Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Tip Sheet #53

No moping in these hallways!

Set the tone now!  Perhaps it should be the first thing that you do when you assume a position of leadership.  And it might well be the only initiative that you work on for quite a while.  It is simple to say, yet very difficult to enforce.  THERE SHALL BE NO MOPING AROUND IN THESE HALLWAYS.  If you can accomplish this, you are well on your way to success.

There is nothing worse than when you walk into work in the morning and are greeted by an entire group of unhappy, moping faces.  You may ask yourself what have you done to these people to cause this, but it could be so soundly entrenched in your school that it could have nothing to do with you.  Your school culture left unchecked may have caused all of this to happen.

This leads me to this question.  Do people know that they are unhappy?  And naturally, a follow up question, is why are they so unhappy?

I had always thought that people knew that they were unhappy and most assuredly knew why they were so unhappy.  It could be a multitude of things.  It can range from very personal matters to more public work-related issues.  I am not so sure anymore.  I think some folks may be unhappy because everyone else around them is unhappy.  Misery loves company.  As the principal of the school, you must be concerned about it.  Very concerned about it.  Left unchecked, unhappiness will spread at exponential rates.  Your school will soon have more unhappy, miserable, and moping people than you could ever imagine.

Although as I stated earlier, this unhappiness may have nothing to do with your school or work.  But on the other hand, it could have everything to do with it. It is incumbent upon you to find out what at school is troubling people.  I would start by looking in the mirror and examine how your behavior may be contributing to this.  Are you visible? Accessible? Honest? Empowering?  Do you communicate well?  Have you worked hard building relationships?  Do you show gratitude? Do you give your people credit?  I think if you can answer these questions affirmatively you are off to a good start.

A follow-up question is, do these unhappy people know how they are perceived?  I doubt it.  I bet if you were to ask them about their level of happiness at work, they would tell you how much they love the children and love coming to work.  Somebody is trying to fool somebody.  So, perhaps the first thing that you must do as a good leader, a good school principal, is to sit down and have that difficult conversation and share with that person how you and probably others see them at the work place.  This will not be an easy conversation but yet a very necessary one.

You must establish your school as a no moping zone. For this I am sure.

Good luck.