Mentoring Moments with Brenden Cusack

What does it mean to lead from the heart of a school community? Brenden Cusack, now Assistant Superintendent in Huntington, spent nine years as a high school principal who could be found at games, plays, and concerts—not just in the office. He shares how visible, approachable leadership builds trust, how restorative practices transform school culture, and what it takes to mentor the next generation of administrators. A conversation about leading with presence and purpose.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to the Mentoring Moments, Empowering Leaders to Mentor Our Future podcast. I am Dr. Rob Watawa and believe that through teacher and leader mentorship, we can impact our future through our influences on students. As much as we believe in the power and impact of mentorship, many shy away from this rewarding work. The goal of these episodes is to lean into the work with teachers and leaders, hear their stories, and have fun with the mentoring process. So, what does it take to lead a school, not just from the principal's office, but from the sidelines of the big game, the front row of the school play, and the heart of the community? Meet Brendan Kusak, Huntington's new assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction, and a man who spent the last nine years at the soul of Huntington High School, from his start as an AP literature and theater teacher to his deep belief in restorative practices and leadership training at Harvard. Brendan's 30-year career is a masterclass in being a visible, present, and transformative leader. He's mentored over a dozen future administrators, including myself, launched countless new programs, and is known above all else as the most approachable guy in the district. Today we're talking about building legacy through presence, why curriculum and connection are inseparable. And of course, rather he'd mentor, rather mentor a leader who's all heart but no organization, or who's all data but no empathy. Welcome, Brendan. Thanks so much, and how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Thank you. And that's quite an introduction. I don't know that anybody's ever uh said all of that at once about me. Thank you. That was nice. I can can we end it now. No, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

You're a very humble person, and and I and I know uh I I've known you now for a while, and uh you know it's important that you know that uh you're a good guy and you're well loved by a lot of people here at Huntington. So um you deserve that great entrance. So we'll dive. Yeah, yeah. So awesome. So we'll dive right into our first kind of our philosophy of visible leadership. So um you're famously present at games and plays and ceremonies and a lot of different things for our students and for our teachers. Beyond just showing up, how do you turn those moments into genuine leadership capital that builds trust with students and teachers?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

I think um that's a great question. And yeah, I I I do enjoy being a part of those things. Um I think more important than being visible in the public sphere is being accessible when nobody else is around um or available. Uh there are plenty of times where you know it's great to be uh in pu at public events, games, things like that. I cheer like a lunatic. Uh I think people uh truly think there's nothing wrong with me when it comes down to games, that's the the wrestling dad in me. Um but and that's all well and good and that's fun. But when, you know, at nine o'clock at night somebody has a really important question and doesn't know what to do, um, and and the phone rings or eleven o'clock or two o'clock in the morning, you know, these things do happen. Um I feel like that type of visibility and accessibility is what truly builds that type of trust. Um and and it's a it's a 24 our jobs, you know, are 24-7, they don't stop. Um and so I think being being accessible is part of that visible leadership. Um but it certainly doesn't hurt to to scream like a maniac on the sidelines. Um and I think something that that you do uh on the regular that I've always believed in when I was a building principal is being out in front every day, weather, you know, whatever the the weather may be, um for for parents and faculty and kids to see and also to be able to interact with, you know, if they i if if something's going on um and they see you every single day without fail, uh they know where to go. You know, there are plenty of times where the day would be just about to start and somebody pulls up and says, I really need to talk to you right now, and it's apparent. And and there is no other uh you know, your calendar becomes empty for that person because you know it's it it's a priority. Um so I guess that's that's how you you really should build that trust from my perspective.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. And you know, I I say I say to people regularly, it's a small things that make a big difference being present and being in that space. I had a friend that um retired superintendent had said, you know, um I get a lot more done and get more accomplished on the sidelines than I do in front of my computer, you know, and and having that interaction with people, you know, right like you said, you know, you have a parent that pulls up to you in the in the car and they start asking you a question. It could have been a five-page email, but it was taken care of immediately in the parking lot. So I mean that's that's huge. And that and like you said, being visible that builds that trust, even every morning just waving parents see you. That's that's huge. So yeah. So as you've moved from your career, you were you were teaching AP English and directing plays at you know uh for many years, and now you're sitting at a high-level administrative position. So is there or how does it not so use how how does that artist's mindset kind of still influence how you lead curriculum instruction today?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

