This is the latest article in a monthly series on the impact of Affective Leadership in the school system. Affective leadership is all about working with people, rather than trying to work through them or simply going around them. All stakeholders become far more invested in the school, when they feel genuinely valued, respected, and heard by administration. The pandemic has immeasurably heightened this need for connectivity.
The role of school principal gets more complex every year, and the pandemic has exponentially increased the number of new variables that demand an administrator’s time and consideration. Affective school leadership is all about ensuring all stakeholders always feel valued, respected, and heard.
The keys discussed below help align this all-important relationship building with the practical realities of leading a school in the midst of an ever-evolving educational landscape. The essential thread woven through all of these keys is positivity. Principals have to make a genuine effort to always be encouraging and reassuring, particularly during these most challenging times.
The following checklist provides a brief overview of these essential keys, which will be explored in considerably more detail in ensuing monthly articles. These keys will help guide affective school leadership both now, and long after Covid-19 has left our collective conversation.
#1 - BE ACCOUNTABLE
The principal is the face of the school. There are often hundreds of students and dozens of staff, but only one principal. Principals are publicly responsible for everything that occurs in the school and on the school yard. Be supportive of staff, be honest with parents, and don’t pass the buck and play the blame game. You are certainly not expected to have all of the answers, but people need to know that the principal is going to make a concerted effort to find the answer in a timely manner.
#2 - BE ADAPTABLE
This school year has certainly put the focus on adaptable leadership. There is no firm script for principals at any time, and this year has necessitated unprecedented levels of improvisation. Affective leaders must always be open to new ideas, new methodologies, and new perspectives, while always staying true to the school’s mission statement and agreed upon priorities. There is a fine and critically important line, however, between being open to selective change and triggering unnecessary upheaval.
#3 - BE AUTHENTIC
The pandemic has served to reinforce the key role that basic humanity plays in affective school leadership. Principals need to truly appreciate that all staff members confront many personal and professional challenges throughout a school year. Affective leaders prioritize getting to know their staff and being there to offer support when particularly stressful situations arise. These kinds of conversations help develop the all-important mutual trust. This sense of trust nurtures a much stronger relationship between the principal and the given staff member, and ultimately among the entire staff.
#4 - BE CLEAR
There must be clarity and purpose behind all decisions made by the principal. Key parameters and expectations with regard to everything from teaching and learning to student behavior to school safety should be clearly conveyed to all stakeholders on an ongoing basis. The fluidity of a school day ensures that some total surprises will undoubtedly arise, but principals must be committed to keeping people abreast of potentially impactful issues well before they come to fruition. After all, it’s impossible to get genuine “buy in” unless all stakeholders know what you’re selling.
#5 - BE COLLABORATIVE
There are absolutely some key decisions in schools that principals have to make on their own. For the vast majority of decisions, however, affective principals work with people, rather than around them or through them. Principals who habitually try to simply impose their will on issues, lose massive amounts of credibility and erode any sense of trust. Routinely drawing the proverbial line in the sand, just leads to lose-lose confrontations that leave a residue of wariness and ill will. The ultimate loser will be your overall school, as the climate becomes cold and frosty and many potentially great ideas will never see the light of day.
#6 - BE COMPASSIONATE
Principals are generally hired and placed based on their experiences and qualifications, yet so much of their actual job requires as much or more from their heart as from their head. Whether it’s a teary-eyed student, a struggling staff member, or an overwhelmed parent, a huge part of the principal role involves dealing with people at their most emotionally fragile. Helping resolve these situations obviously has an important practical component, but a significant part of such resolutions relies on empathy and genuine care and concern for the afflicted parties.
#7 - BE CONSISTENT
The principal sets the tone and temperature of the entire school, and, as such, must always play the role of proactive thermostat, rather than reactive thermometer. In other words, principals must deliberately set the emotional climate in the building, rather than simply react to it. All stakeholders must know that all of the principal’s decisions will always be guided by calm logic, not irrational emotion. Particularly in these stressful and emotional times, school leaders must always convey the same professional, reassuring demeanor.
#8 - BE OPEN-MINDED
Modern educators strongly encourage independent and creative thought in all their students, in an attempt to get them best prepared to excel in our present and future world. By the same token, it is vital for a principal to help create a school-wide culture in which differing opinions are encouraged, dissenting views are respected, and disagreements are expected and welcomed. The macro world community and micro educational landscape are both changing at unprecedented rates, and leaders of schools have to embrace truly being leaders of change.
#9 - BE TRANSPARENT
Leaders must embrace their life in a fishbowl. All their actions, gestures, and comments are subject to constant critique from a wide range of people. Any hint of favoritism or hidden agendas severely damages the principal’s credibility, as everyone must know, and feel, that every decision is on the up and up. As such, principals cannot be personal friends with anyone on staff, but rather they must make a concerted effort to be professionally friendly with everyone. Transparency helps ensure a level playing field for all, and a much greater chance of genuine acceptance of an unpopular decision.
#10 - BE VISIBLE
All stakeholders deserve routine opportunities to interact with the principal. Particularly in these challenging times, it’s important to keep a strong presence in the hallways and school yard, since classroom visitations are understandably very limited due to safety concerns. Administrators are inundated with an endless stream of paper work to address each and every day, but the vast majority is not urgent and can, and should, be addressed before or after the actual school day. Accessibility is a huge part of accountability, and visibility is a huge part of accessibility. The bottom line is that it’s impossible to truly walk the talk, if people rarely see you walking.
About the author
Jamie Bricker is a published author and international speaker. As a retired school principal, he has long been a strong advocate of affective leadership and has experienced its profound impact. He is also co-host of two podcasts, including Affective Leadership – Positivity Promotes Productivity. He also blogs weekly on various aspects of affective leadership, and his blogs can be found on LinkedIn. Jamie can be contacted by email at info@jamiebricker.com or through his website at www.jamiebricker.com.
