Earlier in this chapter, I stated that all principals are different and that the differences will have implications for you regarding what you are exposed to as an AP. Having superior people skills can be beneficial as regards what you are exposed to as an AP. But let's say that you are in a very difficult, challenging, undesirable, and tension-filled relationship with your principal and that you have determined, unequivocally, that it is not of your making and that there's nothing you can do about it. If that is the case, for the sake of staff, students, and parents, you must, nevertheless, continually grow and be effective as an AP. Your staff and students are relying on you, so you can't afford to throw up your hands in disgust. You must continue to strive to be amazing in your capacity as an AP, despite any obstacles you may encounter. You must be an open book with eyes and ears wide open as you strive to take in and learn all that you can. You must approach your position as one who desires to be a guru in school leadership in general and AP leadership in particular. You must purposefully observe everything you can about your principal's leadership. You must study your principal and determine which of her actions are useful to you and which are of no use to you. You must treat your principal as if she were an ongoing graduate school course on school leadership. You must read everything you can get your hands on and watch videos about leadership in general and school leadership in particular. You must participate in a variety of professional learning networks (PLNs), actively participate on a social media platform, and be a part of a network of fellow APs (which I will discuss further in the following section). You must be an AP leadership sponge who absorbs as much information as you possibly can. This translates to your professional learning being a high priority toward your overall growth and development to becoming an extraordinary AP.
Q6. How often do I get to collaborate, "compare notes," and exchange ideas with other assistant principals?
Now this is a question that I probably couldn't speak about enough. Assistant principal networks are vital. I often say that the principalship has got to be one of the loneliest and thankless positions on the planet. Our "thank-yous" come through the successes our schools experience under our leadership. Well, I feel the same way about the assistant principalship—times 10! In far too many cases, though not all, APs are relegated to doing the "dirty work"—doling out discipline, cafeteria duty, bus duty, and so on. This is not necessarily work that generates a line of people approaching you to say, "Thank you." Instead, the AP is often a person to be feared, and you didn't become a school leader to be feared. You became a school leader because you felt you had something to offer students and staff toward taking a school to heights previously unimagined.
Being consumed by the duties mentioned without a balance of the other important aspects of school leadership can be quite stressful. (Trust me, I know something about that. I dealt with so many disciplinary issues [as I was the sole disciplinarian in an urban middle school of 650 students] that I left the school stressed almost every day.) I knew that in my role as AP, I was to supervise half of the entire school staff, which included approximately 30 teachers. However, my discipline workload was so intense that I neglected my supervisory duties. I was not the instructional leader that I aspired to be. Instead, I was in the thankless role of school disciplinarian, and my staff and students suffered as a result.
In hindsight, I wish that I had taken the initiative and launched a network of APs within my district and in neighboring districts. The good thing is that these networks now exist in various districts across the United States. They give APs opportunities to collaborate with one another, compare notes, and exchange ideas. This is vital because unless you are interacting with others who do the same work that you do, you can easily be left with the impression that you are all alone and that no one else is toiling over these thankless duties the way that you are. Assistant principal networks can also be very revealing. There may be individuals in a network who have figured out how to simultaneously, for example, function as school disciplinarian and maximize their instructional leadership. These networks provide APs with endless opportunities to learn from one another. Sometimes, though, as human beings, we simply need like-minded people to whom to vent. (Family and friends who work in other capacities may not fully understand your frustrations, particularly if your salary is higher than theirs. They might tell you to "get over it.") Your fellow APs, however, fully understand your frustrations and sometimes just having an ear to hear them can soothe some of the pain. Do you network with other assistant principals? How often do you communicate and collaborate with assistant principal colleagues?
Remember, in the 21st century, networking need not always involve physically coming together. Social media platforms such as Twitter, and even text groups, enable folks to chat from wherever they are. If you are not a part of an AP's virtual network, you may want to start one with other APs or join existing groups via one of the various social media platforms.
Q7. Why do I lead?
Let's close this chapter by discussing your attitude as an AP. For those of you who are familiar with my work as a writer or presenter, you know that I have written and spoken extensively about the "attitude of the leader." When I write and speak about leadership practices, I typically start with the "attitude of the leader" because one's attitude in the pursuit of any endeavor is the essential starting place. An attitude of negativity, pessimism, doubt, or despair will not yield optimal results. Attitude is key. Attitude is vital toward attaining and sustaining maximum results.
A vital component toward sustaining a positive attitude during your assistant principalship is establishing a clearly defined purpose for leading. I am referring to your why and I am asking you, "What is your why?", "Have you established a why?", "Are you grounded in your why?", and "In your capacity as assistant principal, are you walking in your why?" As I have been saying for a couple of decades, the assistant principalship is a very confusing position, as evidenced by the wide variety of ways that assistant principals are utilized nationally. Because, as I state, the assistant principalship is the most misunderstood and underutilized position in education, it is the one position wherein one's purpose can become murky when transitioning from teacher to AP to principal.
As a classroom teacher, my why—which was rooted in the empowerment of African American and Latino boys—was clear. When I became a principal, I maintained my why throughout my years as the leader of four schools. It was during my assistant principalship that I lost my why. I completely lost my purpose because of a perceived inability to walk in it (noting my use of the word "perceived"). I am saying here that, in hindsight, I could have done things in such a way that would have enabled me to simultaneously effectively assist the principal and walk in my why. I here strongly suggest that if you are in a situation comparable to the one in which I found myself—that is, you were walking in your why as a classroom teacher (the leader of your classroom) but lost your autonomy as AP—that you never, ever allow yourself to lose sight of your why. It is the foundation of your assistant principalship and likely the reason you sought an administrative position. Although you might be using your assistant principalship as a stepping-stone to the principalship, as an AP, you must know that your students and the staff you supervise need you to be a strong AP and that will, in part, require that you walk in your why. Toward that end, you may have to examine how you are currently utilizing and managing your time; you and the other administrative leaders may need to take an honest look at the overall climate and culture of your school and determine whether it can be transformed; or you may need to examine other variables that may be preventing you from sustaining your why.
Each morning as you prepare mentally and emotionally for leadership, be sure to ask yourself, "Why do I lead?"and "Will I walk in my why today?" At the end of the day, ask yourself, "Why do I lead?" and "Did I walk in my why today?" If you don't answer the second question affirmatively at either point in the day, you've got to look deeply within yourself to determine why you didn't and what adjustments you will need to make so that the following day will be better. Your why, even as an AP, matters exponentially!
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