Working Within Your Circle of Influence
19m | Sep 8, 2026In this episode of Change Starts Here, Kim Yaris and Dr. Eve Miller dig into what happens in the first few weeks of school, when attention quietly starts to slide toward the schedule, the mandate, or the situation you have no say over. They unpack Stephen Covey's Circle of Influence and revisit decades of research on learned helplessness, including newer work from psychologists Steven Maier and Martin Seligman that offers a different way of thinking about control and agency.
Kim and Eve also explore the Whitehall studies on job control and health, why repeated venting can sometimes keep us stuck in frustration, and what all of this means for leaders working in the real-world pressures of schools and districts.
Most importantly, they turn the research into three practical moves you can use when your attention starts drifting toward what you can’t change: catch the drift, find the edge, and act.
Listen now & download the episode handout for a deeper look at the research and practical ways to use Catch the Drift, Find the Edge, and Act with yourself or your team:
https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/csh_s7e4_handout?x=aD_z_A&utm_source=show-notes
Hosts:
Kim Yaris, M.Ed. (Associate Director of Research with FranklinCovey Education)
Dr. Eve Miller (Director of Research with FranklinCovey Education)
Timestamps:
00:00 Podcast intro
00:15 Welcome back and the September feeling
02:21 The circle of influence
03:38 Download the handout
04:29 The research on learned helplessness
06:14 From learned helplessness to learned agency
08:25 Our natural response to what we can't control
09:36 When there's just too much to do
10:40 A Monday morning example
11:54 The trouble with venting
14:59 Three practical moves: catch the drift, find the edge, act
17:54 Closing thoughts
