Six Responsibilities of a Superintendent

Leadership, whether in schools or corporations, ultimately comes down to inspiring and aligning people toward a shared vision of excellence.

To this point, the Choosing Excellence newsletter has focused on exploring leadership lessons based on personal experiences as an educational leader, parent and husband, and weekend warrior/athlete. The intent is to continue this theme and share these experiences, hoping to yield valuable nuggets and insights for subscribers and readers. With that said, I will be adding some educational leadership-specific posts that can undoubtedly be applied across fields and endeavors in life. This approach will provide an alternating rotation of specific posts looking ahead. 

What Does a Superintendent Do?

To kick off the inaugural education-specific post, it seems reasonable to start with the answer to a question I get asked quite frequently….what does a superintendent do?

The easy answer is that a superintendent is called upon to provide a vision for education within a community and then called upon to create the conditions necessary for that vision to come to fruition…

The reality is that if you asked 50 superintendents this question, you likely get 50 variations of an answer that dances around this central theme. If you asked 50 community members…you probably get 50 different answers that deviate in varying degrees from the above central theme….

The best explanation of what a superintendent does comes from the work of Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra, who serve as senior partners at McKinsey and Company. They set out to define what distinguishes the best CEOs from the rest. In this quest and research, they identified six responsibilities of the CEO. These six responsibilities quite easily speak to the critical roles of a school superintendent.

(Dewar, Keller, & Malhotra, 2022)

As the superintendent serves as the chief executive officer of a school district, there are distinct parallels in the spinning of these six plates simultaneously amongst educational leaders and chief executive officers alike.

Let’s dive in…

Set the Direction

Setting an aspirational vision for education is the most fundamental responsibility of a superintendent when setting the direction the school district. This vision, not only aspirational, should set the tone for the district and community. This involves creating a clear and compelling vision of what education should look like within the community. This vision should be aspirational in nature. This involves a compelling statement of the desired future state that inspires and motivates individuals or organizations to strive toward achieving ambitious goals.

Just like a CEO charts the course for an organization, a superintendent defines the district’s overarching goals. An aspirational vision speaks to a promise of a high-performing culture based on excellence (you knew excellence would find its way into this) in academics, extra and co-curricular opportunities, as well as social-emotional and character development support. This vision serves as a guiding light for teachers, administrators, and the broader community, ensuring that everyone is working toward the same objectives. It requires strategic thinking, a deep understanding of educational trends, and an ability to anticipate the future needs of students and staff.

At its core, setting the direction is about defining success for the district and making sure that all efforts, resources, and policies are aligned to move toward that vision. This also means constantly reevaluating and adjusting the plan as challenges and opportunities emerge, ensuring the district remains focused on delivering high-quality education.

Engage the Board

A school district’s Governing Board plays a pivotal role in the school district's governance, and the superintendent must work closely with them to ensure the district’s success. The relationship between the superintendent and the Governing Board will set the tone for the district and the community. Much like a CEO engages with a company’s board of directors, a superintendent needs to build a strong, trusting relationship with the school board to gain support for initiatives and policies. This relationship is built on open communication, collaboration, and a shared commitment to the district’s mission. In an optimal setting, the superintendent and board serve as and are viewed as, a cohesive leadership team. This optic is critical as this relationship will set the tone for the district’s culture...for better or worse.

Engaging the board also means aligning their priorities with the district’s goals, providing them with the information needed to make informed decisions, and guiding them through complex issues. A successful superintendent helps the board stay focused on long-term strategy rather than getting bogged down in day-to-day operations. Ultimately, it’s about fostering a partnership that propels the district forward. While most view the board member’s role as serving as a representative of the community to the school district; however, the high-performing systems and highly effective board members are able to view their role as representing the school district to the community. This is only done when a cohesiveness exists.

Connect with Stakeholders

A superintendent must be adept at connecting with a wide range of stakeholders, from teachers and staff to parents, students, and community leaders. This responsibility involves actively listening to concerns, gathering input, and ensuring that all voices are heard in the decision-making process. Just as a CEO needs to engage with customers, shareholders, and employees, a superintendent must understand the needs and expectations of the community they serve. Visibility and accessibility are key drivers to success in this area.  

