Superintendent’s Career Cycle
The average tenure of a superintendent is between three to five years in a school district. While for some, the first superintendency is the capstone of their career, many may have a leadership position in three or four different districts. The position is fought with decision-making that often will be “no-win” situations. There is the familiar quote amongst superintendents that “friends come and go, but enemies seem to accumulate.
The school superintendency is a demanding career that requires political, technical, and human relations skills, let alone a thick skin and an enduring level of self-confidence.
With the evitable need to be optimistic, but realistic about one’s tenure in a school district, there is the “cycle” of events that a superintendent needs to be prepared to go through during the career moves.
The superintendent’s “cycle is a predictable series of events that range emotionally from the euphoria of the new contract to the despair of the buyout or the non-renewal. We hope this collection of questions and thoughts will help in the transition from the current position to the next superintendency.