After nearly a 35 year career in education, I retired as the Superintendent of Schools in January 2020. While in the role as superintendent, I sat on two national committees, ERDI and C21 and also was an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University. I now work as a leadership consultant supporting the work of school boards, system and school leaders.
Chris Smeaton
Author's posts
Mar 29
From the Desk of the Superintendent- April 2019
Usually, I begin my monthly message a couple of days before the end of the month. However, my ideas began to percolate after listening to Sarah Hart at our annual Spiritual Development Day and continued while attending the Religious Education Congress. Therefore, most of this blog post was written much earlier than usual and can …
Mar 24
3 tips for becoming a more relational leader
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a fairly harsh blog post entitled, “If you can’t get along with people…don’t be a leader!” Demonstrating honesty, integrity and trust are all key characteristics for getting along with people. But what else? No matter where you are in your leadership journey, improvement or honing your skills should …
Mar 08
If you can’t get along with people…don’t be a leader!
I’ve always been a strong believer in the importance of fostering effective relationships in the workplace. There is good reason why it is the first competency stated in all three standards; Superintendent, Leadership and Teacher. But some of the best lessons regarding the importance of relationship building have come from the business world. In other …
Mar 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2019
February is the shortest month of the year…right? Given this nonstop cold snap, it has felt like the longest month of the year. I know that when Donna and I eventually move to Red Deer, I’ll expect a longer and colder winter but until then, I’m still looking for the break that comes from a …
Feb 20
Transitioning to a New Superintendent
This is the first Lethbridge Herald article I’ve written since I officially announced my retirement for the end of December 2019. The new Superintendent of Schools for Holy Spirit Catholic School Division will take over the reins on January 5, 2020. It may seem odd to many that my announcement has come so early in …
Feb 03
Know your people and let them know you!
It still amazes me there are leaders who don’t believe in the importance of fostering effective relationships with their people. And when I say people, I just don’t mean their direct reports but as many as possible within the organization. While I understand that may be impossible in larger corporations or school divisions, it should …
Feb 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- February 2019
Last week, principals and senior administrators travelled to Mount St. Francis for a retreat. The focus of the retreat was on the 5 Marks of a Catholic Leader. The marks were developed by the Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta. An Excellent Catholic Leader: Embraces the dignity of all as created in the image of …
Jan 27
Doing right not simply being right!
Most young leaders come into positions with the strong desire to be right. It makes good sense! Walking into a leadership position there is a need for your employees to gain confidence in your abilities and one of the quickest ways to do that is to be right. However, if being right becomes the only …
Jan 14
Change Required
The following article was published in the Lethbridge Herald on January 09, 2019. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions. They typically require far too much change and, as we know, change is very hard. I’m a little friendlier with “fresh starts” since they can occur at any time throughout the year. But I …
Dec 27
Twitter Trolls!
I love Twitter! Since joining in May 2011 I have utilized it as a great source to share my own educational thoughts but more importantly learn from thousands of others in the Twittersphere. Virtually everything that I tweet out in regards to education, I include the hashtag #hs4 which is the school division where I …