As a central pivot between students, teachers, school boards, parents and the community, the School Principal has to play a leading and accommodating role in getting everyone to love him or her. He must be able to read the needs of his environment and communicate his vision to the team. Here, we have 5 ways to become the school principal everyone will love.
To be loved by everyone as a school principal you must work together with your staff.
As a School Principal, you should motivate and develop your own teachers and staff. You should know who they are and how to connect with each of them individually. Never leave a poor performing team member behind, instead, try to think of remedies/solutions that will inspire and encourage them to perform at their best. Create and give growth opportunities to those who consistently perform well, this will help you to set the tone and standard for leading by example. Aside from that, as a School Leader, you should think of what joy, comfort, reward, incentives, and award you could exhaust from your leadership for the betterment of your human capital. The feeling of self-awareness, professionalism, creative passion, trust and kindness should be profoundly considered and monitored by you in order for harmonious relationships to exist throughout your school.
You should accept your strengths, weakness, and listen to your people so that everyone feels a part of and has a place in the school. This means, not only should you have an eye for the school’s achievements or problems but an eye also for your people’s potentials, emotions, and needs.
Try to be kind, caring, and respectful in all of your relationships, and be willing to apologize.
To be loved by all means being respected while respecting others. In other words, as School Principal you should know the definition of the word Respect: the ability to recognize the value of what is.
Being in good terms with your teachers, staff, students, parents and community will matter a lot. You asking for forgiveness and being forgiven is a sign of strength for you, it often leads to increased respect, trust and healing. In your first year or fifth through twenty-fifth year, keep your pride and ego in check — do not be too harsh while holding your ground professionally and respectfully.
At the core of your job, you must know how to recognize the value of your teachers, staff, students, parents, community, and things and situations under you.
You must Lead by Example! Be Transparent in whatever you do.
To become the School Principal everyone will love, be transparent in your work as a school leader. You should have the clean conscience of facing the night and day with all the honesty inside and outside of yourself. You are the one that has the lead and drive to teach your people to bring back the value of honesty because you are a model of such virtue. Be a shining example of such virtue for others to follow.
The old adage “Honesty is the best Policy” is used by the U.S. Department of Education as a living reminder to all school leaders across the nation. Presenting this adage to every classroom in the school cascades the virtue of honesty from the school leader to the teachers to the students to the parents to the community. For that, transparency becomes the result of honesty which you as a leader ought to have each day.
Schedule yourself to be with students.
Throughout the school year try to be out front when the students arrive and be there when they leave. Ride buses from time to time. Play basketball or jump rope at recess. Walk around and chat with students during lunch or in the halls. Go to their competitions outside of school. Play chess with them or other fun games in your office and modify the stigma of the dreaded “Principal’s Office”. Ask them questions during your classroom walkthroughs. Also, be consistently kind and professional to your teachers and staff. Always speak words that edify and build up, never words that bully and tear down. Let those you care about and love know that they are the most important part of your school life and career, on a daily basis.
You must be a risk taker.
To be a School Principal everyone will love, you must be a risk taker, not just for yourself but for your teachers, students, staff and parents. The best leader is the one who tries to cross the unchartered seas to see what lies beyond. This is another exceptional skill of being a great leader. Where most educational leaders conform to the norm, you are brave enough to take ‘positive’ and ‘revolutionary’ risks for the improvement of quality education, student learning, teacher development, school and parent relationships, and ultimately student success.
The School Principal’s role is never an easy one. However, many of the great school leaders today are successful because they constantly take courageous risks to improve connection, learning, environment, quality, test scores, retention, health, safety, fun while learning, opportunities, and success for the people they care about, support and love.
A career as a School Principal can be exceedingly rewarding. Working together with your teachers, staff, students, parents, community and school district, can put you on a path to inspiring and enriching lives every day. You will learn from them, and they learn will learn from you too, even when it does not seem possible. Being loved by all in your career as a school principal will be a definite energy booster.
– End –
About the Author: Ty Howard,
Mr. Untie the Knots®,
True Greatness Is — As True Greatness Does!
Ty Howard is America’s Untie the Knots® Consultant, and Capturing Greatness and Passion Expert. Over the past 21 years, he has spoken to nearly 3 million teenagers, education professionals, student leaders, student athletes, parents, fatherhood groups, youth development professionals, and associations across the nation and around the world. For information on his programs and services, visit: http://capturinggreatness.com.