That's that's an incredible question. I sometimes I feel like it doesn't, you know, you you get bogged down in uh in data and paperwork and it doesn't feel terribly creative, but um a aside from like doodling in in meetings and whatnot. Um I think that for me the the the creative juices get flowing when you talk to people and and when you have particularly a group of people who don't necessarily agree about something. Um that in itself, that type of, you know, verbal judo, i if if you will, or uh that you know kind of puzzle to try to figure out on the fly without any real script, that is creativity, you know, uh in real time for me. And uh and I think there is a lot of art to that. I don't know that everybody um has all of the the skills that uh that you need to be able to bring people together, but and and at any given moment, you know, I might not either, but trying to figure that out in in real time with no you know, guide rails, um that is a creative exercise for me for sure. Um and when it works well and you get to the end of whatever you know the issue may be, and and people do kind of come to some middle ground or or we make progress or something really good comes out of something that could have been negative, um to me that that's a that's artwork, you know, that's a that's a piece of uh something that didn't exist before. So uh Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

I I agree a hundred percent. You uh you shared a story today about you know that artistry of somebody coming in and not uh agreeing with the the situation and you know the the art of taking that and saying, wow, well, this this challenge really is an opportunity for us to become better. And that's an art, you know, to be able to to have that conversation. And I also think, you know, being the person that's directed plays, you know, you're bringing a lot of different people together on a for a singular purpose. And that's what we do as leaders every day, you know. And it's times that the there's parents that we have to bring together, there's times we have to bring teachers together, and it's times we've got to bring everybody together, you know, and and there's an art to that. So yes, I I agree wholeheartedly. Um and uh it's it's super important to have those relationships with all the people and and and value all the things, the voices that are that are out there, because I often say the uh the voice that tends to be the most um distracting or the voice that you believe to be the one that um is is the most difficult is usually the one that will help you the most too. Yeah, yeah. It helps to you know navigate and not have to run into the big problems that they that you might not foresee. So it's great. So sometimes we're building systems and we have sustainable change in our in our our world of of education. So you've personally mentored probably over a dozen administrators over your time. Uh, what's the first piece of advice that you usually give to a brand new principal or director or whoever, you know, it's a principal about how to manage their time between the paperwork and the people?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, that's that's very hard. I don't know that I've given the greatest advice with that because uh it's still a challenge for me. There's there's so much, there's simply so much to do. Um I guess my best advice has been to find your team and value them uh truly and in every way possible because you can't possibly do it by yourself. Um there there aren't enough hours in the days, there aren't enough days in the year, and so on. It's it's an impossible task if if you try to isolate and do it on your own. Um so I'd say that's probably the number one piece of advice that I've I've tried to provide to people is, you know, uh everyone goes into leadership for different reasons, right? I you know, I I think you and I probably have a pretty similar philosophy of, you know, service leadership and and really trying to, you know, build and and grow with the position and grow with the people that you're working with, um and and take feedback and and make yourself and and the organization better. That's I think a great way to approach it. But let's face it, there are some people who go into leadership for the wrong reasons. They want control, they want to, you know, impose will or or philosophy or whatever it is, you know, upon something rather than to to grow from within. Um not that we have anybody like that in our district, of course. I would never say that, but um, you know, you come across people uh over over the years. And you know, so that is when a team mindset goes right out the window, and you can see very quickly that um, you know, uh it it's it's just not gonna work that way. Um and so my advice has always been build your team, value your team, uh, and that will help you to manage your time because you can rely on other people, and they may not do it exactly the same way as you would do it yourself. And you gotta get over that, you know. It's uh you can't there are no clones. Um, that's not what it's about. It's about building capacity, not building replicas of yourself. Um, and that you know, that might be, I don't know that I've ever said it that way. I better write it down. It sounded pretty good. But it's uh it it's that's that's the idea, the message, I guess. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

