{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Lebra Podcast","title":"Healing-Centered Leadership and the Power of Community with Dr. Barbara Mullen","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2056,"description":"In this episode of the Lebra Podcast, host Nate Lichte sits down with Dr. Barbara Mullen, Superintendent of Rush-Henrietta Central School District, to explore healing-centered leadership, organizational transformation, and what it truly means to lead schools through care, trust, and community voice.Drawing on a career that spans special education, communications, public relations, and district leadership across multiple major systems, Barbara reflects on the question that has guided her entire career: who gets to decide what high-quality learning experiences look like for children? She shares how that question ultimately shaped her leadership philosophy and led her to the superintendency.Barbara and Nate dive deeply into the inspiration behind Barbara’s upcoming book on healing-centered leadership in schools. She explains how experiences with organizational harm, power dynamics, and leadership trauma reshaped her thinking about school transformation, moving away from “turnaround” language and toward frameworks rooted in healing, restoration, and community agency.The conversation also explores Rush-Henrietta’s ambitious Vision 2037 strategic plan, which Barbara developed to ensure the district’s long-term direction would remain grounded in community values rather than shifting political pressures. She shares how transparency, authentic relationship-building, leadership pipelines, and professional learning communities are helping the district strengthen instructional leadership while creating systems that support both adults and students.Throughout the episode, Barbara offers thoughtful reflections on leadership sustainability, professional wellness, vulnerability, and why superintendents must learn to care for themselves if they hope to lead others effectively. They close with a powerful reminder that the superintendency is ultimately about loving and supporting the adults who dedicate their lives to children.Timestamps03:10 About Rush-Henrietta Central School...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/gwebu6vYiKxAI1HaurGwGAcdsNTaooai07Q924_P4Lg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yNDc4/MmQ3OGM5ZGYxYWIy/YWRjNzljYWZjOTFi/MmFmZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}