Kris Trejo started working at Northside Independent School District just days after graduating high school.

His first role was as a student worker in a textbook warehouse.

Twenty-seven years and multiple promotions later, he is now Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services and CTO, helping lead technology for more than 100,000 students across 127 campuses.

In this episode of Strategic Syncing, Kris joins James Symons to talk about what leadership looks like at that scale.

They explore how a large organisation can create enough structure to make good decisions without allowing bureaucracy to slow everything down, and why Kris believes one of his most important responsibilities as a leader is making himself replaceable.

For Kris, leadership means developing people who understand not only what decisions are being made, but why.

That philosophy allows his team to keep moving, making decisions, and supporting the district even when he isn't in the room.

The same mindset shapes Northside ISD's approach to technology.

Rather than defaulting to no when a teacher, department, or leader brings a new idea to IT, Kris encourages his team to “work toward a yes.”

The conversation also explores how Kris hires for growth potential, why leaders need to think years ahead while still dealing with today's challenges, and how emotional intelligence helps senior leaders remain steady when organisations are under pressure.

And despite the scale of his role, Kris is clear about one boundary: real life starts at 5:00.

For him, sustainable leadership means working hard while you're there, making difficult decisions when necessary, and still protecting the people, relationships, and life that exist outside the job.

This episode is a conversation about technology leadership, culture, scale, succession, and how to build an organisation that doesn't depend on one person to keep moving.