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Manager vs Leader: Balancing for Principals
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Speaker: [00:00:00] In today's episode, we're talking about the manager versus leader and why principals need to be both. That's all coming up next on The Principal's Handbook.
Speaker 2: Welcome to The Principal's Handbook, your go-to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self-care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work-life balance, we'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your well-being is the top priority
Speaker: Well, welcome everyone. Today, we're talking about manager versus leader and why principals need both.
I really wanted to have this conversation because I think [00:01:00] that there is a lot of misconceptions about this idea of management versus leadership, and I bought into this a lot as a newer leader. And so I just wanted to talk about this because as I, am taking over different buildings, I'm gonna be in a new building next year.
I was in a different building last year. I'm realizing just the importance of management, , i feel like I'm a good instructional leader, so that leadership, building capacity, all of that, and we're gonna talk about the difference between the two, but management is super important for keeping the building running.
And so I really wanna talk about some misconceptions, what the difference between the two , and why they're both important. So first, common messages that we hear that I believed as a brand-new principal. Don't be a manager, you wanna be a leader. Leaders inspire people. Leaders focus on vision.
Leaders change people and influence them to be better. And that is all true. Leaders do those things, but it also creates the belief that management is not as [00:02:00] important as leadership. And then what happens is principals focus so much on leadership that they start neglecting management, and it really impacts systems in the building and the processes and holding people accountable.
And so then principals become frustrated when great ideas don't get implemented because they're so focused on this big picture leadership that they're forgetting about the management that helps reduce chaos in the building. So I wanna start by talking about what management actually is. So management, the important part about management is it's about creating systems
and creating predictability. , I always think about as a principal, one of my jobs is to bring the certainty to teachers. We can't always know what's gonna happen in a school, but I can do my best as that principal of the building to bring as much certainty as possible.
Of course, every day is gonna be different. We know how the job is. We know crazy things can happen in a school. However, the more that we can do to create predictability and certainty for teachers [00:03:00] and kids, the better off everybody's gonna be. And so that's part of management. That's creating systems.
That's establishing routines. That is monitoring, , monitoring teacher progress. That's following up with people, having clear expectations with kids, clear expectations with teachers, clear expectations with other staff members in the building. It's about organizing resources and knowing what resources you need.
And it's really ensuring that things get done in schools, otherwise, that's the management piece. It's making sure that there's subs in place. There's all these little things that, yes, there are other people, I talk a lot about delegation, there are other people that can do this too. You work with other people, but it is part of the job of being a principal, is you have to manage systems, you have to manage things.
So some examples, discipline systems, I talk a lot about PBIS, and I have systems, , for tier one PBIS. Arrival and dismissal procedures. I think this was my biggest stressor when I took over my last building, was [00:04:00] arrival and dismissal Having systems for MTSS, tracking data. How are staff scheduled?
Where are you placing them based on personalities and strengths? How are you communicating? Do you do weekly notes to teachers? Do you send a weekly newsletter to parents? , What does that look like? So management is super important because it makes improvement sustainable. It creates the systems that are going to make it sustainable.
Without management, people don't have that predictability, that certainty. Expectations change daily. Initiatives come, they go, because there's no system in place. So then now I wanna contrast that with leadership and what leadership actually is. . Leadership is about influence. It's about influencing people and creating a movement. It's getting people to want to be their best self. It's getting people to want to grow and change. So it's inspiring people. It's casting a vision of what the building can look like. It's building belief, , belief in themselves as teachers, [00:05:00] belief in the students.
Leadership is influencing the culture. It's challenging people's thinking. It's helping people grow instructionally. It's all of these things that we do all the time. It's leading the instructional improvement. It's navigating the change. It helps people understand the why, okay? So it helps people continue to grow, and it's super important.
But you have to know that leadership is really helping people understand the why we're doing it, and management is the how, okay? So it's really important that we have both. A leader without a manager has a lot of ideas. They might attend conferences. They might start initiatives, inspire people, but then they
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don't follow through, or they don't know how to execute it so that it's systems, that it's actually happening.
And I've worked with a lot of people like this, right? And there are different personalities too, and this is why it takes a team. I think, in one of the personality tests, it's called a dreamer, and you have all of these ideas, but you struggle to [00:06:00] implement them, it's not that all leaders are like that, but part of the management piece is figuring out what these systems are, the ideas, the initiatives, and then being able to follow through with them, have systems, and have priorities.
So that is a really important piece. A lot of times when I talk to staff, and when I talked to staff when I came to my first building as an assistant principal, and they had had a lot of principals over a period of time They always felt like, we're starting new initiatives and we're never finishing them.
