c) When should you intervene?

When you delegate authority, you may need to provide assistance to staff who are involved as they carry out the task. They may discover that they need better skills in meeting facilitation, in gathering feedback, in finding acceptable research documents, in understanding district or school policies which may apply. They may simply run into difficult people or difficult situations that could shut down their work. They could get bogged down in unimportant details or get sidetracked from the original focus and need to be redirected.

Because these are adult professionals who have volunteered to take on a task, you should expect that they will solve most of their own problems without your intervention. On the other hand, teachers generally do not thrive in conflict situations with their colleagues or political maelstroms in the school or community. Their principal is the specialist in these areas!

So how do you know when you should intervene?

The general rule is to observe from a distance, to show interest but not intrude, to be available but not take on the problems of the group or individual. If the group has a written charge and you have set up regular progress reporting times, you may find that a group or an individual will surface a problem that has come up during one of the reporting times. In discussing the problem, the group may come up with a solution. Before intervening in any delegated activity, ask if the group wants you to intervene and ask how they think you might help.

Bottom line, expect that in most instances, the group will resolve their own issues and will be able to tell you specifically what help they might need and why. Intervene as little as possible and by invitation only.

b) How much should you delegate?

Delegating authority involves more than just asking someone or some group to do something. Think carefully in advance about what specifically needs to be done and what will be needed in order for it to be accomplished. Some of the literature on delegation recommends that a written document be produced - a group charter - to clarify the details of the work. Clarity of purpose is needed to generate energy.

What should be understood in advance?
i. The timeline (this week? this month? this year?)
ii. The resources available (paid time? secretarial support? budget for research? travel to visit other programs?)
iii.Checkpoints for reporting progress (daily? weekly? midway through?)
iv. A description of the final product. (research document? recommendation? program description? what should be included?)
v. How the final decision will be made. (by the group? by the staff? by the principal? what process will be used?)

The greatest disillusionment and energy drain comes when a group starts out thinking they know what they have been asked to do, believing that the program or idea they develop will be implemented, and at the end discover unexpected opposition and/or a decision from on high not to implement.

If a decision will also require support from parents, then your staff need to know that parent involvement will be necessary. Ditto if the district office needs to be on board. The bottom line: think carefully in advance about what you will do with the work of the individual or group doing the work. Before they begin their work, ensure they know the process for communicating their ideas and how the final decision will be made.

So bottom line: when delegating, take the time to think carefully about what needs to be done and communicate the task clearly to the people who are taking it on. Putting the charge in writing can help avoid misunderstandings and will help you clarify your own thinking.

a) When should you delegate?

Always be thinking of the jobs that need to be done in terms of the expertise that exists among the staff. A school is staffed with highly educated, academically-oriented, well-read professionals who have a wide range of areas of expertise and interest both inside and outside the school. You want to tap this amazing resource whenever you can. As you get to know staff, you will find the talents, expertise, and interests that can be used to move the school forward.

For example, student behaviors are diverting teacher energy from focusing on instruction. Who on staff has talent and interest in working on developing ideas on student problem solving, community building, progressive discipline, student peer mediation training, etc? Or for example, student writing scores indicate the need to improve and coordinate writing instruction. Who on staff has expertise and interest in working with others to develop ways to address this issue?

Depending on the size of your school, you might have a group of 3 to 7 people working on a proposal to present to staff on any important topic at any given time. Whenever there is a job to do, take a minute to review the human resources available in the school. Who has specialized expertise? Who is interested in this issue? Who would thrive from being given this responsibility? When you have staff who would benefit from taking on the responsibility, then delegate.

Why delegate?

You are responsible for the school. However, you cannot and should not try to do everything yourself. Leadership and ownership among staff, as well as their greater understanding of what makes the school work, are developed through staff members taking responsibility for important tasks. On the other hand, while people are developing new skills, they will make mistakes and their finished work will likely not be at the highest standard. The quality of work could be higher and often it could be done faster if you did it yourself.

So why delegate at all? Why not do all important tasks yourself?

What do you gain by delegating authority to do important tasks?

1. You ensure that more time and more expertise are available to devote to an important issue than one person can possibly give.
2. You enlarge the pool of staff members who take responsibility for the learning and working environment.
3. You tap the creative energies and enthusiasm of interested staff and take advantage of resident expertise.
4. You increase the buy-in of staff to change initiatives.
5. You support the growth of the adults in your school.

If you are principal of a large school, delegation is mandatory among your assistant principals, deans, activities and athletic directors. If you are principal of a small school AND you believe that delegating important responsibilities to other people will energize the school and result in better decisions, then you want answers to the following questions, our topics for this week:

a) How do you know when to delegate?
b) How much authority should you delegate?
c) How do you know when to intervene?

d) Act on the feedback you receive.

Request for feedback is an empty request if there is no follow-up. Two things have to happen at the minimum if people are to believe that you value their opinions and that they should take the time to be thoughtful when giving them.

1. Communicate the results of the input provided. How many people responded? What important points were shared? What did they favor and what were their concerns? What percent were satisfied with what element? What percent were dissatisfied? What are the essential learnings from the feedback?

2. Use the feedback results to improve the next event, activity, etc. The next time a similar event, effort, activity, process, etc. occurs, ensure that the feedback from the previous event has been taken into consideration. Sometimes, things go well, feedback is positive, and nothing needs to change the next time. But the feedback should always be acknowledged, and where change is indicated, it needs to happen.

As the principal, your objective is to ensure that the people at your school (students and adults alike) are committed to reflection and analysis, to providing their best thinking on behalf of the school because only they can make it the best learning place ever.

c) Provide easy avenues for feedback.

Staff and students need to know that you value their opinions and that you want them to be thinking about how to make the school a better place. One way to emphasize this is to seek feedback on important issues on a regular basis. Use a variety of methods. Get feedback immediately and quickly.

i. After meetings, take five minutes to chart the "pluses" and "minuses" of the meeting; the goal is continuous improvement.
ii. After trainings, distribute a feedback sheet for people to fill out and turn in before they leave.
iii. Set up an email account especially for input on a particular issue under discussion and ask people to share their best thinking via email.
iv. Ask department chairs or cluster leaders to discuss a topic with their staff and report back their best thinking.
v. Use electronic tools such as Survey Monkey so that feedback can be provided in a structured online survey.
vi. Occasionally, provide a written questionnaire on a topic of importance. There are many books available on constructing effective questions and testing them out on some volunteers before sending them out for real. Your district office may have staff who specialize in surveys and statistics. Ask them to assist you with your survey project. You might get feedback in this way on such things as your own performance or parent satisfaction with school programs.

