Charlotte, Anchorage and the search

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board and its search firm,  PROACT Search,  are about to craft a  profile of the superintendent they'd like to hire.  One might expect it to look something like this:

"The successful candidate will have a demonstrated track record of success in leadership roles,  and in complex change management.  He or she will have a passion for the success of every child, and be committed to dramatically improving student,  school,  and district performance.  The successful candidate will have the staying power to be a visible leader in the district,  community,  and state.  The ideal candidate will be a results-oriented team player with the ability to execute immediately while remaining focused on long-term goals and strategies.  He or she will demonstrate effective partnerships with parents,  community organizations,  foundations,  unions,  higher education,  business,  nonprofits,  and the public sector."

That's not a leaked CMS draft, but the gist of PROACT's profile for the superintendent being hired in Anchorage, Alaska.  Reader Bolyn McClung forwarded the link to Anchorage's search as an insight into what might be ahead for Charlotte. Anchorage is several steps ahead in its process. That board narrowed about 150 applicants to five finalists, who were interviewed by Skype, then invited two to visit Anchorage in hopes of making a hire by the end of this month (read about it here).  CMS hopes to have finalists meet the public and make a hire in March.

It seems likely that the CMS checklist will include many of the same items as Anchorage's:  Leadership,  change management,  passion for children's success,  staying power,  partnership-building, etc.   But at least CMS can add an item to its community profile:  No snowshoes required.