The Principal's Handbook

Beyond the Career Ladder: Finding Your Path in Educational Leadership
[00:00:00] In today's episode, I want to talk about going beyond the career ladder and finding your path in educational leadership. That's all coming up next right here on the principal's handbook. Stay tuned.
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, I'm Barb Flowers. 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 wellbeing is the top priority.
Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about the career ladder of administration.
, I think this is going to be a great [00:01:00] conversation because I have heard a lot of people have conversations about, I'm a teacher. How do I know if I'm ready to be an assistant principal or I'm an assistant principal? How do I know if I should be a principal? And there's all kinds of moves you can make in educational leadership.
And so I wanted to have a conversation about that today.
We're about halfway through the school year. And as we get into spring, that's when you start thinking about where you want to change in your career. And so there's a lot of different moves you can make. You can go from being a principal so when you transition from being a teacher to being someone in district office, you can go from being a principal, maybe back to being an assistant principal, or maybe you're even administrator and you're thinking, I kind of miss being a teacher and I really just want less stress.
So I'd like to go back to a teaching role. Whatever you're thinking about this episode is for you, because these are tough decisions. And so I wanted to talk about this today and share my story and my experiences with this. I just wanted to start by talking about how I even got into administration.
So I started Like most people [00:02:00] start where I was a teacher and as a teacher, I early on in my career became a teacher leader. I took on grade level chair roles in my third year of teaching. And really stepped up and became part of the building leadership team, the district leadership team and became really involved.
And at that point, I decided I wanted to go back to school and I already had my master's, but I was going to get my Ph. D. in educational leadership. So I started taking classes and I got my license to become a principal. And so at that time, even when I was. still working on my dissertation. I Had my master's already in my, , educational leadership license.
I was able to move up. There was a job very local, , where there was a new position for an elementary assistant principal, which where I'm from, there's not a lot of elementary assistant principals. So it was a big deal that they had this local position and it was between two elementary buildings. And I was really excited because I thought, , not only is it an elementary principal position, which is perfect for me.
But I also get to [00:03:00] learn from two different leaders. I get to meet two different staffs, and I'm going to learn a lot in these couple of years. And it really turned out to be a wonderful position because not only did I get to learn all of that, the principal who was there was actually retired, rehired, and was only going to be at the building for a couple of years.
And so I found out that I would be able to work towards taking over the building. So I was able to, after two years of being an assistant principal, step up into the role of principal in one of the buildings I was the assistant in. And as I was doing that, I finished my PhD. I also decided to get my superintendent's license.
So I Was a person who had the perfect plan. I I wanted everything planned out. I had my career planned out. I'm going to be an education for 35 years, so I need to have it planned out because I'm not a person. I do know that I'm not a person who stays in the same position for years and years and so.
I had the thought that I'm going to be, , an assistant principal. [00:04:00] Then I'm going to become principal. I'm going to be a principal for five years. Then I would like to go into curriculum in some capacity. So curriculum director, assistant superintendent, got my superintendent's license. And I thought maybe after some time I would even want to move up to being a superintendent.
So I had all of these plans and It was all great until it wasn't right. I realized I hit this wall where I kind of became burnt out as a principal and had to work on myself. And I got life coaching and fell in love with life coaching and mentoring and coaching others. And that's when I decided to actually become a coach for principals and for other professionals.
And I left being a principal to do that. And that was a really tough decision for me because I was in a perfect job. And I say that not just saying that about my school because I'm not there, but really it was a hard position to leave.
We had a lot of parents support. [00:05:00] In the building, I worked in a brand new, beautiful elementary school. I had the most supportive teachers that wanted to learn, wanted to grow. , like I said, great parent support. I loved my district admin team that I worked with. I got along with all the other principals in the other buildings.
I collaborated well with the other elementary principal. It really was a great setup. And so it was a hard decision to make. And I tell you all this because I want you to know that even if everything's great, sometimes you have to make that hard decision, right? Everybody thought I was crazy when I made the decision to leave because It really was a great job and I loved what I did.