Make an attitude of reflection and analysis a part of the learning environment--something that all students and adults on the campus adopt as a habit. Cultivate the attitude that feedback is essential for good decision-making, for improving processes and programs, and that thoughtful feedback is to be welcomed rather than feared. Giving and receiving thoughtful feedback are important responsibilities of everyone working to make the school a better place.

b) Don't be moved by unfair criticism

Just as you weigh the extravagant praise that will inevitably come to you, you will need to weigh the unfair criticisms that will also come to you. You are now in a position where you are a public figure and therefore a target for criticism. You will be the object of accusations and complaints, sometimes face to face, sometimes by email copied to the world, sometimes in community blogs that can gather a life of their own, sometimes in the local newspaper or even in your school newspaper.

Complaints launched against you may have no basis in fact. They may make incorrect assumptions about your intent or your actions. They may be based loosely on some facts but leave out important components so that you look foolish or malicious. And in this age of instant communications, anyone can say anything. Responding to the blogosphere will likely only serve to keep the dirt alive. Ah yes, it will be frustrating. And it will be unfair. But for the most part, these things will be small irritants in the background and they will die of their own fiction if you provide no response, no ammunition, no excitement.

Here is your balance: People who know you will know that such accusations have to be false. If you have worked to know your staff and students, your defense if necessary will be mounted by them. Your job will be just to stay the course, keep modeling your values, communicate well. And grow a tough skin. As the principal (and a public figure), you do not have the luxury of complaining about unfair criticism, of getting defensive, or of whining or crying about it. People have the right to express their own opinions, misinformed though they may be. Keep your head up. Stay the course.

a) Don't succumb to flattery

So now you have noticed that the power of the position changes the way people listen to you. And now you wish that you were actually smarter and knew more things and felt more certain about how things should be done. But in fact, you are still you. You will occasionally suffer from the "imposter syndrome"--the feeling that if people really knew you, they would know that you are an imposter in the role; you could not possibly be the real principal. You will go to meetings and hear other principals sounding so confident and giving their firm opinions about complex issues and you will wonder whether you will ever get to that stage.

In the first few months of your growing into the principalship, you will be vulnerable to flattery. It will be good to hear that somebody thinks you are doing a tremendous job and that nobody has ever done such a good job as you are doing. It's okay to appreciate those fine words as long as you temper your acceptance of the compliments with your own cool, analytical view of your performance.

You will always be seeking the balance between recognizing your successes and analyzing how to do things better next time. And you will be seeking the counsel of people around you who themselves have a balanced view and are willing to talk straight to you about how you are doing. You need to hear straight talk.

Getting Useful Feedback

As a new principal, you will find that your relationships with teachers and support staff are changed. As a teacher, you may have been comfortable as one of the group, involved in an easy give and take on daily events and readily giving and receiving feedback on how you were doing. As the principal, you will be surprised by how differently you are seen by these same people even though you are still the same person.

Staff will give more attention to what you say. Many will be less inclined to tell you what they really think. People who in the past might react to one of your ideas with, "What? Are you nuts?" will likely react more carefully while thinking, "Hmmm, do you suppose s/he will really make us do that? or try to?"

So how do you find out what people really think? How do you re-establish your bellwether indicators that keep you on the right path? Where will you find wise and unbiased counsel in your new role?

Next week, we will find the answers to these questions in four parts:
a. Don't succumb to flattery.
b. Don't be moved by unfair criticism.
c. Provide easy avenues for feedback.
d. Act on the feedback that you receive.

c) Conduct the Private Meeting

You have prepared for this meeting by being clear in your own mind about your multiple purposes and positive assumptions. Here are some simple steps to follow:

1. Set up a meeting time after school (so the staff member does not have to go immediately back to class)
2. Let the person know the topic of discussion.
3. If you work with a teachers' union, let the person know that s/he may bring a representative if s/he wishes, but that it is not necessary at all at this point.
4. At the meeting, remember your purposes.

Think of your agenda as having five parts:
i. State clearly your goals--your desire for greater understanding and hope that together you will find a resolution to the problem.
ii. State clearly your observation of the person's actions (just the facts, no judgments or opinions)
iii. Have a two-way discussion about the impact of those actions on others and on the school goals (allow the person to think about this and to think seriously about impacts; this is a most important learning experience and will help the staff member define the problem as much as possible for him/herself)
iv. Have a discussion about what needs to change and how that might happen (again, the person needs to come up with the answers here). Discuss also what support you might provide to ensure that change happens.
v. Reach agreement about next steps, expectations, timelines for touching base again
OR
vi. Give clear direction of your expectations and what your next steps will be if change doesn't happen (if it comes to this, then you will have failed in a part of your purpose to achieve a positive result)

On one page, document the outcome of the meeting covering all five parts of the agenda outline so that there is no confusion about any agreements that were reached. If this is the first time for such a formal conversation with this staff member, indicate that the write-up is simply for clarification for your own personal and confidential file in your office. That is, in the public school system, this write-up will not be forwarded to the HR Office for inclusion in the employee's personnel file (a high stakes discipline measure). This meeting write-up should be provided by hard copy rather than email.

b) Basic Assumptions

When you prepare for a private conference with a staff member to discuss some behavior or activity that needs to change, you first have clear in your mind the purposes for the conference--what you want to achieve. Then you need to confirm in your mind the basic assumptions that will guide your thinking during the conference.

Here are some assumptions that will serve you well when you work with staff:

1. People want to do well.
2. They want to be recognized for their good work.
3. They usually know when they are doing something inappropriate or negative.
4. When they understand that their supervisor will confront inappropriate behaviors, most people will change those behaviors.
5. The behaviors in question are separate from the total person; good people sometimes behave badly.
6. People don't feel good about behaving badly.
7. Given the opportunity, people can figure out what's going wrong and fix it.
8. Most times, an open, reflective, and non-judgmental conversation with the supervisor can help the person change the behavior.

