Lessons Learned

Prologue
This Too Shall Pass

My grandmother taught me so much in my days, months, and years with her until her passing. Growing up, I would frequently hear her say, “This Too Shall Pass.” When I was younger, I never realized what the saying meant and, quite frankly, never took the time to figure it out. Reflecting back, it was always said after disappointing news came, after a heartbreak was felt, while someone was in the midst of a storm, or to mean something to do with time and its desire to wait or standstill for no one.

In the summer of 2016, when I made the toughest, yet most natural, decision to step down as superintendent at the close of the school year, I knew that my time leading Team BCPS had passed. While I knew I could not make a public announcement reticent to be marked with the typical “lame duck” status, I simply knew it was time. The experience was exhilarating, the challenges were unique, and the community had become my family. However, my most important family member was just too far away from me. While I’ve always been driven by the principle of having greater impact on more kids, at that point in my life, I simply wanted to have greater impact on my own kid – a kid who lived over 150 miles away, a nearly a three-hour drive.

Leaders know when it’s time. When you have taken an organization as far as you feel you can take it, and the organization could thrive with renewed leadership, focus, energy, and commitment, it is time. Every leader has goals he or she sets for an organization. In this case, I set them for Team BCPS, and I felt we accomplished the vast majority of them. Additionally, with all of the change we implemented over a five-year period, the organization was definitely primed for new leadership. Therefore, I felt and believed a leadership transition was in order.

Reflecting on my time leading the organization and after, I truly understand what my grandmother meant by those four words and have come to appreciate them. The superintendency was such a high-profile position. I lived every day in the public eye, my best and worst moments. I accepted the position to have greater impact on kids – more kids, and I was keenly aware, like many other positions in public service, that I would fall under strict examination. But, at this book’s production, I never imagined I would be facing this level of intense scrutiny. It is definitely a new experience for me. It is through this experience leadership becomes more critical than ever. It is through these experiences that I am learning and growing in order to become an even stronger and better leader.  This experience is challenging me to reflect deeper on who I am as a person of faith, as a father, and as a leader. I have always believed that true leadership requires one to remain calm and still under intense pressure, which is what I’m doing. True leadership requires one to be tough, but also human, which is what I’m doing. And, true leadership demands we understand that we are not perfect – as no one is – and that we continue to learn, continue to grow, and continue to live in our purpose, which is what I’m doing. One thing I know for sure is This Too Shall Pass.