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
A Personal Message to All Educators
January 3rd was my last day as Superintendent of Schools and the end to an almost 35 year career in education. It was the right time for many reasons and I have not regretted the decision. However, since the COVID 19 pandemic has hit, there has been a pit in my stomach, a certain uneasiness …
Mar 14
Results and Outcomes…What do they truly mean? Part II
In part I of this series, I spoke a little about how results and outcomes can be manipulated to prove one’s point. In this blog, I want to discuss how to start looking beyond simple results and outcomes and begin moving a culture towards learning and continuous improvement. While this is my journey, I believe …
Mar 09
Results and Outcomes…What do they truly mean? Part I
A number of years ago, one of my most respected principals made the following comment (paraphrased), “Why is it that when our results are good on a standardized test we applaud the work of our staff, but when our results are poor, we blame the exam?” This statement is becoming increasingly more important given the …
Mar 03
Integrity in leadership
It is a sad statement of our times, but I truly believe that the level of integrity of our leaders is depleting at a record rate. Some (not all) politicians, national or provincial/state reek with integrity flaws But, it seems that the crisis has crept into many areas of leadership that had one time, had …
Feb 10
So you’ve had your interview and didn’t get the job…what’s next?
If you ask a person who just had an interview, “How did it go?”, you’ll likely receive one of three answers: I nailed it! I think I did okay. That was brutal! Regardless of the response, the individual really doesn’t know how the interview went, even if offered the position. That’s a problem if the …
Feb 07
Coaching kids- a message for adults!
This past week I enjoyed some great conversations with friends and colleagues about coaching. I also attended a high school basketball tournament where I watched some coaches in action and listened to the comments of fans/parents. SPECIAL NOTE FOR PARENTS- In all likelihood your child is not going to make his/her living as a professional …
Jan 24
What is your weakness?
Last week over lunch at home with my wife (I can do that now that I’m retired), the discussion of weaknesses came up. She had been watching a talk show and one of the panelist stated that every interview should ask the following question: What are your weaknesses? I’m not convinced that asking that question …
Jan 06
Letting others lead!
Late last week, I tweeted the following quote: Good leaders lead well. Great leaders allow others to lead well! While the above statement seems to be fairly simple, the impact is essential, both from an organizational perspective and for succession planning. I’m amazed at how many times I meet good leaders who somehow fear allowing …
Dec 09
My Retirement Speech!
On Friday, December 6th, I was honored by the Holy Spirit community at my retirement function. Below is the retirement speech that I gave that night. Enjoy! I want to begin by thanking all of you here today on behalf of my entire family. It is most humbling to be recognized by so many. And …
Dec 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- December 2019
Good morning! You will note that this came to you early Monday morning rather than on the weekend when the month of December started. This is part of an email/texting protocol that I would like to begin implementing given the strong support received by both the Teacher Board Advisory Committee (TBAC) and the Learning Leadership …