In the last few months I moved from a position as a supporting administrator to the lead administrator on a campus. Because the campus is a center affiliated with a high school, I am not technically the principal; however, I function like one at the center. I also have responsibilities for two programs in the school district spanning sixth to twelfth grades. After about a week into the job, I started noticing “ah-ha” moments when I recognized a change in thinking I had to make in order to be effective. I made notes of these moments and hope my discoveries offer insight to others making the transition or considering moving into administration.
I have always been a do-er. I jump in and make certain the work gets done - usually by doing it myself. Often I justify it by saying, “it’s faster to do it than to explain and get someone else to do it.” Doing the task is not necessarily my job anymore - especially when it involves physical labor. Making certain the task is completed in a satisfactory manner is my job now. Getting the job to satisfactory may require some hands-on supervision, but the next time, the task is completed more efficiently from the start.
Changing roles does not mean I am no longer a do-er. I am not dressed to move furniture or sweep the floors. I am responsible for making the decisions that move all of the work of the school forward. My doing has shifted from physical labor to mental labor. My doing involves building the master schedule and assembling a team to carry it out. I make decisions regarding instructional materials and strategies. I plan and map the flow of bodies through the facility.
I was raised in the country and the many physical chores of the ranch defined labor in my mind. Shifting my mindset from the idea that “real work” involved physical labor to include mental work proved challenging even though I arrive at home at the end of each day completely exhausted. It took seeing results take shape following mental work I had done before I had the “ah-ha” moment that what I was doing was actually work. My administrator training covered the roles of various staff members in a school, but my personal experiences that shaped the idea of work trumped that knowledge until I had enough experience to prove otherwise.
No one who works in a school setting (and does their job well) does not work hard. Changing my personal mindset to value the level of work that goes on from upper administrative decision making to custodial labor was the first major lesson I learned that has made me a more effective leader.
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