J - you seem to be assuming that there are two kinds of professionals: the 'merely political' (who, in their most extreme form are actually politicians) and the 'purely practical' (who, in their most extreme form are Joe Hancock), with the former concerned entirely with messaging and communications and self-promotion and the latter concerned only with getting the job done properly and to the best of their abilities. Now, granted, these two types make up the majority of working professionals -- with, in my experience, the 'merely political' becoming more and more numerous and common and the 'purely practical' becoming more and more rare. But I think there is the third type of professional, the rarest type of all, i.e. the 'practical practician'. He/she does their jobs properly and to the best of their abilities, and without taking any time away from that, understand the need for and thus take the time to communicate their message to their constituencies. You're not being fair when you automatically assume that Roger's superintendent isn't one of these.
Peter