another piece of paper to be read. If you stand by the mailboxes in the
morning, you will see that most items are disposed of in the circular file.
In our age of the computer, the e-mail inbox has partially replaced the
mailbox, but this is even more divorced from person-to-person contact.
Good teachers know that ten minutes of time one-on-one with a stu-
dent is worth ten lessons of full-class instruction. The same holds true for
school leaders. Whenever feasible, it is better to speak with people one-
on-one than to send a memo. The effective school leader will find that if
he wants certain staff members to know something that he considers to be
critical—or to implement some new methodology or new procedure—it is
best to speak to as many affected staff members as possible face to face.
This procedure is even more effective if the school leader visits the staff
members in their own offices or rooms rather than having them report to
his office. People are more receptive to information on their own turf.
Successful assistant principals and chairpersons often “make the
rounds” to speak with as many members of their departments as possible
on certain matters. Simply because the school leader takes the time to
speak to each, the teachers intuitively know the matter is important. Of
course, in this paper trail world, the school leader needs to follow up with
a memo that succinctly summarizes the methodology or procedure or in-
formation, but this is secondary to the personal meeting.
Successful principals also make rounds. They frequently visit each assis-
tant principal in his or her office. No matter how much paper the principal
has on his desk, it is important for him to touch base with departmental
leaders several times a week. He needs to know what their issues are and
determine how he may best assist them. He needs to bounce ideas off them
and gain their insights into existing and future policies and procedures.
These rounds need to include other key personnel on a less frequent
basis: deans, admissions officers, programmers, coordinators of student
activities, and so on. Sometimes, there will be no issues and these encoun-
ters will be to say hello or to catch up on one another’s families. Their
main purpose is to communicate that each person is valued, as a person
and a professional.
The examples given in chapter 3 are relevant here as well, for when you
listen to people who come to see you, you are telling them that they are
important, more important than the pile of papers on your desk.
54 Chapter 5