10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was a First-Year School Principal

Speaker 0 00:00:00 From Romano Leadership, I'm Oscar Romano. This is Learn, reflect Lead Leadership and d i a development for mission-driven individuals and organizations. This episode is titled 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was a First Year School Principal. This episode is for you if you have recently been selected or aspired to become a school principal and want to make a positive impact on your school community. If you wanna learn how to effectively navigate the challenges of being a first year school principal and lead your team to success, or if you're interested in improving your leadership skills in creating a culture of growth and development within your school. Speaker 0 00:00:45 Today we're gonna discuss key strategies for success as a first year school principal. Congratulations. You have been selected as a next school principal of Yes prep, golfing. This news was incredible to me. I had dreamt about becoming a principal for years. I felt a rush of emotions as I thought about what this would mean. I would start transitioning into a first year school principal role in the next few months. It was overwhelming, exciting, all things at the same time. As much as I would like to say that all the emotions were positive, that was far from true. I knew I was ready for the challenge, but I didn't stop fear and anxiety from setting it. I was going to be responsible for an entire campus of over a thousand students and over a hundred staff members. I didn't want to let them down. So what did I need to know first, the first category of items of Armand vulnerability as a school principal, and here's the first item, you'll make mistakes. Speaker 0 00:01:51 Holding the title of the school principal doesn't mean you're expected to be perfect. Perfection is a standard that people usually place on themselves. Don't fall into this trap. My staff appreciated my vulnerability when I own my mistakes and committed to improving. Number two, it's okay to ask for help. You don't need to have a hundred percent mastery of all the skills required to be an effective principal. You must know where and when to ask for help. Ironically, I improve my relationships with staff members by asking them for help. They saw that as a sign of my trust in them. Number three, you must be willing to let go of control for teachers to take ownership of their classrooms and students' learning experience. Teachers are the only ones who spend a hundred percent of their time in their classrooms. You need to aim for a place where you can relinquish autonomy to them. Speaker 0 00:02:45 Now, I have a a few questions for you to reflect on. Are you ready to be vulnerable with your staff? If yes, what are you gonna work on first? And if not, what's holding you back from that vulnerability? Now, let's, let's get to the second category of items, relationships. They're so important in your first year. Here's the the fourth item. You need support from your team. This job has a potential to take over your life, even when you don't want it to have such an impact that if you establish a robust support system with your leadership team, you'll be able to weather any storm that comes your way. My leadership team was an integral part of any success I had in the role. Speaker 0 00:03:27 Now, number five, relationships are huge. People wanna feel connected with the person in charge of their school. My most challenging moments as a school principal came when I worked on projects behind the scenes. When I didn't make time to connect with staff, students, and families, I noticed that results didn't come as quickly. Number six, as a principal, you need good people skills. You will interact with different people. Daily interactions won't always go smoothly. Strong people skills, for example, emotional intelligence, go a long way toward establishing, maintaining, and preparing relationships. I've regularly had to mediate conflict between individuals, leverage strategies to motivate others and show up as a role model for my campus. People's skills are huge. Number seven, you need to be a master at communication. The principal is responsible for any and all communication that gets sent out to the community, even if they aren't the ones who send it. Speaker 0 00:04:23 You need to know what message you wanna send, the medium you wish to use, and who will be sending it. By having more clarity, I was able to determine when I needed to step in and when I could delegate to others. Now I have a few more reflection questions for you. Do you need to work on your relationships with with others? And if so, what's your next step? Now let's get to the third bucket of items. It revolves around self-reflection. So let's get to number eight. Take time to reflect on what went well during the year. Principals have to put out so many fires on a regular basis, such as student discipline issues, instructional support needs, and so much more. You need to take some time to step back and reflect on what's going well. Sometimes I would get to school early so that I could walk around and think about what had gone well and what needed to go differently. Speaker 0 00:05:14 Number nine, you'll feel like there's never enough time in a day. Do not waste time on things that don't matter. Make sure you're spending your time wisely by focusing on only the most critical tasks. Sometimes I would lose track of time while working on unimportant items because I felt more productive. I had to learn to overcome that desire to feel more productive so I can actually be productive. And number 10, find some balance between work and home, because if something doesn't give, it may very well be your sanity. I learned that I couldn't always reach a work-life balance on a daily basis, but I could over the course of the year. I frequently had moments when I had to work long hours, so I learned to take advantage of any downtime I had, you know, for example, on, you know, during different holidays. So here, another set of reflection questions for you. How often do you self-reflect, and is this a practice that you need to be more intentional about? Speaker 0 00:06:11 You can leave your mark as a first year school principal. School principals have a remarkable opportunity to make a difference in our communities by helping students succeed. However, the position is very demanding and difficult to navigate. First year principals in particular experience many challenges to be able to lead effectively. There are teachers to hire budgets, to balance and students to lead. When I was a first year principal, I didn't wanna let anyone down, so I prepared myself for the challenge of a lifetime. I understood that my staff and students expected me to be effective and they deserve no less. I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to provide an outstanding education. And here's some closing thoughts for you. I, I hope that this, this article is insightful and helpful for you. There. There are many other things that I wish I'd known as a first year school principal, but if, if I included them all, it would make this list even more extensive. If you have any questions at all about becoming a first year school principal, please don't hesitate to reach out. And now it's time to commit. If you're a new leader, what advice will you work to implement? And what advice would you give a first year school principal? Speaker 0 00:07:24 Let me know how it all goes. Thanks. That's it for this episode of Learn, reflect Lead. Thank you for watching on YouTube or listening via podcast. If you're interested in more, you can find [email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn at Romano Leadership. If you like this episode, please share with your friends. Subscribe and leave a review. I'm Oscar Romano. Until next time.