THREE PEOPLE & THREE THINGS
Who are the three most important people in your school? Probably not who you think they are.
Early in my career, when starting a new job at a new school, I was advised to quickly identify the three most important people at that school. And, as the advice went:
“...it won’t be the Principal or senior leaders”.?
The point was that the people most likely to help you, to support you, and to guide you are not necessarily those in leadership positions. It’s more likely to be the cleaning staff, the catering staff, the librarian, or the receptionist. Maybe even the old curmudgeon in the corner of the staff room.
Each of these may extend a hand, or offer a kind word in times of need. They’ll give you ‘the word on the street’, early warnings of potential student misbehavior. They’ll help you smooth over mistakes, quietly cleaning up the permanent marker you used on the whiteboard (yes, guilty as charged). They might even spoil you; who doesn’t want to know when the best biscuits are out at break times!? Treated right, they’ll cover for you; the ten minutes headspace you needed in the Library excused as “she was looking for a book”.
These are the people who'll make your days easier.
This all might seem obvious. And, yes, we should treat everyone with respect, not just those who might help us. Yet, we’ve all seen teachers and leaders treat support staff like servants. We can do much, much better than to treat them as butlers.
Whoever the three most important people are in your school, see them. Say “hello” to them. Take an interest in them. Take biscuits into them. Thank them. You never know when you might need them— and even if you don’t, it’s the right thing to do.
Who are the three most important people in your school?
THREE THINGS
What are your three things? When you find yourself in an impromptu conversation with a ‘higher up’ — your Head perhaps, or a Board member — what will you talk about?
The same person who advised me to identify the three most important people also advised me to:
“...always have three things to talk about”.
Three things you want to share and that the listener might want to know. Something, anything. Perhaps:
Actually though, it’s less about what you say and more that you have something to say. Whatever the three things are, having things to say will show that you are engaged. That you are intelligent and interested. That you understand their priorities, what they need to know. Ultimately, that you are the kind of person they might one-day-hopefully-maybe promote. At the very least, that you are someone whose career they should watch…and whose rise they should support.
I used to keep my three things on the front pages of a notebook, updating them regularly. The weekly act of checking and revising kept them front of mind when I found myself in the lunch queue next to the Head. I had a better answer to “how are things going?” than “eerrrr…arrghh…fine?”
Your three things don’t need to be big, grand, and earth-shattering. They could be small or whole-school. They could be professional or personal.? And, ‘three things’ is obviously a heuristic not a hard rule. The point is: have something to talk about.
A good way to make sure you do is to regularly ask: what are your three things??
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