Wally Delecki
Born in Flint, Michigan, today's guest was born to Polish immigrants as the middle of three children. He began his career as an accountant but returned to obtain his teaching degree. Eventually, he made the move to Gilbert, where he raised his family and served in the role of superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools for 20 years. He is now a legend of our community. Today, we welcome Dr. Wally Delecki.
Episode Transcription
Guiding Growth. Conversations with Community Leaders. In this podcast we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and rocket space, an event and meeting venue in the heart of the East Valley with a full service for person podcast studio and here we go. We're back sarah, we are back.
I'm so excited for today. I am very excited for today. The gentleman we have today. I'm going to steal your thunder a little bit but I have gotten to know this gentleman for over the last few years and I have a lot of admiration for him. So introduce them, please. Absolutely. Born in Flint, Michigan. Today's guest was born to polish immigrants. As the middle of three Children, He began his career as an accountant but returned to obtain his teaching degree, eventually made the move to Gilbert where he raised his family and served in the role of superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools for 20 years.
He is now a legend in our community today. We welcome dr Wally Galecki and I might add, he's got the most amazing memory of anybody I've ever met and we should probably talk about that a little bit. So we're going to have to talk about that. That's just one of the, one of the things you know about Wally when you think of him. Yeah. You know, he's gonna remember everything you say. So you better say no. Getting around that one. Well, welcome Wally. Thank you. We start with what we call rapid fire around.
Okay, so we're gonna ask you a few questions and just kind of run from their ready Yes. Morning beverage of choice coca cola. How long does it take for you to get ready in the morning? It depends on the morning. Uh, if it's formal, probably 40 minutes. If it's informal, about 10. What's formal or informal tie and shirt socks, beach or mountains. Beach name one thing you can't live without family. Favorite sports team, Arizona Coyotes. Okay, where is the most beautiful place you have been everywhere? I've been. Are you a spender or saver spender?
We can hang out now, describe yourself in three words. Kind, funny, helpful Wally. What's the best room in your house kitchen? Last question, glass half full or half empty, Always full, always full. I would definitely agree with you on that one. Gilbert city lifestyles is a locally owned publication whose mission is to find and share great stories in our community and help build a stronger, more vibrant local experience, become a digital subscriber at city lifestyles dot com forward slash Gilbert. Very fun. Okay, so now let's talk a little bit about Wally.
Shall we? Let's go back to the early years and start in the beginning. Our show of course is about those that inspired you and guided you through your life. And so as we go back to the foundation of your early beginnings, what comes to mind what kind of family memories you have of people that influenced you? Well my dad was one of 11 Children, so I had 34 1st cousins on his side and my mom was one of six, so we had other cousins. So we grew up in a neighborhood that no one ever moved.
I never saw a for sale sign. You were all the neighborhood, we were there forever. And so um we went to catholic schools and so the neighbors were our friends as well as our classmates. And so I had a happy childhood, nothing spectacular. We didn't have money but we weren't poor, beautiful. And you know polish immigrants. Your parents were polish immigrants and they learned to speak english when they went to school. And did they carry that language then into your house when they wanted, didn't want us to know what they were saying?
Oh now I wish I spoke a second language, my kids kinda do. So there you go a little bit. Yeah, it's just latin stuff? I'm like, what, what? Okay, so going back to that time period then, did you think about your education, who influenced you there? Did you have any teachers? Did you have any mentors or anybody that kinda took you under their wing or got you to where you're headed? Um one of the nuns was particularly helpful as as I shared. Um I didn't go to kindergarten in fourth grade, They put me in fifth grade and I was sitting in the first grade desk.
So at eighth grade I was the shortest student, male or female in the school in the class and probably the basketball star. Yeah, that was not my sport. So I had neighbors and friends that we were that I'm still in touch with, even though we're distance in time were still very, very close. Uh in our graduating class, 16 couples married out of 130 students. So I was blessed with a healthy family, good experience. We would go back to my grandmother's farm in pennsylvania, that was our vacation and we thought we were international travelers because we went through Canada.
So we developed an appetite to travel and to see the world. Mhm. So and you grew up in michigan, which we we found today is a commonality between the two of us. So very neat. It was a great place. Lots of water. We go back every year to lake michigan and enjoy the beauty. We don't go back in the winter. No, which is most of the year, october is a great time to go beautiful colors. Absolutely, absolutely. So I had good teachers, I had a good education.
Um as I started go through high school, my older brother was the CPA and a very good CPA and I wasn't, but I got a degree in finance and Economics and became an accountant. And then I was hired by the mod Foundation And Mr Mott was 93 when he hired me and a billionaire B and he made his wealth through Mott's applesauce and he founded General Motors. So I was there two years and I didn't want to die before I was dead. And so I didn't have enough social interaction.
