Campus leaders are responsible for an extraordinary number of tasks. It seems those tasks increase every year without much removed from those responsibilities. Many of those responsibilities could be delegated to an assistant principal or other staff member effectively. For those delegated responsibilities to show success, fostering positive relationships with your colleagues is instrumental.
In my 30 years of experience in education, I have identified four components to fostering positive relationships which will make your work more enjoyable and successful.
1. Know Your Team
2. No Surprises
3. Be a True Leader
4. Show Appreciation
1. Know Your Team
Understanding and knowing your leadership team is critical to your success. There is a lot of research on the topics of understanding your staff and many different activities you can complete with your team for everyone to understand each other’s strengths. When you know your team, you can use that information to assist in your delegation of tasks. In addition, you will be able to have more in-depth conversations with your team members regarding how to provide experiences to assist in improving their effectiveness as administrators. You will also learn more about your own leadership through those experiences and conversations. We are never done as leaders. We should always look towards improving our skills.
2. No Surprises
Surprises are fun when you are receiving a gift from a loved one; however, in our world of education, no one likes surprises. Establishing and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues both on the campus and at the administration building includes eliminating surprises. When we have negative interactions with parents or staff members, it is important to remember to give your support personnel at the administration building a “heads-up” and your version of the interaction. When you follow these steps, your administration team will follow your lead and do the same when you are away. The “No Surprises” rule provides everyone with a clear understanding of a conflict and time to develop a response to create a remedy.
3. Be a True Leader
One of my former supervisors would tell all the principals, “If no one is following you, you are not a leader.” You can be a true leader by leading by example. Be honest with your administration team and colleagues even when you have made a mistake. We all make mistakes. As long as we do not continually make the same mistakes and turn them into habits, we can own those by admitting and moving on. A true leader will show others, by example, how to be humble when things are going wonderfully and how to take ownership when things may not be going quite as well as we hope. Your leadership team and those around you will have great respect for you.
4. Show Appreciation
Showing authentic appreciation towards your leadership team and those you lead goes a long way. Let’s face it; this profession is extremely hard. Rarely do we hear from parents or others when they are happy. Take some time to send positive email notes to members on your leadership team and colleagues. As we all know, this profession is very challenging; people love when they are sent a positive note. Positive messages give your folks a sense of value to the organization and to you.
Dr. Gary Henry is the Executive Director for Elementary Administration in Spring Branch ISD. His career in education spans 31 years including 15 years as an elementary principal. A longtime TEPSAN, Dr. Henry has served as a region officer and standing committee member.