If you approach a disciplinary conference with the purposes posted yesterday and the assumptions listed here, you will not be inclined to accuse, to judge, to expect the worst from this person, or to issue ultimatums. And you will maximize the chances for a positive outcome.

a) Purpose of the Private Meeting

Before you plan the private conference that you are going to have with a staff member whose behavior has been consistently negative, disruptive, or inappropriate, have clearly in mind your purposes. Yes, you want to change this behavior, but you also want more than that. You want a positive working relationship going forward. So before you plan the meeting, let's think about your purposes:

1. To change the negative behaviors (This is the primary purpose.)
2. To understand why those behaviors were happening (Understanding comes before change.)
3. To have the staff member understand how his/her behaviors impact the work environment (Often the person has not thought about his/her impact on others.)
4. To provide the support needed to change the behaviors (This means that you are both still on the same side, working for the same thing, rather than opposing forces.)
5. To clarify your expectations for the future (Reinforce your primary purpose.)
6. To reach agreement and mutual understanding (Ensure that you both have the same understanding of what will happen going forward.)
7. To maintain positive relationships

In a school environment, teachers are committed to human growth and development. They want not only the children but also the adults to be held to high standards and to be treated fairly and with understanding. As the new principal, you are the principal teacher and you will model your expectations for how your staff will treat each other as well as how they will treat the children. There is no more powerful demonstration of your values in this regard than when you hold a disciplinary conference with a teacher.

There is a bottom line, of course. On some occasions, a staff member will not respond to anything less than an ultimatum, but this, you will find, is the staff member that is unsuited for your school. And that is another subject altogether.

Holding Staff Accountable

As the new principal, you have the responsibility to hold people accountable for their performance. No one else in the school can do this. You will develop skills in conducting difficult conversations with professional staff, delivering specific direction, providing effective support, and occasionally meting out the consequences of poor performance. Paradoxically, this is an essential component of having a safe, happy and effective learning environment.

When the teachers all turn out as required to do supervision duty except one teacher who always stays in his room, resentment builds among teachers who end up covering for the missing person.
When a staff member is consistently abrasive and sarcastic in meetings, other teachers will limit their participation.
When a teacher doesn't meet reporting deadlines and holds up distribution of report cards for the school, resentment will build.

It is your job to ensure that every staff member carries his load in the collective effort of the school. On the other hand, this is one place where wielding the power of the position can alienate you from the staff and result in a toxic environment. So how do you change negative behavior without making it worse, causing new resentments, alienating staff, contributing to a negative environment?

Think carefully about what you want to achieve. You will have talked with staff personally when they have missed an assignment, been absent from a required event, etc. When these casual conversations have not resulted in changed behavior, you will need to have a private conference to reach some common understandings and agreements. We will look at the private conference in three steps:
A. Consider your overall purpose.
B. Know your basic assumptions
C. Plan your five-step agenda.

c) Extended School Leadership

A school is staffed with highly educated and dedicated teachers. Teachers will generally have earned college degrees in their subject areas. Many will have masters degrees as well. If you can unleash the potential of your teaching force, they will do amazing things for their students.

Think about it. In many schools, teaching is a solitary act. The teacher struggles alone daily to meet the needs of his/her classes, including children with learning or physical disabilities, brilliant and gifted children, children who don't speak English, children who live on the street, children whose parents are involved and anxious, children who are bored, etc. Teachers also, by their very nature, love to learn and love to grow. They did spend all that time going to school to become certified. A system that locks its teachers up alone behind the classroom door with their students' very challenging learning needs is unlikely to see much progress toward improved student achievement. That may be one reason that large numbers of very talented teachers leave the profession in the first five years.

The challenge of the school principal is how to tap into this enormous resource of knowledge and talent that rests within your teaching staff. Think about how to provide leadership opportunities for teachers. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Find out who has particular expertise in an area--literacy, math, science, technology, etc.--and provide incentives and time for those teachers to share their expertise with others.

Encourage and provide time for teachers to observe in other teachers' classrooms.

Provide training on peer coaching skills that help teachers talk about their craft with each other in a non-threatening and reflective way.

Use the bulk of staff meeting time for topics, trainings, and discussions related to instructional issues; have your teacher leaders plan and orchestrate these meetings.

Consider purchasing release time for teacher leaders--one period at a secondary school; one day a week (with a shared teaching assignment) at an elementary school--for planning, coaching, training, working in new teacher classrooms, etc.

Teacher leaders in the school are a part of the expanded leadership team, bringing the classroom teacher's perspective to problem-solving and decision-making at the site. Their presence will bring richer discussions, a broader scope of interest, and a classroom focus to leadership team deliberations.

b) Administrative Team

What leadership looks like to staff, students, and parents at the school will be based largely on how effective your administrative team is. How visible are you, your assistant principals and deans? How responsive are you? How perceptive of other people's needs? How effective are you in making things happen?

How do you build a high-performing and responsive administrative team? This is one of the most important jobs of the principal--to inspire the best work of the individual administrators and to teach them how working as a team will add major value to their individual effectiveness. If your goal is to develop the very best administrative team possible, where do you begin?

The four phases of team dynamics are detailed in many books and articles under many different names. Here is the common sense truth in just a few words:

Phase 1. Separate individuals come together. Your team begins as separate individuals, each talented in his/her own right, each having taken some required coursework in administration and selected for an administrative position. Each individual is probably willing to work hard in his/her assigned area and wishes to be effective, recognized for that effectiveness, and eligible for promotion sometime in the future. Each will be assessing the others.

Phase 2. They see how their jobs/talents are related. In the process of your assigning areas of responsibility, each administrator should become familiar with who among the group has expertise and interest in which areas. And they should begin to see where they can offer specialized experience and knowledge to help other members of the group. As the new principal, your interest is in ensuring that each member of the team is assigned at least one area where s/he can apply his/her strengths, and at least one new area which will require support, training, growth. This process of assignment and learning is important for the future of the team.

Phase 3. They establish working/communicating relationships. During the first six weeks of school, you will be constantly monitoring the activities of your admin team. You will be setting and clarifying your expectations on a daily basis. You will be recognizing the good things they are doing. And you will be working with them, helping them to reflect on the impact of their behaviors on both the team and on the school as a whole. Remember that your administrators are bright, talented professionals. They will figure out the best operating procedures if you remind them of the goal and give them time to reflect on their own actions.

Phase 4. They enjoy the excitement of being part of a high-performing team. As the team becomes successful and productive, they will receive recognition from the people they are working to serve (as well as you, of course). Reflection on what they are doing and how they are operating together will become a habit that is self-perpetuating.

Your job at this point will be to ensure that the team is aimed in the right direction, that their efforts are on target to attain the school's goals, and that each member is performing to his/ her potential.

a) Office Staff

Whether you are in a small school and your only office staff is a secretary, or you are in a large school with several secretaries and clerks handling registration, attendance, tardies, budget, facilities bookings, student data management, report cards, trancripts, career testing and advisement, etc., the premise of service to the school and community remains the same. Everyone on your broadly defined office and leadership team must be aware of your commitment to serve your clients (students, staff, parents, community members) with good will, good humor, patience, and clarity.

