TLP: Jim Koerschen, Concordia Shanghai

Posted By Andy Aldrich on Jul 28, 2012 | 1 comment

“Why did you choose to step into leadership?”  I’ve asked this question many times throughout my interviews, but maybe this question is too presumptuous.  Do we choose to step into leadership or does it choose us?  Is effective leadership part nature or mostly nurture?  These are some heady questions, and at the end of the day, might make little difference in how effective we are as leaders.  Yet, when I asked this question to Jim Koerschen, Head of School at Concordia International School Shanghai, he explained, “I’ve come to the conclusion that there is something innate about somebody’s DNA, that gives them this passion that they’re going to be in a leadership role…and then you learn to become a good leader through experience or education.”  In many ways this idea resonates with me.  Whether it’s nature or nurture is beyond me, but if the idea of staying within the boundaries of your official job description and avoiding leadership opportunities sounds like torture, then you might be experiencing the passion Dr. Koerschen is describing.

Unlike some of his counterparts in international education, this is Dr. Koerschen’s first time as the head of an international school.  In fact much of his career has been in higher education within the United States.  It was perhaps this unique experience that has helped transform Concordia from a school of 22 in 1998 when it was founded, to over 1200 this year.  Through Dr. Koerschen’s leadership at Concordia, the school has experienced constant growth, become a leader in tech-integration in the classroom, and built a new campus, all the while keeping the goal of being one of the preeminent schools in Asia.

(If not specifically quoted, Dr. Koerschen’s responses to these questions have been paraphrased)

This is your first position overseas, what’s surprised you the most?

“From a leadership perspective I don’t know if there’s been many differences…maybe the biggest difference is I spent most of my career at the university level, which was one of the reasons I was surprised to be offered the job at Concordia.”  What I’ve found is, once you get past the language barrier and figure out how to avoid any major cultural taboos, much of the work is very similar.  “[In many ways] when you walk onto our campus, you can feel very much like you’re in the US.”

What or who has been most fundamental in your development as a leader?

It’s been a lot of things, but primarily “I feel like I’ve been very blessed in my career… I’m here by God’s grace and I’m trying to carry out his will for me and figure out what he wants me to do.  That’s why I’m in China, because I never figured I’d be here.”

“Leadership is so hard…but it seems like a passion that you’re just called to [and] that you can’t deny, and it starts early in life.”  For me, even as early as high school I had leadership roles that I never had aspired to, but felt called to be in that position.  As that’s developed, I’ve just been pulled towards those positions.  Not for the authority or position, but because my skills have developed me to be effective in that way.

What unique set of skills do you bring to Concordia as Head?

When I was first approached about taking the position, “I was very upfront that I felt that the best way to advance the school’s mission was to develop a vision.”  The overall process of developing a vision connects well with my skills and priorities as a leader, which is to empower those around me… so we created one during my first year.”

I’m not adverse to taking some risk…I believe very much in hiring people who are smarter then myself and finding ways to encourage the development of their good {and sometimes risky] ideas.  For instance, when I arrived a decision had been made to switch from PC to Macs, but some people felt that they couldn’t fully exploit the power of the computer.  So we spent a lot of money to buy accessories and cameras; we even built a green room for broadcasting.  Since then teachers and students have taken the equipment and built it into a major part of our schools curriculum and culture.

“[I also] think I have pretty decent people skills…the so-called soft skills of leadership…as well as, I have a lot of years as an executive and therefore I knew what the executives role was, but also had the financial management and personnel skills too…just experience of doing the job.”

You mentioned your faith as fundamental in your development as a leader; Concordia is unique in that it has a Christian-ethos at its center, in what ways does the school’s Christian mission influence school leadership development?

Included in our school’s ESLRs is the goal to create ‘principled-centered school leaders and enable student leaders.’  What I’ve found is  “the principled-centered leadership is more of an attitude than it is specifics.  It’s the way our culture [and faith] has impacted [those we interact with]…[I’ve found that] when our kids participate in MUN…or APAC events, our students are [often] identified by others as a group who thinks more about other people then they do themselves…We’re more proud of the sportsmanship award then winning the championship, and we try to instill that attitude.”

“[In terms of] servant leadership…we’ve tried to build the whole concept of what service means [for our students with service-learning projects].  So 3^rd and 4^th graders pack Giving Tree bags at Christmas…10 years ago we started the Yunnan Education Project, where we send kids…into the poorest region of China and work on [labor] projects, digging ditches and laying pipe…other projects have included building libraries…our kids teach English to migrant workers around town…and we don’t give credit for it.  Other schools do this at varying capacities and for different motivations, but for us much of it stems from our Christian roots.

In addition to service opportunities how do you develop your Christian ethos?

We always try to hire people with similar values.  “[So] the Christian filter is a strong one…but it’s [sometimes] hard to judge, because people can tell us whatever they want [during an interview].  But I think the school has a strong enough reputation now, that people know if you’re not really a practicing Christian…then you’re not going to feel very comfortable with us.”

“Because of the culture and climate that Concordia is known for, we attract people who want to be a part of that and so it just expands…It’s like the old cliché ‘success breeds success’. Maybe because of our Christian ethos, we truly value [creating that type of environment] and lift [our people] up.  So it’s that value-attitude that helps that culture build.”

What’s your greatest priority when choosing teachers and administrators for Concordia?

“What I listen for is how much of a passion do they have for student-learning.”  But no matter how much experience they have or how nice their resume looks, often it comes down to a gut feeling that “yeah this person is going to work, and they’ll fit our culture well.”

What advice do you have for the next generation leaders in international education?

“You have to be able to embrace change as it comes along, but at the same time don’t be afraid to honor and respect tradition.”  This is especially true in regards to the use of technology in the classroom.

Recognize who you are and what your skills are, and don’t try to use them where they’re not the right [skills]…I’ve seen leaders who were very successful in their leadership position” but as the school’s needs changed, their skills were no longer the right ones, “so you have to be able to recognize when it’s time to move on.”

I think it’s important to always focus on excellence and to never be satisfied with the status quo.  Similar to Philippians 4:8 which says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.