Categorizing my leadership experiences.

How often does a group of superintendents get to trade war stories with the likes of Ron Heifetz and other distinguished faculty members from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard? That is exactly what happened to me and 11 others fortunate enough to be part of the Wallace Foundation's Project LEAD.

Up until that point, my leadership development experiences had consisted of education-related seminars usually arranged by an association like AASA or by a school of education. At our first meeting, Heifetz was quick to point out he was not an education expert. Frankly, after 23 years as a superintendent, I was curious about what new concept I might learn from the likes of Heifetz and company, and that feeling was shared by most of my colleagues. One of our first assignments was to read Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by Heifetz and Marty Linsky.

I became fascinated by the book. It provided a framework that allowed me to sort and categorize my leadership experiences. Furthermore, the framework was not limited to schools, classrooms and board rooms. It applied to all aspects of life. It made me aware of the fact that "to lead is to live dangerously," as was clearly stated on the book's jacket.

Through introspection and lively discussions with Heifetz and his colleagues, I came to appreciate the differences between my intuitive responses to challenges and preconceived, strategic behavior. Had I really been a good administrator all of those years or had I merely been lucky? Was I truly confronting the real issues or was I merely engaging in what Heifetz refers to as "work avoidance?"

I learned many excellent strategies. I had assumed, for example, that as a leader my job was to step up and solve everyone's problems. Short term, we may be heroes to those whose problem we've solved. Long term, every happy solution causes discomfort or unhappiness to someone else. Eventually, the numbers of unhappy people add up to a critical mass that could lead to our undoing. Heifetz's solution? Give the work back. Let people work through their problems. Guide them, counsel them, but don't take the work off their shoulders.

My only regret is that Leadership on the Line was not available much earlier in my career. By most accounts, my 26 years as a superintendent were successful, but I can't help but think how much more effective I could have been had I really known what I was doing.

Dan Domenech, a former superintendent and past AASA president, is a senior vice president of McGraw-Hill Education, 210 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. E-mail: daniel_domenech@ mcgraw-hill.com