We're starting things and then a new principal takes over. We're starting things and we learn that, and then it just doesn't continue." And so it's really important that we're following through and we have systems in place. It's always about sustainability. Whenever I'm working with a group of teachers and they have ideas, I always say, "That's a great idea.
Is it sustainable? Can we continue this? Can there be a system in place so that when you're not here or I'm not here, we can continue what we're doing?" Okay, so that's something I want you to think about, being a leader [00:07:00] without a manager. Now, a manager without a leader runs a very organized building. They can handle all the details.
They handle the logistics. They can keep things moving really well. It looks great on the outside. If somebody comes in, and they're like, "Wow, this is a smooth-running ship." But the problem with people who are good managers and not leaders is they don't have vision. They don't cast that vision to their staff of this is what it looks like.
They don't grow their staff. They don't grow their staff's capacity because maybe they're so good at management even that they do everything instead of building that leadership capacity in other people. They're focused on compliance over committing to the people that they're leading. So in a building that you have a strong manager but not a strong leader, everything's running smoothly, but it's not really improving.
Kids are learning, but they really don't know that much of instruction to push their teachers further. So those are just some things to think about with this idea of leadership and management. So the ideal [00:08:00] balancing act is really to have that balance between leadership and management.
So I just want you to think about, again, you're managing when you're creating systems, setting schedules, monitoring the implementation of initiatives, following up and having conversations with teachers, establishing routines, but you're leading when you're building that buy-in. You're coaching teachers.
You're evaluating them and giving them feedback that's actually driving instructional improvement. You navigate resistance. You have those hard conversations, and you create a culture that is all about growth and continuing to grow. An example of this, when I think about the science of reading, and I always go to the science of reading because to me, that was such a huge flip that we did in our school being in an elementary.
It takes both management and leadership to make an initiative like that work. Because a leader could get so excited about all the instructional improvements that could happen that they do too much, right? But it's that management piece of what are the routines? How do we [00:09:00] make this sustainable? How do we put, , information into place so that people are actually able to implement this in the classroom without getting overwhelmed?
So it really is that balance between the two. They need that leadership that has the vision. It has the belief that kids can learn to read. It has the belief that our kids can learn no matter where you're at. These leaders can connect the science of reading to student outcomes and really explain that, but it's also being able to schedule that.
What does that look like in the classroom? How do we need to ensure that teachers have quality tier one time? How do we monitor the implementation of that? How do we, , establish look-fors in your walkthroughs? How do we review data? It's both. So it's not one or the other. So really my goal for you today is to just think about where are the areas that you're a better manager or leader.
, I feel like I've always been on this leadership side, but I've worked with principals who are amazing managers, and I have learned so much from them. And [00:10:00] so, as I talk about this or as I reflect on my own leadership, I'm just constantly thinking about how can I really combine the two and not just think that I need one over the other So I just want you to reflect here on what comes more naturally to you.
Is it the management or is it leadership? Which one are you over-relying on? Is there one that you tend to lean towards? And what is one area in your school that needs stronger systems, and what is one area that needs that stronger vision and influence? So really reflect on these questions. Think about areas that you can start to improve in your leadership.
And I wanna just encourage you that if you are struggling with this idea of the balance between leadership and management, this would be a great time for you to think about my new program that I'm gonna be having. More information will be coming out soon, so make sure to join the email list so that you're hearing information about what I'm gonna be sharing about coaching that's gonna be happening this school year,
where I'm going to be helping you be both a manager and a leader in your [00:11:00] school. . I'm going to help you not only create specific priorities that your building needs, but I am going to hold you accountable and help you follow through so this becomes a year where your students make tremendous growth, your teachers make tremendous growth, and you as the leader makes tremendous growth.
So I hope that you can join us in that. So like I said, If you're not on my email list, you could join, , my email by emailing me at barb@barbflowerscoaching.com. Go to principalfreebies.com, grab one of those freebies. That'll automatically add you to the email list.
But it's important that you're part of that so that you can get the information on up-and-coming programs that I have going. But just remember as we end today that the goal is really not to be just a manager or just a leader, but it's to become both.
Because great schools don't improve because there's a lot of great systems in place.
They need both. Leadership really is an art form. It's hard, right, it's not easy to be a principal, and so it takes that leadership, it takes that management, and you really need to have both. [00:12:00] So I hope that you found some things helpful in today's episode. I hope you take some time to really reflect on what this means for you.
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I hope you have a great week, and I will see you back here next time.