What Matters Most in Those First 30 Days

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👋 Welcome back to Harper Haven, your weekly blueprint for building a joyful and high-performing school for students and staff… without burning yourself out. I’m glad you’re here.

😃 I’m on a mission to help 10K turnaround school leaders so please… subscribe and tell a friend to tell a friend.

🦄 In this this issue…

💜 The Leadership Reality: This work is hard and heavy, but coming in hot will backfire. Fast.

💜 The Leadership Move: Focusing on these FOUR things will set you up for success.

💜 Field Notes: You have a small window of opportunity to build your reputation. That’s why those first 30 days are critical.

#LetsDoThis #ForTheCulture
— Alicia Harper

Nobody prepares you for how deeply you’d feel the weight of it all.

I remember my first 30 days as Principal like it was yesterday.

Everyday, I felt a rush of emotions. I was excited, anxious, scared of messing it up even more, and worried I’d be another person who got it wrong.

The weight of expectation that no one really talked to me about or prepared me for all felt very… heavy.

I felt like everyone was waiting to see what I would do first.

Was I gonna implement a new curriculum?
Was I gonna make their very-specific-pain-point-that-only-impacted-them go away?
Was I gonna update the staffing model and switch teachers’ grades or classes?

I “get” it — people were working their butts off and weren’t seeing change. So they wanted me to either:

But here’s what I’ve learned:

When you move too fast in the wrong direction, you run the risk of losing your power players before you even get the chance to build momentum.

No amount of tactics will work if you don’t build a strong foundation first.

When schools are on the struggle bus, unfortunately, staff members get used to constant change.

New leaders.
New programs promising to fix what’s wrong.
New expectations that don’t usually last longer than a few days.

So when a new leader walks in with a game plan, people give you the side eye. Because they’re skeptical.

And, so.

One of the first things I did was focus on making things predictable.

Being visible every day.
Saying “good morning” to every staff member everyday.
Following up and following through on what I said I was gonna do.
Setting expectations and keeping them consistent for the whole squad.

Because everything matters and the weight of it all is so… heavy, new leaders tend to feel the pressure to have all the answers immediately.

Nah, fam.

Here’s what you need to know: in those first 30 days, your answers are often incomplete. Or wrong. Or both.

Instead of trying to give all the answers to all the things, I spent time:

Talking to teachers and staff & asking a TON of questions.
Sitting in classrooms to see instruction & culture in action.
Listening without correcting or judging. (Okay… maybe I judged. But, just a lil bit.)

With 15+ years in the game, I can tell you this: too many turnaround plans focus on students first. Only problem is: student outcomes don’t actually shift until adult behaviors shift.

So, even though Harper loves the kids, I didn’t start with them first.

I focused on the adults. Because…

I studied how staff spoke to each other. (They didn’t.)
I studied what happened in meetings. (Cliques formed, teachers resisted, leaders caved.)
I studied whether expectations were actually held. (They weren’t.)
I studied where the negativity showed up and who influenced it. (Chile, those “social capital” staff members will get you every… single… time!)

Instructional problems and low student achievement are usually adult culture and leadership problems in disguise.

Okay, friends… this might come across as counterintuitive. But, I didn’t spend my first 30 days trying to get everybody to like me.

Pause.

I don’t even like everybody so I can’t expect everybody to like me. Not to mention that, different things make different people happy, which means it’s fundamentally impossible to get everybody to like you. I’m not trying to spend my energy on people who don’t like me or who’re committed to finding a problem for every solution.

Ends rant.

Play.

Because likability doesn’t actually build trust.
Trust comes from being consistent and doing what you say you’re gonna do over time.

What staff start to believe about YOU matters in order to move this work forward.

You have a small window of opportunity to build your reputation, which is why your first month is critical.

It sets the tone for everything else that follows because it’s about what people start to believe about you, your values, your standards, and your leadership.

Do they believe that you understand the work?
Do they believe that you see and know what’s really happening?
Do they believe that you’re dependable and will follow through on your word?

Or… do they believe that you’re just another leader passing through, trying to add to their resume?

How you show up every day with consistency will set the foundation you need to lead through the transformation.

Rest your understanding on that.

Each week, I share tips and tricks on how to build strong schools through sustainable systems and real-life case studies that you might have missed. Take five minutes to get caught up!

Everyone’s talking about these posts so join the conversation:

💜 You can’t have Year 4 results without establishing Year 1 foundation, and build up from there. Folks are sharing about their own Year 1. Check it out here.

💜 This post is doing numbers because why do we always wanna start with the wrong thing(s) when trying to fix school culture?! Check it out here.

💜 I’m tired of pretending these are the reasons struggling schools CONTINUE to struggle. Check it out here.

Thanks for kickin’ it with me!