Characteristics of Great School Principals

Reflect on these six ways in which you make a difference and celebrate your impact as you gear up for the remainder of the school year. 

This New Leaders post invites you to celebrate the multiple ways in which you make a difference:

• You’re resilient.
  You recognize change is constant and you model an adaptive and flexible mindset. You foster an adaptive mindset among staff and build their problem-solving capacity. You communicate that change and continuous improvement are critical to reaching and teaching every student, and you lead with empathy for those for whom change is difficult.
• You have high expectations.
  You believe every student and adult in your building can learn at high levels and you get there by building quality relationships—showing you care while simultaneously demanding the best. You prioritize instructional strategies and approaches that have the highest potential for producing the results you want.
• You’re a champion for each and every student.
  You believe in every student having access to learning opportunities and feeling like they belong. You promote and expect inclusivity and believe in being culturally responsive.
• You create the conditions for staff to choose to engage at the highest level.
  You are intentional about sharing leadership. Your staff have opportunities to provide input and share ideas. You problem-solve, experiment, and collaborate around the challenges you face in your building, district, and community. People feel psychologically safe in sharing their successes and failures so you can all learn together.
• You give actionable, impactful feedback.
  You use your skill of observation to notice what staff members do and the impact their action, behavior or attitude has. You provide this feedback to staff for them to consider. You ask open-ended questions to build the capacity of staff as leaders of their classrooms. Your feedback communicates to staff that you care and it builds staff sense of confidence and self-efficacy.
• You build and foster relationships with everyone in your school community (and beyond!)
  You listen actively and seek to understand, which builds trust. People feel heard when they’re with you. Your consistent visibility provides stability for students who look for you every day. Your community connections create opportunities for students to learn outside the school walls. You value dialogue with families over one-way communication.

These daily habits can be easily overlooked because they’re part of who you are and what you do. Take a moment to celebrate your leadership in each of these areas!!

Read the full article