New principals are fun to work with as a district leader, they are upbeat, excited to make a difference, eager to connect and learn. The energy they exude is motivating and their desire to build relationship as they enter school leadership is commendable.
So, to help them be successful we must guide them in understanding a few leadership-relationship pitfalls. As a new administrator they need to build relationship, but they also must lead. It is this distinction, between relationship and leadership, which I want to focus on in today’s post.
A few years ago, I read an intriguing article on this concept by Marlene Chism. Ms. Chism focused on how “nice” leaders can create team drama and I think this concept is instructive as we onboard school leaders in our districts.
New principals can’t effectively lead without building relationship, but there is a balance. At times a leader must make tough decisions, which will go against what some staff members desire. It is not easy, but that is the reality of leadership…
So, here are three types of leadership-relationship approaches school principals need to understand and learn from as they enter their new position. Each is an adaptation from the Chism article and is designed to specifically relate to the school context.
The Colleague:
New principals who decide to build relationship with their staff as a “Colleague” can undermine their ability to lead when it is required. In this context I use colleague to describe equals, like two teachers who work in the same department.
The problem is that boundaries between the new principal and the staff are loose and undefined. In an attempt to build relationship, the principal decides to be “one of the gang” and that is fine, until problems occur. As Chism states, “They often thrive at first during the honey-moon period when everyone gets along, but falter when reality sets in.”
When problems occur, the Colleague is more concerned with maintaining relationship than handling the issue. Over time the Colleague learns they can’t make everyone happy, and it ultimately leads to a crisis in which a tough decision must be made and relationship with some, if not all, is broken.
Chism identifies a few modes of operation you will observe with the Colleague leader, which can provide an early warning system to provide the help they need to make a course correction.
Characteristics to look for with the Colleague leader:
-Gossiping with employees about other employees
-Avoiding difficult conversations
-Being inauthentic about the real problems
-Blaming district office staff for decisions
-Listening to hear-say
The Expert:
The Expert school principal comes in wanting to help, but really desires to be the smartest person in the room. If the staff is inexperienced or lacks capacity the Expert principal can seem like a hero who has swooped in to save the day, but this type of relationship will lead to problems.
In essence this is a co-dependent relationship. The principal needs to be the oracle that the staff looks up to and depends upon, which means that little to no professional growth occurs within the school. Chism describes the problem as the leader in this situation not understanding the difference between helping and rescuing. She states, “Helping is teaching a man to fish, while rescuing is giving the man a fish — over and over.”
If the staff is constantly being “rescued”, and capacity is not being built among the group, then when the principal leaves the school is left in disarray. You will also often see the most capable staff members move on because there is no opportunity for them to grow and thrive when working for an Expert leader.
Characteristics which Chism identifies with Expert leader are as follows:
-Inability to ask for what he or she wants
-Taking credit instead of giving credit
-An addictive urge to fix everyone else’s problems
-The open door has become a revolving door
-Overly dependent employees
The Abdicator:
Chism characterizes this type of leader by statements like “I trust everyone to do their job”, or “I provide lots of autonomy” or “I give my employees what they need, and I get out of the way”. Although these are noble instincts and in the right situation may work, school principals who start out operating from this perspective can run into problems because there is a lack of oversight and direction.
We want to empower others to do their jobs, but those individuals also need a leader to handle challenges when problems occur. The Abdicator’s approach works fine until factions begin to argue or issues arise related to who controls which turf.
Chism indicates that when we hear problems in the organization (a school in this case) are not being resolved, or turf wars are prevalent, we need to look to see if the school is being led by an Abdicator.
Characteristics of Abdicator school principals will look as follows:
-Brushing complaints under the carpet
-Changing the structure before talking to all involved
-Failure to assist subordinates when problems occur
-Not seeing the drama until it has gotten out of control
-Inability to see the Abdicator’s role in the staff’s dysfunction
Although there are many leadership-relationship approaches, each with their own set of pitfalls, these three are quite common. Hopefully, as part of your district’s induction process, you can speak to effective leadership-relationship approaches so new school administrators can understand the pros and cons of each.
In the comments section below please take a moment to identify any approaches you have either seen to be very successful, or alternatively, fraught with problems. Also, let us know if you have any great school administrator induction processes. Please remember that we all gain and grow when we share and learn from each other.
Howard, thank you for your timely thoughts. I appreciate the succinct way in which you summed up the top three most common things we see in leaders that sometimes hurt the culture of the school. I see these things in seasoned administrators too. I follow up article on how to address these characteristics would be interesting to read. Hope you are well!
Thanks, Kristi and I agree that these issues can be found in the way both new and seasoned administrators operate. I like the idea of an article addressing these characteristics and will need to give that some thought.
Excellent article, Howard and important reminders for leaders as a new school year begins.
Thanks, Deb. I think if new principals are aware of some of the pitfalls related to various approaches it can help them be more effective, regardless of whether they are new to administration or come with experience.
I remember my first year as a principal in 1996. Although I didn’t know it, I grappled with all of these. As a principal, from day one, you feel compelled to assume the role of all of these to a degree, and they all have a role to play, but must be purposefully managed. You have to be an instructional resource if not expert, interpersonal leader, and effective delegator. The key for me was to learn to do it with intentionality, thoughtful determination , and balance. For me , the key was having senior leaders who helped coach me through the associated pitfalls, and developing strategies for purposeful decision making.
Manny – What a great reflection! I appreciate your thoughts regarding how as a new principal had to think through all three of these realms. It sounds like you were blessed to have some great senior leaders who helped you through, but I believe this is why it is so important include these concepts during the induction process. Again, I appreciate your wisdom!