LESSONS FROM BEING A SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR PART 2

Here are a few more lessons I learnt from being a school administrator. If you have not read Part 1 of it, then please search on my blog to do so.

I would like to encourage you not to spend too much time on trying to understand the jargon in administration, management and leadership as you should spend getting productive and having tangible results on your job. Some management staff spend too much time trying to define the difference between administration, management and leadership, it gets too technical that way. For me, if you are an administrator, then you’ll certainly require administrative skills as well as managerial and leadership skills if you must function effectively. It is as easy as that. Believe me, what matters is that you know and understand your job and you produce results while keeping it professional.

Whilst I am a professional administrator and manager, I know that apart from the core skills in administration and management of planning, organising, staffing, control, budgeting, etc, you also need leadership skills to function effectively, and these would include making deliberate efforts to study and get to know the workforce you lead, relate with them and inspire as well as motivate them to achieve goals. so , do what's right and required in your position to get the job done.

Another thing you’ll need to understand is that administrators in a school go by quite a number of titles which include school administrators (my favourite title!), principal, head teacher, sectional head, head mistress, head master, assistant or vice principals, dean of students, superintendent of schools, provost, etc. My advice to you? Do not be overwhelmed by titles.

Then, there is the issue of the organogram. I usually do not recommend copying the exact organogram from another school for yours. I am a big fan of glocalising an organisation’s structure. That an organogram works in a particular school or another climes does not mean it’s necessarily going to work in yours; so, do not lift it without tweaking it to suit your context.again, do what works without compromising on professionalism.

Another piece of advice I'd give administrators is, keep your integrity and ethics in all transactions. One of the things that’s always said about me in every school where I have been an administrator (amongst other things), is the unusual level of transparency and integrity I bring to a leadership position. It’s no surprise to those who relate with me that these are the core values for my organization Pezu Smith Consulting.

I’ll explain further with this; do not be the administrator who cuts corners with the school’s finances. Truth be told; one of the major reasons a lot of school owners are paranoid about handing over their schools to be administered by professionals is the lack of trust with finances. When administrators get it right with professionalism, ethics, integrity and transparency, we will hopefully see a change in the manner private school owners will take a break to allow you perform your duties properly and with more freedom to make sensitive decisions.

I guess I’ll stop here for now. Perhaps there may be a part 3 to this topic. I hope you have picked a thin gr two from it.

You can book a coaching session with me on my Calendly page www.clendly.com/nancyekpezu.

Or simply send an email to info@nancyekpezu.com or pezusmithconsulting@gmail.com. WhatsApp me at +234-803-5880-367.

Do you have lessons from your school administration journey you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments.

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