I have a second one, but I'll hold on that one. We'll see if we've given Dominic enough time to think of one that he's like, hey, what about this?

Todd Bloomer (: 21:31

What do think, Tom?

Dominic Armano (: 21:31

I think honestly, so I've been now in my career, I've had very fortunate to be a New York City public school educator and administrator, which is, you know, obviously an urban, very urban district. And now I'm in a small suburban district and, you know, loving every minute of it. one of the things that I would say is

in my travels across New York City and now obviously where I am. It's a lot of people talk about social emotional learning and SEL, right? And I feel like, I don't know, maybe seven, eight years ago was like the buzzword, right? know, differentiation of instruction, social emotional learning. But one of the things that I'm just so, and I'm going to give a shout out to the district that I'm currently in. One of the things that I've just,

am so enamored with is the homegrown social emotional learning curriculum that was built from the ground up that literally ties with every aspect of the curriculum that we're working on in Seville, right? So even now we're doing curriculum audits in every category in ELA math, science and social studies.

And we're linking it back to our SAVIL strides curriculum, which is our SEL component. And just how deep that goes, you know, that strides piece is like, almost like provides wraparound services and connects us to mental health professionals on the outside and, you know, other types of organizations and not-for-profits that partner with the district. you know, it's more than just a buzzword.

and it's more than just buying like a program like Sanford Harmony and having like a morning meeting and you know talking about it or checking things off of boxes but it really is an entire community approach and so you know that's just something that you know I feel like we should be talking about and I feel like if people are investing time in their social emotional learning curriculum they should go outside of that textbook that you could buy and really just touch base with the community and see

Dominic Armano (: 23:48

what services they're willing to offer the district. So I'm gonna throw that out there. Honestly, it's just one of the things that I've just been so blown away with, being there for year two. But yeah, I had to share that, so.

Todd Bloomer (: 24:01

Both of those are awesome, absolutely awesome.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 24:05

Yeah, outstanding stuff right there. Man, fellas, our time is just absolutely flying by today, which is pretty typical when we get together and hang out a little bit. So let's do this. I'm going to kind of lead us towards our close here with one kind of final question. And in a way, I'm using this to put some pressure on myself.

I don't know about you guys, don't know if you're a resolution type of person, a one word guy, whatever it is that you do. And we have made it past Quitters Day, that was last Friday. So if you had a resolution and you're still going, if you were swearing to do dry January and you're still going, congratulations, you survived Quitters Day. So I'm a one word guy. And for me, typically, it's tough.

finally landed on my word for: 2025

Dominic Armano (: 25:27

Yeah, I'm 100%. You know, for me, it really was, it really is. And I did pass, I made it past Quitters Day, so I'm happy about that. But it is doing a little bit more effort to physically take care of myself. I found that when I do go back to the gym, when I do work out a little bit, I feel better, I have more clarity.

And usually what happens is that becomes always secondary with the busy schedule of A being administrator B being a dad, you know and all that stuff. So for me, it's really just Taking care of myself, you know eating a little bit better getting to the gym Even if it's eight eight thirty at night, you know, even if it's a half an hour 40 minutes or so But but yeah, that's that that's my resolution and so far, you know, I took a page out of

I can never say his last name, know, fired up leadership. Frank, is it Randowski or? Rineski. Yeah. So he posted a fire up Friday recently about going, I think it was April 3rd or whatever, putting a reminder in your calendar in early April, basically says like, where are you? Is this where you want to be? And kind of like to reset the clock. So I actually did that. So I took a page out of his book, put a reminder in my calendar for April. That's going to flag and say, are you where you want to be?

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 26:21

Radnowski, Frank Radnowski. Yeah.

Dominic Armano (: 26:45

And if I fall off the wagon, I will fall off the wagon, I'll go back to the gym that day. So, but that's where I'm at.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 26:46

Good stuff.

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 26:53

good stuff. Big shout out to my buddy Frank Rineski. Yeah, good stuff. Todd.

Todd Bloomer (: 26:58

You know, Dom, and Darren, you probably see this with many of the administrators that you work with. It's the same thing for me. It's how do I take care of myself, my wife, my kids, my family, so that I can be the best version of the principal that I can be.

I started running about six months ago. It's been too cold to go outside to San Antonio to run right now. So I've had to go to Planet Fitness. So shout out to Planet Fitness for being open and being warm and just getting up and doing that each and every day. It is scheduling time in your calendar. Darren, you're a calendar guy. And if I can put it in my calendar, then I know it gets done. And I think you might have said it. I've quoted it many times and I attributed it to you. So I don't know if you said it or not, but I've attributed it to you. Show me your calendar and I'll show you what's important to you or show me your calendar and I'll show you your priorities.

fficult. So I think really in: 2025

stuff done and so really just: 2025

Dr. Darrin Peppard (: 28:34

Yeah, I love that. That's that's really good. Both you guys. That's just awesome stuff right there. And I think it does kind of feed a little bit to to the one word that I believe I have not that I believe I have selected for 2025. And and that is challenge. My word last year was clarity. It was all about getting really clear, you know, as as a leadership coach, what my processes are, it was really important to get clear as an entrepreneur, what is my business model, what

ibly can. Challenge for me in: 2025

I got my workout and my yoga. Yeah, I do some yoga Todd. You can do it man. They can do yoga. You really can. Okay. There is yoga for men. Trust me. It's, it's, it's all right. And you don't even feel embarrassed, right? But challenging myself to be the best that I can be physically to be the best that I can be as a husband and as a father challenging myself to take some risk and to try some new things. We've got some ideas.

those challenges. So for me,: 2025

episode this was so much fun guys always love having the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with both of you enjoy your holiday hopefully enjoy yours your snow Dom Todd maybe you'll get a little bit of snow who knows but definitely gentlemen thanks so much for joining me here on leaning into leadership as always

Todd Bloomer (: 30:37

Go Bills.

Dominic Armano (: 30:37

Thank you.