Today we wrap up our month of conversations about what teaching and leadership have in common in a conversation with Stephanie Cawthon, a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Stephanie uses her experience as a stage manager and her lifelong love of teaching to find innovative ways to engage the folks around her — whether they’re in a campus classroom, an online course, or an administrative meeting on Zoom.

Our conversation is grounded in our love of Priya Parker’s book The Art of Gathering, which is a wonderful guide to creating spaces where people feel welcomed, included, and purposeful.

Stephanie spotlights the advantages of combining a clear framework and self-driven learning abilities in both teaching *and* leading. She also shares strategies for engaging students online and in person, which translates remarkably well into planning efficient meetings and honing our leadership skills.

This episode is very special to me: it was my first experience working directly with ASL interpreters, auto-captions, and video to make sure our conversation is widely accessible. I’m super grateful to Stephanie and her team for teaching me. You can watch the video podcast here. 

Read the transcript here.

Readings and resources

Drama-Based Instruction at the University of Texas-Austin.

Priya Parker, The Art of Gathering

James Clear, Atomic Habits

Joan Gallos & Lee Bolman, Reframing Academic Leadership

Ken Bain, What The Best College Teachers Do

Other episodes you might enjoy

Episode 63, How Teaching Prepares You for Leadership

Episode 46, How to Use Feedback to Build Trust

Episode 41, The Role of Dissent in Psychological Safety