It is of my opinion that all school systems should spend intentional time helping to grow the leaders that they have in place.  They should also spend time developing individuals that aspire to be administrators.  During our great assistant principal leadership meeting I started thinking about how many assistant principals spend too much time doing the things that do not prepare them to become the campus principal.  Many also do not benefit from good leadership programs that prepare them to be the campus principal.

So I got to thinking about one of my first tasks as an assistant principal.  I was in charge of books, and the many textbook rooms we had on campus.  The first thing I noticed about one of the bookrooms was that it was large.  When I walked in I noticed that there were books everywhere!  The books were on every corner and were almost from the floor to the ceiling.  We also didn’t have a great system to keep track of the books.  So, needless to say it was crazy! So I left the bookroom and started talking to my principal about the huge task before me.  Before I could even finish my statement, he said something profound to me:  “Those books, and that bookroom will be there, your job is to take care of people and work to make yourself a better administrator.”  He wasn’t telling me to neglect the students and their books, he was simply letting me know that your long-term grown as an administrator does not take place in the school bookroom.

My challenge to all assistant principals and those seeking to be a campus principal is that you learn all you can.  Learn things about school culture, the effective operation of the school, influence, communication, change, instructional leadership, and executive leadership.  Simply organizing a great bookroom will not make you a great principal.  What makes it wild is that many times individuals who do a great job of organizing books and the bookroom get principal jobs.  We just all hope that when they get the job and it gets tough that they do not go hide in the bookroom.