No, and and like I said uh in my uh conference, you know, yeah, a good friend of mine says all the time, uh, people over paper, you know. So, you know, getting out there, being visible, like we talked about earlier, that makes a huge difference and and that builds capacity and you know, and going to people and and trying to try to give some of your leadership away, too, you know, it's to go into somebody and say, hey, I need some help on this. Can you help me? Maybe you can form a committee. And now all of a sudden you're sustaining yourself and you're you're leaving a legacy too, because those people are gonna be like, wow, you know, he's trusting me to do this, and that's that's amazing, and they feel good. So that's uh exactly what uh you would, like you said, you and I are very similar philosophically speaking, and uh what we believe uh leaders are all about. So let's talk a little bit about some of the things that you've done here. It's and I think I think it's your jam because I know that you you lit up when you talk about this. So Huntington has been a leader in restorative practices for many, many years. Um is there a story that you could share that you've kind of seen these uh practice uh seen kind of transform specific situation? And then if you've had a experience where you had to kind of sell something to the teacher that was like, I don't think I want to do this thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Oh, 100%. Yeah, the that is definitely uh, as you said, my jam. Um sorti of practices uh dates back 10 years now in our district, and uh been fortunate. Uh it really kind of fell in my lap to start with. Um and as a new brand new principal, you know, you kind of look at the whole and say, where do you even start? You know, this is a great place. Um how do you how do you start to, you know, think about ways to leave your mark or or make things even better? Um and restorative practices is definitely a a way that I think we've grown a lot and I've grown also. Um I started my administrative uh career as a dean of you know discipline, and so I went from, as you said, you know, uh producing plays and and teaching English and theater and all this great stuff and being a class advisor, and it was really fun, and kids want to be in your class, and then immediately starting to suspend kids and have to deal with, you know, mm uh what happened to the cool teacher. Yeah, right. All of a sudden I was the jerk and and uh have to deal with all this stuff. And um, so that was real culture shock for the first uh, you know, maybe six months of that job. And I started to grow into that and learned that, you know, now my office is my classroom, and we really can have some rich conversations and there can be some genuine change. Only problem is after all that was said and done, I could have a great connection with that kid and the parents, and we have this lovely, you know, moment, and then you still suspend it, you know, and and I'll see you in in a week or whatever, and then you know, you'll be fixed. Um never really liked that. And so when we had the opportunity to uh, by way of a grant, uh start to work with restorative practices, um you know, I I we were really lucky, I was really lucky to be able to kind of uh really connect our our school to that. And so over the the last ten years, we've um you know, uh used our our local town and and their youth court, um, and we've built a program that is uh it's kind of a model for others, and it's expanded to the middle school, and now we have advisories that are based on on uh you know community circles and and it's it's been great. So uh we've managed to uh share this with a lot of other districts across the state. Um and I'm very fortunate to to be able to do that. I'd say one of the most memorable stories, I guess you could say, uh, from this comes very early on. Uh and I actually videoed the the student and her mom uh after the fact as like a testimonial. And uh we had a a young lady who um she really didn't have a great opinion of herself or her academics. Um she had an IEP and that was to her, she felt that that um, you know, was was a real negative thing at the time, and she just didn't thrive academically, and she, you know, had uh issues with her peers and whatnot, and got herself into some trouble related to that. And we went ahead with our youth court and restorative practices, and she found a whole new set of kids. Like youth court is something where peers, like your age group, peers from a district, serve as a jury and a judge and whatnot, and and they'll put together, you know, sanctions that might include community service, that you might be working with other kids and things like that. She found a whole new friend group, uh, became a part of youth court, uh, and and served on juries and whatnot. And the f the very next year she enrolled in an AP psychology course. Now, this is a kid who had been failing a lot of courses, immediately said, No, you know what, I can do this, and took AP psych and a number of other classes, graduated with absolutely no issues, went on to, I believe, university at Buffalo to study uh to be a social worker. Like this was life-changing. Mom said from that moment, uh, she was a different person. The herself said the same. You know, I I realized that you weren't mad at me when I got in trouble, you know, that that you you still believed in me. And that is huge. And I think that that is something that can translate not just to kids, but to teachers, to administrators. Like we all need that sometimes where, you know, we're all gonna make a mistake here and there. And if there is a restorative approach to it, um we all get better, you know. And if it's not that, what happens? You know, uh nothing good if you make a mistake and and you get killed over it, then that's never gonna help the organization uh going forward.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

No, I I I know the uh restorative practices uh in my previous district we did uh mostly at the elementary to see how it works here is amazing and uh it it it really is life-changing for I think for everyone, you know, and as a new person to the district, to sit in a room with the brand new teachers, with one of the principals that was running it, to kind of like unpack your yourself with all of the new people was really nice too. You know, so it you know, I I I know that it's been done in faculty meetings and things like that. I don't I almost wonder if if you know it could be integrated, you know, not every month, but something like uh you know maybe once a quarter for the teachers to kind of like rebuild. It's kind of like those programs that you see. Um, both these programs have you know walked up the line or something like that, where you kids are struggling with certain things, um uh challenge day or you know, something like that. So it's just I think it's tremendously powerful when you start to see your adults that are around you as humans, you know, and and and you see your leaders as humans, because we oftentimes we look at we look at the adults in the building, no matter how big the kids are, the kids still look at us like giants. No, yeah. You know, so uh for us to kind of like take a step down and be like, Yes, I'm a human too. They're like, oh that's interesting, you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

