Red Green Color Blindness
It’s not your job to solve everything in the first few months, and taking the time to manage your transition intentionally, in ways that build community and a sense of shared voice, will pay dividends in the long run.
Manage first impressions: As you begin your new role, remember the old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Malcolm Gladwell says it best in his book Blink: “We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility.”
Whether you are managing the expectations of staff, students, parents, or the broader community, be careful of the verbal and nonverbal messages you send.
Focus on the “we,” not the “I,” so everyone knows that you believe they are an important contributor. If you are in an independent school setting, get to know all your board members;
if you are in a public school setting, get to know your superintendent and anyone else charged with overseeing your efforts. Invite them for coffee;
Understand the health of the school
Acknowledge what came before you
Build relationships
Connect with that longtime senior faculty member whose opinion holds weight; understand what they think you should know as you acclimate to your new role. Identify interpersonal differences with others.
If you can, meet with all faculty and staff, even for 15 minutes. Ask them what they love most about the school and what keeps them up at night.
Create more intimate, informal events where you can interact with your community, like hosting a barbecue and inviting faculty families. These opportunities show that you’re interested in the school as a whole and in the individuals that make up the community.
Your key purpose is to educate students, and constructive collaboration with parents is paramount to your success. Get to know families—ask about their aspirations and desires.
Spend time in classrooms, and even shadow students from different grade levels, to get a feel for their day-to-day experience. All of this will help your community feel heard and understood and will help you make choices that reflect your community’s real needs and desires.
Ultimately, leadership transitions hold as much promise as they do challenge; new leaders bring new energy and ideas that can help the community grow and improve, but too much rapid change can have the opposite effect.
It’s not your job to solve everything in the first few months, and taking the time to manage your transition intentionally, in ways that build community and a sense of shared voice, will pay dividends in the long run.
In any case, creating synergy is complex and requires communal relationships anchored by norms and expectations that are valued and upheld by everyone.
Following simple guidelines can make the transition into leadership easier for new administrators.
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