As you search the internet for advice on what new principals should do first, you’ll find a myriad of checklists, tips, and guidance—many of which are quite valuable. Some new principals are fortunate to enter a district with a robust onboarding or maybe a comprehensive handbook to steer them in the right direction. The luckiest ones are paired with a mentor or coach for their first couple of years. All of these resources are crucial, and I hope every new principal starting this fall has access to them. However, some of the most important preparation for your first principal role is to get clear about who you are and what you will need when you begin this important transition. Below, I offer some things to consider and a few resources to help.
#1 Understand how your identity impacts your leadership
Who you are shows up in your leadership. Your childhood, your birth order, your educational background, the places you have lived and worked all contribute to the person you are today. But those things also influence the leader you become. How you lead your students, staff and community are impacted by the journey you started long before you took this job.
Our team, Educational Leadership and System Design at WestEd, often utilizes the Diversity Wheel with leaders as a tool to help them reflect on the intersection of their personal identity and their leadership. This framework, developed in 1990 by Marilyn Loden and Judy Rosener, can help you think about the different dimensions of your identity and can serve as a way for you to think about who you are, and how it may show up in your leadership. Take a moment to consider the dimensions of your identity. How might these dimensions influence how you lead? What will you leverage? What will you need to be aware of?
#2 Know your why
The average adult makes 33,000 to 35,000 decisions per day! I am sure school leaders make that many during their work day alone. Often, decisions involve quick responses with minimal consequences. But sometimes leaders must make difficult and contentious decisions; those that impact students, teachers and the community. Being able to tap into your values to guide those tough decisions may not make you popular, but it will help you communicate why you made them. More importantly, it will help you sleep better at night.
Simon Sinek’s widely popular video and book by the same title: Start with Why describes the importance of knowing your why and introduces the Golden Circle as a framework to help individuals and organizations begin with what they believe first then moving to the how and the what of their work. Think about your why. Why did you become a school leader? What do you believe about your role as a leader? How will you live out your why in the work you do daily, weekly and monthly?
#3 Understand the context you are entering
Getting clear on the context you are entering as a new leader is vital and can get you some quick wins. What do you know about the leader who sat in the chair before you? What type of culture was in place? How do students, staff and families feel about their school? Answering these questions helps you think about how you will enter your new role. Who do you need to talk to? What do you want to hold on to and leverage and what might you need to intentionally and perhaps quickly begin to shift?
A great resource that can help leaders think about their context is the book Entry Planning for Equity-Focused Leaders: Empowering Schools and Communities by Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Rodney Thomas, and Adam Parrott-Sheffer. The authors help newly hired leaders think deeply about the context they are entering so that they can better understand and serve those they lead.
#4 Prepare your village
Transitioning into your first role as a principal is exciting, but it can also be extremely time consuming and overwhelming. The after school supervision, meetings and unexpected occurrences can keep you away from family and friends more often than you expect. Who might you need to prepare for this transition other than yourself? What are some practices and routines you may need to shift in your household? How can you be creative about the ways in which you stay connected to the people who have cheered you on and supported your journey to this new role? Taking the time to intentionally plan together for the transition, will help ensure you stay connected and healthy!
As you prepare for the many firsts that come with being a new principal, take the time to get clear about who you are, what you value, and how you will enlist your village to support this exciting time in your career.
– Priscilla Rodriguez