So uh so yeah, so we'll and and teachers I think can could benefit from that also. I think it's a great idea because you could be working uh, you know, within one hallway from somebody for a decade and not truly know a whole lot about them, you know, especially at a high school where everybody's departmentalized and whatnot, um, if there were opportunities for people to to kind of connect on a deeper level, that would probably probably be a great thing.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Yeah, 100%. So we're gonna move to some, you talked a little bit about some tactical things too. So let's talk about tactical things with new leaders. So what's kind of the advice that you might give a new principal or or even you know, as you were a new assistant superintendent, like what were some of the things that you give advice to yourself of like what the first 90 days or so, like I know that sometimes people like you need a hundred-day plan, but like the first three months, like what would you tell a new administrator, like, hey, these are the things you probably want to do to to build the kind of approachable reputation that you you have right now?

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah. I think uh you know, we always start with getting to know the people um and the and the systems that and it depends on the organization. I think it can take a long time to figure out who's doing what and who who who really does what. You know, sometimes they're there are the people that are supposed to, and and then you know how to circumvent uh and uh people know how to circumvent you, maybe is that the more appropriate way to put it. Um, and so to try to figure out how to make sure that doesn't happen, I think with any new leader uh coming into any position, and this is the case for for me, probably for you, for everybody, is you know, there'll be a few people who test the waters and and will ask you a question that they absolutely know the answer to, but they want to try to get a different answer because that's their goal, you know. I I don't think that's um you know s uh unique to schools or anything like that. I think it just is. And so that's always something that I would sort of lead with is you know, keep your ears open, but you know, don't don't really have like rabbit ears about it. Like you you don't have to take it all in and believe everything that you hear. Just kind of get the feel for who everyone is and and what the message is and and come to your own conclusions over time. Don't you don't need to rush to any conclusions. If you want advice about this person or this thing, I will gladly share that with you. Otherwise, you know, maybe just take the time to to get a feel for it before taking someone else's opinion. Um, it takes time to develop. your own opinions and it you know uh good information is good information but um but you know I've said to many times don't take my word for it you know you'll you'll see for yourself what how you feel about this particular situation and then and then we can talk further about it. So I think that's something that that I've had to remember, you know, when you go from being in one role for nine years and this is my second year as assistant superintendent, um, you know it's still new. Like there's still things that I um may not know or or might not be aware of and um and I'm open to that. I think there's a y you have to draw a line because if you don't know anything or if you seem like you don't know anything people won't trust you. And that's problematic too. But being honest about what you don't know as long as it's finite and not you know so much that like it doesn't make sense to to be doing that job um because that can happen right yeah 100% yeah you know being honest and saying oh I I you know I need to learn more about that I think that's that's a an important piece. So I guess to summarize kind of you know giving yourself the time to get the lay of the land learn the people the systems the networks the you know everybody's uh I guess their you know agendas for lack of a better term uh and coming to your conclusions over time.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Yeah I love your your visual of of rabbit ears you know Darren Peppard who is a who's an inspirational speaker and he's an author and and uh great guy he was on I think I my first episode and we talked about what we call a warning bell people. They're the people like that come right to your office you're the brand new administrator and they're like you know and and you're like you're there now if it deals with these rabbit ears you're thinking I got to listen to this person and you're you're ready to jump on uh making taking action steps and uh he shared a story that a principal had that kind of happen principal changed the entire like lunch duty schedule for something and was like everybody in the rest of the building's like why did you do that? Like that was the worst thing ever you know so it's you know it's don't always move on something. It's okay to say like you know what let me can I give a little bit of time to to to let this marinate before we jump in on this.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

So all right cool respect that that approach and I do remember that I I listened to that episode and maybe that's why it was kind of top of mind. So uh that's that's that's pretty cool. Yeah he's a great guy um he'd be a great uh speaker for for the school in one day uh cool so let's let's transition we're we're getting towards uh looks like about 25 minutes or so uh rapid fire questions here so these you got ahead of time so uh I know you were talking a little bit before you're like oh I'm not sure about this one but we'll have some fun anyway so would you rather mentor a leader who's all heart but no organization or one who's all data but no empathy I think probably the the the most reasonable answer would be to um go with someone who's all heart because you can teach them organization but I will go with the opposite uh answer to that because somebody who's really organized um I feel like maybe I might have a shot at showing them in our in our organization uh where the heart is and that's with the kids you know so you can't possibly um really hear and know and learn about somebody's story without feeling something um and I feel like over the years I've been able to tap into that here a little bit. Organization, you know, I I think with the vast amount of different things that we have to deal with that can actually be harder to tackle sometimes. I I grapple with that myself. You know the the heart piece is like okay let's let's go knock on this student's door and say hello like I'm gonna show you where they're coming from you know um and I've had I've been in that position before let's say working with a teacher who you know is sort of for lack of a better term hellbent on failing somebody for whatever reason it is and and then when they get to know the story like there's a little movement you know um and that's a very organized kind of person like this is the letter of the law I am going to stick with uh you know this is the policy this is the practice this is my grade book um and when you say well this is the child like and this is the story um sometimes you can get some movement there too and I like that challenge uh also so I think either one we probably wouldn't necessarily want to hire somebody who has all of one and not the other we can probably find somebody with both but uh if if if faced with that uh you know that uh either or that's that's the way I would go with it.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Cool very cool. All right so what's the most well intentioned but ineffective piece of leadership advice that you were given early on and would you what would you how would you change it now?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

