Interview with Dr. Archie Blanson
Deputy Superintendent of Aldine
ISD
What is your definition of
leadership?
Leadership
is something you are either good at or not. In a school district, a Superintendent has to
balance and prioritize tasks and issues quickly, efficiently, and
proficiently. You are constantly
balancing needs of students’, needs of staff, concerns of parents, and
community feedback. To be a successful leader,
one has to work with all stakeholders while leading the school district toward
greater student success.
What are the positive aspects of
being in a leadership position, like Superintendent?
Being in
the Superintendent’s seat allows you to make the final call on all issues and
to truly make a real impact on the direction of the school district. You are involved in long-range goal setting
and resource allocation at the district level. As Superintendent, you can
really guide and direct the overall learning environment. However, you also are responsible for
ensuring that there are excellent campus leaders in place. These leaders are expected to ensure student
success. To ensure student success, you
must build your relationship with these leaders. You must have solid communication with them,
and you must have high expectations for them.
This will help drive change in your district.
What are the negative or
difficult aspects of being in a leadership position?
A Superintendent
cannot be all things to all people, they need to make choices that help the
most students. Decisions that you make
that appease one group may irritate another, that is why we must always have
the students in mind. To be an effective
leader, you have to keep your eye on what is truly important and ask yourself,
“Is this the best decision for our kids?” If the answer is yes, then you can
sleep at night, even if you are criticized by some. I have no issues sleeping
at night because I know I am doing the best I can for the students of Aldine.
Another
difficult aspect in today’s environment is funding. Where are we going to get the funding to run
the programs we have and need. School districts are being asked to do more with
less. This makes it difficult for a Superintendent to meet the needs of all stakeholders
while balancing the budget and still giving students what they need and what
the community expects.
What do you believe are the
attributes of a good Superintendent?
Honesty—The
leader of the district is held to a high standard, and must model the behavior
he/she desires from everyone in the organization. The Superintendent must be seen as
transparent and above-board on all fiscal matters, accountability issues, community
concerns, etc.
Integrity—Going
back to the statement about asking, “Is this the best decision for our kids?”,
you have to balance that within what is legally acceptable and is in line with
the community’s expectations.
Flexibility—A
Superintendent has to be flexible. Every
day is a new day with new challenges.
You may go into the office with a list of things to do, and once you hit
the door, the day takes you in a million different directions. You must be able to adjust through the issues
as they arise and adjust where you spend your time accordingly.
Hard Work
Ethic—Leading a district is not an easy task, and it certainly is not an 8-4
job. Deadlines must be met, staff
members need the resources necessary to ensure student success in a timely fashion,
and the expectation of visibility demands that you attend a great deal of
evening events.
Good
Communicator—Poor communication has been the downfall of many well-intentioned
administrators. Keeping all stakeholders
informed is the best way to ensure support.
Even when the information is not necessarily positive, it is best to be
up-front with those involved and did I say honest?.
Positive
Attitude—The Superintendent sets the tone for the district. He/she has to relay a positive attitude to
other staff members so that they see the tasks at hand as possible to achieve
and meaningful. To get people to believe
in your vision you must sell all positive aspects. People respond to positive things.
Superintendent Competency 1
emphasizes the importance of integrity, fairness and ethical behavior. What does ethical leadership look like?
Ethical
leadership is basing all decisions and actions on honesty and integrity. It looks like somebody who is out-front when
things are going poorly. This is highlighted
when the staff and the community don’t necessarily agree with all of your
decisions but most people respect your decisions. A leader who approaches decision-making by
being honest and forthright, will always be trusted because people know that
you are choosing what is best for all of your students. By approaching
decisions with impartiality and by being brave enough to implement those
decisions, you set a track record. Doing
what is right isn’t always easy or popular.
That is ethical leadership.
REFLECTION:
I chose
to interview Dr. Blanson not only because of his Superintendent experience, but
also because of his experience moving up in Aldine ISD without ever running a
building as a principal. This is
something that may happen to me because of my current role. In his current role, Dr. Blanson is
responsible for working directly with all departments on finance templates,
legislative requirements, training, board relations, etc.
During
our discussion, Dr. Blanson mentioned how rewarding being a Superintendent is,
and how it is a position suited for individuals that enjoy tackling a challenge.
He said that challenge changes daily. He
also mentioned that he likes to seeing a project through to completion. His expertise in the fiscal aspects of being
a Superintendent has made him a mentor for many people in Aldine ISD. Dr. Blanson, as Deputy Superintendent, has
the pulse of Aldine ISD. He knows what
is happening before most people do.
I will continue
to learn from his experiences not only through this interview, but also as I
work with him in Aldine. I have asked
him to help provide Superintendent and board training/goal setting. My expectation through these experiences, is
that he will demonstrated the type of leadership described in his interview
responses.
