Leadership Matters June 2014

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Steve Murphy of Carbondale Community 165, Dr. Kathie Pierce of Fenton Community 100, Dr. Nick Polyak of Leyden Community HS 212, Dr. Tami Roskamp of Schuyler Industry 5, and Dr. Andrew Wise of Olympia District 16. Dr. Kimberly Boryszewski of Schiller Park 81 was unable to attend the final weekend and will complete her graduation at the next ISAL gathering in January. The two-year ISAL program included developing a personal professional growth plan as well as developing a district plan for student achievement that included conducting a comprehensive needs assessment. Each of the ISAL students was assigned a veteran superintendent as a coach. ISAL also studied the superintendent’s role through five leadership

Clark talked about that personal aspect of being a leader in his remarks at the graduation ceremony Saturday, June 14 at IASA headquarters in Springfield. “When the leader is on balance, the chances of the organization that you lead maintaining a semblance of balance is increased,” Clark said. “Years ago, I wrote a paper about that and I listed five domains. Only one, professionalism, directly pertains to being a superintendent. The other four – family, friendships, health and faith – have to do with maintaining your balance as a person and as a leader.” The rigorous two-year journey having ended, Clark told the group of 19 graduates that the real work of transformational leadership was just beginning. “Go forth and set the

lenses: 1) facilitator of shared moral purpose, 2) change agent, 3) relationship/culture promoter, 4) capacity builder, and 5) coherence maker. The notion of a school for advanced leadership goes back to 2005, and a design team composed of veteran superintendents and educational leaders was formed in 2008. After two years of work, the ISAL program was rolled out in 2010. Dr. Nancy Blair, professor of leadership studies at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee and an author of three books on leadership, facilitated the program. “I think this program is unique. It compares to what we do in our doctoral programs at Cardinal Stritch with regard to transformational leadership. We work deeper than most programs, from the inside out,” said Blair.

example,” he said. “Do good work, do it with fidelity and focus on the things that matter. Influence others, be a mentor and change our profession. Everyone talks about return on investment, and in this case it will be making a difference in public education. The challenge is to go home, stick with it and carry it out over a sustained period of time.” Clark said IASA is now accepting applications for ISAL III, which is scheduled to begin in January of 2015.

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