What does this look like? And how do your office staff acquire a clear understanding of what it looks like? The most effective way to grow an effective office team is to give them the time to discuss these concepts, to agree on what exemplary service looks like in their area, and to make a commitment to developing that exemplary environment.

A meeting to discuss these things might have a five-part agenda to do a gap analysis as follows:

Part 1: What does an ideal, service oriented, office environment look like? What do people do and say? How do they handle complaints? solve problems? (Put all of the ideas up on a board so that people can see what they are creating.) (15-30 minutes)
Part 2: What does our own office environment look like? What do we do and say? How do we handle complaints? solve problems? (Put all of the ideas up on a board so that people can see how they see themselves; people may have great fun laughing at some of the things they do.) (15-30 minutes)
Part 3: Make a list of the gaps between the ideal environment that the group has defined and the actual existing environment. (10-20 minutes)
Part 4: Have the group discuss what they need to do to make things better for themselves and others. Have them decide what they can commit to for the next month and how they will determine their own success at the end of the month. (15-30 minutes)
Part 5: Set up next steps, including the date that they will meet again to assess their progress toward creating that exemplary work/office environment. This follow-up step is super important. (5-10 minutes)

This could be a very productive hour-long meeting (two hours if you have the time and they get into it). Unleash the creativity of the people around you and they will surprise you with what they can do. And they will be surprised by how much fun they can have doing it.

Building Leadership Teams

At the core of your leadership effectiveness is the team that works from the main office of the school. In a small school, this may be just you and your secretary. In a large school, this may include a number of assistant principals, deans, counselors, activities and athletic directors, and clerical staff. Whatever the size of your office-based group, your first focus will be to see that they view themselves as a team, that they know their respective and collective responsibilities, and that they understand your expectations for them.

What do you want people to think and say about your leadership team? What kind of atmosphere do you want people to experience when they walk into the front office? When you meet with your new office-based staff, what are the important topics that you will want them to think about and discuss? What are your expectations?

Consider these three groups with whom you are in direct contact on a daily basis and who represent the school leadership to the staff, students and community:

a) the school office staff,
b) the co-administrators (assistant principals and deans), and
c) the extended school leadership team (including teachers who have part-time release from the classroom to serve leadership or administrative functions).

These groups represent the school's leadership. It is your responsibility to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities in this regard and that they understand the impact of their behaviors on the learning environment. So how might you go about working with each group to create enthusiasm and energy as they go about their jobs? Next we will look at how you might work with each group to build a high-performing team.

And remember Rule #2 Keep a smile on your face. Have fun! This will ensure that people around you also feel like smiling. And that is a most important factor for success.

Months 7-9 Re-entry and Splashdown

The challenge of this quarter is that excitement builds in the school in the springtime as preparation is made for the re-entry and splashdown of this year's space ride. At a high school, your attention will turn particularly to ensuring that all students stay safe through graduation. At the same time, you will be working primarily on preparations for the following year. You will be working daily with two different schools--the current year and the following year.

In the current year's school, you will see such things as:
a) Preparation for standardized testing,
b) Staff evaluations and tenure decisions,
c) Preparation for year-end award ceremonies, concerts, performances,
d) Graduation events and celebrations, (college acceptance and rejection letters)
e) Student activities and field trips,
f) Assessment of progress made on goals (both school and individual),
g) Student progress and summer school needs.

For the coming year, you will see such things as:
a) Enrollment projections,
b) Facilities and budget needs,
c) Staff hiring processes,
d) Enrollment of new students and course selections,
e) Master schedule building,
f) Setting next year's goals for the school and in staff evaluation write-ups,
g) Planning for professional development,
h) Confirming school start-up processes
i) Planning any changes needed for any of the school's operational systems for the following year. (Changes to any major systems will require processes that begin in the fall and continue consensus-building throughout the school year. But this third quarter is when decisions and operational details will have to be confirmed.)

Because of the need to keep the lid on the school as graduation approaches and the need to focus carefully on the details of planning for the next school year, this quarter is the most intense and hectic time for any building principal. Everything that you can do before the last three months needs to be finished and put away before the last quarter.

It is important to be looking forward and getting things done ahead of time in order to ensure that your attention is where it needs to be during re-entry and splashdown!

Months 4-6 Time in Orbit

If months 1-3 are blasting off with all systems working, then months 4-6 are settling into orbit. This will be your most productive time--time when you will make the most headway toward the school's goals. Some of the events that will occur during these months are:

a) Mid-year student progress and support needs,
b) Program adjustments; work to strengthen curriculum and instruction,
c) Mid-year teacher assessments and support needs,
d) Professional development assessments and adjustments,
e) Classroom observations and teacher conferences,
f) Course catalog publication for the following year,
g) Student course selection process for the following year,
h) Liaison with feeder schools re the following year,
i) Gathering staff intentions and hiring needs for following year,
j) Work on school goals, gather performance and attitude data for planning purposes,
k) Unexpected challenges and media coverage.

This will be the time when teachers concentrate fully on ensuring the best possible learning environment and will see their students making progress in their studies. This will be the time when students who are unable to concentrate or who are behind in their studies will fall out of the system without extra attention and help. Plan to give your attention and focus to supporting the classroom during this time.

Months 1-3 Blast Off

Expand your vision to include the full school year as a whole. During the first quarter you blast off into the new year with great energy and excitement. You can expect to observe, analyze, and debrief many of the following events as you plan what they should look like in the following year.

a) Enrollment, registration,
b) Start-up of classes and orientation,
c) First meetings with staff, students, and parents, and Open House night
d) Support system for new teachers,
e) First classroom observations and individual goal-setting with staff,
f) Student report cards and identification of students at risk,
g) Review and discussion of student assessment data from the previous year and the effectiveness of the school's curricular programs,
h) Supervision of athletics and student activities,
i) Student college and career advisement,
j) Implementation of professional development activities,
k) New course development for the following year,
l) Textbook selection processes for the following year
m) Systems monitoring (budget, facilities, attendance, maintenance, busing, discipline, etc.)

In your first year as principal, your purpose is to understand how all of these systems and events work, what needs to happen to improve them for next year, and what are the priorities for discussion (since you will need to limit your school's focus efforts to just a few important areas that support the goals).

Enjoy the excitement of blasting off into the school year and getting all systems up and running!

