The organizational leader chosen is a math instructional leader (IL), Joe Smith. Joe Smith has been in education for 26 years. Education is a second career for Mr. Smith, he was a Wall Street analyst prior to transitioning to math education. Mr. Smith’s job as a teacher was being excessed due to declining student populations, therefore, he worked his way into administration. Mr. Smith has been functioning in the role of district math IL for the past 15 years and still loves what he does. Mr. Smith’s passion is working with young teachers helping them to engage every student in the amazing world of math. Mr. Smith is self-described Servant Leader. Mr. Smith believes to lead is to serve. This ideology is contrarian to the district transactional leadership ideology. For Mr. Smith, this opposite view of leadership has created a situation where he has to be aware of the audience he is working with. Mr. Smith carefully navigates this situation allowing him to work in the field he is passionate about. Questions for the interview focused on 4 areas: general biographical information; work life; innovative initiative; and leadership. From the …show more content…
Smith’s Servant Leadership. “To lead is to serve” was his comment. Mr. Smith revealed that he would never ask anyone to do something that he was not willing to do himself. Changing to a growth mindset was an example he used. From the time Mr. Smith was told he had an aptitude for math, he had a fixed mindset. Life experiences further proved his mindset as he frequently ran into people who said “math isn’t for me”. Only after working with students who had a fixed mindset about themselves, was Mr. Smith able to adapt a growth mindset. When he saw kids struggle through difficult math problems without quitting, he began to realize that hard work and grit are the keys to learning math. In fact, these principles hold true for learning about anything in