Rand Harrington did not arrive at school leadership through a conventional path. He earned a PhD in physics, taught Tibetan monks in Dharamsala, and walked from Mexico to Canada at 18. Each experience cracked something open. By the time he took his first headship at Kent Denver School, he had a vision and the confidence to push it. What he lacked was the capacity to listen.

Between headships, he sold his house, bought a sprinter van, and drove across the country for a year. Every day, his wife Chris asked him the same question: how do you want to show up differently? That question changed everything. When he arrived at the American Embassy School of New Delhi in 2024, he showed up asking what the community needed rather than what he planned to deliver.

The shift from ”I have the answer” to ”I have a question” is not just a leadership posture. Harrington argues it is only possible for leaders who have been through genuine personal transformation themselves.