Good leadership requires you to always be a student!
From humble beginnings in golf caddying to becoming New Mexico’s Deputy Secretary and Secretary of Education under Gov. Susana Martinez (R) from 2016-2019, Christopher Ruszkowski is a social studies teacher by trade, recently appointed Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Having spent a year in South Africa, Christopher trained as a teacher, spending his first years first in and last out in the school, taking his responsibilities seriously, especially as a rookie. In his 20 years of working within education and education reform, Christopher has a wealth of experience in school systems, as well as figuring out how to develop expertise in all the moving pieces of the system. Believing that you must always remain a student, Christopher has worked under a mentor, working on being informed and gaining an understanding of why things are moving in the way that they are.
The early bird catches the worm - there is value in a hard day’s work!
Notes:
🇺🇸 Christopher's family origin: first-generation American working-class story.
4:16🤓 The story of how Christopher got into golf caddying.
9:02🍀 His evolution from a caddy beginner to a trusted confidant and advisor.
13:43🧑🏫 The beginning journey with Teach For America: a transformative year in South Africa.
18:46🌍 Making the world a better place: he couldn't do it without some form of frontline service.
21:29🏫 Middle school experience: what went on in his classroom, was a microcosm of what was happening in the education sector.
25:41🎓 All the different education contexts Christopher was involved in.
29:15🎯 Always be a student to be good in a leadership position.
36:19🤯 There is such a dramatic difference in education in different cities today.
40:30👀 It often takes an outsider to see what's going on, but you need an insider to implement it. 46:31
💎 Christopher's RONdering: it's still about the blue-collar day.
51:45Links:
Episode 45
