Episode 290

Episode 290: Before Staff Returns

Published on: 26th July, 2026

As another school year begins, principals across the country are busy preparing classrooms, finalizing schedules, reviewing procedures, and checking countless items off their opening-week to-do lists.

But what if the most important preparation has nothing to do with the building?

In this solo episode, Dr. Darrin Peppard challenges school leaders to stop asking, "Is the school ready?" and begin asking, "Am I ready?"

Drawing from his own experiences as a principal, superintendent, and leadership coach, Darrin shares five commitments that will help leaders prepare themselves before they prepare everyone else. Rather than offering another opening-week checklist, this conversation focuses on the mindset, habits, and intentional leadership practices that shape school culture throughout the entire year.

In this episode, you'll discover:

  • Why preparing yourself matters more than preparing the building
  • How to identify the three priorities that should drive your leadership
  • Why leadership team alignment creates consistency and trust
  • How to design opening experiences that inspire teachers instead of overwhelming them
  • Practical strategies to protect your calendar from the "cycle of chaos"
  • Why your presence during difficult moments shapes culture more than your plans
  • Three reflection questions every principal should answer before staff returns

Whether you're entering your first year as a principal or your twentieth, this episode will help you begin the school year with greater clarity, intentionality, and purpose.

Key Takeaway:

"You are not preparing the building. You are preparing yourself and your leadership team to lead the people who will make the building successful."

Resources & Links

• Learn more about Road to Awesome

• Connect with Dr. Darrin Peppard on LinkedIn

Sponsor Spotlight

This episode is proudly sponsored by HeyTutor.

HeyTutor partners with school districts across the country to provide high-dosage tutoring in mathematics and English language arts. Their comprehensive approach—including recruiting, training, scheduling, and managing tutors—allows educators to focus on what they do best while accelerating student learning.

Learn more by visiting the link above.

Connect with Darrin

If this episode challenged your thinking, I'd love to hear from you.

What's one piece of feedback that changed the way you lead?

Connect with me on LinkedIn or visit https://darrinpeppard.com/ to continue the conversation.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another leader who could benefit from this message.

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About the Podcast

Leaning into Leadership
A Road to Awesome Podcast
We all want to see successes in both our personal and professional lives. Often, that requires strong leadership. In a time when leadership can be more challenging than ever, this podcast is dedicated to cultivating leaders by elevating the voices of leaders and promoting positivity. Join Dr. Darrin Peppard, lifelong educator and best-selling author, for this mixed platform podcast (some solo, some guest interview) for inspiration and insight, and some great leadership stories from those are living it, excelling at it, and celebrating it. Together, let's lean into leadership.

About your host

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Darrin Peppard

Darrin Peppard is an author, publisher, speaker, and consultant focused on what matters most in leadership and education. Darrin is an expert in school culture and climate, as well as coaching and growing emerging leaders, and is the author of the best selling book Road to Awesome: Empower, Lead, Change the Game.

Darrin was named the 2016 Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year by WASSP/NASSP and was the 2015 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year. In 2017, Darrin earned his Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Wyoming. Darrin was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame in 2019.

Darrin now shares his experiences from over 25 years in education, specifically those learned as an education leader during the past 13 years. As a ‘recovering’ high school principal, Darrin shares lessons learned and effective strategies from over 25 years in public education to help leaders (both adults and students) to become more effective and positively impact the world around them. Connect with Darrin at roadtoawesome.net