How principals can motivate teachers

I regularly receive emails asking for help with various teacher problems, particularly those related to my favorite topic, classroom management. This one comes from a principal, who gave me permission to share his question so that my fabulous readers can offer some advice:

I am the principal of a small rural school. I was an aide for 7 years. I taught for 5. I was an assistant principal for 1. Now I landed “the big job.” How do I motivate my staff? I have always been a “bootstrap” and “hours” kind of guy. Lace ’em up and work as long as it takes! But not everyone I work with shares my values. I feel like some are going about 50%. What aspects of administration motivate you to “go above and beyond”?

Any good suggestions?

I deeply admire any new administrator who cares enough about his staff to pose this question, and I think this guy deserves some sincere responses.

I happen to have worked for The World’s Worst Principal (oh, the stories I could tell if I never wanted to work again) as well as a bunch of eh-schmehs that are basically forgettable. They pretty much did the opposite of everything I’m about to mention, or they flip-flopped back and forth in a schizophrenic way that made me afraid to breathe wrong. At the moment, I have an absolutely amazing principal, so I can share some tips that actually do create a positive school climate and keep teacher morale generally high. (Yes, it’s possible. I never thought so, either.)

• Smile frequently and genuinely.
• Ask how your staff is doing, and listen to the answers you get.
• Share information about your personal life, but don’t overshare.
• Hold meetings only when absolutely necessary.
• Create an atmosphere of trust through small gestures, and never make it seem like you’re trying to catch your staff doing something wrong.
• Compliment your teachers in writing after a classroom walk-through and in public as often as possible.
• ALWAYS have your teacher’s back when a parent makes a complaint. Reprimand the teacher privately if needed, but create a united front to outsiders.
• Take on some of the district’s demands yourself, rather than hoisting them all on teachers.
• Don’t create additional paperwork.
• Make “a trip to the principal’s office” something to fear for unruly children, and non-threatening for teachers (not the other way around).

The majority of you really dislike your principals and assistant principals. (I know, I read your blogs and comments.) So here’s your chance to sound off: What do you wish administrators knew about motivating teachers? How could a principal entice–or better yet–inspire you to go the extra mile? What does your administration do (or fail to do) in order to create buy-in and give staff ownership over the school?