Prioritizing Culture as a Foundation for Strategic Success

Two superintendents. Two vastly different districts. One shared conviction: culture isn't a nice-to-have—it's the foundation everything else rests on.

Chris Hoffman leads California's fifth-largest district with 63,000 students, 68 schools, and 60 more to build. Latricia Gloucester leads a 6,700-student urban district in Pennsylvania where 95% of students are Black and Brown and live in chronic poverty. In 2022, York City became the first district in Pennsylvania to exit both academic and financial recovery. Both leaders attribute their success to the same thing: relentless investment in organizational health.

Latricia frames it as leading with head, heart, and hands. Head: building systems, structures, and mindset. Heart: leading with empathy, seeing people as people, creating psychological safety where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. Hands: servant leadership, being of service to others. The results speak for themselves—100% retention of principals and assistant principals over the past two school years. No new leadership hires needed until just recently.

Chris started at the top. His cabinet had been together for years, but relationships needed healing. Through Arbinger's outward mindset work, something shifted. People started sharing. Then more sharing. Then someone stood up, walked across the room, and hugged a colleague they'd been at odds with for years. That contagion spread to the seven employee unions, then to the board, then—embedded in collective bargaining agreements—to every employee in the district. Eight years later, former union leaders who were part of the original training are now running for school board seats.

The conversation explores how both leaders approach accountability differently than most: not as a weapon wielded from above, but as a personal practice modeled from the front. Latricia calls it "360-degree accountability"—she shares her own 90-day plans, her goals, her missteps, before asking anyone else to do the same. Chris distinguishes between corrections that come from a boss protecting their own reputation versus corrections from a leader who genuinely cares about your growth. "When I disappoint somebody who cares about me, I hold myself accountable. I don't need them to hold me accountable."

Both leaders share stories of extending culture beyond school walls. Chris built a family and community engagement department from one person to thirty, including newcomer centers staffed by recent immigrants who reflect the families they serve. Latricia describes a partnership that almost failed—a community organization called the state to complain about the district's response to a growing Haitian Creole population. Her first instinct was defensive: "How dare they?" But she turned the chair. Instead of asking who made the call, she asked why. She went to see for herself. Dozens of families needing help. Within weeks, they'd built a wellness center and created a comprehensive support system for housing, worship, clothing, and school enrollment.

The through-line: when leaders hold themselves accountable first, when they genuinely see the humanity in the people they serve, culture becomes a magnet—for talent, for families, for community trust.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the connection between organizational health and retention/recruitment by examining how districts with intentional culture investment achieve exceptional leadership stability

2. Apply the "head, heart, and hands" framework to balance intellectual systems-building, empathetic leadership, and servant leadership practices

3. Implement 360-degree accountability by modeling vulnerability and self-reflection before expecting it from others

4. Use cross-functional training and affinity groups to break down silos and build authentic relationships across organizational levels

5. Extend culture-building beyond school walls by creating community partnerships grounded in seeing others' needs, objectives, and challenges