It won't work! with Dr. Sam Sircey Part 1
I’m working with three new principals this year. They are all first-year principals in new schools, two of them in a new district. Going to a new school is never easy, not for a new principal, not for a new assistant principal. However, most of you listening have either gone through that experience or will go through that experience or both. Today, we have an experienced principal with us who is also in a new school this year, and she is going to help us think about leading in a new school.
Outline
Guest: Sam Sircey
- Preferred name/title?
- Relax and laugh
- Will be video recording and may use small or big pieces
- Small things won’t be edited
- If there is a gaff – long pause
- Intro-interview-outro
- Questions for me?
- FB hit record
Show Description:
I’m working with three new principals this year. They are all first-year principals in new schools, two of them in a new district. Going to a new school is never easy, not for a new principal, not for a new assistant principal. However, most of you listening have either gone through that experience or will go through that experience or both. Today, we have an experienced principal with us who is also in a new school this year, and she is going to help us think about leading in a new school.
Show Intro
Hello colleagues and welcome to the Assistant Principal Podcast. I’m your host Frederick Buskey. The goal of this podcast is to help improve the life and leadership of assistant principals. This podcast compliments APEx Community, the Assistant Principal Exceleration program, but you certainly don’t need to be an APEx member to find value in the podcast.
Guest Intro
Today I’m joined by Dr. Sam Sircey, the principal at Owen High School in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Sam is here with us today to unpack moving to a new school.
Hello Sam! I am so glad to have you on the show. We have been walking our leadership journeys together for a while and it is great to be able to be on this podcast path with you.
Questions
Sam, can you tell us briefly how you got to where you are today?
And we always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
- Let’s begin in the present moment. You came to Owen X months ago. From the perspective of being the Principal in a new school
- What were the three wisest things you did? We want people to learn from your experience, so please do not be modest – share what has worked!
- What have been the two biggest surprises?
- What is one thing that you would have done differently?
- [Astute listeners: 5 mc]
- Briefly talk about the APs role in onboarding a new principal
- I know you are a strategic leader – you focus on purpose, problems, progress and people, but there is always a struggle and there are always things trying to suck you into the urgency mindset. How do you stay grounded? How do you continuously focus on people before tasks?
- Maybe talk about growing teachers, but we will probably run out of time.
Summarizing
As we wrap up, I have three questions for you.
First, what part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at?
If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be?
Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners?
Guest Outro
[fname], this has been great, thank you so much for taking time to share today.
Show Outro
Well Colleagues, this brings us to the point in the episode where it is your turn to participate by making an intentional choice. If you do nothing with what you have just heard, then you have spent the last 30 or so minutes being entertained. But if you choose to do something with what you’ve heard, then you will have made an investment in your own leadership. If you already have a clear idea of how you can apply Sam’s wisdom, that’s wonderful. If not, let me offer three possibilities:
- The big takeaway in this episode is that we need to listen to people and give them ownership – and responsibility – for their own challenges. Instead of thinking “Let me tell you what to do…”, think about asking “What’s the problem? And What outcome do you want?” Then listen. If you can work with people to identify the course of action that help them get to their desired outcome, you have helped them to be fully invested.
- Forward the show link to a colleague and say “you have got to listen to this, I want us to talk about it”
- Identify the one big takeaway or question from this episode and share it with me. You can share a written, audio, or video message with me by emailing me at frederick@frederickbuskey.com
Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. Remember that you can walk more with me by subscribing to my daily leadership email and Quadrant2, my monthly micro-journal. And if that isn’t enough, we can walk further together in APEx, my virtual paid community for assistant principals. APEx helps you network with other APs and participate group coaching with me! You can learn more about APEx and my other offerings at my website, frederickbuskey.com.
I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails.
I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. Cheers!
