12 HOT TIPS FOR NEW PRINCIPALS

Posted at 20:25h in 21st Century Leadership, 21ST CENTURY PRINCIPALS, Leadership for
Principals by Maxine Driscoll 0 Comments
It’s the start of the new school year in many schools around the world. Several of my friends and
colleagues have landed new leadership positions. Some have even landed a new Principal role for
the first time and are feeling very excited but also wanting to know how to make a really good
impression on their new teams.

Starting as a new Principal or Head of School is both exciting and challenging whether it is
your first principalship, or a new Principal’s role in a different school. I hope you are ready to
enjoy an exhilarating, stimulating and challenging learning curve.
Here are my 12 HOT TIPS to help you lead like a ROCKSTAR!

1. Start by building trust and confidence with your school community. Be confident and
approachable. Spend time to learn the school’s culture, mission and vision. Be inclusive and
value the diversity of your teams. Be visible, ask questions, value what you see and give praise
for effective teaching and learning practices.
2. Develop authentic professional relationships with students, staff and parents. Listen carefully to
what they are saying to you. Always show you are interested and try to discover if there is an
underlying problem or issue that you or your team can solve. Immediate action taken to solve
problems is always seen as positive by the school community.
3. Remember that you are responsible for everything that happens in your school. Don’t use ‘blame’
in any situation, instead ask yourself “What is my responsibility with this problem and what
strategic thinking or strategic actions can I take to improve the situation?”
4. Understand that the bottom line in any school is learning and the #1 reason you are there is for
the students. Make decisions based on what is best for the students and student learning. Of
course, the Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet and Profit is also important, so support your
teams, make sure that sustainability is included in your curriculum mapping and school
management, and ensure the budget is always in the black so you can reinvest profits back into
the school.
5. Develop high performing teams. Look for unseen talents in your teachers and utilize them.
Empower formal and informal leaders. Trust and delegate responsibility.
6. Establish a professional learning community in your school and always model learning.
Research best practices for 21st Century teaching and learning and ensure the school has a
professional development plan in place for teachers and parents. Quality teaching is the best way
to improve student learning so help your teachers be the absolute best they can be.
7. Ensure you focus on what is important rather than what is urgent every day. Research the
school’s strategic plan and focus on what needs to be achieved to improve student learning
including student engagement, student motivation and student well-being.
8. In your first month, collaborate with your executive team to create a one-year action plan based
on the school’s strategic plan. Plan 90-day reviews, celebrate your successes and reschedule those
goals that were not achieved. It’s ok to be agile and flexible as long as you focus on what it most
important.
9. Surround yourself with “can-do”, forward thinking people. Do not be afraid to employ
people more intelligent than you or with a different personality, thinking or learning style to you.
Different thinkers often see issues/solutions from different perspectives, which can be very
helpful when solving problems effectively.
10. Define your personal and professional goals each year. Revisit these goals weekly to keep you
focused. Include health, fitness, rest, renewal and planned adventures in your personal goals as
these will help you be alert, focused and creative. You can’t lead others if you can’t lead
yourself!
11. Consider enlisting the support of a mentor or coach who you admire and trust. It can be lonely at
the top!
12. Remember your ultimate goal is to leave the school in a better place than you found it. Be
strategic, work with your school board to create a new strategic plan to drive the school
successfully into the future.
Actually, I have a new 2-day workshop on 9 & 10 November 2019 at the American School of
Bangkok – Sukhumvit Campus to help you grow your Future Focused Leadershipcapacity.
You can find out more about it here. Would love to see you there!