Leadership coach and former Teach For America Chief People Officer Laura Saldivar Luna spent forty years defining success as the next achievement. When everything started breaking down at once, she asked a harder question: what if the problem was how she was relating to her own life?

In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Laura, founder of Piñata Possible, to talk about what comes after you have checked every box and still have to ask what you actually want.

It started at six, when a first-place trophy from a citywide math competition left her wanting more of that feeling. A first-generation Georgetown graduate, she told anyone at Teach For America headquarters who would listen that she would launch the San Antonio region within five years. She did, and watched her first 100 corps members teach in the same schools she attended growing up. Years later, she told her mom she had done everything on the list. Her mom cried and said: whatever you want. Laura was scared, because she was not sure.

Ron and Laura dig into the piñata at the heart of her coaching: what feels like falling apart may be the opening to something bigger. They get candid about leaders who believe they serve people by burning themselves out, including an executive strategy session Laura showed up to with the flu, and Ron opens up about learning to forgive leaders who caused harm while burnt out themselves.

Tune in to hear why Laura believes another word for uncertainty is possibility.

Chapters:

• 🏆 05:47 Laura Saldivar Luna's first-grade math trophy and forty years of chasing achievement
• 🚪 07:57 Every box checked, then her mom's answer: whatever you want
• 🪅 15:45 Piñata Possible: when falling apart is really breaking open
• 🧭 33:06 Your body as a compass: a clear yes and a clear no
• 🏫 39:23 Declaring a five-year dream to launch Teach For America San Antonio
• 🤝 42:53 Relationship acumen: the leadership strength most workplace rubrics miss
• ⏸️ 52:42 Burning out is not serving: slow down to go faster
• 🕊️ 57:01 Forgiveness for leaders who caused harm while burnt out themselves
• 🌬️ 01:11:45 Laura's Rondering: another word for uncertainty is possibility

Links:

Website: https://www.pinatapossible.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-saldivar-luna
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinatapossible/

If something in this conversation sparked your curiosity, Laura would love to meet you one on one. Book a virtual tea with her via the Calendly link here.

Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapatalo
Check Out Ron's Book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473

Leverage Publishing Group: www.leveragepublishinggroup.com
Publish a Book That Matters: http://booksthatmatter.org
Start a Podcast That Matters: http://podcastsmatter.com
Go from Expert to Thought Leader: http://geniusdiscovery.org

Education leader Lanira Murphy has had people write her off as too joyful to be serious. She leads network-wide academics anyway, with karaoke in the PD and a firm belief that Black education leaders should never have to lead as someone else.

In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Lanira Murphy, Senior Director of Academics and former California State Assembly candidate, to talk about joy as a leadership practice and why the field still needs a real plan for developing Black educators.

Her story starts with her mother in Shreveport, Louisiana, whose school was desegregated when she was in eleventh grade. The Black schools closed and the Black teachers were fired, a loss Lanira says education has never recovered from. Her mother made sure her children would graduate. Lanira became the first in her family to finish college, then nearly applied to graduate school without asking her professor for a recommendation. The professor would not allow it, and told her to always give people the opportunity to participate in her life.

Ron and Lanira dig into what her Assembly run, where she earned more than 60,000 votes against an incumbent, taught her about voice and motivation, and why adults in professional development deserve the same dynamic learning environments we want for kids. She is candid about the double bind Black women leaders face: too angry reads one way, too joyful reads as not serious. Her answer is to show up as herself anyway.

Tune in to hear Lanira's Rondering on the power people underestimate in themselves, and why she believes the most powerful movements in American history came from young people.

Chapters:

• 🏫 03:54 Lanira Murphy on how desegregation taught her mother what education is worth
• 🙌🏾 06:23 Always give people the opportunity to participate in your life
• 🗳️ 11:57 Why she walked away from politics and chose Teach For America
• 🌱 16:30 Pouring into Black education leaders after a lost generation
• 😄 19:30 Joyful leadership means making sure people feel seen
• 🎤 22:54 Adults don't play enough, and educators burn out without it
• ⚖️ 28:01 The double bind of leading as a joyful Black woman
• 🗣️ 34:43 What politics teaches school leaders about voice and the power of story
• ⚡ 47:19 Lanira's Rondering: Marianne Williamson on being powerful beyond measure

Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lanira-murphy-89899920

Lanira calls herself an open book: if she has a resource that's working, it's yours. Reach out to her on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going on joyful academic leadership and developing the next generation of Black education leaders.

Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapatalo
Check Out Ron's Book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473

Leverage Publishing Group: www.leveragepublishinggroup.com
Publish a Book That Matters: http://booksthatmatter.org
Start a Podcast That Matters: http://podcastsmatter.com
Go from Expert to Thought Leader: http://geniusdiscovery.org