Welcome to An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast, a series of conversations with leaders who look back at decisions they made and consider:

* What happened?* What got overlooked?* What did they learn about relationships or what new relationships were formed?* What frustrated them?* What could they have done differently?* And in the end, what was something good that came out of their experience – because it is through one's mistakes where the greatest learning takes place.

I'm Peter Stiepleman. I'm your host AND I'm an imperfect leader. I spent more than 20 years teaching and leading, first in the Oakland Public Schools in Oakland, CA and then in the Midwest – Missouri, to be exact – where I was a teacher, a principal, an assistant superintendent and the superintendent of the 4th largest school district in a state of more than 500 districts.

I am constantly striving to learn from my experiences and from the experiences of other leaders. The aim of this podcast is to lift the learning and lift the imperfect leaders up. That way, when you hear the term imperfect, you’ll see strength, strength from the candor needed to recognize imperfection as a real advantage.