Leaders Don’t Need More Things to Do, They Need More Time to Think with Aimee Presnall

Leaders Don’t Need More Things to Do, They Need More Time to Think with Aimee Presnall

What if the one thing that would make the biggest difference to your wellbeing, strategic clarity and positive school culture as a school leader isn’t another strategy or initiative, it’s simply more time to think? In this episode of Well-Led Schools, I’m joined for the third time by Aimee Presnall - leadership coach, TEDx speaker and founder of Wellnest. After more than 16 years in education, Aimee built her career around one observation that kept repeating itself: brilliant school leaders burning out while the systems around them kept asking for more. Aimee’s recent TEDx talk landed on something leaders feel in their bones but rarely hear said out loud: that we’re treating the shadow, not the source; that when leaders don’t have time to think, everything downstream suffers, their clarity, their team’s culture, and ultimately their students. We go deep on what actually changes when leaders are given space to develop the human skills needed to lead people well, why one-off PD rarely shifts anything, and what it takes for schools to build a genuine coaching culture rather than a tick-box one. In this episode: * Why leaders don’t need more things to do, but rather need more time to think * Clarity vs certainty: what staff want vs what leaders can actually give * Why giving yourself dedicated time to think feels so difficult * How recognising your default, high-pressure habits creates the fastest leadership shift * What one-off PD misses in comparison to navigating the “messy middle” of long-term coaching * The three pathways into middle leadership (aspiring, accidental, anointed), and how they shape your mindset LINKS AND RESOURCES Connect with Aimee Presnall via: Wellnest: www.well-nest.com.au [http://www.well-nest.com.au]  TED Talk: youtu.be/qjGM4esebQU?si=5eyFpR_-0KbUngty [http://youtu.be/qjGM4esebQU?si=5eyFpR_-0KbUngty]  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-parkinson/ [http://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-parkinson/]  Connect with me via: Website: adriennehornby.com.au [http://adriennehornby.com.au] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/ [http://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/] Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au [hello@adriennehornby.com.au] School Partnerships: adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/ [http://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/]

From Programs to System: Building Whole-School Wellbeing That Works with Justin Robinson

Most schools have wellbeing programs or initiatives. Very few have wellbeing embedded into the way they function and flourish. That is the difference between bolting something on and creating real, lasting change. In this episode, I am joined by Justin Robinson, co-founder of the Wellbeing Distillery and formerly the founding director of the Institute of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School. Justin has worked with hundreds of schools across Australia and internationally, and his approach is built on the idea that wellbeing has to be embedded across the whole school community, not delivered as a series of disconnected initiatives. We unpack what it actually takes to move from add-on programs to embedded practice, and why so many schools get stuck in the cycle of doing more without seeing more results. In this episode: * Why a collection of programs is not the same as embedded wellbeing * The four partners every school needs to engage: leaders, staff, students and families * The most common mistake schools make when rolling wellbeing out across the whole community * How adopting the mindset that "wellbeing is a shared responsibility" changes the way you design your whole approach * Practical starting points for schools that want to shift from doing wellbeing to being a wellbeing-led school LINKS AND RESOURCES * 7 Habits of Wellbeing-Wise Families: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18SmHYlVuY60XGq_g3b8bMYkUrmq5AdAE/view?usp=drive_link [https://drive.google.com/file/d/18SmHYlVuY60XGq_g3b8bMYkUrmq5AdAE/view?usp=drive_link]   * Wellbeing Compass Brochure: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_GRARsSBWpkcTN3rrCaQJOS2qY-uZ8F/view?usp=drive_link [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_GRARsSBWpkcTN3rrCaQJOS2qY-uZ8F/view?usp=drive_link]  Connect with Justin: * Website: thewellbeingdistillery.com [http://thewellbeingdistillery.com] * Email: justin@thewellbeingdistillery.com [justin@thewellbeingdistillery.com]  * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jrobinson-wellbeing [http://linkedin.com/in/jrobinson-wellbeing] Connect with Adrienne: * Website: adriennehornby.com.au [http://adriennehornby.com.au] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205 [http://linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205] * Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au [hello@adriennehornby.com.au]  * Staff Wellbeing Survey: http://adriennehornby.com.au/staff-survey/adriennehornby.com.au/staff-survey [http://adriennehornby.com.au/staff-survey] * Well-Led Schools Partnership Program: http://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships [http://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships]

