Supporting and Strengthening our Principals as a Superintendent

So thankful to be part of this discussion with the thoughtful Dr. Eric Eshbach. Our Educators are incredibly challenged, especially in the uncertainty in so many of our communities and environments. Helping support our Educational leaders at the local level may never be more valuable or needed that it is today. Thank you Dr. Eshbach for sharing your "Really Good Practices" for all leaders!

Supporting and Strengthening our Principals as a Superintendent

Dr. Eric Eshbach, Incoming Executive Director of Pennsylvania Principals Association

?Dr. Eric Eshbach is the incoming Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Principals Association, the state’s sole professional organization focused on supporting principals and advancing the profession. Previously, Dr. Eshbach served as a superintendent in Pennsylvania schools for 16 years.

What is our core purpose as superintendents? Though we may sit far from school buildings, our core role is to create high quality learning opportunities for students. However, in the superintendent position, we can’t teach every student in every building, so we hire teachers to teach those students. We also can’t support every teacher, so we hire principals to mentor the teachers.

Therefore, if we want to serve every student in our districts, we need to invest in the personal and professional development of principals. Through supporting principals, we can equip them to successfully mentor their faculty, who in turn foster student learning. Superintendents can empower principals by creating lines of open communication, spending time together formally and informally, and growing educational leaders.

Create Lines of Open Communication

Open lines of communication with principals creates cohesion, which benefits the overall student experience in the district. You can set the expectations for communication by explaining some of your personal preferences and desired modes of communication. For example, I always used to tell my principals I can handle bad news, but I dislike surprises. Let’s say there was an issue with a parent. I would have much preferred to receive a call late in the evening to be made aware of the situation, instead of being caught off guard with the parent waiting outside my office the next morning. Clear and open communication is key.

Another way of creating open lines of communication is being vulnerable with principals and sharing who we are as people. For example, one day I went into a meeting with my principals and chose to share with them some personal challenges in my family. The principals were understanding and empathetic, and some of them also revealed they were going through difficult situations as well. So, my vulnerability built new connections and trust between us. If I hadn’t told them, they would have been left to guess why I was acting differently. By choosing to lead with vulnerability, I am also modeling this leadership style for my principals. I want them to lead in the same way as they work with the faculty, staff, and students at their school sites.

Additionally, it is important to ask meaningful questions and listen for the answers. I ask my principals questions such as, “What can I do for you?” and then I listen to their responses and make changes accordingly. It is important to be an active and empathetic listener as your principals want to feel heard and understood.

Spend Time with Principals

Another way to empower your principals is to spend time with them – both formally and informally. Some questions to ask yourself are: Are you shadowing your principals? Are you spending time in the classrooms at their school sites? Are you giving new principals?the support they need? You can also develop creative methods to gain new insights into your district. For example, at the midpoint of my superintendent career, I wanted to reimagine our work as leaders. To learn more about the effects of our decisions on students, I spent an entire day shadowing one of the eighth-grade students in my district. I rode the bus with him and attended all his classes throughout the day. This exercise led to some important conversations with the principals as I gained new understandings about what was happening in our district.

You can build relationships with your principals by spending time with your team in informal settings. I liked taking the principals off campus and into different settings where they could be their authentic selves. In our district, we would be creative and develop experiences beyond what typically occurs at traditional educational gatherings. For example, we golfed, played tennis, completed ropes courses, and even did whitewater rafting. Informal time together can help everyone feel more comfortable with each other. In the long run, the stronger relationships can lead to more effective strategic planning for the district. Furthermore, based on this model, principals can host informal events at their school sites to nurture relationships, which could lead to teachers doing the same in their classrooms. As relationships are the birthplace of authentic learning, this is certainly time well spent.

Grow Educational Leaders

When someone is an exceptional school leader, a temptation may exist to want to keep them in their current role because you know you can count on them. However, it is important to grow your principals and offer them encouragement to move into new and different roles. You can ask your principals questions such as, “Have you considered applying for the open position? Will you work on your superintendent certificate? Have you considered going back to school for your doctorate?” You can communicate with your principals that it’s okay to be brave and courageous, to move out of the familiar and into the unknown.

I worked with one principal who grew 19 assistant principals into further leadership positions. He was a “people champion” who felt that it was one of his biggest tasks to nurture and grow other leaders. By modeling this spirit of growth as a superintendent, you can encourage principals to be ambitious and unleash their potential.

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Though we wear many hats and are inundated with tasks, remember that the most important work of a superintendent is that which is people-facing. With principals, creating lines of open communication, spending time together formally and informally, and growing educational leaders will create powerful impacts on the student learning experience across the district.