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
Feb 01
Accountability and leadership
I came across the image below on Twitter and it resonated with me from a leadership perspective. Leaders need to be accountable but too often it is about to who rather than simply being accountable through all of one’s actions. There is a doing part of accountability but in true accountable leadership it is far …
Jan 08
What zone are you in?
Below is a great visual provided by Dr. Amy Edmondson that links psychological safety to performance standards. In the visual, she identifies four zones that people within organizations reside based on the relationship between psychological safety and performance. Great leaders understand the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. There is no doubt that it …
Jan 03
Looking back to 2020
This week marks the third-year anniversary of my retirement as Superintendent of Schools. In some ways it seems like only yesterday that I called it quits, while at other times it seems like a lifetime ago. So, what have I done or better yet, what are some things I’ve learned in these past three years? …
Jan 01
What if…
It has been quite some time since I last posted, but I’ve made it a priority to write more often and share my thoughts. To begin this new year I want to start with a simple “What if…” post! We’ve come through a couple of difficult years and to say that our communities are divided …
Mar 24
Board Development
One of my most interesting consulting roles that I’ve fallen into after retiring from the superintendent position has been working with local school boards. My initial work has been board orientations, focusing much of the time on defining their “why” and providing a deep understanding of their role and that of the superintendent. Later this …
Feb 21
Curriculum Development Requires Teachers
Early in my senior education career, I remember then Deputy Minister Maria David-Evans, speaking about how Alberta was a world class education system. One of her key points was the importance of a strong centralized curriculum. While not always perfect, no curriculum is, Alberta has always been recognized as having a strong curriculum that jurisdictions …
Feb 09
System leaders need affirmation too!
Most of my blog posts have typically focused on leadership however, with this pandemic and especially lately, I have tried to write about the impact of the pandemic on teachers. While many still believe in the myth of the 9-3 teacher, teaching has never been easy, and it is even more difficult and complex today! …
Jan 21
Being selfish
I try and stay socially connected to the education world through my Twitter account and what I’ve been seeing is pretty disheartening. Educators are feeling exhausted, disrespected, frustrated and little angry too! I know that most social media platforms allow a person to “sound off” without much care on the impact of their words…but what …
Jan 09
Start with your best and then get better!
Depending on where you are in North America, educators are either preparing for students to return to in school learning or preparing to offer online education in the coming days. Regardless of the decision made by governments, a high degree of stress is present. This newest variant, which is by far the most transmissible, is …
Jan 04
Some early reflections!
It is almost two years to the day that I retired from the role of Superintendent of Schools. That means, that I retired pre-pandemic. There was certainly a time when education was easier, but I cannot imagine a time when education was more difficult than during these past two years. It does not matter where …