View the Full Year Calendar

I keep saying to step back from the immediate day-to-day operations so that you can see how the processes and systems work to support students and teachers. As the principal, you take a constantly analytical view to see how you can work with people to make things better.

This "stepping back" also applies to how you view time. It is so easy to get sucked into the immediacy and urgency of today's latest crisis. You must constantly pull yourself out of that sense of urgency and into the perspective of the long-term.

School years are cyclical. The only way that you can ensure that next year's processes are better than this year's processes is to run your own mini improvement cycle on each event as the school year progresses. In your first year as principal, you may be reviewing rather than planning for each event. But after every event, you have the opportunity and the obligation to debrief, assess, and pre-plan for the following year. You will see the importance of this cycle when your focus includes the future and your planning is always a year ahead.

Start by reviewing your calendar for the full year so that you have firmly fixed in your mind each of the important events and each deadline. Plan well ahead and see not only what is coming up but how it fits with everything else. Allow yourself the time to ensure that you are prepared and have thought about the event from multiple perspectives.

Use District Resources

As the new principal, you are responsible for ensuring that your school has sufficient resources and that you are able to get things done that your school needs. District-based services are essential to the school's operations. What does a medium-sized district typically provide for the schools?

Consider the following samples of services you can tap for your school:
1. Curriculum development and analysis expertise.
2. New teacher coaching and training.
3. Meeting facilitation and staff development.
4. Data disaggregation and analysis.
5. Knowledge of state and federal compliance issues and requirements.
6. Special education testing, diagnosis, and program development.
7. Program evaluation procedures.
8. Coordinated compliance review processes.
9. Uniform complaint procedures.
10. Collective bargaining agreement negotiations and grievances.
11. General and categorical budget requirements.
12. Transportation and busing schedules.
13. Textbook selection requirements and procedures.
14. Standards for providing public information and media communications.
15. Student expulsion requirements and processes.
16. Crisis and emergency management.
17. Employee benefits and human relations.
18. Food services requirements.
19. Health and human services standards and nurse services.
20. Child welfare and attendance
21. Guidelines and laws regarding use of technology.
22. Building and landscape maintenance.

In your first year as principal, you will want to meet and talk with the people who are assigned to your site to provide services in any of these areas. People naturally respond positively to principals who value and appreciate the services they provide, and who are reasonable in their expectations. In addition, district staff generally have a wealth of information and are eager to answer any questions or provide any data you might require.

You and the Superintendent

Just as the Board hires a superintendent and holds that person accountable for the administration of the school district, so the superintendent hires the school principals and holds them accountable for the administration of their schools. In a small district, a new principal can expect to have a direct professional relationship with the superintendent. In a larger district, evaluation of principals may be delegated to an assistant superintendent.

Regardless of who is assigned to be your supervisor/evaluator, it is the superintendent who will make decisions about your performance and your employment. Think of all the ways that the superintendent might gather information about how you are doing. School board members will hear opinions from the community that they pass on to the superintendent. The superintendent will hear opinions from the community and from district and site staff as s/he travels from meeting to social event to school or district activities. If your assigned supervisor is an assistant superintendent, s/he will also be in regular contact with the superintendent.

Think about all of the second-hand sources of information which the superintendent receives about your performance whether s/he asks for it or not. Think about ways that you can keep the superintendent informed directly about issues at your school. Would s/he be interested in walking your campus with you (and your supervisor perhaps) on a monthly basis to hear both the school's successes and its challenges? Would s/he be interested in receiving a short synopsis of the school's efforts on a weekly or monthly basis along with your analysis of progress? (If so, make it short, bulleted, thoughtful, and positive. Never whine. Share it with your supervisor.) The superintendent might pass your short reports on to the school board members for information.

Bottom line, your success as a school principal is of paramount importance not only to your school, but also to the district, the school board, and the superintendent. Many conflicting opinions of events and issues will circulate from time to time. Good information directly from you will likely be welcome.

Board & Superintendent: Policies

How does the principalship fit into the governance and administration hierarchy of the school district? To whom are you responsible? Who will decide whether you return as principal next year? How do you build a solid, positive relationship with your supervisor?

First, how do you fit in the hierarchy? School districts typically have governing boards--5, 7, or 9 members elected by the local community. This Board of Trustees is charged with hiring one employee who is responsible directly to them for the administration of their district: the superintendent. And they are responsible for approving or disapproving such things as budget, negotiated settlements, construction plans, local parcel tax elections, textbook selections, strategic planning, setting goals for the District, etc. along with policies and administrative procedures on a far-ranging number of topics specified by law.

As a principal, you administer the Board policies and procedures in your school. For example, what is the board policy about how parent complaints are to be handled? What is the board policy about student discipline, suspensions, and expulsions? What is the board policy about field trips for students? What about teacher requests for leaves of absence? What is the board policy about employee evaluation, discipline, dismissal?

The Board Policy Manual will be in written form and available to you to keep on your desk as a reference, or it will be available as an on-line reference. Make it a habit to review policy when faced with an unfamiliar issue. Get acquainted with the person at the district office who is most familiar with policies affecting the schools. Sometimes a quick phone call to a knowledgeable person will point you directly to the policy involved.

Know Your District Office

You're the new principal. Part of your job is to make sure that things happen for your school. You need to get sufficient resources, ensure that the campus is clean and in good repair and that the grounds are well kept, acquire adequate staff, have busses that run when they are needed, etc. The major support systems for your school reside at the district central office. District-based staff have much information about budget, maintenance, food services, bussing, field trips, negotiations, collective bargaining agreements, enrollment projections, construction of housing in the community and so many more things.

To make things happen for your school, you need the support of central office staff. Know who they are; cultivate good relations; take the time to meet them personally. Here's the best thing: drop in to meet the staff who support your school. Introduce yourself. Ask if they prefer to communicate by email or telephone. Find out the best number to use to reach them. Above all, thank them for all of the good work they do for the schools. This is the beginning of your establishing a network of relationships to get things done for your school.

As a new principal, you are just beginning to step back and acquire a broader view of your school and your role as a leader. Once you are able to view your school from a broad perspective, you need to step back further still and see your school as part of a school district. Ask yourself where your school fits within the district. How do people at the central office view the school? And why do they view it that way?

In addition the district has probably committed all schools to a strategic plan and both long-term and annual goals. They will have certain curriculum emphases and planned professional development activities and opportunities for all staff. Plan to work with the District, to coordinate your activities with District activities, to maximize the benefits which the District can provide.

c) How do I prepare for a good meeting?