I had a good salary, I had status, I have security, but it wasn't enough. So I went back to the university and got a teaching degree and dr doug peculiar because the Foundation supported hospitals and education and the educators in the foundation enjoyed life. And I remember dr peculiar pointing to frank In saying that's you in 25 years and I said, I can't do that. So I got a teaching degree and taught high school economics and then the March Foundation gave me a full ride. And in three minutes seriously I took out an analyst and I looked at the university of Connecticut, the university of texas, the university of California Davis in Arizona State University.
I've never been to Arizona. And so I decided to go to Arizona State University. So in three minutes I changed the course of my life and I moved out here, didn't know anyone and started at Arizona State University and finished my masters and my PhD and I decided I wanted to stay and get a position And I had a professor who was probably my age and I thought he was 100 And so he told me to go out to Apache Junction for my internship and I thought Apache junction is small, there is not going to be any job opportunities But being compliant.
I went out there and I met Dr. Tom Marino who was about 35 and I did my internship with him and when I finished my internship he became the superintendent of human Schools. And guess who he took with him as his assistant superintendent. He picked you. He did alright. So it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity. So I was in Yuma and that's where I met my wife nancy was the special ed director. She's a native Arizona from Doug Duncan Arizona, her dad was a teacher. He was a graduate of a issue.
And so we moved to Gilbert in 1978. I was the assistant superintendent for business and then hr And then three years later I became the superintendent for 20 years. So we started with about 300 employees And then we morphed into several 1000 we built 29 schools in 20 years. So it's a busy place. It was so I'm curious because there's a lot of risk taking in those years as you make these decisions. Where does that come from? Where do you find the strength to in just three minutes, take that kind of a risk and make that kind of a decision when we were surrounded with talented, capable people and we had a community that was very supportive and so our director of operations and the architect Really saved my career because without them we would have been on split or double session because we were growing 1000 people.
Yeah, that's a lot. So we went from 2000 Children to 32,000 Children. And so we went from rural and agricultural. I remember when my first week in Gilbert I wanted to register to vote and so they said you go down to Betty's western wear. So I went to Betty's western wear and I said I'd like to register the vote and the lady said Betty took sick so you're registered to vote. So that was my welcome to Gilbert. We didn't have home delivery of the mail. So the social life was going to the post office and that was next to the Gilbert Barbershop which is still in existence, Joe and Ronald Gonzalez opened that 70 years ago and Ronald is there now 50 years And I've been going to him for 44 years.
So it's a small community, a friendly community um agricultural, there were dairies, the lamb arose the morrisons. The Sawyer's the Hatches Zimmerman's the sharps, it was part of our life, there was one traffic light at Elliot and Gilbert road And so Gilbert road was serpentine that wasn't straight. Um so our community, I've seen some changes in the last years. I bet you have indeed. Did you ever 2nd guess your move? Did you ever wonder if you did the right thing? I did it first. Uh, and then when I turned 50, I looked in the mirror and I thought I've been in the same place with the same people doing some of the same work.
Life's passed me by and then I looked and I thought I'm blessed, I'm with people that I care about and I'm in a community that is helpful and supportive. Our roots are in people, not places. And so the people of Gilbert keep me going. I love that. That's awesome. And I was going to ask kind of a similar question when you, when you decided Arizona, I mean it seems like it was almost like throwing a dart at the map. It was, it was literally that I didn't know the heat.
I, I watched the weather in michigan, but they never told us it was 100 and 10 degrees in Gilbert Arizona. So when you got here, going back to that point in your life and you and you decided to go to Arizona State University who helped you through that, Like you were all alone, right? You didn't really have anybody here or did you? I didn't have any family. We had a cohort And I'm still in touch with artist Christiansen. She just turned 90. She's a former nun in Oregon and we did our doctoral work together.
So brad barrett who was our assistant superintendent, attended a issue with me. Jim jurors who was the superintendent in Paradise Valley was in our wedding and we were at their house a month ago. So I had a network of friends and support. And then nancy's family are all native Arizona. So I had an extended uh family throughout Arizona. My parents lived in florida. My brother lived in michigan. My sister lives in Seattle and I was in Arizona. So we almost had all four corners. Nothing in the middle of the midwest earns well.
