Leadership is About Relationships, First and Foremost

A good friend of mine, Dr. Robert Cunard, sagely opined that a principal has almost no real authority but most of the responsibility in a school.  This is true! Anyone who has been in the seat will, with little reflection, verify the absolute veracity of that statement. That said, principals still must get things done.  They must move their schools forward, whether their schools are high performing or low in an area or two, there is always room for improvement and growth. How do principals accomplish this?  The plain truth of it is that the only way that they get things done is through influence and relationships.  

The stark reality that principals have nearly no real “authority” but bear all of the responsibilities (legal and perceptual) for the successes of their schools; and that influence and relationships are the real tools of progress for principals, puts a premium upon interpersonal skills.  As building relationships takes time, how can a new principal accelerate the process of building those critical relationships with their staff so that they can get things done during their first year on the job?  Here too a friend helped me and as his strategy has proven successful in my own career I gladly share it here.  

Being appointed principal can be a heady experience.  Whatever level the appointment, elementary, middle school, high school or TK-8, the principal is effectively the CEO of the school.  After the initial excitement the new appointee has to figure out how to dig in to get to know their school. Much of the data is easy to get to, especially the quantitative measures for one’s school.  As Doug Reeves has written, we are a data rich, but often information poor business. Getting to the qualitative measures takes time and effort. Here by qualitative measures I mean things like: what are the overt systems and practices in the building; what traditions drive the school; what are the experience levels in the building; what are the staff, student and community expectations for the school; what does the school celebrate (overtly and less overtly); what challenges exist in the school and for the school; to name just a few.  Traditional advice to new principals is to do little to change your school during their first year on the job. Observe and learn about the organization before trying to move things too much. There is wisdom in this. However, kids pay the price for the leader’s learning. How then to gain a better understanding of the qualitative measures quickly?

I have now been appointed principal three different times in my career and have been fortunate to help move two of those schools to better performance and more workable school cultures (it’s too early to claim that for my third appointment).  

Before the school year starts, upon a new appointment, I sit down with all staff, classified and certificated (well, as many as will see me) for one-on-one meetings.  I also sit down with the school’s parent leaders, a select few students and with my district leaders. I engage in “structured interviews” with them. I personally call all of the employees to set up these meetings.  Most people are eager to meet their new boss. They are happy to have a few moments to sit and tell their stories. As I sit with each individual I share with them this simple opener, “This meeting is a structured interview where I hope to get to know about you and about our school through the lens of your experience.  It is really a conversation. I will take the information from you and everyone with whom I meet with to help to formulate my goals and work for our first year together.” I have found it important to set the stage for these meetings. I also always try to have these meetings in a comfortable place, one that lends itself to conversations.  This means that I don’t sit at my desk (to do so would be a power play). I want people to feel open so that they really share. Here are the questions that I ask:

1. Tell me about yourself and your experience with our district.
2. Tell me what it’s like to work here/be a student/parent here.
3. What do you think are our school’s biggest strengths?
4. What problems, issues, or concerns, if any, would you like me to know about?
5. If you were in my shoes as the incoming principal , what would you focus on in the short term?  For the long term?
6. What else would you like to ask about or to discuss?

These simple questions have provided me with goldmines in two critical ways:  First, they have helped me to gain a broad perspective on what is working in our school and the challenges that exist (anyone who has done qualitative data analysis knows that the broader one’s sample set the more likely the themes that emerge will be helpful).  By taking all of the staff; parent leaders; a group of students and district leaders through this process I have really gained rapid insight into key markers for the schools that I have been privileged to lead. Secondly, and more importantly, this process has helped me to establish meaningful relationships with these individuals rather quickly.  To be sure, classroom visits and other processes help, but by engaging in these structured interviews on the front end of my tenure in a school I already have a sense of the individuals in the building. In short, that 20-30 minute conversation has helped me to establish “relationships” with these individuals before the students ever step through the door.  

Remember, relationship and influence are how principals get things done, not by fiat or wielding of authority.  Through the structured interview process, in all three of the schools where I have been principal, I have been able to accelerate the work that we do together to improve student learning.  I have been able to identify what the staff feels are the important markers of success so that I can more effectively support them in achieving that. By helping to garner wins in areas that were identified through the structured interviews I have been able to marshal more buy-in when I work with the staff and community to identify the heavier lifts in our schools.  In short, the simple process of sitting with people one-on-one has helped me to form meaningful relationships and this has helped me to more effectively guide and influence people as we all work toward improvement.  

A quick example of this in my current setting was that during my structured interviews a preponderance of the teachers and staff shared that there were challenges with recess and lunch supervision the previous year.  Apparently some structures that had been in place previously to monitor and to involve the kids in structured activities had been let go last year. As a result staff reported that it took the teachers considerable time to get the kids refocused once they got back into the class from recess or lunch.  Additionally, the quantitative measures related to conflicts among the 1st through 5th graders during and after lunch showed that there had been issues.   The structured interviews brought this issue to the forefront of my attention before the staff or students ever really started the school year.  I was able to work with district leadership to bring resources to bear that kicked in right when school started. So far, this has been a great thing for everyone.  

In this example, not only was I able to get to know the staff, but I was able to work proactively to solve a problem before it resurfaced.  Imagine how long all of that would have taken, and the costs paid by students and staff, had the choice been to simply observe my first year.  

The structured interview process helps to build relationships; identify strengths and challenges and ultimately to engage in the work of moving one’s school forward.   

I hope that you find this helpful.  

Stuart Caldwell has been in public education since 1991. After having taught at both the middle school and high school levels for seven years, he then moved into administration, serving as an assistant principal at both middle and high school. Woodworth-Monroe TK-8 in Inglewood is his third principalship. The entirety of his educational experience has been in Title I inner-city schools.

Beyond his site administrative experience, Caldwell has taught in the MAED and Ed.D. programs for Concordia University Irvine since 2006, helping to prepare teachers for leadership and leaders for advanced leadership positions. He believes strongly in the power of education as a way to increase equitable access to all of the benefits of our society for our students and families. He loves the work he does in both his day job as a site leader and as an adjunct professor.