You made it!  You survived the most recent marathon run to the end of the school year!  I used to tell my teachers that if you remembered what May and June were like at a school, no one would do this work!  Just try to begin and describe how harrowing, stressing, absolutely taxing May and June is at a school on one’s personal life to anyone outside of education.  They just don’t get it.  We do, but luckily we have memory loss and spend our summer respiriting, renewing, rejuvenating, learning, reflecting, setting new goals, and organizing once again so we can start afresh in September and do even better!  

My wife Dawn and I like to take walks together.  I always knew when school was out, because I was actually listening to what she was saying to me and not running all of the scenarios in my head!  There should definitely be a support group for significant others to help them understand the work of educational leaders.  You would think after 27 years of marriage and 32 years of being in this work, Dawn and I would have it figured out.  But as you know, each year produces its different set of challenges, new mandates, directives, new implementation and learning to be had.

In a survey of principals that flushed out perceived priorities versus actual priorities it was found that:

·      Principals felt that ALL responsibilities of their job were important

·      No matter how much principals emphasized a task, they felt like they should be doing more

·      School climate was the highest priority for principals

·      Principals recognized the need to improve time management

·      The numerous responsibilities of principals make the job tremendously stressful

The work of a principal like that of a teacher is never finished.  As a group of overachievers and perfectionists, principals have high expectations of their teachers, their schools, and themselves.  Despite fewer resources, a higher focus on accountability, and much less support, principals continue to work harder to achieve perfection, and not necessarily living a well-balanced life.  Principals are racing to the classroom, which is good, but feeling overtired, overburdened, and overwhelmed hiding under piles of paperwork and unable to manage everything.

How can principals be working so hard and still not achieve the expected academic achievement? In an article entitled The Big Rocks: Priority Management for Principals, Kim Marshall says that principals are afflicted with two diseases:  HSPD(Hyperactive Superficial Principal Disorder and PAUT(Putting Aside Unpleasant Tasks).  Time is spent on tasks considered urgent, but not important and principals put off the unpleasant tasks that leave them burdened with looming deadlines.  He suggests that too much time is spent on all of the wrong things and not enough time on the right things.  His suggestion is to prioritize and strategically schedule the top 2 or 3 priorities in your calendar each and every day.  If job #1 of every principal is to ensure high quality teaching in every classroom, then walkthroughs, coaching, and feedback become the first priority to schedule.  Motivation and organizational guru Stephen Covey said it best:  “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

Ari Meisler in his book Less Doing, More Living:  Make Everything in Life Easier starts by describing the Pareto principle better known as the 80/20 rule, where for many events 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.  Translation: 80% of the principal’s time is spent because of 20% of the students, teachers, parents, etc.  He suggests further that 95% of work can be optimized, automated, or outsourced and that we are directly responsible for only 5% of the work.  In the principal’s case, job one is ensuring high level teacher quality in every classroom.  So the 5% is supporting, coaching, motivating, and providing resources for teachers.

I am sure that you have found it impossible to do it all and feel good about the outcome of everything that is expected.  And, with it has come the cost of your own personal wellness, time for self, time with family, etc.  I got better at attending to this as I gained experience, but as one parent said to me, “I tell people that you are a principal that is all in!”  He is right; I was all in, for my kids, my teachers, my school and my school district, but not always for my family and me.

I was able to learn some strategies over time that helped me be more productive and work smarter.  Most recently, I have done some great reading and gleaned what I think are some excellent strategies to implement that will make the job of getting to the 5% a little easier.  Not perfect, but a little easier.  And if you try some of these out next year, even the marathon run to the end of the next school year might not leave you so exhausted.

I hope you will join me at the MEMSPA Summer Institute for a session that I am presenting called Work Smarter, Not Harder!  Manage and Reclaim Time, Manage Stress, and Create a Healthy Lifestyle!  You will learn how to change the culture, set priorities, take control of your calendar, cluster work to manage Hyperactivity Principal Disorder, learn some really cool technology productivity tools that will help you digitally get organized and free your brain to do the creative thinking that you need to do in order to maximize your work output.  Finally, you will learn some calming techniques that can be applied during the workday to reduce stress!

