News — Greenhouse E3

You have spent your career working for children. You have supported teachers and leaders for years, you have held many roles, all with the mission of changing educational outcomes for the students you serve. After years of successes, failures, and incredible dedication, a charter board has selected you as the CEO to lead a charter system. In those first weeks in the singularly pinnacle role, you will be advised by everyone. The team you inherit, your predecessor, your board, and your favorite principal will be full of well meaning advice about how to take on this new role. And while one of the CEO’s main jobs is listening, our biggest advice for new CEOs is “don’t lose yourself.” Work hard to keep others’ voices from ringing so loud in your head that you can’t hear your own. Your voice matters. A lot. Listen to it.

When faced with mounting pressures from their board, expectations from their team, and the realities of another school year, the excitement of becoming a new CEO is often quickly eclipsed by the steadily increasing volume of the voices of key stakeholders. And before long, a new CEO can find themselves floundering, no longer able to hear their own voice and at risk of being too easily swayed by well-intentioned folks who do not have their perspective, expertise, or the responsibility of being the CEO.

Part of the reason new CEOs are so susceptible to floundering is because they often also feel pressure to lead in ways reminiscent of their predecessor. Instead of leaning into their strengths, they lose sight of them. Within a sea of competing voices and the pull to be something they’re not, the new CEO often pendulates from one strategy to another. This newly minted leader drifts further away from the core of who they are– forgetting that the person they already are is enough…and that the board literally just selected them to anchor and lead the organization.

When I first became a CEO in 2018, I believed myself to be deeply rooted in my core values. However, within a few months, I felt myself wavering. As the hard realities of being a turnaround leader sank in, so did my doubts about my ability to successfully right the ship. The pressures of solving seemingly insurmountable problems while keeping a team invested in my vision almost paralyzed me because the voices of others began to drown out my own. I became more keenly aware of how my white male predecessor had led. His leadership style continued to impact the team I was now leading and the expectations the community and stakeholders had of me. For example, my candid communication style, which is typically appreciated in Black American circles, was viewed by many as too harsh and even confrontational, in large part due to the contrast it drew to my predecessor’s style. I began to question if my way, my voice was appropriate for my new role. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, my struggle was all too common. Whether you are a leader of color moving into the CEO seat on the heels of a white predecessor or a leader with a non-traditional path succeeding a career educator, the path to finding and elevating your unique voice as a CEO, though essential to your success, is often fraught with anxiety and unexpected challenges.

Thankfully, I had the good fortune of being in community with a group of leaders, primarily other women of color, who were able to remind me of the preciousness of my unique voice and perspective. They reminded me that I was selected for the job because of who I am, not in spite of it. My community helped me quiet the noise that was drowning out the most important voice - my own. This supportive community of leaders reminded me of the inherent value of me simply showing up as myself and leading in a way that felt true, even if that way was significantly different from my predecessor’s way. It's what my team needed. It’s also what the organization needed, and the reason the board selected me as CEO. The only way I would be able to lead effectively was to simply “be me,” and lead as my authentic self.

CEOs are not “one size fits all.” We are not a monolith nor do we approach the job with the same lived experience, professional skills, or leadership style. But we can all be successful, and we must all begin to understand and embrace this fact as we pass the baton to the next group of leaders who will lead our school systems. All of us – education executives, board members, and public education champions alike – would do well to remind new CEOs that their unique voice is not only welcome but critically important, especially as we continue a long overdue transition to leaders whose identities more often match those of the students they serve. Not only are the perspectives of diverse leaders essential to their own viability and job satisfaction, but they are essential in serving children well.

Since returning to in person school after months of virtual and hybrid programming triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been inundated with data that illustrates just how little many children, especially in Black and Latino communities, learned during those months. Ensuring that schools are better poised to meet students' academic and social-emotional needs will require bold leadership. The bold leadership our schools need will more quickly emerge when leaders feel confident in their ability to lead in ways that honor their voice, values and experiences. Our children don’t need disempowered or stifled leaders at the helm of their systems. They need emboldened leaders who exhibit the creative courage necessary to make tough decisions that are responsive, rooted in evidence, and based in community values. We must embrace the fact that there are many paths to successful and effective CEO leadership, and all of them are born out of the authentic values, experiences, and voice of the leader. When we embrace this, our schools will be better positioned to more rapidly meet the needs of our students.

CEOs Are Not a Monolith

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