STANDARD SEVEN: Micro-political Leadership
School Executive Micro-political Leadership: The principal develops systems and relationships to leverage staff expertise and influence in order to influence the school's identity, culture and performance.
At the beginning of my principal residency, I created a Human Capital Table to learn more about the staff at Sanderson High School. Talking with staff members and gathering this information allowed me to better understand each staff member's background and experiences. The staff at Sanderson is a combination of beginning and veteran teachers, returning and new to Sanderson, and from in and out of North Carolina. It is important for a school leader to be aware of the diverse backgrounds of the employees and leverage their strengths to influence the school's identity, culture, and performance. Due to the sensitive nature of this artifact, it is only accessible by NCSU program evaluators.
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The leadership at Sanderson High School for the 2019-2020 school year includes a new principal, two new assistant principals, and a principal resident. As an administrative team, we have worked hard to listen to staff member's needs and leverage their expertise to change the culture of SHS. One way this has been done is through consistent monthly department chair meetings where everyone has a voice! As an administrative team, we were able to employ different ways to build social cohesion and facilitate shared decision-making. We celebrated the diverse background of our staff and leveraged their strengths to benefit our students and whole school community. |
As part of my residency, I was the administrator that attended the Student Council Advisor meetings. The SHS student council hosts many events and organizes charitable drives that influence our school's identity and culture. It was important to the advisors to have a representative from administration at their meetings. I was able to listen to their needs and bring information back to the administration team at our weekly meetings. I was able to build authentic relationships to gain an awareness of the staff's professional needs, issues, and interests. |
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The senior graduation at Sanderson High School has been organized in recent years by one of the assistant principals without much help from other staff members. This year, the administration team asked for volunteers to help coordinate the giant task of organizing graduation. One assistant principal and I helped coordinate this endeavor. We had over 20 people volunteer their expertise to help with the event. Nineteen people attended our first brainstorming session. We were able to distribute duties and leverage staff member's strengths and talents. Several committee members commented how nice it was to be included in this task. |