I love the people I work with, but the reason I had to leave was I knew in my heart I could tell I was becoming complacent right when we're in and I know this about myself. This is part of knowing yourself as a leader. But we're when we're in a role for a certain amount of time and we know that we need to be challenged and we're getting complacent.
It doesn't feel [00:06:00] good anymore. It doesn't feel like you're living out your purpose. And that's how I was feeling. I was feeling like the building was doing good things. It was running. Well, I really had no complaints, but I wasn't growing. And I felt like if I'm not growing, I'm not doing as well of a job of helping my teachers and the people that I'm leading grow.
And so it was at that time that I decided I needed something different. And so that's when I went on to become a full time life coach. Now, I will say that having been, um, working on coaching and my own business for about six months now, as I'm recording this, I love it. I love coaching. I love all of that.
However, I've realized and learned more things about myself that I do miss leading. I do miss having people to talk to, to collaborate with. I love being an entrepreneur, but it's very different than leading in a building or in an organization. And so there is a part of me that misses that.
And so I'm rethinking my career path in that way. And I say that just [00:07:00] because if I didn't take the leap, I wouldn't know that. There's not any part of me that regrets the decision that I made because the decision that I made. To leave my position brought me right here to where I am. I've learned more about myself.
I've learned about the parts of leadership that I love, the parts that I don't love. . And so I tell you that, that if you just stay complacent in the same job, you've stopped learning about yourself. You've stopped growing. And in this position where I took the big leap, I got to become a different person.
I've had to reach out to new people and meet so many people and growing my business and take so much advice and learn from others. that I really have become a completely different person , than I was when I was a principal and complacent in my job. . So I say that as something that if you're feeling like you're losing your purpose, you're not growing anymore.
That's something I want you to consider. The other thing out of this that I want to be really clear on is know yourself. I just had dinner with a teacher who was my mentor [00:08:00] teacher when I was a brand new teacher. We were actually celebrating that she's going to be retiring this year. And she's been a teacher for 35 years, an elementary teacher.
And she was saying she loves. She loved being an elementary teacher for 35 years. She loved having the same type of career. She likes having that routine, knowing what she needs to do, right? There's nothing wrong with that, but we were talking about a friend. She has, who's had a different career every five years, totally different careers.
And I think that we just need to be okay and normalize a little bit that. There are some people that don't want to stay in the same job and that's okay. So if you're in the role of principal and you're just feeling kind of stuck or like you don't want to be there, just be aware of that and always choose what's going to make you happy.
It's hard. It's a hard choice to make, but I just want to make sure that you're thinking about the fact that you might not be happy where you are, and that can change. Okay. So that's something I want you to think about is knowing yourself, knowing what you want, knowing what you need to keep growing.
The other [00:09:00] thing I want you to think about is knowing that different generations have different views and values of their jobs. So I just did a book study with my staff this past school year called 5Gen Leadership. And we were actually talking about this idea that, you know, Millennials and even the younger generations, they don't stay in careers for 30 years.
, we value growth. We value different things. People who stay in their career for a long time, it might be about loyalty or just liking to do the same thing. So everybody is different. So I wanted to address that as well, that it's, we're also probably going to see that as a generational thing that people just don't stay in jobs as long as they used to.
And I think that we need to normalize that it's okay. You know, that's the thing I think I struggle with the most in education is that Why do we have to be in something for 30 some years? People in other industries pivot all the time. They do different things all the time.
So I just want you to think about that as you're reflecting on where you are, where you want to be. Are [00:10:00] you choosing to be in a school just because you feel like you have to be? Okay. So now I want to give us some key reflection questions. I already started talking about some, but some key reflection questions to you.
Just dig deeper and think about should you stay or should you go? When we have this debate between should you stay in your current role? Should you, , go up? Should you move up? Where should you go? Here are some things I want you to consider. And I just want to reiterate, everyone's different. Nobody has the right answer for you.
