The Buck Stops Here

It is so easy to point the finger at someone else. When in fact as a principal, I can say I am 4 times more at fault than the person. Double checking more, monitoring more, and evaluating all aspects of the school is key. When there is a lapse on my part, I can only be mad at myself. I learned today that I have to check and double check once a task is given. However, there are times when incompetence is so egregious that you feel like throwing someone under the proverbial bus. On December 19, 1952 President Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made."
Today a mistake was made that caused many families and students to be upset. It was an honest mistake caused by a staff member. I could have easily said this is your mistake you fix it. I could have even blamed it on the person who was responsible for the error, but the buck stopped with me today. I made a personal call to each of the parents that were affected by the incident, offering my personal apology. 
I was met with mostly kind and understanding voices on the other end of the phone. However, some were clearly still upset. With each call I cringed at the thought of meeting a screaming parent like the one that left me a message on Friday night on my answering machine. She screamed, cursed, and ranted for over 2 minutes. I had to suck it up and take whatever came my way.  
I am learning that leadership is hard on days like this. However, days like this build character and rapport with families and staff. I know that I was chosen for this job because, on days like this I would lead.

Difficult Conversations

Yesterday was a day of hard conversations. You know the type of conversations that you simply dread having with a teacher? Sometimes I find myself wishing that the issue would resolve itself, but it never does. It takes skill to have tough conversations. I have found that the sandwich message works best. I start with praising the teacher for something positive that they are doing. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I never want the teacher to feel that they are worthless. I then move to addressing the problem. There is no way to do this easily. It's like ripping off a bandage. You just have to do it. I then recap of our discussion and the plan. Finally, I encourage the person and offer my help/ other resources to improve the problematic behavior.


No one likes to have tough conversations, but they are necessary. You cannot let a negative behavior go unaddressed. Unaddressed behaviors can destroy the climate of a school and affect student achievement. Negative teacher behaviors can also be detrimental to the emotional state of students. I have witnessed the negative behavior of an unaddressed teacher tear a beautifully crafted school culture apart in one year. Once negative or problematic behaviors are presented it is the responsibility of the school's administrator to address them. An administrator would cringe if they were asked to not address students who were disruptive. How can you not address negative student behavior? The exact same thing is true for school staff members.  School's staff are people, and people come to your building with good and bad habits. Once we identify negative behaviors we cannot turn a blind eye to them.


I cannot promise that these conversations are always successful. However, I can say that after you have them, everyone should know what the issue is, where you stand, and your expectations for change are. You cannot be punitive if you haven't given support.