Beyond the Book recently spoke with Montenegro about the experiences that helped shape him as a leader and how he uses his leadership skills for positive change.

BTB: When did you begin teaching and what inspired you to enter the field of education?

HM: I started teaching in 1975 in San Jose, California. I taught there for four years, beginning with middle school, and then teaching high school. At that time, I began to really understand the impact educators have on children. I began to experience the dynamics of stepping into a leadership role when I was in college. After I started school—it was during the turbulent sixties—I was involved with MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) and there was a move to bring more diversity to the university level. There were many things happening at the time that heightened my awareness, like the East Los Angeles riots and the anti-war movement. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy magnified my thinking around social justice and the impact individuals had at the time. As an educator, I felt it was necessary to help children become more socially conscious of their surroundings and their responsibilities, and prepare them for the future.

I went to Georgetown for a short time, and I ended up working under Floretta McKenzie in Washington, D.C. She was quite an inspirational leader and was admired by so many people. At that time, I started to think about aspiring to that level of leadership. I had many great experiences in Washington, D.C., and especially, I was able to get firsthand the experience of race relations in a changing dynamic. I learned a lot from that opportunity.

Meanwhile, I was involved with the fine arts. I danced Ballet Folklorico for twelve years beginning in college, and actually taught it when I became an educator. I understood a lot about stage presence and choreography, and I learned a lot about when things go bad logistically—if the music goes down, or if the technology is not set up. Paying meticulous attention to detail in the entertainment industry has prepared me well for a leadership position.

In Washington, D.C., I became a principal. Of course a highlight of my career was serving as chief of staff in the D.C. Public Schools, which was an incredible experience. Eventually, we moved to Austin, where I served as principal and then area superintendent. My first superintendency was in San Marcos, Texas, and I learned a lot there, including how to work with seven board members who didn't pick each other to serve. That board format is called a marriage—so I essentially had to deal with seven spouses, keeping them all happy. Frankly, I have a lot of experience with that type of dynamic. It was the first experience I had understanding the connection between the ideal—wanting to do well for children—and the political—being able to pull it off. I was looking from afar, watching great leaders struggle with school boards, and I began to understand that changing a culture in a district is more than wishful thinking—more than ideology or quoting and understanding the research. It's a people-intensive operation.

BTB: How have your experiences shaped you as a leader?

HM: Each opportunity I have positions me as a student of the leadership dynamic. In many respects I am both a situational and a transformational leader. I bring with me things that were successful in San Marcos, but I can't use them as a cookie cutter for another district because the dynamics and the relationships are different. For example, I come from a district that is predominantly Hispanic, 90 plus percent, to one that is one-third white, one-third African American, and one-third Latino. Along the way, I have picked up some skill sets that help me work with white, African-American, and Latino communities. Now, I have all three in equal distribution. I think it's important to never stop learning and always be a student of those leadership qualities that you can internalize to bring an organization to a higher level of achievement.

As president of ALAS, all of my leadership skills that have evolved over time come into play. I can see what it's like now to build an organization from scratch. I've been with this group for four years, and I now feel confident that I can contribute to its growth and development, and take it to the next level. One thing that's really important in succession leadership is that your predecessor is honored, respected, and included as you build the organization. It doesn't accomplish anything other than a backlash to treat a leadership transition as a hostile takeover.

All of the experiences that I've had, even from the time that I was an auto mechanic, have highlighted how to understand the interrelationship of the parts, and to pay meticulous attention to detail. You may have a powerful engine, but if the points in the rotor are not working, the electricity doesn't go to the spark plugs and the engine doesn't run. In our business, communication is key. That's the energy that goes through the system. You can have the best school, the best schedules, the best personnel, but if the energy is not flowing and not directed appropriately, you can cripple an organization. With an organization like ALAS, it is about bringing the pieces together and communicating.

BTB: What have you mastered at YISD that will help you at AISD?

HM: There are a lot of things that I will bring from YISD to AISD, such as the role of the superintendent in relation to instructional leadership. There are things that I've learned in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Austin that I will also bring, like dealing with a highly diverse and changing demographic. That wasn't the case in YISD, which was very stable. There were two things that I really liked about YISD. First, it did not have fast growth so I didn't have to worry about building schools. However, I did have to worry about replacing old, deteriorating schools, which is different. Second, it is a very stable, almost homogeneous population. Now, I am entering into a dynamic that is changing. Almost two-thirds of the population in Arlington is a minority—that's about 60 percent—and 89 percent of the teaching staff is white. In this opportunity, I see the first order of business as assessing the level of cultural competency of these different groups and determining whether or not it contributes to the high attrition rate. I've looked at the data. The number of children in ninth grade is radically different than in twelfth grade. There are opportunities in AISD that I consider to be familiar but challenging. I will be able to draw on all of my past experiences.

BTB: What would you say are your greatest accomplishments?

HM: I came to YISD with a great deal of reluctance and apprehension because of its past. There was a history of a dysfunctional school board that had actually fired prior superintendents, one of whom lasted only eight months. I was certainly not interested in moving my family only to get fired within a year. When I was hired, I was the seventh superintendent in seven years. The new board was very committed to bringing in a new generation of leadership, to move the district from where it was to where it needed to be. My charge was to be a change agent to lead, manage, and guide the school district to the next level.

I do feel that the level of achievement and the issues regarding continuity and consistency have been addressed. We didn't have a curriculum. We now have a scope and sequence, and an instructional calendar. We weren't using technology effectively in the classroom. Now, every teacher has a brand new MacBook, with a dual platform. We didn't even have a department of professional development, so I created one that is well integrated with the needs of the school district. I brought in four new associate superintendents who are the best in the business, and they have a really good handle on the particular needs of each division.

We also have set new standards for the acquisition of hardware. Instead of just randomly purchasing good deals, we focus on portability, twenty-four/seven access, and wireless systems. Our central office and all of our schools are wireless.

Additionally, we have adopted professional learning communities. The first philosophy was to create good relationships and customer service. Then professional learning communities became a part of our collaborative culture using the model outlined in Failure Is Not an Option, with six principles and engaging every learner. We developed book studies district-wide. As a result, I think there is a great deal of collegiality and collaboration, and that we offer one of the best professional learning communities I've ever seen. So we've moved the district into a higher level of focus and achievement. My first directive from the board was to pass a bond, so I passed a $250 million bond within the first eight months, and then recently I passed a rollback election for an additional $36 million in salary and additional resources. That was a major milestone because most of these rollback elections have failed statewide.

Finally, we have created a new focus for instructional leadership. Now our principals can provide instructional leadership, not just management, on all sixty campuses. I think the accomplishments have been pretty significant, and we have developed a good public relations machine so that the reputation of YISD is well known nationally. I'm very pleased with that.

In the continuation of this article, Montenegro will discuss his goals for ALAS and his vision for the next generation of leaders.