(VIDEO) From Blackouts to Belonging: Chris Lynn and Leading the International School of Havana

In the latest episode of An Imperfect Leader: The Superintendents and Leadership Podcast, we sit down with Chris Lynn, Head of School at the International School of Havana.

Leading an international school in Cuba amidst daily grid uncertainties, fuel shortages, and complex operational challenges requires incredible resilience, empathy, and community-first leadership. Chris Lynn approaches each challenge with a human-centered approach.

🌟 1. The Belonging Manifesto

To ensure that every student, staff member, and family feels safe, known, and valued, Chris spearheaded the co-creation of the school's Belonging Manifesto. Inspired by Kellett School in Hong Kong, the manifesto was developed over six months with input from the entire school community.

It rests on four foundational pillars:

• 🌿 Our Nature: We are diverse.
• 🎯 Our Choice: To make belonging intentional.
• 🤝 Our Action: The ordinary daily work of good community.
• 💙 Our Goal: A school where everyone feels accepted, included, and encouraged to be their true selves.

This collective aspiration ties directly into their annual theme: #ShapedByUs.

In the episode's After Action Review segment, Chris candidly deconstructs a high-stakes decision: attempting to implement a solar power, battery, and inverter system to secure energy resilience during Cuba's power and fuel crisis. Driven by urgency to protect learning, he pushed the technical plan forward quickly. However, new US banking restrictions, supply chain bottlenecks in Panama, and importation hurdles stalled progress.

His powerful takeaway? "I had a strategy. I didn't have enough collective aspiration to make it work".

In a moment of forward vulnerability, Chris admitted the oversight, made a mid-course correction, and leaned on the deep expertise of parents and local ambassadors to build a realistic, sustainable path forward.

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Think differently. Think in systems. Reach out to The Waters Center for Systems Thinking to learn more about how systems thinking capacity building can strengthen your team and organization.

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An Imperfect Leader: Leadership in (After) Action is supported by ILAA, LLC, a firm dedicated to supporting aspiring, new, and established leaders. For more information, please find them at imperfectleader.com.

Music for An Imperfect Leader was written and arranged by Ian Varley.

Sam Falbo created our artwork, a wood-print inspired daruma doll butterfly.