The Head, Heart, Hands, and Guts of a Healthy Data Culture with Bethany Rees - Ep 15
🎙️ Who's on the Mic?
I'm so excited to be chatting with Bethany Rees, a leadership coach, author, and an 18-year K-12 veteran who has truly seen it all. Her career has been, in her own words, a rollercoaster she didn't buy a ticket for, from teaching ninth-grade civics in small-town Arkansas (with no email, if you can believe it!) to wearing a toolbelt as an instructional technologist in Houston, to opening a brand-new, three-story high school as an Associate Principal. It was, as she calls it, a "beautiful hurricane."
Now, Bethany helps other leaders navigate their own hurricanes. She’s an expert at building a data culture founded on trust, not trauma, and her insights on how to get everyone, from the veteran teacher to the brand-new administrator, to lean in, get curious, and actually use data to make a difference are pure gold.
💬 Episode Snapshot
This conversation was one of those where I found myself nodding along the entire time. Bethany kicked things off by admitting that in the beginning of her career, she hated data. Her only reference points were the bathroom scale and her cholesterol numbers, neither of which were telling her things she wanted to hear. I feel that.
From there, we traced the whole awkward, messy history of data in education. We went from the early 2000s, when "data analysis" was just looking at your students' faces to see if they got it, to the high-stakes pressure of No Child Left Behind, when data suddenly felt like a firing squad. Bethany dropped two incredible (and horrifyingly relatable) stories about data meetings gone wrong. In one, two teachers got so defensive they ended up calling each other names. In another, a new principal got so frustrated with a teacher's excuses that he yelled, "You're not looking at it right!", stormed out, and slammed the door. Yikes. We've all been in rooms simmering with that same energy.
This is where Bethany’s wisdom really shines. She argues that a positive data culture has to be built outside the data meeting. It’s in the day-to-day interactions, the trust you build, and the language you use. She shared her "Body of Leadership" framework, Head (mindset), Heart (connection), Hands (action), and Guts (accountability), as a way to navigate these tricky conversations. It's not about having a perfect system; it's about honing the skills to guide your team through the wilderness, making sure data becomes a roadmap, not a weapon.
💡 Key Takeaways
Make Shift Happen: This was my favorite line. As a leader, your job is to shift the conversation from self-protection to student-centered reflection. You have to actively change the dynamic from a "gotcha" culture to a "we've got your back" culture.
Culture Eats Data for Lunch: You can have the best dashboards in the world, but if your culture is built on fear and competition, your data will be useless. Culture isn't the poster on the wall; it's how people talk, what they celebrate, and even the common excuses they rally around.
Start with a Celebration: Before you dive into the potholes and problems, find something to celebrate. This simple act makes everyone put down their shields and swords and reminds the team that you're there to build on strengths, not just fix weaknesses.
Shift from Accusatory to Curious Language: The difference between "Why are your scores so low?" and "What is this data showing us about our students?" is massive. One question builds walls; the other builds bridges. Set a norm for curiosity.
It's "Our Kids," Not "My Kids": Create shared ownership. When a special ed teacher feels the need to say, "You can't compare my data to theirs," it's a sign of a fractured culture. Reframe the conversation around collective progress for all students.
Name the Elephant in the Room: If everyone is thinking about the context that the spreadsheet doesn't show (like a flu outbreak or a new curriculum), name it. Acknowledging the elephant makes it shrink. Ignoring it lets it take over the entire room.
🎬 Actionable Insights
Audit Your Questions: In your very next data meeting, pay close attention to the questions being asked by you and by your team. Are they rooted in accusation or curiosity? Challenge everyone to rephrase defensive statements as curious questions. Instead of "Well, these kids didn't show up," try "I'm curious to see the relationship between attendance and these results."
Lead with the Wins (Literally): Start your next PLC or staff meeting by putting a celebratory data point on the screen. Before anyone can talk about problems, go around the room and have each person share one thing that went well or one student success story related to that data. Make the “positive” the price of admission to the conversation.
Do a "Body of Leadership" Check-Up: Think about your last difficult data conversation. Run it through Bethany's framework. Where were you solid? Head: Was my mindset focused on growth? Heart: Did I connect with the people in the room? Hands: Did we leave with clear action steps? Guts: Did I own my part in the dynamic? Use it as a personal reflection tool to prepare for the next one.
Leaders—are you struggling with meetings that drain instead of deliver, team members who resist buy-in, or tough conversations that keep you up at night? You don’t have to tackle those challenges alone. Head over to leadershipontherocks.com/free where you’ll find practical, FREE resources—from meeting agendas and buy-in guides to tools for navigating conflict—that will help you survive and succeed in leadership.
In this episode of Data in Education, I'm so excited to be chatting with Bethany Rees, a leadership coach, author, and an 18-year K-12 veteran who has truly seen it all. Her career has been, in her own words, a rollercoaster she didn't buy a ticket for, from teaching ninth-grade civics in small-town Arkansas (with no email, if you can believe it!) to wearing a toolbelt as an instructional technologist in Houston, to opening a brand-new, three-story high school as an Associate Principal. It was, as she calls it, a "beautiful hurricane."
Learn more about Bethany Rees at https://www.leadershipontherocks.com/
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Connect with Bethany Rees
Email: bethany@bressentialservices.com
X: https://twitter.com/Leadontherocks
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyrees/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipontherocks/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/leadershipontherocks/
Buy the Leadership on the Rocks book: https://a.co/d/gjkAWxZ
Podcast: Leadership on the Rocks https://www.youtube.com/@leadershipontherocks724
