Just Be Honest
By Emily Soley-Johnson, Principal Williams Bay Middle/High School
It sounds so simple, but if we could all just be honest and engage in the difficult conversations versus avoidance, we would be amazed at the impact. I wish someone had told me that when I began my administrative journey; that when we avoid taxing conversations, we pay for it in culture and data. Now in my fourth year as a principal, I have become comfortable being uncomfortable and here’s how I did it.
Year 1: The Listener
Enrolling in AWSA’s Launching Academy (formerly know as New Building Administrator Academy) was at the top of my list. I knew I needed support as I navigated this new role. Urgency drove my days and as Joe Schroeder would say, I had not yet identified my big rocks (my key leadership) and the stones (weekly managerial activities) drove my days. I was learning to manage a school yet lacked a sense of ownership and my blinders were on. Thankfully, I listened to my teachers to learn about our school and what made it work. To be honest, year one wasn’t a bad year; perhaps it was because I was building relational trust.
Year 2: The Owner
Continuing to professionally develop myself, I participated in AWSA’s Building Academy. I quickly found out that our school report card wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but really, what did I expect? Hope is not a strategy. During my second year, it was an opportunity to remove barriers from instruction so that we could focus on student learning. I was frustrated because I began to own it; I began to own our data, own everything about the workings of our school. Thankfully, I had listened to teachers during my first year and little by little, I began to empower them as the experts that they are. What was a small win? Our 8th grade class knocked it out of the park on their ELA state testing…we were so EXCITED! We began to celebrate.
Year 3: The Team
This is gonna be the year, right? Good news, I was not alone in trying to move from managing a school to being a learning leader for our school. We now had a team joining AWSA’s SAIL Academy. Wow, just wow. We now distributed leadership and I wasn’t trying to do it all on my own. Our TEAM made small changes and was committed to shifting our focus to student learning. Our fall report cards came out and our MS report card was better! We began using our three commitments: To be Honest, Solution-Oriented, and Present. Small system changes had big impacts: phones and attendance. Intentional instructional shifts happened too. In addition, we consulted with an outside company to review our school’s data and data-driven conversations began to happen. I was in classrooms way more; urgency still drove some of my time, but I was doing what I loved and working with teachers to reflect on instructional choices and impacts on student learning. We celebrated more often, but the year was still hard.
The Three Pillars of Our Turnaround:
- Be Honest: No more "beating around the bush" with underperformance.
- Solution-Oriented: We don't bring problems without possible paths forward.
- Be Present: Leadership is a "boots-on-the-ground" endeavor.
Year 4: The Culture
We are continuing in AWSA’s SAIL Program. We are learning more about our school’s data, we are working together to implement system changes with fidelity; we are owning it! And…our report cards are better than last year at both the middle school and high school. We celebrate often, we have honest conversations, and we look to be solution-oriented. Being a principal is still hard, but the nature of the hard has changed. We are no longer struggling with who we are; we are wrestling with the complexities of student learning, student by student. I am confident in my decisions and know that the choices I make are improving our school.
In summary, no one can do it on their own. If we truly want to shift an organization to a learning organization, then we must empower one another and be receptive to honest feedback. I challenge you to have that one conversation you’ve been avoiding now. Start there. Be honest. The data will follow.
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