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Leadership Part II: What best prepared you to be a head of school?

Heads of schools who began tenures in July 2008 shared their responses to the question above. This blog reflects the common themes echoed by those heads.

What best prepared you to be a head of school?

• The breadth and depth of my various previous independent school positions.
• A mentor relationship.
• Being given the opportunity to learn about aspects of independent schools not directly related to my position at the time.
• Klingenstein and the Institute for New Heads .
• Having other school positions that involved real and actual decision-making.
• Watching good and not-so-good head ply their craft.
• A combination of serving as Dean of Summer Programs (I was involved in all aspects of leading a school), working at my previous school for 20 years (a school with great resources, faculty and staff where “best practices” are part of the fabric of the school), and NAIS Aspiring Heads - networking, resume boost and solid advice & mentoring.
• My best preparation was observing closely two heads with whom I worked closely. Secondly I and a close friend and colleague served as interim co-heads of school when the second of those two left unexpectedly. For six months I dealt with all the tactical issues that a head would face. I also got some early experience in dealing with trustees.
• Working closely with a really good mentor and a series of mid level admin positions. Work on the admissions committee and close contact with how the development office worked.
• From working at a few different schools and consulting with some different schools I felt like I had seen a number of models of how things could work and had some good perspective on very different approaches that all had real strengths and weaknesses.
• As an Assistant Head of School, I was afforded the opportunity by the Head of School to attend Board meetings, sit in on meetings of the various Board committees, most importantly the Finance Committee, and was encouraged to take on additional responsibilities in areas that had little to do with academics - buildings & grounds, summer camps, marketing, etc.
• The best preparation for me was the continuous growth in responsibility - culminating in several years as an assistant head and as a principal at a large high school - essentially serving as head of school under a president who was peripherally involved in the life of the school. I have had the good fortune of a very difficult situation in a school where I was entrusted with significant responsibility for turn around. I learned a great deal about a few key areas (like finance and enrollment management) and translated that into larger, strategic practices.  Additionally, having the opportunity to be #2 for a couple of different #1’s showed me various ways of dealing with similar issues - thus helping me develop my own best operating style. Mentoring is so very important.
• Discovering  and becoming comfortable with  “my style” of management (collaborative and building consensus). My willingness to learn the culture of my school before judging or making major changes due to my initial perceptions.
• Being an Associate Head best was excellent preparation for being a head of school. My job description was very broad, and the head of school was a wonderful mentor. She exposed me to all areas of running a school (budget, fundraising, personnel issues, governance) and gave me many opportunities to expand my experience. I also had a chance to watch her closely which helped me to create my own style of leadership.
• Having had a lot of different experiences in various school settings helped me develop flexibility and showed me that there are a lot of different ways to approach issues. I wonder at how heads with less experience can manage this crazy job!