Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Message from the Lead Dog Principal #6

The dark side is calling.  Can you recognize it?

I wish everyone the best for a great school year. Once again, you will have a challenging year, but I remain confident that you are up to the challenge. Try not to forget to take care of yourself.

Today, I want to challenge every principal or leader that reads these words, not to lose one person to the dark side this year.

If you follow my posts or have read my books, you have read many times about my feelings about the dark side that exists in every school. Remember, it is a place that teachers of all quality are pushed and pulled to visit. Many actually build a home on this dark side and continue to pollute the school. People usually go to the dark side when they are disrespected, not heard, not appreciated, or marginalized. I have argued in the past that for many; it is a confluence of personal and professional events that pushes one to this negative side of school and probably to the negative side of life.

PRINCIPALS—YOU CANNOT ALLOW THE DARK SIDE TO CLAIM ANOTHER PERSON THIS YEAR! That is your challenge.

You know the dark side when you see it and you know exactly who is headed there. You must intervene and save this person. You must intervene to save this person’s career. You must intervene to save this person’s mental health. You must intervene to save your school. You must intervene to save your students.

Tons of literature exist about teacher burnout. Read some of it.

When you see it, do something about it. As I reflect on my career, I wish that I would have more aggressive in my intervention strategies. It seemed perhaps I was always just too busy. Or perhaps I thought the teacher could pull themselves away from this dark side all by themselves. Boy, was I wrong. Your mission this year, and every year, must be to prevent the growth of this dark side. 

Never forget that your school’s or organization’s success is all about culture and climate. I am not sure if anything else matters.