Many books are written on how to conduct a productive, energy-producing meeting. The key for the new principal, however, is to think well about what you want to achieve (including how you want the participants to talk about the meeting afterwards) and to plan in advance all of the steps you will need to take to achieve your purpose.

Steps for pre-planning prior to the meeting:
1. State your purpose in writing.
2. Plan meeting processes, step by step, that will achieve your purpose.
3. Draft an agenda complete with purpose, activities, time limits, assigned responsibilities, and desirable outcome.
4. Discuss your proposed agenda with your leadership team or teacher leaders and ask for input; revise if needed.
5. Prepare materials (both informational and process materials)
6. Set up the meeting room in an arrangement that will support any group work that is planned and any tools (projectors, chart paper, markers, post-its, etc.) that will help the meeting share and organize ideas.
7. Arrive at the meeting place early to greet participants as they come in the door.

When you make the effort to prepare in advance, your meeting will be focused, your participants will be more inclined to make an effort themselves, and you will be more likely to achieve your purpose. You will also raise the bar for other administrators and teacher leaders who hold meetings at the school because of your demonstrated commitment to ensuring that staff time is valued and used well.

b) What makes a good meeting?

Since meetings are at the heart of your communications system, it is important to have clear in your mind how to judge when a meeting is good, when it is just okay, and when it is counter-productive (bad).

Here are some of the criteria for a good meeting:
1. The focus/purpose is clear, finite, and understood by all present.
2. The desired outcome/result and proposed ending time are stated.
3. Each step of the meeting is monitored for time and progress.
4. Everyone's input is sought, given, and valued.
5. Everyone knows what the next steps will be and what his/her role is.
6. Everyone finishes with a greater understanding of the issues.
7. Everyone has a sense that all of the different perspectives have been taken into account.
8. All participants have gotten to know each other a little better.
9. People feel positive and energized about the process and the result.

Criteria 1-5 are the responsibility of the person managing the meeting. Criteria 6-9 depend also on the participants' efforts. As the meeting manager, you can do many things to motivate your staff to help ensure that all nine criteria are met.

a) Why have a meeting?

If your meetings are to be both productive and energizing, you must have a clear purpose. Your purpose must require that a meeting be held. You will have determined that the only way to achieve your purpose is to hold a meeting. So what opportunities does a face-to-face meeting afford that cannot be more efficiently achieved another way?

What does a meeting offer?
1. People who speak get to be heard by everyone in attendance.
2. People get to respond to each other's ideas on the spot.
3. Props, demonstrations, performances, group activities can be used.
4. Participation by and reactions of all members of the meeting can be monitored.
5. Face to face communications can help to build working relationships.
6. Group problem-solving frameworks and decision-making models can be used.
7. Problem analysis and consensus-building processes can be used.

Well-planned meetings focused on a purpose can be both productive and energizing for the participants.

On the other hand, if all you want to do is provide routine information to a group, consider using email. If you need quick feedback (like taking the temperature on an issue), consider giving a handout to staff leaders/ department chairs and asking them to discuss the information briefly with their grade level team/ department members and get back to you.

Remember that meetings are your most valuable and expensive communications tool. Use them wisely.

Meetings & Energy

Meetings can be deadly. They can sap the energy out of the staff. They can make people lose the will to live, plot to come late and leave early, bring things to keep themselves occupied while they sit there and wait for the end of the meeting.

Meetings must be the heart of your communication system. They must be productive, motivating, and energizing. Because much of your time is spent in planning and facilitating meetings, in putting together agendas and activities that will lead to consensus problem-solving and decision-making, you must develop knowledge and skills about meetings to ensure that people look forward to participating in the meetings that you run.

Begin by asking yourself, what is the purpose of the meeting you are about to hold? What opportunity does a face-to-face meeting offer that cannot be achieved as well in any other way?

Remember that if you have 100 teachers and you hold a staff meeting of one hour, you have used 100 teacher hours. You want to make sure that your purpose is clear and that your end result has been worth the time.

Over the next few days, we will think about a) when a meeting is necessary or desirable, b) what are the criteria for a good meeting, c) how meeting sequences contribute to consensus building, and d) a suggested checklist for pre-meeting preparation.

C. Make your six-week calendar.

You have your focus areas and your goals. Now you need to put them into action. Take the school's six week calendar of events and see how to integrate your goals into that calendar.

Ensure that not only the school's activities are on your calendar, but also consider District activities which may involve you. District principals' meetings, steering committees, property or construction committees, governing board meetings, etc. You will not attend all of the activities or all of the meetings, but you will need to be aware that they are happening.

Putting together an overview on your six-week calendar will help you to see the scope of the task and to begin thinking about how to deploy your administrative team, how to communicate with all of the various parts of the school community, how to ensure that jobs are distributed evenly and take advantage of staff strengths and interests, and how to establish priorities for the use of your time.

As the principal you have a different purpose than you have had before, a new role to play at each event you attend. You will be taking a broader view of school operations than you have ever done. You will be looking for what staff need in order to do the best possible job and what students need to achieve at the highest levels.

As you make your calendar, ask yourself the questions. What days and times can you visit classrooms? How will you communicate important issues discussed at district meetings? What opportunities appear on your calendar already that will help you achieve your purpose? What other activities do you need to add? And what is the magic end-of-six-weeks date when you need to set aside personal time to review what actually happened and what you were able to accomplish during that time?

B. Set specific goals.

You have decided on your focus areas for the first six weeks. You are keeping the Ten Rules in mind. Now you need to think seriously about your goals. What exactly are you going to do? Here are some examples of six-week goals:

By the end of the first six weeks of school, [insert date], I will have achieved the following:
1. Be able to recognize, call by name, and know one important thing about every staff member.
2. Have met with each of the school's leaders (administrators, department chairs, cluster leaders, committee heads, etc.) to hear their interests, goals, concerns for the year.
3. Assessed the co-administrators' strengths, interests, and goal areas; assigned them as much as possible where they can build on their strengths.
4. Held one (or 2, or 3, or 4) lunch time meetings with students to share what is important to them.
5. Every Friday before leaving school, reflected on the state of the school, what I learned that week, what I would do the following week.
6. Held a meeting with every school group (all staff, department chairs, leadership team, student council, PTA, Site Council, etc.) to establish with them how meetings would be conducted and how communications would run.
7. Got into every teacher's classroom at least one time.
8. Read the School Site Plan, Accreditation report, assessment data, and other important school and district documents.
9. Established the calendar of activities and meetings for the whole school year (if it is not already in place).
10. Became familiar with school routines: attendance, tardies, progress reports, counseling, student placement, discipline, library services, special education, student activities, supervision assignments, evaluation processes, communications,use of technology, etc.
11. Refrained from telling people how things should be done based on my experience at a different school with different personnel.
12. Other
The only way to come close to meeting your own goals (in the midst of the school's day to day operations) for your new role is to always have a plan in the back of your mind. Know your focus. Know your goals.

