Most school leaders have felt it at some point: that quiet, nagging suspicion that everyone else is more capable, better prepared, and more deserving of the role. Julia Bialeski knows it well. In the spring of 2019, she walked into her first principal job with a smile on her face and panic in her chest, presenting excitement to the world while privately wondering when everyone around her would figure out she wasn't good enough. In this conversation, Julia, educator, district leader, career coach, and author of Leading with Grace, talks honestly about why imposter syndrome hits school leaders so hard, why the loneliness of the job makes it worse, and why the profession's retention crisis has everything to do with the leadership models we put in front of the people coming up behind us.

Julia shares two practical strategies that have worked for her over years in leadership: a daily learning log that helps you end the day focused on what you gained rather than what you still don't know, and the "smile file", a simple physical collection of notes, cards, and messages that she has carried with her for over a decade and reached for on her hardest days. She also shares the question that changed how she thinks about new roles and challenges: not "am I good enough for this?" but "why not me?" If you've ever sat in a leadership role quietly wondering whether you really belong there, this conversation is worth your time.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Julia Bialeski on LinkedIn

Leading with Grace by Julia Bialeski

Episode Partners

International Leaders Conference

Sisi

Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensive

Shane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That sickly feeling after a tough leadership call isn't your intuition warning you that you got it wrong and this episode explains exactly why. Drawing on Leon Festinger's 1957 work on cognitive dissonance, a 2021 meta-analysis from Hebrew University, and Kahneman and Tversky's research on loss aversion, Shane reframes one of the most common experiences in school leadership: the quiet panic that shows up on the sofa after a hard decision. If you've ever drafted a softening email at 11pm or lain awake running alternate endings, this one is for you.

You'll learn why that post-decision discomfort is a receipt, not a warning, proof that your brain is doing the work of committing, not evidence that you chose wrong. Shane also explains why the loudest complaints after a change are predictably loud (loss aversion means losses feel twice as heavy as gains), and why suppressing the discomfort actually makes you a worse leader in the room. The practical takeaway is a single written exercise you can do this week that won't make the feeling stop, but will change what it means to you.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Leon Festinger's A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957)

Episode Partners

International Leaders Conference

Sisi

Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensive

Shane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melati Wijsen started Bye Bye Plastic Bags at age 12, spoke at the UN as a teenager, and never went to university, yet she is now teaching at three universities and shaping how a generation thinks about leadership and change. This episode is a conversation about what happens when a school genuinely creates space for a student's passion, and what school leaders can learn from one of the most compelling young voices in global education. Melati's journey through the Green School Bali, international advocacy, and her new book Change Starts Now offers a rare window into what education looks like when curiosity is treated as a core subject.

You'll hear why Melati believes clarity beats inspiration when building a movement ("Bye bye plastic bags" mobilised an island; "let's change the world" mobilises confusion), and why she burnt out at 16 after saying yes to too many causes. She and Shane discuss the real tension between academic accountability and changemaking and why she argues it doesn't have to be binary. Her practical answer for any leader with a passionate 14-year-old in their school is specific, actionable, and completely free. If you've ever wondered whether your school's systems are growing future leaders or quietly flattening them, this conversation will leave you with a lot to sit with and a few things to act on.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Melati Wijsen's website
• YOUTHTOPIA learning platform
• Change Starts Now by Melati Wijsen (Harper Collins)
• Melati Wijsen on LinkedIn
• Green School Bali
• Mealti Wijsen's Instagram

Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensive

Shane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.

You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.