Principal's Principles # 2

Leadership

To be a great school leader you need to develop in three areas: emotional intelligence, leadership and management. I am naturally a strong manager due to my logical-mathematical way of thinking. Leadership is an area I am developing in. The best way to develop as a leader is to identify mentors and learn from them. I am fortunate to be learning from some of the best, including John Ritter, John McBride and Brent Mutsch. This year Brent has been teaching me how to lead with the school mission at the heart of all I do. A simple way to put this into practice is at the end of each of your meetings ask the question, "What have we done today to further our school mission?" I do it as an exit ticket. 

Q2

If you are or want to be an excellent manager you need to live in Q2. One of the easiest ways to live in Q2 is to use an online calendar program or hire an experienced secretary. You need to schedule time for extremely important activities such as classroom observations, making next year's timetable, writing that newsletter piece. This way you are not bombarded with work at one time. This will be very beneficial for your relationships too as you will find yourself leaving work earlier as your important work is done in advance. Try to get things off your plate as soon as they come in, if you have the time.

Taken from: https://czarto.com/2012/04/24/four-quadrants-of-time/

Get Perspective

It is very important that you know your emotions. For example if you suffer from a chronic illness and come to work in pain, it is very important that you are mindful of this. Conflict can escalate quickly when our emotions are high or we are in pain. Getting perspective is also very important. You need to learn to know when others are struggling and gauge your approach accordingly. Ochan Powell once told me to listen for the emotion first, then the content. I am finding this advice to be golden.

Bullying

If you are starting out in a leadership role, I am sorry to say but you will most likely be bullied. This bullying will not be physical but more likely verbal and usually behind your back. Expect to hear things like he/she should not be in this job, he/she does not know what he/she is doing. This will be greatly reduced as you prove yourself by establishing a track record. Remember to fill the bank as was mentioned in my first post. This bullying will most likely not stop completely, but as you stay at a school you will notice the bullies come and GO! My friend Allison Vidotto once said to me when I was going through an intense period of bullying, "Ignore the naysayers, they are a small part of any great story".

Mentors

Identify mentors! You would not believe how many leaders know exactly what you are going through and are willing to help for free. You will learn more from one hour with an experienced Head of School than a week at a PTC course, and it will save you a lot of money. Find the mentors strengths and learn from them. You can also learn what a mentor's weakness is and learn from that too. In order to seek out mentors you need to be humble and ask for the help. I have found the EARCOS leadership conference to be a great place to find such people. To give a quick shout out to some of the other mentors I have learned from, Kristina Seitawan, Helen Teese, Dr. Noel Geoghegan and my current HOS, Lily Liu. 

Strong pedagogical leadership can transform a school and make the lives of many students and teachers a joy. Fight for this!

Principal's Principles # 1

I have been holding of on this blog post, seeing if I was going to "make it" or "survive" in the principal role. I guess if I don't start posting on this topic I never will. This is the start of a series of blog posts called Principal's Principles. The hope is to pass on knowledge being learned as a starting out principal.

Making Decisions

I believe that all decisions should be made according to the school policies. I have learned in the countries that I have worked in that not wavering or making exceptions is important. If you bend the rules once you will be expected to do it again. Making decisions under a time constraint is one of the biggest challenges you will face in leadership. In this case you need to gather as much evidence as you can from different sources as quickly as possible. You should then make your decision based on triangulating the evidence. If you are working in a Christian context, obviously you have another source to go to.

Filling the Bank (Deposits and Withdrawals)

We have to make tough decisions in leadership and often have to ask our staff to do things they may not want to do. It might be long term cover or working on a weekend. It is very important to, "fill the bank". This is done over a long period of time. Trust is built through every decision you make, every encouraging comment you give, every gift on a birthday, every pancake you bake. Fill the bank so that when you need to make a withdrawal, you are supported. Know that every negative comment, every gossip, every unprofessional act is a withdrawal.

Communicate

Communicate, communicate and communicate. As much open and honest communication as is appropriate. I believe this is best done by email. Never waste teachers' time with meetings that are not necessary. Each morning I send out an email with a list of upcoming events. If there is something that will really effect teachers such as a change to their routine, this needs to be communicated as far in advance as possible. An example of this would be a concert rehearsal. When teachers are well informed and part of what is happening, they are more supportive. We cannot spring things on teachers, unless you have a very full bank.

Face to Face Tough Talks

Do not shy away from or put off tough talks. If there is conflict you cannot put your head under the carpet and pretend it is not there. You need to address it and have the tough talk. An example of this would be two teachers who are having a disagreement. What to do here is meet with each individually, then set up a time where we meet together face to face. I like to use the philosophy of restorative practices to repair relationships with students and teachers alike. I would advise any school leader to learn more about this philosophy. I learned an excellent strategy from one of my staff members when dealing with an issue with a teacher who is also a parent. Have the teacher take off their "teacher hat" and put on their "parent hat" when having the discussion.

I hope this was useful. Part two will be coming soon, if there is interest.