So I think for this one I I go back to one of like our you know my my courses in school administration early on where it was pretty much presented that people will bring their needs to you and your organization will bring needs as well. And a lot of times the needs of the individual are in conflict with the needs of the organization. So for instance somebody says you know I have to leave every Friday at such and such a time because I have you know A B and C to do or whatever. Right, right. That can harm the organization right because you you have an issue that uh is a conflict. So I guess what I've learned over time um in the context of that type of scenario is the power of the question why. Why does this need to happen? I've learned the hard way in some cases where I did not ask that question said no no no we have to do this this way because blah blah blah before asking that question why and then learning that there is a really good reason why this person needs whatever it is they're asking for. And you know you can almost have some egg on your face if you don't ask that question why in advance. If you ask the question why and the answer's not great then you kind of know what to do. So that's how I would sort of turn that advice on its head um the way it was presented was it's kind of either or but what's in the middle is the question why yeah I always say we live in gray.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

You know we could people like you said before you have some black and white people I gotta follow the data I got to follow the policy but no no no we live in gray you know we and that's it's the way it goes you know so in education right yeah yeah 100% 100% all right last one here so why you you as an English teacher and a and a coach right so would you rather grade the essay or coach the play?

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Well I I definitely uh don't like grading papers I uh having having done plenty of that uh that was never my favorite thing I'd always prefer to coach the play it's it's in real time uh you know it's happening uh side by side sometimes when you're coaching uh an essay is done in isolation like if you're grading the paper after the fact it's already done you know I mean yes there's revisions and and I believe in the writing process as an English teacher and whatnot but um but it's it's there it it's separate from the act itself. You're you're coming away from it and you know you're making corrections and then you're going back. Whereas coaching I think happens with somebody more. And so yeah I I coached football with little kids uh for a while and that was probably one of the greatest experiences in my educational career is coaching you know 10 year old football team. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Yeah yeah awesome so let's uh a mic drop closer here so finish this sentence ready so true school leadership isn't about managing a building it's about dot dot dot getting to know and loving the people you work with and I want to add that I love that you use the word love because John Maxwell talks about that all the time you have to like love your people and um it's something that I think often leaders are are shying away from you know they they like you said before we have to be the boss and it's like you know you can't be the if you can't be the boss if you love your people but it's true. Getting in there knowing your people caring for them and loving them is uh is tremendous. So as uh we're just about wrapping up. Is there anything last final words you have for our audience here?

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Anything, any pieces of advice, any thoughts um you know I I I think just to remember that this really can be fun, you know we forget about that sometimes. And I like this is a great I I think what you're doing is awesome that you're really delving into the finer points of leadership and and mentorship and you know the the nuts and bolts of what makes all of that tick. I think it's really cool and I'm I'm just grateful to have been a part of it today. Thank you. This is this is part of the fun part you know this uh interaction and in this setting is is really cool. So thank you for having me today.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

Yeah yeah thank you Brennan you know you know Brennan it's funny because uh you use the word fun and I was I think I was driving in the other day and I was talking with somebody I'm like no the the job is fun you know there is fun things about it even when there's challenges you know and and I always say like if there's a challenge and you go to people with that challenge and you bring your team together it's like all right we got to face this challenge. But like you said now we're coaching, we're figuring it out and we we work the problem that's fun, you know and and like I had some teachers the other day were like they were like this is like a a big headache and I'm like no this is great. We this we're we're working through some curriculum we're working through some ideas and it and it was productive and and they did but they could see the excitement you know so when they see the excitement coming from their leader they get excited so yeah it makes a huge difference so so yeah so thank you so much Brennan for being uh guest on mentor moments and uh we'll talk soon right thank you thanks a lot yeah