What Educators Actually Need to Feel Purposeful Again with Glen Gerreyn

It’s the start of a new term. Some of your staff may be walking back into school running on empty, not because they don’t care, but because they’ve lost sight of why it matters. What educators actually need to feel purposeful again isn’t another wellbeing afternoon or a gratitude wall. According to this week’s guest, it’s a reconnection to vision, and that’s something a school can teach, build and sustain. In this episode of Well-Led Schools, I'm joined by Glen Gerreyn, speaker, author, youth advocate and founder of The Hopeful Institute. His work, spanning two decades and hundreds of schools globally, is grounded in one powerful idea: hope is not a passive feeling. It's a skill. It's a strategy. And it can be taught. In this episode: * Glen's personal origin story: from elite athlete to disability pension to Young Australian of the Year * The three components of Hope Theory: goals, pathways, and agency * Why disengagement is often a vision crisis, not a behaviour problem * The Hopeful Schools Framework and how it works in practice * Why purpose and meaning matter as much as curriculum in education * What leaders can do to build hope into school culture systemically About Glen Gerreyn: Glen Gerreyn is a speaker, author and youth advocate who has dedicated his career to building hope in young people and the educators who work with them. After overcoming a serious a chronic illness that ended his career as a state champion sprinter, heGlen rebuilt his life through purpose, resilience and connection to meaning, and was named Young Australian of the Year in 1998. He is the founder of The Hopeful Institute and has worked with more than 300 schools across Australia and worldwide. His work draws on Charles Snyder's Hope Theory and translates it into practical frameworks that schools can embed into their culture. He is also the author of Men of Honor, a book on sexual ethics and character development for young men. Links and Resources * 50 Book Summaries for Educators [http://www.thehopefullinstitute.com/the-hopefull-institute-book-summaries/] * 7 Infographics (burnout, procrastination and more) [http://www.thehopefullinstitute.com/explore-our-7-latest-infographics/] * Well-Led Schools Partnership Program [http://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/] If this episode resonated, leaving a review wherever you are listening means the world. Thank you for listening! Connect with Glen via: Website: www.thehopefullinstitute.com/ [http://www.thehopefullinstitute.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glengerreyn/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/glengerreyn/] Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/glengerreyn/ [https://au.pinterest.com/glengerreyn/]  Connect with me via: My website: adriennehornby.com.au [http://adriennehornby.com.au] LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/ [http://linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/] Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au [hello@adriennehornby.com.au]

From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Leadership Reset with Brad Gaynor

Burnout in school leadership is rarely dramatic. More often, it looks like a principal who has driven home in tears after holding it together all day, or a leader who lies awake at 2 am running through tomorrow’s decisions, or someone quietly building a wall between who they are at work and who they are at home. Brad Gaynor knows that experience firsthand. After more than 20 years as a primary school principal, Brad reached a breaking point he did not see coming. He kept it hidden from almost everyone,  colleagues, family, and community, while the weight of it quietly became unmanageable. It was only when he sought support, started writing and began to make sense of what had happened that From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Leadership Reset came to life. In this episode, Brad and I explore the story behind the book and the RESET framework it introduces. We talk about the leadership mythology that creates the conditions for burnout, the invisible load that school leaders carry, and why vulnerability in leadership is a strength, not a liability. Brad also shares what he has learned since writing the book through his current study in neuroscience and leadership, and why he believes the culture around overwork in education needs to change. We also get into the thorny but important question of joint responsibility: yes, individuals have a role in protecting their own wellbeing, but so do organisations. The conversation sits right at the heart of what Well-Led Schools is about. ---------------------------------------- In This Episode, We Cover * Brad’s personal burnout story and what finally led him to write the book * Why burnout builds gradually and the physical symptoms we normalise * The leadership mask and the invisible cost of keeping up appearances * What vulnerability in leadership actually means — and what it does not mean * The systemic factors in education that make burnout predictable, not inevitable * The RESET framework: Recognise, Explore, Shift, Embed, Thrive * The Four Rs of Brad’s personal journey: Recognition, Reflection, Realignment, Reinvention * Joint responsibility for wellbeing: where personal and organisational accountability meet * How leaders can model wellbeing without performing perfection * What Brad hopes the book gives school leaders who are quietly struggling ---------------------------------------- About Brad Brad Gaynor is an experienced educational leader and assistant director who works with principals and leadership teams across school improvement, development, coaching and leader wellbeing. After more than 20 years as a primary school principal, Brad knows firsthand the relentless pressures of educational leadership. That lived experience and his own recovery journey now underpin his work. His book, From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Leadership Reset, introduces the RESET framework as a practical, research-aligned roadmap for educational leaders seeking sustainable impact without losing themselves in the process. ---------------------------------------- Links and Resources * BOOK: From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Leadership Reset — Brad Gaynor [https://www.routledge.com/From-Burnout-to-Breakthrough-The-Leadership-Reset/Gaynor/p/book/9781041132066?source=shoppingads&locale=en-AUD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=P7986470147_ECOMMC_cross-network&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20906719191&gbraid=0AAAAACwvVopuyOuxMvpYPUg4heep51vYv&gclid=Cj0KCQjws83OBhD4ARIsACblj1_zTM-7lXY1rB08el5nVYf8vf-IhmzOglFeN_P4VUu2MnOHwg47fxIaAiQkEALw_wcB] * Connect with Brad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-gaynor-92b68b53/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-gaynor-92b68b53/]   * Well-Led Schools Partnership Program: adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/ [http://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/]  Thank you so much for listening. I am so honoured that you are here and would be so grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple Podcasts or on your preferred podcast app, so that we can inspire and educate even more people together. * Website: adriennehornby.com.au [adriennehornby.com.au] * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/  [linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/] * Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au [hello@adriennehornby.com.au] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Ferocious Warmth: Leading with Both the Head and the Heart with Tracey Ezard

