Should I be an administrator when I grow up?

I received a phone call recently from a college buddy of mine who is finishing up his administrative degree. He called me to talk about a middle school principal job opening and he was wondering whether he should put his name in the hopper. This is the first job that he was seeking out and I could sense a little hesitation in his voice about putting his name out there. As I hung up the phone after our conversation, I immediately had flashbacks to the process that I went through when I was first applying for administrative jobs. Here are some lessons that I learned:

Know if administration is really what you want to do.
I know the position seems glamorous (please note the sarcasm here), but administration turned out to be a whole different beast than I thought it would be. When I was a teacher, I saw administrators walking around the building, engaging students, attending a whole lot of extracurricular activities, doing a lot of paperwork, and attending a lot of meetings. They were decision-makers, disciplinarians, and suits. After being in this role, I can honestly say that these things are ALL true, but there is a whole lot more including:

• Being under the microscope and having people scrutinize your every move.
• Being the go-to-person for almost everything.
• Having date nights with your significant other at athletic events and school plays.
• Working 10-11 hours a day - not a huge leap because you probably worked more as a teacher ;-)
• Never getting to wear jeans again or participate in casual Fridays.
• Not having a connection to a specific classroom

I write these from the perspective of a high school administrator and must note that I love every one of these challenges. This is how I am wired. If these things are okay with you, then you are prepared for the step into administration.

Don't apply for jobs just to get interview experience.

I made this mistake ONCE. I had applied for a middle school assistant principal position knowing full well that I wanted to be a high school administrator. I didn't interview very well and the folks interviewing me could tell my heart wasn't in it. I so desperately wanted an administrative job that I would do anything to get one. This turned out to be bad judgement on my part. What if I would have gotten the job? Would I really have been an effective leader?

Know how to take rejection

9 TIMES. I interviewed for 9 positions before I finally received my first administrative position. That doesn't count the number of jobs that I applied for and received rejection letters for. I still have them all in a box in my basement as a constant reminder of how you need to persevere to get where you want to go. I am a very competitive person and I HATE to lose. I viewed every letter and phone call rejection as a loss. I questioned my skills and abilities multiple times and wondered if it was ever going to happen. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully supportive wife who kept me going and telling me that God has a plan. It just doesn't necessarily align with your plans. What I will tell you is that this rejection will serve you well when you do get into an administrative position because you learn how to deal with disappointment without getting angry.

Don't talk bad about past/current administrators

Okay, I really didn't learn this until after I got in to administration, but I never did this when I was applying for jobs. I recall doing mock interviews for emerging administrators once and encountered someone who went on for 30-minutes straight about how they could do a better job than their current principal. Forget about the fact that the mock interviews were only 30-minutes long and that only one question was answered. The bigger issue is that this "emerging" administrator was bashing someone that I KNEW. Upon concluding the mock interview, I politely thanked the person for visiting with me and provided them this feedback.

• Try to keep your answers to questions short and concise. Most administrative interviews will last 2-4 hours and consist of 2-4 separate interview teams. If you spend 30-minutes on one question, they won't get to know you very well.
• I appreciate that you have some ideas about how you would do things differently as an administrator, but you need to be specific about what you would do differently in a way that you do not demean your current administration. Please remember that have not done there job probably do not know all the information that led them to making certain decisions.
• While I respect the fact that you are go-getter and want to lead, you have spoken poorly about a colleague of mine that I personally know. The administrative circle is fairly small and we do talk to one another. I will respect you by not sharing this information past this mock interview room (and I never have).

The purpose in writing this is to say that administrators are not perfect and if you are thinking that you will be different when you get in the position, you won't be perfect either. I can think of a number of people who would tell you about all of my shortcomings as an administrator (including myself). The thing that is important to remember here is, that in spite of your own personal opinions about your current administrators, understand that they DO NOT come to work everyday saying, "How can I make my school the worst place on earth and make teachers and students feel terrible about themselves." They may make decisions that you disagree with and frustrate the hell out of you, but they are human. A better idea would be to visit with them in person about these issues than bringing it up in an interview.

Administration is different than Teaching - Almost

When I was in the classroom, I was in control. Students were mostly compliant and followed along by paying attention, turning in work, and doing what they were supposed to do. If they didn't I would deal with it myself and in rare occasions, would send a student to administration. As an administrator, you need to shift your focus to being a teacher of adults. Adults are tricky learners though. Adults in schools are highly educated. If you want to be an effective administrator, you need to be able to come to grips with the fact that you can't be a teacher of adults if you treat them like the students you once had in the classroom. It requires a different skill set. It requires a different type of communication. It requires you to think differently. If you feel you can do this, you definitely should look in to administration.

Ultimately, I have identified many teachers that I think would make fantastic administrators and have told them so. Most of their responses were that they didn't want to leave the classroom or didn't want to deal with the hassle that they see their administrators going through. What I tell them is that it is a very rewarding job where they have a significant opportunity to enact change. If you relish this, than you should definitely be an administrator when you grow up.