Michigan's midwest. Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay. Yeah. So let's talk about this memory. I grew up in Kansas, so I'm thinking that's middle and that's pretty middle everything around middle. So let's talk about your memory because I've always been fascinated about how photographic memory you have. And has that, has that been part of your life always or is this something you've trained yourself on or It's a gift from God. I can't take any credit. I was 5, 10 left handed and I had a very good memory. My mom had the same memory And our youngest son has a very good memory.
So when I was a teacher, the students would call me xerox. So I've always had a very good memory. I'm a one trick pony that's all I've got. I'm mechanically declined. Not inclined. I can't fix anything. In fact, funny story was our director of operations is a third generation cowboy from Lakeside David Leslie and he can fix anything and build anything. And so in velvet. So we had to have tiff lawnmowers and mine broke down and was very heavy. So he came over and helped me put it in the back of the truck and we took it to the AMP nursery there on baseline and Lindsay and the guy looked at my lawnmower and he said, you know what's wrong with it?
He said if you put gas in it, but I was in my shirt and tie so he didn't expect me to know anything but poor dave Gillespie and his cowboy hat and Wranglers and boots. So it was the best prank even though it was unintentional. So I the memory is a blessing because I like people and I can remember people. So I've always had it, it's still there. But as I've aged it's much slower to come out. It is a beautiful gift. Just in my interaction with you.
Just the feeling of investment, you can feel that you um generally care and you really do take the time to invest. But then having that memory and that recall has really added to to the ability to nurture those relationships, John Maxwell's five levels of leadership. The chinese say it's the best, one of the most important communication skills is listening and were never taught to listen unless you're a counselor, I learned spelling and math and geography, science, but I wasn't taught how to listen effectively. And so the chinese the verb is taking and there's five characters first, it's your heart because if you don't care about people we know it, kindergartener knows it.
The guy that doesn't speak english knows it, then it's your eyes because I'm listening to you as I look at you, your facial expressions, your posture, your gestures, then it's your ears. and then the 4th 1 which is in trouble these days with younger people is your sole attention on the person. So in my generation, when I'd be in a conversation and someone would look at their watch, they disrespected me and now it's our phone and so it's your undivided attention. So it's your heart, your eyes, your ears, your undivided attention and the person you're speaking and listening to that's t you don't learn anything while you're talking in your ears, don't get you in trouble unless they have these headphones on them.
And then you might be you know there there you go, that is interesting. I just read a book and one of the recommendations about just being introspective is taking a whole day and not speaking and just listening. I don't know that. Ben could do that, but I might give it a try. Yes, I don't know if I could, I don't know if you could, I don't think I could would be tough. Okay, so now I want to jump to your transition from teaching to the administration side because both my parents were teachers.
I think you maybe remember that. But I have a mom who was an english teacher and a father who's an art teacher. So I grew up with that little space and I just remember how dedicated and focused they were on their careers and helping and educating students. But administration a whole different game. How how did that come about for you? You mentioned that you kind of got pulled under the wing of the gentleman who turned into the superintendent. Right, right, explain that. Well, when you teach, you learn twice.
And so, uh, management comes from the top down, but leadership comes from the bottom up. And so a good teacher knows their students as well as their content. And so it was important to know the employees and we went from a very small community to a very large. And I didn't want people to be anonymous either. The students are the staff and faculty. So I knew every employee, I knew most of the families and it was my business to do that because it's all about relationships. The quality of our life is determined by the quality of our relationships.
So, in administration, it's very different. Uh, and leadership, there's five levels according to Maxwell, which I, I believe in position when you first get the position, you have authority, but you don't have any buy in or any relationships yet. Then you move to permission when you develop relationships and people follow you because they want to not because they have to then the third level, if you're good at at it, you become productive. So it's not only about relationships, it's about being successful in producing. The 4th level is people development where you create other leaders rather than followers.
And then the fifth, which is rarely reached, is the pinnacle where you have a legacy an election. So administration is difficult, you have to be a good administrator as well as the leader. And so administration gets a bad rap and leadership is the positive side, but I've known people that are very socially skilled, but inept and then I've worked with people that are very capable, but no people skills and so you have to have a little of both. So as you go up in an organization, an organization takes on the personality of its leader.
And so when you change the leader, you change the climate, It either goes up or it goes down. So the leader is in charge of establishing climate by climate. I mean, the personality of an organization in the field, the tone, I can walk into your workplace, I don't have to ask any questions and I can feel whether people enjoy being there or they can't afford to leave there. So you you established the climate culture on the other side, it's like an iceberg, 70% of its underground and culture, it's the norms, the beliefs, the values, how the insiders do it, how the veterans do it and you don't change culture.
