In my twenty-two years as an educator, I have had to thank many people who have made me the leader I am today. Throughout your career, many people give you advice on how to be effective. The best lessons I learned about leadership came from my New York mentor, Dr. Norman Wechsler. His philosophy was simple: no one meets low expectations. Her job was to empower her school community to make decisions based on data and research. He didn’t micromanage; he supported his team, even if he sometimes disagreed. You've never walked into his office with a problem without a viable solution. He trusted his staff and they, in turn, trusted him to lead. His team improved because he taught us how to think through and solve big problems by making sure we had the appropriate data to support an idea. Through his leadership, DeWitt Clinton High School went from a school poised for closure to one of the most improved high schools in the country. Interestingly enough, my career took me to Austin, Texas, and a school in a very similar situation. David Crockett High School had just been labeled an academically unacceptable campus for the second time in three years. When I arrived, the campus was at a crossroads. There was great talent on campus, but very few systems supporting teaching and learning. It was evident that staff members had issues that needed to be addressed, but did not feel empowered to implement plans to resolve them. A teacher with thirty years of experience told me that no one had ever asked her opinion. I began my tenure at Crockett by asking the staff what I should look for when I entered the classroom. From this first meeting we developed a new observation protocol and supported staff with...... middle of paper ...... it is a great pleasure to see people grow and progress in their career. I was asked, “How did you do it?” I always respond by saying I couldn't do it alone. Every day when I enter the building, I am outnumbered eighteen hundred to one. My job is to be the head teacher of the school. I can only create the conditions for others to grow. To summarize my philosophy of leadership and how a leader should empower and trust their staff, I remember a scene from the series The West Wing. After solving a difficult problem, Martin Sheen was asked how he did it. His response was very simple: "You have a lot of help. You listen to everyone and then you decide. Sam, you are going to run for president one day. Don't be afraid. You can do it. I believe in you." When you listen to people and trust their judgment, you can make the impossible possible..