Monday Moanin Thoughts #36 Great Protocol For Your Opening Remarks

Happy early Monday moanin to all of you this fine Thursday night. For many of you,  your opening staff meeting is right around the corner. I thought it would be helpful to share a protocol that I used often with my staff.  Below is the prompt that I used to introduce or reintroduce myself to the staff. It provided me with the necessary structure to keep me on message and stay organized in my thoughts. Please  consider using this as a guide  in your preparation for your opening remarks and message. The protocol is modeled after the work of  William Glasser and has always proved to be a positive strategy to begin the  new year for me and many other administrators and teachers. This is also a wonderful tool for teachers to introduce themselves to their students. Good luck and have a great opening.

Administrative Introduction to Staff- Quality School Principal

Who you are.

Staffs are interested in your hobbies, family, and other things that may be mundane to you. You share what you are comfortable with. Share something and they will appreciate it and you become more human, not the boss.

What you stand for.

What you stand for and why you stand for it is critical for your staff.  This is where you can begin to share your vision and set the tone for how you operate and the impact that your leadership will have on the organization. This also helps set the tone and encourages each staff member to reflect on what they believe in and to determine their purpose. This can be as deep and meaningful as you want it to be.

What you will ask them to do.

Make sure your staff understands what you will ask them to do. Never surprise them. The key is you would not ask something of them that you would not ask yourself. This is not “ don’t do as I do, do as I say.”

What you will do for them.

As long as they are (restate your vision or other expectations here) doing their best and working for kids, you will help them in any way you can. Discussions will be encouraged and disagreements will be laid on the table and dealt with.  You will support them, etc…

What you will not do for them.

You will not do their work, etc…

Quotes of the week:

To be successful in life, we must evaluate ourselves and work to improve: we cannot and should not depend on others to do this for us. William Glasser

The greatest help in meeting any problem is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from. William Faulkner