As principal, you take personal responsibility for the success of the school and motivate the community by modeling a relentless pursuit of excellence. Because of this, you are reflective in your practice and strive to continually improve, learn, and grow, acknowledging mistakes while remaining focused on solutions. When a strategy fails, you analyze data, assess implementation, and talk with stakeholders to understand what went wrong and how to adapt future strategies. Keeping staff inspired and focused on the end goal is crucial while supporting effective change management. It is important to have strong communication skills and be willing to listen to others and create opportunities for staff and stakeholders to provide feedback. By treating all members of the community with respect, you develop strong and positive relationships.
The impact of your leadership as principal on school productivity, instructional quality, and student achievement is instrumental in developing a purposeful community. Accordingly, your first priority is to work with teachers and key community leaders to develop and maintain a strong, intentional, and purposeful community. Waters & Cameron (2007) suggests that:
"Everything that happens in a school happens within the context of a community. School communities are comprised of students, parents, teachers and other school staff members, central office administrators and support personnel, the school board, other social agencies, and businesses. The more this diverse community is able to coalesce around shared purposes, the more sustainable and effective the school's change efforts will be.”