Feedback

This week we are only working two days before we will be breaking for the Thanksgiving holiday. During these two days I have an opportunity to sit down with my host principal and go through a protocol called a two by two. Essentially during this process we give each other feedback on how things are going so far. I've experienced the two by two process before - when working at Institute. I know that this can be a really positive experience. In fact, I would credit my first two by two experience with guiding me to where I am today. I had never received such meaningful feedback before. It was really powerful.

Of course I would love for this week's two by two to be as meaningful as that one during the summer of 2009. However, I need to be realistic. My host principal is not the same person. She doesn't have experience giving and receiving this kind of feedback. We do not have the same kind of relationship. Therefore, I need to be very clear in what I need from this conversation. I need to leave the conversation with a clear understanding of my host principal's vision for the school, how all of our initiatives fit into this vision and what she wants my role to be going forward. I think this is particularly important since one of our assistant principals is moving and will not be with us after Tuesday. All of our roles will have to change to fill the gap that she leaves.

I also need to leave the conversation with real feedback on my performance thus far. My host principal is very well respected in the district and should have a good idea of what I need to focus on to strengthen my leadership as I prepare to apply for the principal pool this spring.

Finally, I hope to leave the conversation with a stronger relationship than we had going in. I very much want to learn from my host principal and her experiences. I want to get inside her head and understand how and why she makes certain decisions. In order to have this kind of relationship we have to trust each other. I think we have both kept each other at a distance up until this point. That kind of relationship is not what I want. I need to take the first step in letting my guard down and hopefully in my trust of her she will find more trust for me.

This feedback process has the possibility to be a turning point in my work. At the very least I hope that I take a step in the direction of building a more trusting relationship with my host principal.