Executive Core Qualifications

A little about how I meet the ECQs.

Leading ChangeMy ability to create a vision with a mission and goals aligned with the orginizationand how I bring about strategic change to achieve them.

Creativity and Innovation

I was one of the earliest adopters of Chromebooks and cloud computing in education. It was the best way to solve the district’s shrinking student to computer ratio problem with online testing looming.

I am the inventor of the electronic Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan (RIMP) software program created to manage Ohio’s Third Grade Guarantee.

External Awareness

I stay in touch with EdTech leaders all over the world via social media and national events.

I follow educational and technology policy discussions and changes via social media and online journals, news sites, and committees I serve on.

I have worked to digitize all our business operations to reduce paper usage and recycle technology wisely.

Flexibility

I united an entire district on the Chromebook platform when budget constraints no longer supported Macintosh purchases.

My team and I successfully made network and end user computing changes to support mass online testing after state’s infrastructure test failed one week before testing began. We did this without interrupting instruction.

Resilience

District report cards, state assessments, shrinking budgets, at risk students, unions, bandwidth bottlenecks, ageing network infrastructures…

All part of the job and the reason I get up every morning excited to go to work. It is such an thrilling time to be in technology and education! Are there problems? Sure, but there has never been more opportunities to make a difference either.

Strategic Thinking

I have an affinity for strategic thinking. I really don’t know how to think other than strategically. It is just how my brain works every day. I see connections and alternative paths everywhere and I have become an expert at reaching goals and implementing organizational change because of it.

Vision

I believe a shared vision grows from a set of shared values and beliefs. As a leader, you must identify the values and beliefs of your team that align with the values and beliefs of your organization. Then you are ready to form a shared vision. The team’s mission becomes an obvious action plan and together the team is able to make good on the mission of the organization.

Leading PeopleWays I create an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others to meet organizational goals.

Conflict Management

My management team doesn’t always agree—until we leave the room. Then everyone is on board with the decision. This meeting format encourages creative tension and differences of opinions and when we go out to deliver a message, it is truly shared because it has been debated and is agreed to be the best option.

For employee conflict, remind me to tell you the kitchen story!

Leveraging Diversity

I own a PC, a Chromebook, and an iPhone. Technology can be like people. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try to build websites with your iPhone and don’t expect your secretary to understand routers and a switches.

Everyone on the bus in the right seats. Just remember to hear everyone. Sometimes people in the back have important ideas about what is going on at the front of the bus!

Developing Others

Everyone is born a learner. Developing the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization requires ongoing feedback and support.

It is also important to provide learning opportunities, both formal and informal to support a culture of life long learning in an organization where risk taking is accepted as an important aspect of problem solving.

Team Building

Team Building isn’t the annual zip lining event, it is what happens every single day. It is the little things that make people feel valued and recognized for the hard work they do.

Everyone has their own needs and it is my job as the leader to know them and respond. I believe in being real and transparent with my leadership team and expect them to do the same. It makes us strong.

Results DrivenBy applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks, my team and I meet organizational goals and exceed customer expectations

Accountability

Educators are no strangers to accountability systems, and neither am I. I have always held myself accountable for high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results and expect the same from my team.

This means I take time to set objectives, priorities, and delegate work appropriately. I accept responsibility for mistakes made by myself and my team.

Customer Service

Good isn’t good enough. I aspire to be great and to lead a great team. I anticipate and meet the needs of both internal and external customers to deliver high-quality professional development and technology services to our district.

My entire team is committed to continuous improvement and we target new areas for improvement by regularly reviewing data regarding our work.

Decisiveness

As others like to say, this is what we make the “big bucks” for. The truth is, often there is no perfect decision, but a decision needs to be made all the same.

I strive to make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions. I make sure I understand the impact and implications of the decisions I make.

When to bring a network service down to solve a spiraling problem is a good example of when such decisions must be made.

Entrepreneurship

I was the lead on a professional development project called Standards for Teachers through Educational Projects (STEPs where we created PD for Wichita teachers that was sold to the DoD. We won the Blackboard Greenhouse Award in 2006 for that project.

I am currently wrapping up custom software development for Ohio’s Third Grade Guarantee which maps student assessments, the reading pillars, and intervention strategies to better manage intervention groups, evaluate strategies, and provide required state reporting for Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans (RIMPs). It is my hope that this software can then be sold to other school districts.

Problem Solving

Problem solving is what I do every day. Both technology and education are full of problems that require thoughtful and innovative solutions. I often see problems developing before others and am able to gather data and analyze them, weighing relevance and available information to generate possible solutions and make recommendations for courses of action, or move forward to simply solve the issue before it develops into a real problem

Technical Credibility

I am a life long learner and quick study. I know how important it is that I understand and appropriately apply principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to technology in education to maintain credibility with my predominantly male peers. I make sure I know what I’m talking about and therefore have earned respect in my field.

Business AcumenI successfully manage human, financial, and information resources strategically to benefit my organization and meet our goals and mission.

Financial Management

I understand my organization's financial processes. I have prepared, justified, and administered programs budgets up to 2.6 million dollars.

I monitor expenditures and use cost-benefit thinking to set priorities. A great example of this is how I put into place a four year staff computer refresh process, increased student to computer ratio by 50%, and upgraded the wireless all without a budget increase.

Human Capital Management

I build and manage my team based on organizational goals, budget considerations, and staffing needs. I ensures that employees are appropriately recruited, selected, appraised, and rewarded. I take action to address performance problems.

I Manage a multi-sector workforce, administrative, instructional, and technical staffs, in a variety of work situations.

Technology Management

I keep up-to-date on technological developments and make exceptional use of technology to achieve results.

It is my job to ensures access to and security of our technology systems so that others can be effective at their jobs.

I have put many professional development plans in place over the years to ensure various workforces can use technology effectively to do their jobs better.

Building CoalitionsI have 14 years of experience building coalitions with state, local, and national agencies and originations to better achieve common goals.

PartneringI have fostered relationships and partnered with the following agencies in the last 14 years to leverage resources and reach common goals.

• Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE)

• City of Wichita

• Simon Youth Foundation

• Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas

• Wichita Area Technical College

• Wichita State University

• Department of Defense (DoDEA)

• City of Middletown

• Ohio Department of Education

• Southwest Ohio Computer Association

• Butler County Education Center

• Butler County Technical College

• Cincinnati State University

Political Savvy

After working at the district level of two different school districts, one with 50,000 students and one with 6600 students, I can easily perceive organizational and political reality and act accordingly.

Attending Board meetings and presenting to Boards of Education have given me additional experience in politics and how to successfully navigate them to achieve the organizational goals.

Influencing/Negotiating

Persuading others and building consensus through give and take is a necessity in school districts with limited resources and budgets. I have extensive experience gaining cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish the organization’s mission.

This often involves gaining the support of outside agencies in the educational landscape.