The superintendency is a demanding job that requires effective communication, especially in difficult situations, and the presenters at an AASA national conference session on Friday afternoon emphasized that important skill.

According to the presenters at the one-hour Thought Leader session, “Navigating Difficult Conversations,” schools have always been considered “incubators of democracy.”

Timothy Patrick McCarthy, faculty chair of the global LGBTQI+ human rights program at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, said communities should not get stuck in schools being part of culture wars. It’s a school leader’s job to fight negativity, he said.

McCarthy also expressed the importance of leaders being effective communicators. He said leadership is about relationships, and good communication establishes trust, reasoning and emotional appeal.

Matthew Montgomery, superintendent of Lake Forest school districts 67 and 115 in Lake Forest, Ill., said knowing what is happening in critical moments is crucial to thriving as a leader. “There is far more gray in our world than black and white,” Montgomery said, emphasizing the importance of compromise in difficult situations and that “disagreement makes us human.”

McCarthy spoke about how vital it is for people to understand their values and what makes them who they are. He said good leaders lead with integrity, moral resilience and moral articulacy. Working to become an effective leader is an ongoing process, he said, and mastering these skills prepares you for difficult conversations while maintaining trust.

One of the hardest facts to face as a leader is that it is impossible to please everyone. McCarthy emphasized the importance of serving students and the community and using that to create common ground.

Montgomery shared how superintendents can benefit from spending time with the community. Because the work can be isolating and stressful, gathering insight from others can aid decision making. “We need champions for public education,” said Montgomery when asked what superintendents should do in difficult situations.

McCarthy stressed the importance of working with others, no matter their opinions or approaches on issues. No leader is alone in the fight for education and you never know what side of the argument help can come from, he added.

He explained that educators’ work is and will always be in the crosshairs, and school leaders speaking out on issues relating to student learning and support has never been more important. “History does not remember the people who were silent,” said McCarthy.

(Charli Slaughter, a sophomore at Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans, is a reporter for Conference Daily Online.)