A. Focus on your new role.

You have four primary areas of focus in the first six weeks of the first year. You need to achieve the following:
1. Establish the face of the school's leadership. (Smile. Show that you are happy to be there, that you are proud of your new school, and that there is nothing the school community can't make happen if they are working together. Be at one with your administrative team.)
2. Establish a professional, personal, working relationship with staff members, students, and parents. (Know your staff by name and position, know what they are proud of and what they are trying to do, identify and get to know your involved parents and students and their wishes for the school.)
3. Understand the strength of the school's programs. (Review the Site Plan, the most recent Accreditation Report, the District Strategic Plan, school and department goals; assessment data; survey results; observe in classrooms; listen carefully for the concerns and issues that are on people's minds; reflect on the most important areas of focus to move the school forward)
4. Build a positive and cohesive administrative team as well as a broader leadership team with understood roles and responsibilities and extended lines of communication.

If these are your focus areas for the first six weeks, then what specific goals could you develop, what specifically do you need to do, to be successful in these focus areas?

Running Start: Six-Week Orientation Period

Take advantage of the first six weeks of school--the new principal's orientation honeymoon period. Here are three steps that will give you the best chance for a running start. (A. Get focused; B. Set goals; and C. Make a six-week calendar.)

Your school is likely to have its own established start-up policies and procedures in place. Most schools have years of practice in starting up at the beginning of a new year, assigning teachers and students to classes, registering new students, placing them in appropriate courses, distributing textbooks, correcting placement errors, handling complaints, etc. Existing staff will likely have put start-up plans in place before the end of the previous school year, before you even arrived.

Your role this year is different than it has ever been before. The new principal's role is to watch these procedures in action, to provide support and encouragement to everyone involved during this tension-filled time, to work with the staff to solve problems (if asked) as they may arise, and to put a confident, smiling, welcoming face on the school as students, staff, and parents file in to find their place in the new year.

Here is what your role is NOT: You are not in charge of the registration processes or of textbook distribution or of any other of the procedures that will be running in your school at this year's startup. You will not take over problem-solving that should be done by another member of your new staff. You will not undermine the efforts or decisions of the people who, later on in the school year, will need to be a part of your leadership team.

Now is the time to think about one of the natural strategies of the great leader. If you want the staff to step forward in the future, to provide leadership and take risks, then let them know they have your full support. When something goes wrong, be prepared to take full responsibility and work with people to make any necessary future adjustments. When something goes right, give full credit to the staff that went out of their way to make it happen. Your support will provide incentive for staff to step forward next time to make the school a better place.

Bottom line: Get focused on a whole new role for yourself.

Rule #10: Take care of yourself.

Nothing is more important than your good health, ample energy, and an alert mind to do this very important job. You must eat right, exercise regularly, and get some sleep. You must. Veteran principals become reconciled to the fact that the work never gets completely done. So don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Go take an aerobics class.

Schedule exercise on your calendar as seriously as you schedule any critical appointment. There is no better antidote to stress and no better way to increase your energy level.

Before you can take care of your school, you have to take care of yourself. No one else will. Everyone wants a piece of your time. The job can be all-consuming. The work never all gets done. You never again have enough time to do your best work. No matter how determined you are to schedule the important but not urgent things, somebody else's emergency will inevitably intrude. There are more issues than can possibly be resolved. And your past relationships with staff change as soon as you step over the threshold into your new job.

As a new principal, you can easily become overwhelmed. In this first year, you can sometimes think that the job is too much for you. But the fact is that every principal has gone through this same period of figuring out how to get organized so that the important things get done, how to stay healthy and positive, and how to be effective and have fun. You have gotten this far, so you can do it, too.

Rule #9: Take Time to Reflect.

Every week, set aside an hour or two to think. Review the state of the school for the previous week. What stands out in your mind as important (and I don't mean a list of activities)? How do the issues fit together? How are people working together? What was the state of communications during the week? Did all people know what they should have known? What should you be looking for next week? And while you're thinking, write down your thoughts and observations. Keep this in your personal reflections file.

The principal's primary role is to view the school's total operation and its effectiveness every day. No one else will do this. The principal, of necessity, thinks differently from everyone else because s/he is responsible for all school operations all of the time. S/He is the person who must see how all of the systems fit together, how practices and policies align with the values of the school, how different procedures either support or obstruct the goals of the school. The principal is charged with identifying those operations that are out of alignment and need to be addressed.

The principal cannot address the issues alone. So you pose many questions: How do I develop an energetic and committed leadership structure that spreads two-way communications throughout the school? How do I deploy staff so that they can build on their strengths? How broadly can I delegate responsibilities and to whom? How do I develop an organization where people trust and depend on one another to do the right thing? How do I get useful feedback from staff and students on how we're doing?

The principal must have ample time to think ahead, to assess operations analytically, to plan processes that will move the school ahead and focus its people on where they are going next. You will get bogged down in the everyday trivia. You must raise yourself out of that sludge every week in order to think about the future of your school.

So remember Rule #9: Take Time to Reflect. This is the rule that determines greatness in the principalship.

Rule #8: Share Who You Are and What You Believe

A school is a moral place. Its people need to know that their leader is a person of integrity and compassion. Think of some of your most important learning experiences. Think of the stories that are most telling about who you are and what you believe. When it is appropriate to reveal something of yourself, share these stories and values with your staff. Share them with students. Share them with parents.

Know and be able to say what is most important to you, what you believe about learning and growth and people and schools. Make sure that you know the things worth fighting for. This will help you to distinguish between the things that are really important, that will not be sacrificed no matter what, and the things that are really of lesser consequence in the long run. This ability to distinguish the important from the merely convenient or irritating issue will serve you well. And it will help you to engage in conversations when you are asking for staff, students, and parents to tell you what is important to them, and what is worth fighting for in their school.

The principal is the guide and direction-finder, the moral compass, for the school. No one else is charged with examining how the school operates. No one else is charged with taking the temperature of the organization, monitoring its health, examining the influence of the culture on the behaviors and performance of the people. And no one else is charged with reflecting back to the people what they believe, why they are there, and what the values are which govern how they behave. You will find that when you remind them of their collective values or their vision (by telling them the things that they have said to you), they will listen very carefully indeed.

