What I've Learned About Leadership and Strategies for Change - public school administration

School Administrator, Jan, 1997 by Peter C. Hutchinson

On Dec. 15, 1993, The Public Strategies Group became the first private-sector organization to be assigned the responsibility of leading an entire school district. We were contracted to perform the functions usually assigned to the superintendent and provide the leadership necessary to improve student achievement.

We signed the contract with the Minneapolis school board in November, and I took on the role of superintendent a month later. Although I had spent many years in both the private sector and public service outside of K-12 education, I have learned and relearned many lessons about leadership during the past three years.

What follows is a chronological, if slightly fractured, recounting of the lessons I have learned as superintendent, along with some thoughts on what I think it will take for public education to restore public support.

January 1994

I had been on the job only a month. My family and I were celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday and our wedding anniversary during a day off from work. We had gone to a movie in the afternoon. As we drove home the radio said that the temperature already had dropped to 15 below zero with a wind chill of 34 below. The forecast was even worse. It looked like this would be the coldest night in recent memory. What, I wondered, does a superintendent do when it gets really cold?

I found the answer when I got home: 57 phone messages were waiting for me from anxious parents, students, and teachers. "Close the schools," they all said. I was totally unprepared. At no time during the endless interviews had anyone ever mentioned that it was up to me to decide whether we would have school or not.

I was saved that night when the governor declared a weather emergency and closed all schools in the state. That was just fine with me. It meant I could go to the office to get caught up. However, from the moment I set foot in the office that morning the phones started ringing. At first I heard about the forecast of continued cold weather and the need to close schools again the next day. As the day wore on I began hearing more and more (with voices increasingly desperate) about the need to "get these darn kids back in school." By the end of the day the callers were evenly divided and extremely emotional!

That's when I learned Lesson No. 1: It doesn't matter what you decide, you're wrong!

Once I mastered this, the work became a lot easier. In fact, I found this lesson to be downright liberating. It means that when we are faced with really tough choices, we as leaders can and should do what we think is best for the students, knowing full well that others inevitably will disagree. (For your information: it was awfully cold the next day, but school was open.)

March 1994

I learned the second lesson on the sidewalk in front of a school I was visiting. I was in the midst of trying to visit every school-all 85 in our district. This particular morning I had arranged to take the bus to school with the students. That would have been fine but for the fact we were joined by both a television crew and a newspaper photographer. The kids just couldn't resist the temptation to show off for the cameras. As a result, the ride was wild!

There we were driving around south Minneapolis with lights flashing and students whooping it up. By the time we arrived at school, everything was at a fever pitch.

The cameras were the first ones off the bus. Then the students and I lined up and started down the aisle. When I got to the front I turned and thanked the bus driver for doing such a good job under such extreme circumstances. She looked up to say, "You're welcome," and utter the words I shall never forget, "Don't forget to use the hand rail."

I was still thinking I knew better as I sprawled face first on the sidewalk. I had missed both the hand rail and the first step.

Lesson No. 2: Listen to the people around you. They can keep you from falling flat on your face.

Leadership is too big a job to do alone. Leadership requires paying attention to those who can and want to help.

Although most of us do not fall flat on our face quite so literally, we have plenty of other opportunities. We need all the help we can get.

Same Day

After I picked myself up off the side-walk I went in to visit the school. I started at breakfast. There I met Amisha. She was very nice to interrupt her meal to talk to me. I quickly found out that Amisha was in second grade. I asked her, "Do you like school, Amisha? "Yes," she said, "I love school." I couldn't resist. "What is it about school that you really like?" "Well," she said, "it's my teacher."

Intrigued I just plowed ahead. (Someone taught me once to always ask three "why" or "what" questions if you want to gain real insight.) "What is it about your teacher that you really like?" Without hesitation Amisha taught me one of the most important lessons. "She's proud of us!" came her words.

I was stunned. I don't know what I was expecting-probably something about recess or show and tell. Instead I got the chance to see that the real difference between education and other enterprises is passion.