My Pandemic Year of Personal Coaching: A Conversation with Tamara Speidel, Principal, Buffalo Trail Elementary, Aurora, CO

How has TBC’s Personal Coaching Program helped you survive this past year?

I can say with absolute conviction that having a Breakthrough Coach coach this year saved me. Our regular coaching sessions kept me grounded and connected to my vision and kept me out of survival mode. I would have drowned this year without coaching.

How is TBC’s Coaching Program different?

It’s different because it’s personal to me, my needs, my goals and the specifics of my situation. My coach always asks me thoughtful questions and offers me new perspectives that really stretch my thinking. Our regularly scheduled meetings keep me accountable for what I say I’m going to do. I love learning from a Breakthrough Coach Master who has been there, done that, and is completely on for my success.

What’s been the return on investment?

The amount of time I’ve spent in classrooms this past year coaching staff has markedly increased and we have the results to prove it. Even in the midst of a global health crisis, we are seeing statistically significant increases in student achievement across our entire school.

What have you learned about yourself?

I’ve learned about effective boundary management. I am now able to focus on work at work and home at home. And because of that I’m a better school leader, a better wife, and a better mom. Equally important, I feel I’m modeling this for my staff so that our next generation of educators sees that it is possible to have both a life AND a career at the same time.