It takes years and so building a positive culture, positive climate is part of the question you ask Ben about administration. Yeah, yeah, I'm so glad we're recording this session with you because I just feel like I'm gonna go back and listen this thing 1000 times because you've shared such great wisdom already today with us and I know you're referencing other sources, but just to hear you talk about this, this is amazing, I really appreciate that. And so I wanted to ask because you do approach it with such wisdom and there's um just a sense of understanding and confidence.
But I can't imagine it was always easy, especially during those boom years and I'm curious what challenges you faced. Well, um we grew so fast that the new people wanted to change the culture to accommodate their midwest experience, their south experience in new york experience. So it was growing so quickly there were growing pains, but it was a positive experience because we're growing not closing. And so there were lots of challenges. There always is, you have to have patience in your adversity, but making first rate people hire first rate people and second rate people hire third rate people and so you judge a company by the people it keeps.
So if you have turnover absenteeism. I took 16 6 days in 23 years, The birth of our Children. And I had my counsel that when I was about 40 and so I modeled the behavior that I expected from the other folks and I had the same administrative team. My wife is the special ed director in Phoenix. She had eight superintendents in 17 years. So we had stability and that was positive. That was the anchor and that. And and I had the institutional memory. So I was given a free pass many times because I had the history and so people gave me a trust.
When you build trust, you have everything, it's better than intelligence, communication skills, vision or any other trait you can eat. And when you have trust, people will forgive your mistakes, they'll even forget them. But if you don't have trust, I don't care how bright you are, No one will believe a word you have to say. And it's a reflection of your character and Malcolm, Baldrige said characters, how you treat people that you think can do nothing to you or nothing for you. And so character is what you think you are And your reputation is what other people think you are.
So uh in 23 years I was with Gilbert, I had a wonderful experience. And then I recycled Because during those 23 years I had the opportunity to teach at a issue and to teach at any, they said I could teach in the district conference room and I loved it. It was my golf, it was my night out, stress will kill you. But hard work doesn't As the superintendent, I would have 40 hours and by Wednesday. And so um, in 2000 and you came to me and offered me a contract And our youngest son was in 3rd grade and so you don't think about retirement.
And so they came the second time and my wife said they're not going to come a third time. And so I took the quantum leap. I was, I think a presidential appointment. There's a gentleman and referencing this conversation. Dr Ray Callas, he was raised in Gilbert but he was the superintendent and Snowflake and in peoria and I thought he was a professor and when he recycled but he was in the president's office. And so he recommended me to you. Even though I was a issue and could have worked at a issue, I had the opportunity to go to any you.
So he became a lumberjack. I did my wife's lumberjack and our son's a lumberjack. Other sons. A wildcat from the U. S. A. But I'm sun devil from Arizona State University. So that's how I morphed into the professor and I've been there 21 years. So I teach in the College of Education Department of Educational leadership. So I have classes in the valley, I teach in Flagstaff in the summer. Smart, smart choice. So leadership is about service and Marian wright. Edelman said it the best. She said, service is the rent we pay for a living.
It's the purpose of our lives and it's not what you do in your spare time. So I've been involved in service throughout the community as Sarah knows and I think you know better because I met you and Gilbert leadership and I knew you went to Kansas State University and married to lens. He had seven Children, five daughters and two sons. I knew you were on the parish council at ST TIMS And then you were on committees for velvets to lakes. What class was that been class 25 and they're up to 30 now.
Happily I was class too. So that's why I'm involved with the museum because I'm in the museum. So I've been engaged in the fabric life of Gilbert for a long time and I've made many friends. I have no interest in moving anywhere. While you've got one point on here that Sarah had written down that says you have a fear about becoming irrelevant and I think that's probably really not a relevant point because that's not going to happen. I actually, I put it in our notes because when I read it, I was honestly totally taken aback by the fact that someone like you could have a fear like that.
Well, I read somewhere where if you don't like change, you're gonna love irrelevancy as I've aged. The fear is as a professor, I don't want to become irrelevant. I need to know when it's time to leave and that you're still active engaged and you know what you're doing. And so that that's where I'm at in my stage of life. I don't want to not be efficient and helpful and wisdom comes with old age, but sometimes old age comes all by itself and so I just don't want to end up with old age all by itself. Beautiful.
Well we so appreciate you joining us today and sharing your stories and and the information you've shared lots of wisdom, lots of really great things to reflect on in this conversation really, actually is an honor and I feel like we could sit here for another hour and just learn from you. Thank you for taking time today to come in. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm honored and I'm grateful. Thank you. So if you like this show and you want to learn more subscribe to our tribe and join us online and and you know, add yourself by this show to your, your list of favorites and thanks for joining us today.
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