This week, we're back with Part 3 of my conversation with Ken Williams — and we're pushing even deeper into what real leadership looks like when the excuses are stripped away.

If you missed Part 2, make sure you catch up first.

In this installment, we go beyond the question of whether teachers matter and dig into the systems, habits, and mindsets that either amplify teacher expertise or quietly suffocate it. Because here's the truth far too many leaders avoid:
You can't claim to believe in teachers while building a school that doesn't trust them.

We talk about how some schools unintentionally create environments where demographics set the narrative, expectations shrink, and teacher talent is overshadowed by fear, compliance, or "initiatives" that don't move the needle. And we explore the opposite—what it looks like when leaders actively remove barriers, create clarity, and build cultures where teachers are empowered to be the experts they were hired to be.

This episode gets into:

Why "context" can't become a convenient excuse for low accountability
How leaders can shift from managing teachers to developing them
What high-functioning schools do differently — no matter the zip code
The mindsets that help leaders create conditions where every teacher can succeed
Why student demographics must never determine adult expectations

Ken pulls no punches as we examine what it really takes for leaders to support teachers in any school, with any students, under any circumstances. This is the deeper work — the work that transforms schools from the inside out.

If you're ready to move past rhetoric and toward real leadership that elevates teacher expertise, this is the episode.

Learn more about Ken's work at Unfold the Soul and check out his book Ruthless Equity.

#32 Teach Online Today