Leadership is critical for a school’s success, said Patricia Greco, a consultant with Studer Education, who presented at the “Lead for Impact” session at the AASA National Conference on Education on Friday in San Antonio, Texas.

“I’m not improving, because the state is telling me I have to,” said Greco, a retired superintendent in Wisconsin, who challenged the value of schools taking on isolated initiatives. “I’m improving because that’s what we believe is important.”

She and three other panelists described the roles of superintendents and principals as not simply to manage the school, but to lead the school.

“The enemy of great is good,” said Shelly Viramontez, superintendent of Campbell Union School District in Campbell, Calif.

Greco’s overriding message was this: You must know why you are leading to lead.

Ryan Carpenter, superintendent of Estacada School District in Estacada, Ore., and Jennifer Lowery, superintendent of Tea Area School District in Tea, S.D., also presented.

(Emily Hughitt is a reporting intern with AASA’s Conference Daily Online and a sophomore at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.)