Personnel and the Principal

1. Personnel and the Principal I don’t want any yes men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs! -Samuel Goldwyn

2. Respect Respect is the guiding standard, even where there is disagreement. Respect is probably the most important ingredient in the mixture of terms that define effective, principled leadership. When respect is shown, respect is earned. “People respect people who respect other people”

3. Trust Leaders who build trust in their followers by setting attainable organizational goals do so by exhibiting self-confidence, strength of moral conviction, personal example, and sacrifice. Trustworthy principals exude vision, ability, knowledge, and experience and are committed to the well-being of individual faculty and staff members. A higher level of trust can only exist in a school where personnel understand that their needs, desires, and objectives are compatible with those of their principal. A school principal establishes trust through intimate, professional, and honest interaction with personnel.

4. As trust decreases political behavior increases Trust Political Behavior As trust increases, political behavior decreases Political Behavior Trust

5. Honesty “No legacy is so rich as honesty” William Shakespeare Honestly produces: Confidence and Assertiveness Assertiveness is neither acquiescence nor aggression; nor is it something in between. Assertiveness means being direct and making honest statements regarding expectations when working with personnel. Assertiveness is being strong in your convictions and actions.

6. Responsibility “Responsibility may well be the most important word in all the vocabulary of administration, public and private.” Mosher (1968) “Principals are responsible, from a personnel perspective, for the conduct of faculty and staff, as well as their own personal conduct. Principals must set organizational expectations for personnel, direct the instructional activities of campus personnel, provide appropriate resources (human, material, and fiscal) to the campus faculty and staff, and empower campus personnel with the authority to complete designated duties. Moreover, principals must monitor personnel performance and hold faculty and staff accountable for executing the instructional program. Fulfilling these administrative responsibilities in today’s schools is a stressful and complex task for any principal. With responsibility comes conflict, especially when working with personnel. “ Sorenson, 2008

7. Consider this… How do you, as a school leader, balance your responsibility to provide for individual differences of personnel with your responsibility to maintain the highest standards and levels of expectations?

8. Rights Individual liberties either expressly provided for in the state or federal constitutions, such as the right to assembly or free speech, or which have been found to exist as those constitutions have been interpreted, such as the right to an abortion; that which a person is entitled to have, or to do, or to receive from others, within the limits prescribed by law As the Principal, you must defend, interpret, and constantly define the rights of your employees.

9. Expectations Personnel will live up to the highest expectations if three conditions are met: 1. The expectations are attainable 2. Efforts are recognized and/or rewarded 3. The recognition or reward is valued

10. Six Personnel Principles

11. What teachers think.. During a recent faculty meeting, our high school principal was sharing a new “zero tolerance policy” He suggested that the new policy would have minimal impact on our school since we did not have a drug or alcohol problem. Several of us looked at one another, rolled our eyes, and commented under our breaths that our principal should come out of his office more often and sniff (literally) around the student restrooms to get a whiff of weed! Faculty meetings at our school were are rarity (three, maybe four a year), and department meetings were, for the most part teacher-initiated and seldom monitored by campus administration.

12. The principal’s credo was simple, but did little to establish any level of instructional expectation: “Teachers know what’s best for students!” While this motto sounded good, it failed to increase student achievement raise test scores, or promote ongoing professional development. Our principal’s interaction with campus staff was minimal, as he was frequently off campus at central office visiting with an old coaching buddy or over at the elementary school where his wife taught third grade. As a result of his low visibility and inattentiveness to faculty needs our school’s head football coach was indulging in an affair with one of the paraprofessionals our agriculture teacher spent more time cooking barbeque than teaching animal husbandry and one of our male mathematics teachers spent an inordinate amount of time tutoring a male student after school and at the teacher’s apartment on weekends.

13. The campus counselors developed the faculty schedule, the clerk from the school’s business office managed the campus budget, and the principal’s secretary was known as the “real” principal because she had all the answers to questions frequently posed by faculty members, parents, and students The secretary thus “ran the school’ in the absence of any real leadership. Our librarian, the sweetest person you would ever wish to know, grew increasingly fragile and frail during her last year of service. She died of cancer during the month of March. Our principal never visited her in the hospital or at her home during her final days of life. He was regrettably, out of town’ at the time of her death and funeral. We found out later he was on a fishing trip.

14. School morale was at an all time low, student disciplinary behaviors were typically ignored—unless dealt with by teachers—and new faculty were left to fend for them selves. For example, each school year our principal would announce at the new teacher orientation “Being thrown to the wolves will make you a stronger teacher Have a great year!”

15. As painful as it may be… You must collect perception data from school employees. It must be done in a confidential manner and absolutely no retribution must occur!

16. What are Superintendents looking for in a Principal? Superintendents seek principals who exemplify high moral values, and they want to hire administrators who are professional in their dealings with all stakeholders involved with the school: students, teachers, parents, and community members. Superintendents expect that successful principals should possess both leadership and personal skills in order to be the chief educational and chief executive officer of the building. . . .

17. Principals must show the superintendent that they have a desire to serve the students, work professionally with the staff, and are willing to involve the learning community in the education of students. Old Superintendent (2009)

18. Finally…..Humor! Humor has been know to: Lower Stress Relax your body Enhances Immunity Provide Objectivity Provide Emotional Joy and Increase intellectual engagement!