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Episode #19 - Developing shared language amongst your leadership team with Chad Miller
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3 min read
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GUEST INFO
Episode Guest:
Cynthia Leger, Sr. Director of Ops Leadership Development, Uncommon Schools
Website:
EPISODE SUMMARY
In Episode 65 of The Charter School Insider Podcast, host Daniel Casselli, President at BuyQ, sits down with Cynthia Leger, Senior Director of Operations Leadership Development, at Uncommon Schools, to explore one of the most critical challenges facing charter school executives today: how to intentionally develop people at scale.
Cynthia breaks down what it really means to use a competency-based framework for leadership development—moving beyond vague performance expectations into clear, teachable, and measurable skills. Instead of relying on intuition or personality-based leadership models, Cynthia explains how schools can build systems that help every team member grow with clarity, consistency, and purpose.
This episode is a must-listen for school leaders who want to:
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Build stronger leadership pipelines
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Reduce burnout and turnover
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Create transparent growth pathways
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Align talent development with organizational goals
Whether you're developing principals, operations leaders, or central office staff, this conversation delivers practical insights you can implement immediately.
EPISODE TAKEAWAYS
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Competency-based development creates clarity - When leaders know exactly what “great” looks like, growth becomes intentional instead of accidental.
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Great leadership is teachable - Leadership is not just personality-driven—it’s a set of skills that can be learned, practiced, and coached.
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Frameworks create equity in development - Clear competencies remove bias and guesswork, making growth opportunities more accessible to everyone.
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Development must be embedded into daily work - The most effective learning happens on the job, not just in workshops or training sessions.
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Strong systems scale people, not just processes - Sustainable organizations invest in developing leaders—not just managing tasks.
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Feedback becomes more actionable with clear standards - Competencies allow managers to coach with precision, not generalities.
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Retention improves when growth paths are visible - People stay when they can see where they’re going.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR CHARTER SCHOOL LEADERS
Charter school success isn’t just about academics—it’s about people. As networks scale, informal leadership development stops working. Cynthia’s insights help leaders move from reactive coaching to intentional talent systems that grow with their organization.
This episode supports executives responsible for:
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Talent pipelines
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Succession planning
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Operations leadership
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Network growth
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Team sustainability
What is a competency-based framework?
A competency-based framework defines the specific skills, behaviors, and mindsets required to succeed in a role, allowing for clear expectations, coaching, and development.
Why is competency-based development important in schools?
It creates consistency, reduces bias, supports growth, and allows schools to scale leadership more effectively.
How can charter schools develop leaders more effectively?
By embedding development into daily work, using clear standards, and providing actionable feedback.
ABOUT OUR GUEST
Cynthia’s passion—and her purpose—is breaking open the doors of opportunity for kids.
She designs and leads a comprehensive Operations Leadership Fellowship—an immersive development program that blends targeted professional development, practice clinics, on-site coaching, and hands-on school leadership experience.
The program is informed by her more than 15 years of experience designing systems, leading teams, and building the operational foundations that allow students to thrive.
Cynthia brings a people-centered, solutions-oriented approach to operations, with strengths in building efficient systems, managing large-scale change, data-driven decision making, and developing leaders at every level.
She is visionary, creative, and relentlessly committed to pushing past the status quo.
She has served in founding roles twice:
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Founding Director of Operations, North Star Academy Fairmount Elementary School — opened the doors to a founding class of 90 students and grew the school to 270 during her tenure.
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Founding Associate COO, Uncommon Schools’ Camden region — overseeing enrollment and operations for its flagship schools.
She also served as both Chief of Operations and Managing Director of Operations for Uncommon’s New Jersey and Massachusetts regions, where she managed a $200M budget, oversaw 19 schools, led regional risk management, drove region-wide strategic priorities, and developed a strong bench of future operations leaders.
If you’re looking to level up your operations leadership or collaborate on building high-impact systems for schools, Cynthia would love to connect.
ABOUT OUR HOST
Daniel Casselli is a life-long learner whose passion for education has driven his professional endeavors. He is a former classroom teacher and youth ministry director whose entrepreneurial spirit landed him in the world of education technology. At EVERFI Inc., Daniel helped run the business development efforts for EVERFI’s Financial Education Program and the company was eventually sold to Blackbaud for $750M in 2021. Shortly before EVERFI’s acquisition, Daniel joined Class Technologies as one of the earliest sales hires and went on to lead K12 Enterprise Sales and helped the company land its first 100+ K12 customers across public, charter, and private schools. Daniel brings his unique experiences to BuyQ where he is focused on growth, operational excellence, business strategy, and client satisfaction. He is a graduate of Grove City College where he studied Religion and History.
You can listen to Charter School Insider: Lessons from the Nation's Top Charter School Operators on your favorite podcasting platform...