If you haven’t registered for the MEMSPA Summer Institute from Tuesday, August 5 through Wednesday, August 6 click here:  MEMSPA Summer Institute  I hope to see you in Bay City!  Thanks for letting me share with you this year!  You have helped me transition from the principalship to my current work of supporting and mentoring principals throughout the state!  Enjoy this time of less doing and more being!

The 2013-14 school year is coming to an end and the finish line is in sight.  As a teacher, I counted down the days to the end of the year, because I knew that it meant summer break.  As a principal, I didn’t, because I knew that after the kids and teachers/staff left, I had several weeks of work to finish before I could vacation in July.

As you run to the finish line, remember what your job is, to affirm, cheer on, and motivate your team in a positive manner to make it over the finish line together.  At this point, there are many people that maybe you don’t even want to support and cheer on, but it is what we must do as leaders with a smile and positive attitude!

As a teacher, I was much better at giving affirmations and positive praise in the morning session and as the day wore on and I got tired, not as good at it in the afternoon.  Behavior changed from morning to afternoon for the worse.  So I made a grand effort to give just as many positive affirmations in the afternoon as I did in the morning.  Sure enough, behavior improved and although it meant more effort for me, I wasn’t as tired, because I didn’t have to deal with so many behavior interruptions.

Guess what? The same holds true for us as principal leaders!  At the end of the year, we are worn down and our bag of affirmation tricks is waning!  But, now is the time to kick it into gear!  Finish strong with an attitude of gratitude!  Or as Todd Whitaker would tell us, “Raise the Praise!  Minimize the Criticize!”

The focus on accountability in education has brought forth more opportunities for us to look for what is wrong, instead of what is right.  What we need to do is turn that around and spend more time thinking about all of the great things happening at our schools, no matter how small.

Kim Cameron in his book Positive Leadership Strategies for Extraordinary Performance, shares several principles of leadership that focus on an attitude of gratitude!  His positive leadership assessment includes these check offs:

How frequently do you?

·      Express gratitude to multiple employees each day?

·      Make gratitude visits and the distribution of gratitude notes a daily practice?

·      Provide more feedback to individuals about their strengths rather than their weaknesses?

·      Spend more time with your strongest performers than with your weakest performers?

·      Communicate a ratio of approximately five positive messages for every negative message to those with whom you interact?

·      Consistently distribute notes or cards to your employees complimenting their performance?

Okay, I am not trying to make you feel guilty!  Kim is a business professor at the University of Michigan and we know that most business managers have on average about seven reports.(Those they are directly responsible for to evaluate and manage)  We have on average at least twenty or more!  I had 80 at my school!  Plus, if you talk to business people, they will tell you that they have departments for everything principals are expected to manage and lead!  My point is to change your thinking, what if we look around our schools with our heads up and find all of the great things that are going on and happening?  What if we spent a few minutes each day with an attitude of gratitude and thought about who needed an affirmation or two?  Could it spread?  Would others join in and create a movement? 

Adrian Gostnick in his book, The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance reports that only 1 out of 5 employees in business have received a public thank you from their manager.  Less than half of workers have received ONE personal thank you note or message from a manager.  It seems like business and education has been lacking in its focus on affirming, building, influencing, and moving people!  Perhaps we need to join the positive leadership movement and turn that around! Some of you have a week or more left of school!  Lift your head up!  Look around!  What haven’t you noticed lately that needs to be affirmed?  Take a moment each day to just think positively and make a list of those who need a little gratitude.  And while you are at it, put yourself on the list!  You have worked hard this year and deserve a pat on the back yourself.  Start now!  Get up from your computer and take a gratitude walk!  Give an affirmation or two!  Find out what happens!  Spread the movement of RAA!  Random acts of affirmation!  Until we meet again . . . Happy trails to you!