Читать книгу The New Principal - Margaret Carter - Страница 3

Why I wrote this book . . .

I’d spent many years working with students, became ill, and decided to go into management—after all, managers use different skills, and I could now sit behind a desk, run meetings, organize, and dispense orders from my office. The employees, in this case, teachers, could joyfully do as I instructed them to do and our school would take off—win all kinds of awards, and we’d all live happily ever after.

Oh, how mistaken and misguided was I. Of course, my frustrated boss brought in a “consultant” who talked with all the staff. I knew the outcome would be bad but was hoping for a different result. The consultant came into my office, took my hand, and said, “They have declared war on you!” I broke down in tears—not from being sad or mad (at least not totally) but from gratitude. I thought, finally I have the answer—the answer to whispering in the halls, horrible relationships with “my” staff, and disrespectful rebelliousness coming from these professionals. Unfortunately, he didn’t mention how to get things going in a better direction, but rushed out to catch his flight.

How would I fix all of this? I had read books on “How to be a better boss”—none of which helped me—they all focused on being tough, driven, single-minded, and all the other traits of bossmanship. I had all these traits in spades—why was I failing? I rushed around the school, clipboard in hand, making notes—I had much to “fix.” My boss tried to help—mentioning in passing that my relationships with the staff were bad.

What to do? I was not—am still not—a natural at chummy conversations, casual gossip, and other girlfriend types of behavior. Is that what she meant? Another consultant said, “Throw a brick in your wagon—slow down, mosey around as if everything is just fine, you haven’t a care in the world. Paste a smile on your face and greet everyone—no matter how you feel.” Get rid of the clipboard. Work on your memory—you can make notes later. Right now, when people see you, they feel afraid—like something’s wrong—somebody’s in trouble.

Over the next few months, with each new assignment (you didn’t think they’d keep me in that job, did you?), I started using some of the tips. With nothing to lose, practicing daily, I used these traits, and things slowly began to improve. Not because of any magic bullets, but from showing genuine interest in my team—taking the time to get to know people, their needs, wants, and desires. In other words, I had to change myself. One final thing that I read advised that I “always do repair”—(relationships). If a careless exchange or misunderstanding happens, go to the person and make it right. Wow—that was the hardest thing to do. Aren’t bosses always right? Don’t teammates have to come to me formally to air their grievances? Ha! The parking lot conversations are much more effective (and fun!). Hadn’t I learned about forgiveness? Yes, but this is more than forgiveness, it is acknowledging that the other person is valuable to you and you want to talk it out—make it right. You (boss) need them (employees)—more than they need you.

This may sound like a plan for the inmates to take over the asylum, but take my word for it—it worked for me. I am not the boss, I am just another team member, here to bear my share of the burden, working alongside you, so that our (not my) team, and therefore, students can be successful.