Using AI to Lead Smarter with Dr. Sarah Rubinson Levy

Zero-Based Scheduling: Rebuilding Your Calendar Around Your Priorities

Every school leader has had that moment at the end of the year: looking back and wishing they had spent more time on something that mattered. The problem is rarely a lack of intention. It is that the calendar fills itself in before we ever get the chance to decide. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I walk through a practical approach I use with the leaders I coach called zero-based scheduling, borrowed from the concept of zero-based budgeting. Instead of starting next year's calendar with this year's routines and tweaking around the edges, we wipe the slate clean and rebuild from priorities up. I share how to think in categories instead of individual meetings, how to assign your time the way you would assign a budget, and how to plan ahead for the seasonal rhythms of the school year so that intense periods like fundraising season or admissions season do not permanently crowd out the things you care about most. This is a practical, hands-on conversation for anyone heading into the summer with a chance to rethink how they want to lead next year. I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation. Get in touch with us:  Website:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.com] Subscribe to my Substack:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com] Instagram:⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/] LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/] Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680]

Leading Through Transition with Rabbi Jordan Soffer

Every school leader will face a transition. But very few get to pause in the middle of one and reflect on what it actually feels like from the inside. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Jordan Soffer, outgoing head of school at Striar Hebrew Academy of Sharon and incoming head at Bicultural Day School, at the precise moment he is living between two worlds. We explore what it means to leave a school well, how to balance accountability to the community you are leaving with the work of preparing for the one you are entering, and why culture is the thing that carries you when you cannot be as intentional as you would like. Rabbi Soffer also shares a powerful framework for entering any new role, why the decision after the decision matters more than the decision itself, and what it really looks like to build trust from scratch in a new community. It is a conversation that is relevant to anyone navigating a transition, and honestly to any leader thinking about how they show up every single day. I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation. Reach out to our guest:🌐 Website: https://bcha-ct.org/ [https://bcha-ct.org/] Get in touch with us:  Website:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.com] Subscribe to my Substack:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com] Instagram:⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/] LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/] Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680]

Cracking the Affordability Code in Jewish Day Schools with Melissa Rivkin

Affordability is one of the most urgent challenges facing Jewish day schools today. But what is actually driving the cost of tuition, and what can school leaders and communities realistically do about it?In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Melissa Rivkin, Director of Day School Strategy at the Samis Foundation in Seattle, about a new study examining the structural factors behind the affordability gap in Jewish day schools. We explore the four key drivers of cost, which ones are non-negotiable parts of our mission and which ones school leaders can actually influence, and what decades of affordability work in Seattle have revealed about what moves the needle.Melissa also shares why community-wide initiatives outperform school-by-school approaches, what the research says about class size and student-teacher ratios, and why the number you put on your website matters more than most schools realize.It is a data-driven and practically grounded conversation about one of the most important challenges in Jewish education today.I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation. Reach out to our guest: 🌐 Website: ⁠https://samisfoundation.org/ [https://samisfoundation.org/]✉️ Email: melissar@samis.com Get in touch with us:  Website:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.com] Subscribe to my Substack:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com] Instagram:⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/] LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/] Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680]

The Art of Donor and Parent Relations with Raimy Rubin

Most schools are good at asking. They are far less consistent at thanking and reporting. And that gap is quietly costing them the relationships that matter most.In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Raimy Rubin, fundraising consultant and communications expert, about what it really takes to make donors and parents feel genuinely connected to a school.We explore why the hero of every communication should be the audience, not the organization, what the "Ask-Thank-Report" cycle is and why keeping each step separate is so powerful, and how to build deeper relationships even when time is impossibly tight.Raimy also shares a simple and immediately actionable approach for the summer months, and a mindset shift that makes the whole thing feel manageable rather than overwhelming.It is a conversation that starts with donors and ends up being about every stakeholder relationship a school leader has.I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation.Reach out to our guest: 🌐 Website: https://www.raimyrubin.com/ [https://www.raimyrubin.com/] ✉️ Email: raimy@raimyrubin.com Get in touch with us:  Website:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.com] Subscribe to my Substack:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com] Instagram:⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/] LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/] Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680]

Sustaining Excellence: A Community Approach to Jewish Education with Dr. Miriam Heller Stern

Moving from the academic study of Jewish education to leading an entire Jewish community is no small shift. But Dr. Miriam Heller Stern did not step into the CEO role at BJE Los Angeles to maintain what already exists. She stepped in to reimagine it.In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dr. Miriam Heller Stern about what it means to build a communal engine for Jewish education, and why the questions we ask about our work matter as much as the answers we give. We explore her three-pillar approach to supporting families, teachers, and schools across Los Angeles, what she is learning about parent anxiety in this moment in Jewish history, and why teacher retention is not separate from the question of how we nourish educator souls.We also dig into what sustainable excellence actually means, and why schools need to stop thinking about themselves in isolation and start thinking about the ecosystem they operate within.It is a conversation about building systems that lift up the whole, and a reminder that the way forward is not about doing more with less. It is about doing what matters most.I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation. Reach out to our guest: 🌐 Website: https://www.bjela.org/ [https://www.bjela.org/]✉️ Email: Miriam@bjela.org.Get in touch with us:  Website:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.com] Subscribe to my Substack:⁠⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠⁠ [https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com] Instagram:⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/] LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/] Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680]