Early in my career, someone told me that the best way to
gain perspective on your job is to (1) update your resume, (2) meet with
prospective clients, and (3) interview replacements. It’s not as grim as it sounds. The process of writing your resume forces you
to think about what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve learned. Similarly, selling to prospects and forces
you to articulate what your organization does well, and lets you hear from
others what about areas that might be blind spots in your own perception of
your team. Interviewing job candidates
forces you to think about how others might fill in those gaps and perhaps bring
a fresh perspective to the team.
This past December brought several opportunities to do all of
the above. In my day job, I run the
client services team at a SaaS billing
provider. I was chatting with a
client about my “night job” on the Board, and had a very interesting discussion
about how the skills from both jobs cross-pollinate. Someone I met in my professional life thought
I came across as “quiet”, and they wondered if I’d hold my own in a room with
strongly held views. I laughed – out
loud- at that, before explaining the back story to my role on the school
board. Both my day job and my role on the
school board involve working across a diverse set of interests to forge a
shared vision for where we want to go.
When is the right time to the course and focus, and when is it time to
shake up the status quo? We did a bit of
both this past fall when we introduced extended day kindergarten. There are many other examples, and I’m
thrilled with the work were doing.
Also in December, I had the chance to attend our New Family
Orientation Night. This is a chance for
families who are new to our community to come hear about LASD. Most of these folks have a child entering
kindergarten, but it’s also good for families who have recently moved into our
area. Watching the presentations gave me
a great feeling of pride in how far we’ve come over the past 4 years. New parents are excited to hear about our
STEM program, about how we tailor instruction to each student, and about the
achievements as they compete at the state and national level in pursuits as
wide-ranging as chess and mathematics to drama and dance. Our children are wonderfully successful in
life, and I like to think that is in part because we’ve given them a fantastic
start.
I’ve also spent some time over the past month handing over
the reins to Tammy Logan, who is now our new Board President. Tammy has been a great colleague over the
past 4 years. We don’t always agree on
the issues, but I can honestly say that she challenges me in ways that forces
me to articulate carefully what I believe and why. That kind of honest debate serves LASD well,
and I’m sure she’ll do a great job as our new leader. Looking further down the road, there will be
an election in November 2014, and there are three seats up for election. If you’re thinking about running, this is a
great time to reach out to Trustees and ask them about their service on the
Board. I have no idea who might run for
re-election, and who might step down, but our community is fortunate to have a
very deep pool of talent from which we can draw. If you are passionate about public education,
and you’re willing to work for the students who attend LASD schools, I’d
encourage you to consider running. It’s
a great way to serve the community. In
the meantime, I have another year on my term, and I’m going to enjoy working
with our team to continue revolutionizing learning for all students. I want to express my gratitude to the many,
many people who have given me their support this year, and I look forward to
continuing to earn that trust and support in 2014.
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