121Let’s start by saying that all of us have our strengths and weaknesses as
people, as teachers, as school leaders. If we are to succeed in our jobs,
we need to maximize what our staff members do well and minimize what
they do poorly. Likewise, we must look introspectively at ourselves and
do the same with our own talents and weaknesses.
School leaders need to look at every staff member, especially those
who may be weak in some aspects of their jobs. By looking hard enough,
the school leader will find strengths even among the weakest. Having
skills in maximizing these strengths and minimizing the weaknesses in
their assignments and tasks will help to improve instruction and overall
school ambience.
Shortly after Mr. Thelen became an assistant principal, a teacher trans-
ferred into the English Department under the seniority transfer provisions
of the teachers’ contract. Before teaching several years on the high school
level, Mr. Rust had been a college instructor.
The first formal observation revealed that Mr. Rust had a scholar’s grasp
of his subject matter, but he also had a college instructor’s tendency to lec-
ture and dominate a lesson. At the post-observation conference, he admitted
that he was aware of this tendency and promised to try to work on it. He
promised this for the entire time Mr. Thelen was his assistant principal and
principal, but he met with little success. However, Mr. Rust had strengths
that made him valuable to his department and later to the entire school.
First, he was very affable and made friends easily with other depart-
ment members. He quickly became the department’s party planner for
Chapter Nine