Superintendent Interview

Following is the summary and reflection with my interview with Mrs. Ronnie Neill who is the Superintendent of Maypearl ISD.

Five questions and responses that stood out to me:

1) What is your definition of leadership: "It is to get everybody to reach, and work towards goals, without them having to feel like they are being led."

2) What do you believe are the attributes of being a good Superintendent? "Being able to go get, and retain good people.  The people that you surround yourself with will run the show.  My job is to get everyone on the bus, and then make sure that everyone is on the right seat.  After that, everything will take care of itself."

3) How should a Superintendent evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies in the school district, and encourage the engagement of the community to benefit all students? "A school like Maypearl has this a little easier than a Dallas ISD in some ways.  While we don't have a news paper, and news stations around the corner, we have the ability to use several different formal and informal ways of getting information out.  Being able to use social, media, the local business leaders, the local churches, booster clubs, and other organizations helps us get information out. We really only hear things back though when things are going bad.''

4) 'How does the Superintendent build a good working relationship with the Board? "You listen to them and find out what is important.  Say yes when you can, and pick your battles, let them win one everyonce in a while, try to give them what they are asking for. Also be transparent, and remember that you are a team of 8 out there.  Everyone is working together to reach a common goal.  We have a great board/superintendent relationship here and as a result, we have made a lot of positive changes."

5) How should Supreintendents approach the management of everything from budgets to technology applications? "Have good people around you and make sure that they have the ability and resources to do their job.  I have about 7-8 people in those positions that I trust, and we stay in constant communication.  After that it is pretty much just let them do their job."

After visiting with Mrs. Neill, I came to a few conclusions in regards to being a successful superintendent.  The biggest thing that the leader of the district must do is to make sure that they hire the right people in the right leadership positions.  After that, they must work together to accomplish the vision and goals of the district, and communicate that with all stakeholders. 

Every question that was asked about management, Mrs. Neill kept reflecting back to the importance of "Having the right people on the bus, and having them in the right seat." She also kept mentioning that with that ideology, she was able to keep an open line of communication and do everything that she could to support them.  She felt that a management style where it was a "do this, and do that" wouldn't fit her personality, and she didn't feel that it was necessary in building a district.  She even mentioned that she had been blessed to have very good people in those positions and that because of this, "she has the best job in Ellis County." 

A couple of the things that were also interesting, (and this is probably becuase we are a small district), is the ease at which she is able to keep communication with everyone in the district.  All three campuses are within walking distance, and as a result, she is able to constantly visit campuses, meet with employees, and students, and get instant feedback on needs, in an informal way. 

Coupling all of that into one though, she felt that the biggest thing that a Superintendent can do is listen, and make sure that people have what they need.  After that, they must make sure that the school board, and the Superintendent form a team, and as they do so, they work together to reach common goals for the district.

After looking at the answers to questions, and thinking on the interview, I came to one major conclusion.  This has been something that I feel has helped me in the AD role, and as a result, we have started watching a lot of success in growth.  By hiring good quality, and ethically driven people, we can focus on the bigger picture, instead of a micromanagement style.  By allowing them to do their job, the Superintendent can focus on bigger issues, like helping shape the vision, and fostering a great learning environment, and then getting that information out to stakeholders.