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.
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