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I’ve got to say that, over the years, I’ve met very few school district superintendents who I’ve felt have been up to the task.

Maybe you’ve had better luck.

Fixing Urban Schools: Sprinters or Marathoners? by Larry Cuban is a piece of recommended for reading to some of them.

I also think they could benefit from If The CEO Of Lyft Drives Every Six Weeks, Could Principals, Central Office Staff & University Teacher Credential Professors Periodically Teach A K-12 Class?

And I’ve also suggested some of the pieces at A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES ON LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP – SHARE YOUR OWN list.

The Harvard Business Review recently published a lengthy article that I would add to that reading list.

The Surprising Success of Hands-On Leaders highlights the practice of several CEOs (some of whom, like Jeff Bezos, have some other obviously terrible qualities).

But they all seem to model good practices on how to run organizations:

They are not inserting themselves into every decision or displacing their teams. Instead, they act as teachers and system builders: They’re present in the work not to control it or make every decision themselves but to model standards, sharpen problem-solving, and establish behavioral norms that enable others to act with autonomy and discipline. They don’t meddle—they coach. They don’t override—they elevate. They don’t hoard decision rights—they teach others how to make sound decisions on their own. Their involvement is not disempowering—it is energizing. And it is purposeful: to build a system that performs reliably even when they’re not in the room.

It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you are a school leader or superintendent.