Yocheved Belsky:
From Chaos to Clarity: How Leaders Can Make Grounded Decisions When Everything Is Moving
Yocheved has led through major transitions: from transforming charter networks to running Clear Square Group during shifting funding cycles and leading M-Squared Learning during the pandemic. She now helps leaders navigate uncertainty with clarity and conviction. In this episode, she shares how to make decisions amid pressure, competing priorities, and rapid change. She walks through her “clarity framework” for aligning head, heart, and mission, and how leaders can stay anchored when everything around them is moving.
Bio
If you say, “Jump,” I’ll ask, “Why?” Let’s challenge the status quo.
Yocheved Belsky is the founder and CEO of Clear Square Group, an organization focused on providing educational consulting for institutions, schools, and organizations. When clients requested helpfully utilizing pandemic-related EANS funding for school services, Yocheved launched M²Learning to help non-public schools and their students succeed despite the pandemic.
Yocheved has over 20 years of experience in the educational services industry as a charter school superintendent, service provider, key consultant, and K-12 educator. As a nonpublic school educator and charter school superintendent, Yocheved spearheaded one of the earliest online school programs in the country. In her work as a third-party service provider and educational consultant, she has created many government-funded educational programs and brought them to the market for different school models.
Yocheved is passionate about making sure all students receive the services they need to succeed in school. Through managing conflicting stakeholders, assessing educational needs, securing funding, and driving compliance measures, Yocheved and the M²Learning team provide an all-encompassing approach to help students succeed.
Topics
- Leading with clarity in uncertain environments
- How to pause before reacting and still move fast
- Decision-making frameworks for high-stakes moments
- Lessons from pivots and reinvention
- Communicating calm and conviction to teams
- Re-centering on mission when everything feels urgent
Guiding Questions
- You’ve navigated multiple reinventions: what helped you stay grounded through each?
- What’s your process for making clear decisions when the pressure is high and the data is messy?
- How do you help leaders slow down enough to see the real problem before they act?
- What did you learn about clarity during the intense policy and funding swings of COVID?
- How can leaders project calm and direction when their teams are overwhelmed?
- What’s one simple clarity practice leaders can start using today to make better decisions?