The Leadership Challenge -- Avoiding the Hack Sack Moment

Saturday morning, September 28, the first day of class, sitting before me was each of you, some assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders who had recently completed your principal certification. Each of you had a plan for your career. Each of you had arrived at some level of authority or trust within your school district.

In essence, each of you had made it through several years of close scrutiny and had passed muster. You were seen by your superiors as worthy of trust within the organization. As you look back at your career, there were moments where you rose to the next echelon of the organization while many of your peers, including some who would love to have your job, remained in the existing role or have moved on to other things. You survived and you prevailed. Now you are embarking on a superintendency certificate which will qualify you for the next level of trust and authority.

I posed the question to each of you: " What was it that allowed you to make it through several levels of very close scrutiny to arrive at the position of trust that you now hold?" Your responses were varied. One individual replied: "I have learned what to say and what not to say in difficult situations. If it is important, I revisit the matter later when things have cooled down." Another replied: "It is because I know what I want and I am patient." Another responded: "I am careful about my friendships on the job and how I interact with them. I have to learn when and where I associate with friends. I have remain focused on my role and my responsibilities." One leader shared a completely surprising yet memorable response to those of us who were in attendance: "Dr. Herrington, when I came to my school, they saw that I cared about the students and that I knew what I was doing. But there was another individual who, it seemed, was certain to become the next principal -- until one day she became angry when a student would not quite playing hacky sack in the lunch line. She seized the hacky sack and kicked it over the fence. By the time the dust had settled this person was no longer considered for the position. That hacky sack incident was what tipped the scale in favor of me to become the next principal of the school.

As a class, when we heard the story, there were mixed reactions including surprise, amazement, and even some laughter. The moment anyone is placed on a pedestal, the scrutiny and standards of behavior increase exponentially. It can be easy to fall off the pedestal for some. But for future superintendents there has to be a high standard of conduct and careful self-monitoring behavior and self presentation. Those that remain focused, reasonable, and measured in the responses to difficult situations will be able to withstand the daily scrutiny of hundreds or even thousands of people. Probably most people can point to a near hacky sack moment before reason prevailed and they considered how their behavior would play out in the broader scheme of things.

The Hacky Sack Moment (with apologies to Mr. Israel Rios) has found its way into my teaching lexicon. Emotional Intelligence is certainly a key factor that enables one to succefully navigate such moments and to made the right impression on hundreds, even thousands of people by the time a story is told and retold.

My challenge to class members is to respond to this post with your own suggestions about ways to avoid having a hacky sack moment. This a brain storming session so please be thorough and write out your thoughts completely. We will examine each of your responses to create a top ten list by the time we are finished. I look forward to reading your responses. dh

Leadership -- Why you?

On Saturday morning August 28, the TAMUSA Superintendency courses began. We had a great beginning conversation about leadership. As a professor of educational leadership I have seen many, many of my former students who aspired to leadership roles in schools have gone on to become principals, superintendents, or in other central office roles. Some have performed at a very high level. Some have flamed out only to seek work in other professions more suited their particular talents and dispositions.

However as I looked around the class that morning, I saw assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and individuals who early in their teaching careers had already completed a principal certification and were looking for their first position in leadership. I asked the question to those present, "Many people wanted the position that you now hold. Once in the profession, educators are scrutinized carefully every day they show up for work. So, why is it that each of you was hired for your position rather than somebody else? The responses were varied, some surprising and these will be posted in the next blog.

Meanwhile I want everyone secure a copy of the article from Harvard Business Review entitle "Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?" This is an important question for anyone seeking a leadership role. I you can't answer this, you probably need to take more time to reflect before you decide to become a leader. More about this later.

Advanced Topics (Superintendency)

This blog has been created for students in Advanced Topics at Texas A&M University San Antonio. I will use it to begin integrating technology into my instruction and to use it for developing the course with posted websites and links to articles of interest. This will be used in conjuction with Blackboard as the professor and students get up to speed on that format. Please check this link regularly during the week to ensure that you are up-to-date on readings, thoughts, and comments. The goal is to make the class highly interactive, interesting, and informative. Your responses to this blog will be expected on a regular basis and will be in addition to the assignments for the course. Therefore please keep comments in this forum relevant and brief. Let's make this a fun and highly interactive learning experience. dh