Rule #7: Help students and parents get to know you.

Students thrive when they are empowered, when they believe that they have the power to make their school the best learning place ever. Meet with the student government, get invited to classes to introduce yourself and discuss the issues of the day.

Ask students how they are doing and what they think you should know about the school. Get around to the student meeting places, make sure you meet the different groups--the morning groups, the lunch groups, the group that hangs out by the wall, the bus groups. Ask them what's the thing they like most about their school.

Ask them to think about one thing that would make it a better place. Laugh with them. Pull together diverse groups to discuss their issues. Pull random groups together for pizza with the principal during lunch.

Let them know that you will listen and that they will be involved in decisions that affect them. Teachers will take a cue from you about the importance of listening to students.

Parents also will be eager to tell you what they think is important, and they will want to know from you how you view school, how you value their children, how you will uphold the highest standards of learning while understanding the special needs and frailties of their children.

Take every opportunity to let parents know who you are and the values that you hold. Attend the neighborhood "meet the principal" coffees; be available at open house night; have the PTA president work to bring out diverse groups of parents to special topic meetings. You will be amazed at what supportive, energetic, and focused parents can do to enrich the learning environment of the school.

Rule #6: Make classroom visits a priority.

Tell teachers that you will get into every classroom within the first month (within the first week if the school is smaller). Let them know what you are looking for (people actively involved in learning, good things happening). Ask them what they would like you to see. Ask them to invite you to their classrooms if they have something special going on.

Time for classroom visits must be blocked into your calendar before your time is filled with administrivia and the urgencies of the day. Sit down with your master schedule and map out which classrooms you will visit on what day. Block a portion of three days a week for classroom visits until you have seen every teacher's classroom.

Make sure teachers know your purpose for these short visits. Such mini-visits are separate from the formal pre-conference, observation, post-conference cycle that is used in coaching and supervision. They are for the purpose of knowing your school as a whole, seeing teachers and students in action, understanding the life of the teacher as well as the life of the student in the school.

The classroom is the heart of the school. You cannot be effective as a school leader without knowing first-hand what is happening in every classroom. Show students and staff how important instruction is to you. Be there. Be visible. Be interested.

Rule #5: Learn the stories that underlie the culture.

Every school has its own quirks that make things for the outsider sometimes hard to understand. When something happens that seems odd, when a process looks strange or cumbersome or just unfamiliar or unnecessary, first accept it.

Respect the history. The practices, procedures, expectations, and fears of your new school are threaded with unspoken assumptions that have grown from past experiences and struggles at the school. You were not a part of those experiences, but you must respect them and the lessons learned from them. Your new mantra, as the new principal, becomes, "Tell me about that," or "Help me to understand what I'm seeing," or "What just happened?"

Be careful not to pass judgment on things you don't understand. Be governed by the law of positive intentions and professional competence. Believe that the people who have been working at the school are doing the best job they know how to do. Believe first in their positive intentions and their professional competence. There will be reasons why things happen the way they do. And before you can have any credibility for discussing them, you must understand those reasons.

Appreciate the quirkiness of your new school at least until you understand why things happen the way they do.

Rule #4: Know your school's leaders

Learn who on staff has influence and stature. Some of the school's leaders will have titles, will speak up in meetings, and may be quick to provide information via email. They will seek you out to ensure that you understand who they are and what is important to them and the school.

Some of the school's leaders will be quiet and unassuming. They will not distinguish themselves to you immediately. They will be observing, listening, reserving judgment. Other staff members will be talking with these unofficial leaders to find out their opinions and to get their advice on the issues of the day.

This informal network of influence can be very powerful when the school is on the move and changes are being discussed. If you get to know and understand the informal leaders, you will have an important additional avenue for trying out new ideas, getting feedback prior to making public statements, and a way to keep yourself from stepping on any hidden sacred carpets by accident. Stepping on a sacred carpet can set your planning back indefinitely. So get to know your leaders--both formal and informal.

Rule #3: Know your staff well.

Before the first week is out, learn the name, position, and one interesting personal thing about each member of the school staff. Make it a game. Tell them your goal and ask for their help.

A school is a people place. Unlike classrooms full of students, the adult staff does not change every year. Their good will, their talents, their knowledge, and their skills must be cultivated and developed further every year if the school is to stay current with the research and move steadily forward. This continual development and growth of the staff is a primary responsibility of the principal. No one else is charged with understanding the growth needs of the staff.

Calling people by name is a powerful message that you care who they are and what they do. The fact is, if they perceive that you don't care to know them well, then they can just close their doors and wait for the next new principal to come along. After all, it won't be that long. And teachers have been doing that for years as principals come and go.

Rule #2: Keep a smile on your face. Have fun!

You want people to take a look at you, the educational leader of the school, and feel good about the future. They don't need to hear you complain. They don't need to see you looking overwhelmed. They don't need to wonder that maybe you don't know how to handle the tough jobs. Regardless of how you feel at any given moment, recognize that you are on stage. Your behavior, your presence influences the environment of your school. It has an impact on how your staff, students, and community feel about being there.

If you are happy and confident; if you see the humor in the odd way that the world sometimes works; if you are able to point out the positive side of any challenge; if you are able to see clearly the most daunting tasks and not be put down; if you are able to come in each day and face staff and students with a smile on your face, then your school will take on your confidence and positive attitude. Let your staff, students and community know that there is nothing they can't do if they go forward together.

Rule #1: Don't talk about your previous school.

Nobody in your new school cares about your old school. In fact, they will find your mention of it more than one time to be offensive. They don't care what kind of programs that school had, how they made decisions, what wonderful things they did for kids or for you, or how generous (or not) their parents were. Nobody cares!

If someone asks about what you did in your previous school, remember: Nobody cares! S/He is just making polite conversation. Turn the conversation back and ask how things are done in your new school. Staff and students will be happy to tell you about their school, and they will be glad you asked. Your new school is WE. All other schools are THEY. And while WE can learn from other schools, never forget who you are now (and the colors you now wear).

Remember Rule #1: Don't talk about your previous school!

So You're the New Principal: Ten Rules for Year One

Whether you are a veteran principal changing schools or a novice principal taking your first position, the rules of entering a new environment as the principal are the same. You are at the top of the school hierarchy and at the bottom of the school knowledge base. Before you can have influence at your school, you will have to develop relationship-driven personal power to support the position power you have been given. To be a positive force in your school, you must understand the environment you have entered and the people who maintain that environment from year to year. Here are ten simple rules to make your first year a great one!