Building these connections requires transparency, empathy, and strong communication skills. It’s about building trust and ensuring that everyone feels a sense of ownership over the district’s success. A superintendent who can effectively connect with stakeholders creates a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility, which is essential for fostering a thriving educational environment. This can be an area in the superintendency that gets overlooked. Highly effective leaders do not fall into this trap…The most significant benefit from successful work in this area is the development of a coalition of support for the superintendent and the school district alike. Powerful allies are built and formed when connections are prioritized.

Manage Personal Effectiveness

Leading a school district is demanding, and superintendents must manage their own personal effectiveness to lead successfully. This includes developing the resilience and self-awareness needed to stay focused, energized, and clear-headed in the face of challenges. Just as a CEO must manage their time, energy, and emotional well-being to lead an organization, a superintendent must cultivate habits that support their leadership capacity. In the Rethinking Balance newsletter, we discussed the importance of diversifying your life. This includes cultivating different passions, interests, and relationships that fulfill you in various ways. 

Personal effectiveness also involves continuous learning and reflection. Superintendents need to stay informed about best practices in education, leadership, and community engagement while also reflecting on their own performance. By managing personal effectiveness, a superintendent sets an example for the rest of the district, demonstrating the importance of balance, diversification, self-improvement, and adaptability.

Mobilize through Leaders

The most critical aspect of leadership is the cultivation of other leaders. Similarly, one of the most critical levers a superintendent can push is empowering and mobilizing other district leaders. This includes school principals, department heads, and other key administrators. This can be one of the bigger challenges leaders face…How do you take the conversation at the cabinet meeting down to the classroom? A superintendent cannot do everything on their own, so they must rely on a strong leadership team to carry out the district’s vision and goals. This mirrors the CEO’s responsibility to develop and empower leaders within their organization.

Mobilizing through leaders involves providing guidance, resources, and support while also giving leaders the autonomy they need to make decisions. It’s about building a culture of trust and accountability, where leaders at every level feel empowered to take ownership of their areas of responsibility. This is about establishing specific goals and guardrails for action. It is critical to create intentional space for direction and discussion between all organizational levels. When there is an absence of voice from leadership, other voices will fill this void. Intentionality means purposeful scheduling of time to create face-to-face interaction and communication. Equally important, this ties into the importance of strategic and intentional succession planning. By fostering strong leadership throughout the district, a superintendent ensures that the district can achieve its goals even in their absence. 

Align the Organization

Finally, a superintendent must ensure the entire district is aligned toward achieving its strategic goals. This means creating coherence across schools, departments, and programs so that everyone is working in unison. Much like a CEO aligns different divisions of a company, a superintendent must align various stakeholders, policies, and practices to create a unified and effective school system. This is really about creating discipline, focus, and intention…

Discipline, focus, and intention are about doing less, not more. They are all about winning the fundamentals. A leader's key role is to keep the system focused and provide a barrier against extraneous forces and distractions finding their way into the organization. 

Additionally, this responsibility requires a keen understanding of how different parts of the organization interact and the ability to make decisions that promote cohesion. When the organization is aligned, resources are used efficiently, communication flows smoothly, and the district can respond more effectively to challenges and opportunities. A well-aligned district is one where students, staff, and community members feel that their efforts are contributing to a larger, shared vision.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the role of a superintendent is multifaceted, blending strategic vision, leadership, and community engagement in a way that mirrors the responsibilities of a CEO. From setting a clear direction and aligning the organization to fostering relationships with the board and mobilizing other leaders, a superintendent’s effectiveness hinges on their ability to balance these roles seamlessly. I look forward to sharing insights from lessons learned and experiences as both an educational leader and a lifelong learner. The aim is to explore these critical leadership lessons further, offering practical takeaways for professionals in any field.

Moving forward, I look forward to alternating between leadership lessons grounded in personal experience and more focused posts on educational leadership. Leadership, whether in schools or corporations, ultimately comes down to inspiring and aligning people toward a shared vision of excellence.