Dr. Greg Smith | Former Superintendent, Clear Creek ISD
Tags: Inspirational, Leadership Development, K12 Education, Leadership Skills

There are times superintendents feel besieged, like we are being attacked on all sides. All school leaders are experiencing the pressures of COVID-19 and advancing important social justice issues. Those of us on the coast are feeling additional pressure from this record-setting hurricane season. Pessimism and doubt seem to permeate our world in 2020.

Are we truly in a leadership crisis? If we learned the critical lesson taught to us by Gene Kranz, Apollo 13’s chief flight director, the answer is we are not in crisis. In fact, we have the opportunity to make this public education’s finest hour.

As you well know, Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion on its way to the moon. The ship was badly damaged, and the moon landing was no longer possible. Problems with the spaceship began to multiply. The astronauts had to deal with a lack of power, potential damage to the heat shields, lack of oxygen, lack of food, frozen parachutes, and a computerized guidance system that had to be turned off to preserve power. It was uncertain if the astronauts would survive the trip home.

Pessimism and doubt filled the control center, but Gene Kranz, who I have met and talked to, refused to believe the negativity. His words to me were, “All we had is what we had. We had to figure out a way to get those men home.”

Those who have seen the movie, heard Kranz’s words spoken by Ed Harris, who played him in the film: “What do we have that is working? What is it that we can do? Let’s work the problem. Failure is not an option. I don’t care what it was designed to do — I want to know what it CAN do.”

Finally, when it seemed that everything that could go wrong was going wrong and the chances of the astronauts dying seem imminent, Kranz was asked if he thought this would be NASA’s darkest moment. He emphatically stated, “No. This is going to be our finest hour.” Changing the narrative and working on the problem changed the outcome.

I have personally witnessed Clear Creek ISD’s finest hours come from unbelievable crisis.

Hurricanes Ike (2008) and Harvey (2017) devasted our communities. Many students, staff and teachers were left homeless by the flooding. Our district facilities needed over $32,000,000 worth of repairs. Transportation, electricity and sewage systems were all disrupted.

Yet, we kept student success as our main goal. We rallied the five key components that all districts share — manpower, protocols, resources, technology and ingenuity — to focus on student success. Despite the challenges, we received our first “District Exemplary” rating in the year Ike hit and an “A” rating in 2017 after Harvey. Student achievement remained the main focus of our district’s priorities while we were overcoming what seemed like insurmountable challenges.

During this pandemic, so many things are working well. Technology advances since February would never have occurred without COVID-19 and are allowing us to progress virtual education and conference capabilities at historic speeds. Health, safety and sanitization protocols are greatly improved and will continue to serve us in the future. When unemployment rates rose dramatically, we fed, and continue to feed, thousands of families.

When faced with a crisis, we should learn from Gene Kranz. Pause. Take a breath. Change the narrative. What do we have that is working? Use our ingenuity to redirect our resources, manpower, technology and protocols to work the problem. Lead with hope, grace and a strong belief in our people.

When our backs are against the wall, we simply do not realize how great we can be.

What is next? Bring on the locusts. We are ready.