LEaD with Staff Relationships

My first series of posts will be about how leaders can build relationships, which are vital in the education world, but don’t take my word for it. Ruby Payne, John Hattie, and Stephen Covey all point to relationships as integral to success for students and staff. The series will include posts on building relationships with staff, students, central office, parents, and the community. Today’s post will focus on building relationships with staff.

One thing I firmly believe is that a leader must be genuine. This whole “fake it til you make it” doesn’t work for me. Teachers and staff see through that, and as a leader, you’ve lost their respect and trust. My staff knows my resume, but what matters more is how I treat them both individually and collectively. I do my best to follow the golden rule, so treating others like I want to be treated is the norm. I treat them as the professionals they are. I respect their time by only holding meetings that are necessary or required. I listen a lot. I share stories of my professional successes and struggles because my staff needs to know that I am real person, and dedicated educator just like they are. My staff sometimes even hear stories about my life outside school, because I want to remind them that they too have a life outside school. Ask staff about their families. Check in on those who you know need an extra boost. Ask about their spouse, child, pet, or new house. True story from this year: We have new touch screen panels, so we’re all learning something new. As principal, I am trying to set up for a faculty meeting. I can’t get the screen to work. I called for IT who showed up and turned on the computer hooked to the panel. She and I had a good laugh over it. Yep, I had forgotten to turn on the computer. I laughed, and then shared that with my staff at the faculty meeting. Be genuine.

Another thing that I have found helpful is meeting with staff prior to the school year starting. At each school that I’ve lead, I hosted a voluntary drop in for staff by grade level, or other assignment. This gave me the opportunity to learn about them and for them to learn about me. I shared a little and listened a lot. From these informal meetings, I learned which teams were working well, who needed extra support, who had a growth mindset, etc. I took notes, clarified what we discussed, and made action plans based on what I learned.

Being in classrooms is another way that I build relationships with my staff (it also helps with the student relationships). My staff has clear, high expectations from me, and I expect them to hold the students to high expectations as well. To support this, I try to get in classrooms each day and provide teachers with feedback for each visit. I have also learned that it is hard for me to be a silent observer. I often get into the lesson, or end up teaching a small group or working one-on-one with student. The time in the classroom keeps me connected and aware of what is going on in my building.

One thing that I try to do is show appreciation for all my staff. Doughnuts and juice once in a while. Sometimes I write thank you notes when I notice something exceptional. During group meetings, we have a time to share celebrations (professional & personal) and funnies. It connects us, and builds relationships among staff. My AP this year put together an amazing 12 Days Before Christmas Break (Winter Break if you must) to show our appreciation to the staff. She recruited PTO, some retired teachers, parents, and community to come in and assist on some of the days to help us pull off some of the events. The staff thanked us repeatedly for this. Appreciation and thank you goes a long way.

A final way that I work to build relationships with staff is by having an open door policy. My staff knows that can talk and discuss issues with me, even though we may not always agree. Listening to concerns and addressing them allows for trust to build over time. The old adage of you have two ears and one, so you should listen twice as much as you talk holds true with your staff. Everyone (principals included) want to feel heard, to know they have voice. I let my staff know up front that I will listen, but I may not be able to address the concern in the way they wish.

So as school leader, I encourage you to build positive relationships with your staff. The teachers are dealing with the students daily, the secretary deals with parents and the community daily, the custodians keep the environment safe and sanitary, the cafeteria staff are feeding hundreds of children and adults daily, etc. Remember to ask them how they are doing, listen to concerns and address them the best way possible. Also keep a sense of humor, it goes back to being genuine.