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Even Maurice "Mo" Green , a rising legal star who had mapped out his career by age 9, seemed destined for a lofty judge's bench, not a seat next to 11 school board members.

But two years ago, Green made an unexpected detour for a top administrative position with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He traded a plush, skyline-view office for a fourth-floor room with bare walls and stuffing falling out of his chair.

On Thursday, the Guilford County Board of Education broke with the custom of hiring experienced educators and instead appointed the Duke-educated lawyer as the district's third superintendent. They have yet to finalize a four-year, $250,000-salary contract.

Green, a deputy superintendent with Charlotte-Mecklenburg, sees this promotion as an opportunity to lead a dynamic system and live out his mother's unfulfilled dream of running a school, he said.

"I'm gaining some of the very things that I'm losing here - tremendous relationships," Green said about his transition to Guilford. "I think I'm also gaining in the same way ... an organization and district that is committed to student achievement."

A vote of confidence

Colleagues in Charlotte shrugged off Green's lack of experience as a teacher or principal, which some people consider a prerequisite for a superintendent job. Green's passion for education matured during his time as general counsel for the Mecklenburg school system from 2001 to 2006.

Trent Merchant , a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member, said Green brings a pragmatic, realistic approach to public education.

"He understands that superintendents have to balance political considerations with execution," Merchant said. "I think that is going to be one of his great talents."

Gone are the days of assuming that former educators can best lead school systems, said Merchant, who recruits executives for businesses and other organizations.

"We have recycled the same usual suspects from system to system who are rehashing the same ideas," Merchant said. "I hope people will be patient with Mo. If they can be comfortable with being uncomfortable over the short term, they are going to get a much more workable situation."

Green's talents run the gamut, according to those who have worked closely with him. They described him as calm under pressure, cautious, trustworthy and industrious.

Green is also modest. At a Friday press conference, he sounded as if he were announcing the superintendency of someone else. He politely downplayed his achievement in becoming Guilford County's first black superintendent.

"We've got to move on," he told reporters. "It's not about Mo Green being first."

'Glue' of Charlotte schools

Green leaves behind not only relationships he built over the years, but also what he considers bold changes that have yet to bear fruit in the operation of Mecklenburg's public schools. Those changes include decentralizing the district into six smaller learning communities, restructuring low-performing high schools and creating a "parent university" to teach subjects such as Title 1 funding and childhood obesity.

It's often the case that school leaders move to other districts before the results are in, said Wilhelmenia Rembert , a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member and county commissioner.

"There is a step of faith that what you know about the person ... might be a good fit for what you're needing at the time," Rembert said.

Green inherits a smaller school district, but one beset by the same academic challenges and lack of community trust he faced in Charlotte. Guilford school officials are in the process of rebuilding trust with parents and taxpayers who have criticized the district's management of construction projects, the handling of crime and violence in schools, and the education of black male students, the lowest-performing student group.

Many in the Guilford community have said they wanted their next superintendent out of the limelight and more in the classroom.

Terry Grier , who led the district for eight years before taking a position in San Diego in March, was often criticized for rushing programs without getting buy-in from parents and teachers. For example, Grier angered teachers in 2006 when he proposed paying bonuses to math and reading teachers who moved to struggling schools. Teachers in other subjects, including music and art, felt left out.

That lesson wasn't lost on Green, said Mary McCray , president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. Green found a supplemental grant that would fund bonuses for teachers who did not qualify for the district's traditional pay for performance plan, McCray said.

"That's what really destroys a school if there is a lot of dissension," she said.

Green has the rare combination of seeing the big picture and drilling for details and preventing unintended consequences, said Nora Carr , chief communications officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

"In many ways, he is the glue of the organization," Carr said. " He has the uncanny ability to sift through mounds of complex information and zoom in like a laser on what is important."

Listening and learning

The future of Guilford County Schools, from any possible shake-up of central staff to new construction practices, won't come sliding out of Green's briefcase his first week on the job.

"I don't have a plan," he said. "I'm coming to listen and learn, to talk with people, to understand what the challenges are."

The Guilford community should expect Green to push hard and demand much. Students: The new big man on campus won't let you sleep in class, skip homework or clown around on graduation day on his watch.

"My voice is my mom's voice when I talk about these things," he said. "When I walk into a classroom, your head shouldn't be down. This is your job. Find something to focus on that will enlighten your mind."

And Green leads by example: An unapologetic workaholic, he racks up at least 65 hours a week on the job. He answers e-mails in the middle of the night and often is the last to leave the office about 9 p.m., he said.

He plans to work in Charlotte until a mere two days before his official start date in Greensboro.

"I'm one that likes to work," he said. "I'll be working until (Superintendent Peter) Gorman says, 'Mo, turn in your keys.'"

Green realizes that keeping the keys to his office at 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro will depend on how he impresses Guilford County's parents and educators.

Green said: "I will demand and require excellence of myself, then do the same with teachers, with principals, with staff and then with students."

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com