By Karolyn Marino
Schools with emotionally intelligent leaders have a welcoming, calm atmosphere. School climate is often felt more than seen. Strong principals bring out the best in teachers know how to communicate, listen, set clear expectations, and create an environment of collaboration and mutual respect. Parents and students recognize the welcoming presence.
A leader’s character becomes apparent quickly through communication. Kindness shows itself in intentional listening, thoughtful responses, and follow-through on teachers’ concerns. Insecurity and territorial leadership can surface in statements such as “This is my school” or “If you work for me, you will do as you are told.”
Strong principals seek out people with good ideas, even better ones, to help the school community grow. Insecure leaders often surround themselves with people who agree with them.
Principals also face the difficult task of balancing the concerns of parents, teachers, and students. The best leaders know how to thread that needle. Leadership is not about always choosing one side. It is about listening, evaluating the circumstances, and making fair decisions. Tennessee has codified many of these principles in law.
In 2017, the Tennessee General Assembly unanimously enacted what is now known as the Educator’s Bill of Rights. Championed by Professional Educators of Tennessee, the legislation passed 88–0 in the House and 30–0 in the Senate. Its principles include treating educators with civility and respect, respecting their professional judgment, ensuring safe working environments, and allowing them to raise legitimate concerns about student conduct and instructional materials.
An emotionally intelligent principal should embrace those principles rather than merely comply with them. Trust the professionals you have hired. Respect their dignity and judgment. Avoid unnecessary micromanagement and unreasonable financial or after-hours expectations. Listen when teachers raise concerns about student behavior, curriculum, safety, or working conditions.
The principal should also champion communication between parents and teachers and be a steady presence when difficult situations arise.
The same principle applies to incentives. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been widely used in schools to promote positive student behavior through clear expectations, reinforcement, consistent responses, and additional support.
Many students respond well to recognition and incentives. Others require individualized interventions, supportive relationships, appropriate consequences, or additional support. Rewards alone cannot create a healthy school culture. The same is true for adults.
Teachers may appreciate jeans passes, treat trolleys, PTO lunches, extra planning time, conferences, and leadership opportunities. These gestures can boost morale, but they cannot replace professional respect.
True leadership is tested most clearly when decisions are difficult. Consider reassigning a teacher to another level or subject. Administratively, it may look like moving a name from one position to another. For the teacher, it can be a major professional transition that affects confidence, preparation, relationships, and morale. An emotionally intelligent principal understands the difference.
Before making such a decision, strong leaders examine the evidence, consider why a particular teacher is the right fit for the assignment, communicate the reasons clearly, and listen to the teacher’s concerns. When possible, they explore reasonable alternatives and provide transition support through mentoring, materials, planning time, or other resources.
The principal may ultimately make the same decision. The difference lies in how that decision is made and communicated.
Teachers entering the profession need fortitude, compassion, and a willingness to grow. School leaders should model those qualities. New teachers who show promise but need development should be paired with strong mentors to guide them through the profession’s difficult early years.
Academic standards define what students should know, but standards alone cannot create successful classrooms. Students are not widgets or mere numbers. They are individuals who will become our future educators, nurses, doctors, plumbers, engineers, mechanics, business owners, parents, and community leaders.
The teachers students remember are often those who knew them as individuals, understood their strengths and struggles, and still expected them to learn.
Knowing students is essential to good teaching. Knowing teachers is equally important to effective leadership.
Great principals understand that teachers are not interchangeable parts of a school building. They are professionals whose judgment, experience, relationships, and dignity matter.
School culture does not come from a mission statement hanging in a hallway. It is built through conversations, decisions, disagreements, expectations, and everyday acts of respect. Strong leaders do not need to constantly remind people they are in charge. Everyone should feel their leadership the moment they walk through the school door.
Karolyn Marino is the vice-president of Professional Educators of Tennessee.
