S02E15 - Superintendent of Princeton City School District | Tom Burton

Build Momentum - Thought Leadership for Education, Global Workforce Edition

In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Tom Burton. Tom is the Superintendent of Princeton City Schools, located just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Tom has been in education administration for 27 years and in the Princeton district for 7 years. He is the author of the book “The Mark of Leadership: Strategies for Leading with Purpose, Plans, and Passion,” and he has also written articles for various publications.

Tom is a loving husband and a proud father of 3 wonderful children.
Some Questions I Ask:

• Would you mind starting off by talking about your journey through education? (1:22)
• What led you to your interest in becoming a superintendent? (3:16)
• Tell us about Princeton’s unique student body. (5:14)
• What are some of the tools, resources, and partnerships that you've been able to implement throughout Princeton City Schools? (6:55)
• Tell us about the partnerships with the business community and your district. (12:26)
• Have any of your programs been replicated in other districts? (14:45)
• What do you think is the first step in starting partnership programs? (16:48)
• Tell us about the TEDx Talk you did on taking action. (20:10)
• Tell us about your book: “The Mark of Leadership: Strategies for Leading with Purpose, Plans, and Passion"? (21:49)
  

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Tom’s education journey from being a teacher to superintendent (1:45)
• Tom’s interest in superintendency (3:23)
• Princeton’s diversified student body and course offerings (5:23)
• Tools, resources, and partnerships implemented throughout the district (7:28)
• Building relationships and partnerships with businesses (12:37)
• Implementation of programs outside the district (15:04)
• Steps in starting partnership programs (16:57)
• Tom’s TEDx Talk (20:23)
• All about “The Mark of Leadership: Strategies for Leading with Purpose, Plans, and Passion" (21:59)
  

Quotes:
“Partnerships are critical for us, because we believe that we can help resolve one of the biggest issues that we have right now. And that's a workforce shortage.”
“Unfortunately, from a leadership perspective, sometimes instead of building the momentum, what they do is they see the rock, and they don't try to move it. If you look at this metaphorically, it's hard to start moving, but once you get it moving, it's all the momentum in the world.”
“As leaders, we need to be humble enough to realize what we can do to help culturally develop programs and processes that are going to stay long after we leave. So the book ‘Mark of Leadership,’ it's about passion. It's about purpose. And it's about plans.”
Connect with Tom Burton:
Tom Burton's LinkedIn
Tom Burton’s Twitter
Princeton Schools website
Princeton City Schools Instagram
Mark of Leadership Book

Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
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About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
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