S9 E12: Are You a Pig Pen? Self-Awareness & Practical Leadership Skills for Dysregulated Times

Feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of leadership today? Tune in to learn how building your self-regulation can help you navigate dysregulated times and have more effective conversations. In this episode, my co-host Jenn David-Lang and I had the pleasure of speaking with the amazing Jennifer Abrams, whom I see as a guru of interpersonal relations in education. Jennifer, a full-time international consultant and author of impactful books like Having Hard Conversations and Stretching Your Learning Edge: Growing (up) at Work, joined us to explore the critical topic of self-regulation in dysregulated times. We talked about living in a VUCA world, Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous, and how we need to build complexity fitness by developing our cognitive, emotional, and psychological skills. Jennifer shared that becoming more self-regulated involves building self-awareness, like cleaning up our emotional "dust". It turns out only about 10-15% of people are truly self-aware, and one way to improve is by bravely asking for 360 feedback from your team. We also dove into practical skills for leaders navigating challenging moments, such as learning to suspend certainty that your way is the only way. Saying "Tell me more" instead of reacting can be incredibly powerful. For extroverts like me, focusing on listening instead of jumping in is key. I shared my favorite tactic when someone is stressed: asking, "How long do we have to make this decision?". This simple question helps shift from feeling "subject" to circumstances to viewing them more "objectively". Jennifer left us with powerful parting advice: "Go have humane, growth-producing conversations. That's the goal.". Jennifer Abrams' Newsletter: jenniferabrams.com If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes—including great non-education books with lessons for school leaders—email us at Dr.mike.doughty@gmail.com. Please consider leaving a rating and review on Spotify or iTunes to support the show. Every bit helps! And if you found this episode helpful, share it with your colleagues. Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Contact Mike directly at Dr.mike.doughty@gmail.com. To explore insightful summaries of top leadership books, connect with Jenn David-Lang at Jenn@TheMainIdea.net or visit TheMainIdea.net . Timestamp: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction 02:08 Understanding Dysregulation and Self-Regulation 07:08 Building Self-Awareness and Team Dynamics 24:00 Mentoring the Next Generation of Leaders 27:29 Balancing Personal and Professional Needs 37:17 Personal Insights and Fun Tangents

You can listen to S9 E12: Are You a Pig Pen? Self-Awareness & Practical Leadership Skills for Dysregulated Times online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

S9 E12: Are You a Pig Pen? Self-Awareness & Practical Leadership Skills for Dysregulated Times is an episode from The School Leadership Show by Michael Doughty.

This episode is 43:17 long.

This episode was published on Aug 14, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The School Leadership Show when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.