Some leaders climb out of a system and never look back. Dr. Patrick Fagan climbed out of New York City Public Schools and came back to lead it.
In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Dr. Patrick Fagan, Chief Talent and Human Resources Officer for New York City Public Schools, the largest school system in the nation, for a conversation about what it takes to lead people at a scale most of us will never touch.
Born in London to Jamaican parents and raised in East Flatbush, Patrick is a K-12 product of the very schools he now serves. He walks Ron through the full arc: playing trumpet at JHS 285, learning a trade at William E. Grady, and the doctorate in industrial-organizational psychology that taught him to read workplace behavior like a scientist.
Then he gets into the leadership. Why he traded "leadership" for "teamship" across his 10 executive directors. Why he refuses to be the bottleneck every decision runs through. Why he says you have to love people, not just like them, to last in HR. And how faith and a 5:30 AM gym routine keep him grounded while he oversees HR for 150,000 employees inside a $44 billion system.
There is also the line he tries to live by: every day is an interview. Not for the next job, but for trust.
Tune in to hear how Patrick brings the human back into human resources, and why he calls leading 150,000 people a privilege, not a burden.
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00:16 Welcome to Ronderings, and a full-circle homecoming
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06:38 From JHS 285 to a trade school, the path was never straight
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17:19 The real scale: 150,000 employees and a $44 billion system
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21:21 Teamship over titles, and why he refuses to be the bottleneck
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30:12 The PIE framework, and bringing the human back to HR
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37:18 Faith, wellness, and every day is an interview
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45:37 The Ronderings question: leave it stronger for the next generation
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48:52 Podcasts That Matter, and a Stronger Podcast shout-out
Links:Reach out to Dr. Patrick Fagan to talk teamship, building talent pipelines inside the nation's largest school system, and the many careers in New York City Public Schools that don't require a classroom.
Episode 96
