Throughout my twenty-two years as an educator, I have had many people to thank for shaping me into the leader I am today. Throughout a career, there are many people who give you advice on how to be effective. The best lessons I learned about leadership came from my mentor in New York, Dr. Norman Wechsler. His philosophy was simple: No one has low expectations. His job was to empower the school community to make decisions based on data and research. He didn't micromanage; he supported his staff, even when they sometimes disagreed. You never walked into his office with a problem without a workable solution. He trusted his staff and they, in turn, trusted him as a leader. His staff improved because they taught us how to think and solve the most important problems while ensuring we had the right data to support an idea. Thanks to his leadership, DeWitt Clinton High School went from a school poised to close to one of the most improved high schools in the nation. Interestingly, my career took me to Austin, Texas, and to 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 that supported teaching and learning. It was evident that staff members had problems they wanted to solve, but did not feel empowered to implement plans to resolve them. A teacher with thirty years of experience told me that she had never been asked for her opinion. I began my tenure at Crockett by asking the staff what I should look for when I enter the classroom. Since that initial meeting, we have developed a new observation protocol and supported staff with… half document… It gives me great pleasure to watch people grow and advance in their careers. I was asked, “How did you do it?” I always respond by saying that I couldn't do it alone. When I walk into the building every day, I'm outnumbered eighteen hundred to one. My job is to be the main teacher of the school. I can only create the conditions for others to grow. To summarize my leadership philosophy and how a leader must empower and trust their staff, I remember a scene from the show, 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 run the show. Sam, you're 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.