So just use these questions to reflect. So first of all, why are you questioning if you should leave? So if you get that like little inclination that you should leave, usually it's a gut feeling, really get to the root cause. Like, why am I starting to wrestle with that? Right. If I think about myself, when I started as a principal, I didn't have that feeling.
It's because I was completely content there. I knew I was growing. I knew I was making a difference. So is it your ambition? Is it restlessness? , or is it a [00:11:00] genuine need for new challenges? So when you start to feel that gut feeling , should I be here or should I not? That's probably a really good time to start evaluating because There's a reason you're feeling that feeling.
, also think, are you staying because it's safe or because it's right? There's a crucial difference between feeling secure and feeling stuck. If you feel like there's no other jobs out there or there's no other schools that I could ever work with, that's feeling stuck. But if you feel like this is really just a good fit for me, then that's a different feeling.
So really think about, is it because it's safe or is it because it's the right fit? Also, are there opportunities for growth where you are? Sometimes we overlook growth opportunities in the current environment that you're in because you're focused on what's next. And that's one lesson I really learned is that I was so focused on what am I going to be doing in five years.
that I just needed to stop and think about what is making me happy right now? [00:12:00] What are the things that I love doing right now? And so instead of constantly thinking about a new environment, are there growth opportunities where you are? And if not, maybe it is time to go to an environment where there are growth opportunities, but are you focused on being happy with where you are now too?
Also, how does the potential move align with your long term goals? not just career goals, but your personal goals too. Now, I will tell you this when I first became an assistant principal, life was crazy. I was getting my PhD. I had a one year old at home and I got the job and it was the first night of open house.
And I found out that day that I was pregnant. So my first year of being an assistant principal, I had a one year old at home working on my dissertation. I was pregnant. And let me just say, I did not regret. Taking that position at all. So yes, as, especially as a woman and a mom, , it can be really hard to have your personal life and your family.[00:13:00]
Um, and your career goals, but I just want to say that I would not put your career goals on hold. There is a way to have both, but I also want to add, I had a very supportive network around me. Um, my ex husband, he had a very flexible job because obviously as a principal, I did not.
And I had a lot of support from my mom who could help out as well. So just knowing that to do those potential moves align with your long term goals. And that's your professional and personal goals. Also, what's the cost of not making a change? So if you don't make the change, what's going to happen? You know, think about that.
Staying put where you're at has a hidden price. For me, I knew staying put in the current role I was at as a principal I was going to be thinking about how I really wanted to coach people and I knew the hidden price would be me really being even more complacent and I'm going to really backslide on my growth even more and not be the leader that I wanted to be because I knew I needed that [00:14:00] change that bad.
So what is the cost of not making a change? Then think, are you running from something or are you running towards something? So the distinction, it can make all the difference when you're really trying to decide this, but. Are you like, if you think, Oh, if I become an administrator, it's going to be easier.
If I become a district administrator, it's going to be easier. So I'm running away from the heart of being a principal. That's not a good reason to move up, right? Because every job has its hard in different ways. What you need to be thinking about is, are you running towards your goals? Are you running towards something you're more passionate about?
Every role that I've taken on, it's because I wanted to make a bigger impact. So when I was a teacher, I felt like after a while, I wasn't making a big enough impact in teaching. I wanted to help at the building level. And when I was a principal, I saw this need for, um, coaching and people who were burnout and needed to work on their mindset.
And I didn't feel like I could make a big enough difference being a principal doing that. [00:15:00] And that's when I wanted to go into coaching. So, Think about your impact. What are you trying to help build versus running away from something? And as you go through these questions and you're really thinking about this, I want you to go through this decision making framework.
So think about, it's not just about climbing the career ladder because no matter what you want to do, you need to be happy where you are right now. And I coach my clients on the fact that our thoughts create our emotions and actions. So if you have negative thoughts about your job, And it's creating these negative emotions and actions.
You really have to, this is why we have to investigate this. Is it because you're not growing? Is it because you need to be more content where you are? Like what is going on with that? So it's not just about going to the next thing, going to the next thing, going to the next thing. Okay. So really think about not just climbing the career ladder, but, um, your overall happiness in your position and finding that purpose.
