Advice for 1st Year Principals to win the Marathon
I’m not gonna say that your first year is ‘make or break’, but it’s pretty damn important. Here’s some advice, resources, and at least one book, for you to prepare to win the marathon. Culturally responsive leaders don’t have time to make many mistakes.
“Making the most of your first year as principal” has come up in a few recent conversations. I have usually left this topic to many writers who have taken it up like Principal Kafele and others you can pursue on Amazon.
But, in talking with a few folks, I figured I might have a few gems to drop. I did make it through my first year and lived to talk mess about it. And truthfully, there are things I wish I did that would have helped tremendously. And, I happen to know an expert on the topic, who helped to write this post.
How is this Advice Different?
I am not writing to just any school leader. I am talking to you. I am speaking to those who are going into the belly of the beast, like the trojan horse.
Attack!
Most folks, not you, are going into schools looking to keep the trains leaving on time. Status quo.
Culturally responsive leaders, on the other hand, are doing something different. You are engineering for equity. Creating the conditions. This means they/you are looking to lay new tracks and replace the coal engine with a Tesla model 3.
Doc Brown meets Elon Musk meets Geneva Gay.
Therefore, you need different strategies, resources, and tools. In addition, you need to be thoughtful, intentional, and a visionary.
Advice I got from Mentors
- Pick 3 things to improve during your first year, that you CAN control. Focus on them, put your efforts there, and celebrate your success at the end of the year
- Go on 90-day listening campaign, observe, reflect, and build a strategic plan
- Build relationships and get to know who people are, their families, their passions, their goals
- Don’t come in guns blazing. Wait until you have a lay of the land before you pull that pistol out
Advice I would tell my former self
- Slow down, Ricky Bobby! Listen more than talk.
- Find out what work has been done in the past, and honor it
- Create the conditions (schedule, funding, values, norms) for change
- State your values many times, explicitly
- Make a list of successes and record them
- Find the bright spots in the building and spotlight them
- Get a culturally responsive leadership coach and find like-minded colleagues
- Identify mindset work and adult culture as parts of your strategic plan
- Create a long term, multi-year strategic plan
- Read more books, visit more schools, and go to 1 conference
Conclusions
My Admin School Professor, Lynda Treadway told me, “go slow to go fast”. I wasn’t trying to hear that. I thought she was co-opted and complacent, but I was wrong. Instead of taking the advice, I went too hard. I found out I was on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, but I was the only one on board. Instead, I needed to be walking along the Philosophers way, with my crew. I wish I knew better where I was headed and what to do only during my first year. I wish someone told me,
“take your plan for year 1 and spread it over 5 years”.
Now, what CAN you accomplish this year to get there? What conditions can you control and adapt to get there? What mindset shifts (white supremacy culture, discourse 2, participation patterns, brave norms) are needed?”
It’s easy to get ambitious and try to change everything at once. But slow down Usain Bolt. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We should be listening to Marathon runners like Wilson Kipsang, from Kenya.
Go easy on yourself, be patient, and practice self-care. Similar to the first years of teaching, it is easy to go into martyr mode. But your school needs you for multiple years and that’s how long it will take to see that fruits of equity grow. So until then, tend the garden Johnny Appleseed, and water it. Build those relationships, make small talk, and set the right conditions. You need to get through the first year with yourself intact, stronger relational trust in the building, and a clearer vision for where the ship is headed next year.
You got this.
Resources for developing your culturally responsive leadership
Free Resources from the book Entering the Lion’s Den: A School Leader’s Guide to Earning Trust, Inspiring Others and Not Getting Eaten in Year One.