What does it really look like to lead with both strength and care — to be ferocious and warm at the very same time? In this episode of Well-Led Schools, I'm joined by leadership expert, author and speaker Tracey Ezard for one of the most energising conversations I've had on this podcast. We dive deep into Tracey's signature concept of Ferocious Warmth — a framework built on the infinity loop, balancing head (results, strategy, cognitive reasoning) and heart (emotional intelligence, connection, empathy). The magic, Tracey explains, isn't choosing one over the other — it's reading the context in the moment and knowing how much of each you need to pour in. In this episode, we cover: * The Ferocious Warmth framework — the infinity loop, the four core values (Expansive, Connected, Authentic, Courageous) and the three intelligences * Why 'soft skills' and 'hard skills' is a distinction we need to blow out of the water * The Culture Ladder — from Corrosion through to Committed Collaboration — and where most schools are sitting right now * How to build true leadership team alignment through intellectual friction, not the suppression of it * Why naming the system tension is the first step to navigating it without losing your school's identity * Leadership wellbeing as a leadership behaviour — and what happens when leaders default to the 'fearsome' or the 'enmeshed' extremes * Tracey's personal strategies for protecting energy, building her squad and refusing to use the word 'busy' About Tracey: Tracey Ezard is one of Australia's most sought-after leadership experts, authors and speakers, best known for her transformational concept of Ferocious Warmth — the art of leading with both the ferocity to drive transformation and the warmth to inspire and connect people. With over 20 years' experience working across education and health, Tracey has spent her career detecting patterns in high-performing cultures and translating them into practical, evidence-based frameworks. Her career began in Victoria's state education system, where she rose through to Assistant Principal before immersing herself in industry through the prestigious Teacher Release to Industry Program (TRIP) — an experience that became the cornerstone of her thinking around leadership, collaboration and professional cultures. She later spent time in the hospitality world managing her brother-in-law's acclaimed three-hat restaurant, Ezard, where the interplay of results and relationships in high-performance environments further shaped her frameworks. Tracey is the author of Ferocious Warmth, Glue and The Buzz — and has now had over 16,000 people move through The Buzz diagnostic across almost 700 schools. She is a National Fellow of ACEL, the 2022 ACELVic Hedley Beare Educator of the Year, and a Certified Speaking Professional. Her newest book is due for release soon. Connect with Tracey: * Website:  www.traceyezard.com [https://www.traceyezard.com] * LinkedIn:  Tracey Ezard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyezard/] * Facebook:  Tracey Ezard — Engage, Collaborate, Act [https://www.facebook.com/Tracey-Ezard-Engage-Collaborate-Act-845697372129019/] * Instagram/X:  @traceyezard Books by Tracey Ezard: * Ferocious Warmth (also available on Audible and Spotify Premium) * Glue * The Buzz Other resources mentioned: * Heifetz & Linsky — Balcony and Dance Floor metaphor (from Leadership on the Line) * Red Brick Thinking by Donna McGeorge * The Pruning Principle by Dr. Simon Breakspear and Michael Rosenbath * Esther Perel — author and speaker on workplace relationships and relational intelligence * Dylan Wiliam — collective efficacy, professional learning cultures Connect with me via: * My website: adriennehornby.com.au [http://adriennehornby.com.au] * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/ [http://linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/]  * Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au [hello@adriennehornby.com.au]  * Well-Led Schools Partnership Program - https://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/ [https://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.