So it's about it. It's really about finding that role where you're going to make the most impact. So like I said, it's about [00:16:00] where do you feel like you're going to make an impact? Where do you find personal fulfillment? If you don't have purpose, you're not going to be happy. It does not matter what you're doing.
Nobody goes into education for the money. We go in for purpose. We all went in to be teachers, to help kids. We went into administration to help teachers, to help kids at a bigger level, right? , you have to find your personal fulfillment and your purpose. It can't just be about, I'm climbing this career ladder for status, to make more money.
We know that that's not fulfilling. So just think about that as you're really deciding all of this. And then consider creating a pros and cons list that goes with obvious factors like salary and title. As you're looking at that, there's, there has to be a lot of pros and cons lists that goes into it.
So for example, the district that I worked in, it wasn't the highest paying district, but I also, there were so many benefits to it. it wasn't worth it to me to go to a different school where I could have made more money. So money isn't always the thing. It might [00:17:00] be the teachers that you get to work with, the staff, you know, the parents you get to work with, , demographics, all of that.
So really think about what are the factors you want to look at, what kind of school district you want to be in, , and what's going to make you happy. So I want you to really consider what are the personal growth opportunities at the school. Are you going to have work life balance? Are you going to be able to make an impact on students and staff?
Are there professional relationships that you have that you're going to be able to collaborate with people and continue to grow? And then is it going to be a place where, , and then also think about your family and consider is this a good place for you based on your family.
So for example, the school that I worked at was only 10 minutes from my kid's school. So it was perfect because if my kids got sick, it would be easy for me to run to their school. Where if I worked an hour away from my kid's school, that might be a different, maybe not the best move for me because I wanted to be close to home, close to my kids.
So just some things to consider, but I just want to remind you, there's [00:18:00] no one answer that's the right answer, especially when it comes to a career move in education. It really is important that you, that you evaluate and be honest with yourself about your needs, your aspirations, what you need to grow and continue to be happy and find purpose.
And I guess the number one thing I want to tell you is don't let others expectations or the traditional career trajectory dictate your path. Because often I think we do what we think we're supposed to do. I call myself a recovered people pleaser. I still have to work on this. I think. For me leaving one of the hardest things was people pleasing right pleasing my family pleasing all the people That were proud that I was a principal, just doing what I thought was the right thing, right?
Like leaving a stable job where I made a good income to do something riskier and scarier. , and I'm not necessarily encouraging you to do that, but what I am encouraging you is to find the path that works for you. [00:19:00] I see people post, I want to go from being a principal to a teacher, but I don't know what to think about that.
What are people going to say? And my thing that I would say is if you love teaching and it makes you happy, do it. Do what's going to make you happy. Do what's going to help you find fulfillment because, you can always be replaced at work. I know people don't like hearing that, but you can always be replaced at work, but you can't be replaced at home.
And so the people at home need you to be your happiest, best version of you. And I just want to remind you that if you feel like you're trying to make this hard decision and you're really struggling with it and you want more support. Reach out to me. I do free consultations. We can talk through what you're wrestling with.
We can go through a pros and cons list together. We can see if coaching long term is a good fit. Maybe you just need a couple sessions to work something like this out. But I had a life coach when I transitioned from being a principal to a life coach and it was crucial.
It was crucial to have that outside perspective. I probably never would have taken the leap if I didn't [00:20:00] have somebody to talk to. , and coach me through that and help me see that something else is possible because that's the thing I like to say with life coaching is life coaches help you realize that you get to decide and design your life,
so often we do what we think we're supposed to do. We do what is the norm. What society tells us to do. And I really want to encourage you in this episode that you need to do what feels right for you. You need to ask yourself these questions and you need to make decisions that feel right in your gut for you.
So I hope you found this episode helpful. If you love the show, if you're listening on Apple, scroll down in your app and leave a review. Keep in mind, you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week and I'll see you back here next time.
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