Closing Gaps, Pandemic Reflections, and "Shoshin" in Kentucky with Dr. Mark Martin

Book Update!

ImperfectLeaders! You can preorder my forthcoming book, An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action. Click on the link here. Or if there is no hyperlink, go to peterstiepleman.com, you can order it there.

My Guest: This week, Mark Martin is my guest. Mark is superintendent of Meade County Schools in, Meade County, Kentucky. In the first part of our conversaiton, Mark describes Close the Gap Kentucky, a promising professional development program for school districts to make meaningful plans for the children In their districts. In his After-Action Review, Mark reflects on the agonizing decision many superintendents faced during the pandemic - when to allow children to return to In-person Instruction. Mark was named the superintendent of schools right at the beginning of the pandemic, which made his situation even more difficult. A truly vulnerable and authentic refleciton on an impossible decision.

What is shoshin? 

I recently read an article in Fortune magazine. I’m not really sure how it ended up in my mailbox, but I was hooked by the cover photo of the CEO of Salesforce with the title: Efficiency is in. Is Empathy out? The article didn’t exactly answer the question, instead it spoke of the tension CEOs have as they make decisions for the long-term health of their companies, and how those decisions are interpreted as a betrayal of a CEO’s publicly stated values. School and district leaders understand that very well. Efforts to find common ground can be interpreted as capitulation.

There’s was a quote in the article that I liked: The CEO of Salesforce said: I think you have to have, as the Japanese say, shoshin, or beginner’s mind. As the leader, you have to realize that the past is gone, and that you’re going to have to create a new future.” Mark Martin is creating a new future in Meade County. Thanks for listening!

 

BIO: Before becoming Superintendent of Meade County Schools, Dr. Martin was a director of special education and before that, he spent 12 years as a special education teacher and administrator. His experiences as a special educator have given him insights into how to make school accessible to every learner.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at www.human-centeredleaders.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.

www.peterstiepleman.com

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