How to create the perfect principal entry plan[Part 4 of 6]

Culture doesn’t collapse overnight—it crumbles one ignored choice at a time. In this chapter, you'll learn how to co-create a school culture rooted in belonging, celebration, and shared responsibility

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Part 4: Co-Create an Extraordinary Culture

In his book, The Promises of Giants, John Amaechi (2021) tells a potent story about the importance of culture. The story is about the residents who live in an apartment building where all of their apartments border a shared common area.

Some of the residents smoke. When they are done with a cigarette, they flick the butts onto the ground.

“Someone else will pick them up,” they say.

Other residents start to notice the trash in the common area. Not my problem, they think. After all, it isn’t their cigarette butt. But now those residents start to leave behind sandwich wrappers, water bottles, paper, and plastic bags.

“Someone else will pick them up,” they say.

Next come the cardboard boxes. Finally, a mattress is abandoned.

The garbage continues to pile up, yet no one does anything about it.

The smokers continue to smoke, flicking their cigarette butts onto the ground, until one day, the embers catch on the cardboard, which sets fire to the rest of the litter. The whole thing goes up in flames, endangering the entire apartment complex.

What was once a problem that no one took responsibility for is now everyone’s problem.

Everyone is responsible for the culture of an organization, too. And what is a culture? It’s the accumulation of our choices.

Author and business psychologist John Amaechi (2018) writes, “People make choices. Choices make culture.”

It usually starts with something small. We notice that someone’s actions or words aren’t aligned with our mission, but we let it slide. Not my problem, we think. We notice that our colleagues are passing off responsibilities like a hot potato. But hey—not our problem.

As a leader, it’s tempting to want to keep the peace or ignore potential culture issues that aren’t really problems yet. We have too many other things on our plate.

This strategy works fine until one day, you’ve got a fire on your hands. Suddenly, that toxic culture has become everyone’s problem—especially yours.

Why We Ignore Culture

“Fires” and emergencies are the most common reasons I hear leaders give for losing focus on their school’s culture. They’re busy, and they have lots of urgent problems to address. Without even realizing it, culture gets pushed to the side.

The other obstacle to nurturing our culture is administrivia: paperwork, tasks, to-do lists. There are constant inputs and demands on your time that all take your attention away from culture.

You can’t afford to let that happen.

Culture is the heartbeat of your school. It’s especially important in the first 90 days because those days set a precedent for the rest of the year. In this part, I’ll share some of my favorite ways to make culture a priority in your school.

Take the Temperature

How do you know what your school’s current culture is in the first place—especially if you’re a new leader or new to the school? Sometimes it’s difficult for leaders to get an accurate read on how people really feel.

To help make it easier for everyone to share their thoughts, I like to use the following exercise in a staff meeting. You can repeat this a few times throughout the year to help you stay up-to-date, and you can try it with students and parents, too.

• First, find at least 10 random pictures that evoke strong emotions. For example:

  • One of your students

  • Puppy

  • Older person

  • Nature

  • Space

  • Traffic jam

  • Paperwork

• Ask staff to sort the pictures and pick the top three that best represent the quality of your school culture.

• Ask for volunteers to explain their reasoning, or if there’s time, let everyone share their thoughts.

• How do their responses align with the Remarkable School Vision you developed in Part 2?

This activity will help you understand the cultural history of the school and identify potential issues.

Put Relationships First

Quality relationships lead to a quality culture, and vice versa. As the leader of your organization, you set the tone and example for everyone else. The time and energy you put into building relationships will pay dividends in improving your school’s culture.

Be Present

The best place to begin is by staying present during interactions with our staff. This is often difficult! We’re so attuned to looking out for problems and staying on top of the demands of administrivia that it can be hard to set those aside. And yet, the number one way to show people we care is by honoring them with our full attention.

The self-care you’ve been practicing will come in handy here. It’s hard to be fully invested in others when your back hurts, you didn’t sleep well, or you’re starving. Practicing mindfulness will train your brain to stop being so reactive to the constant interruptions coming your way.