Why are you pursuing a leadership role with Sample middle school?

Hi. My name is Lydia Cookie Oaks, and I am

applying for the principal position with simple middle school.

First of all, thank you for this opportunity for the

interview. I appreciate you taking time out of your day

to interview me.

So why am I pursuing a leadership rule with your

school? I have been applying to many schools looking for

an opportunity as a new administrator, I've found that many

applicants have experienced, so it's been challenging to even secure

an interview with no experience going into a position like

this. I've researched this district, and I'm very impressed with

the leadership here.

I would love to learn here as a member of

that team.

What do I identify as potential challenges off leading?

There are always challenges that are going to you come

with being in a leadership position in any capacity.

Um, the biggest challenge that I anticipate is a lack

of trust from staff members coming in as an outsider.

It's going to take some time to build those relationships.

Uh, staff members could have differing opinions, not trust that

I know what I'm talking about or have any experience

because I don't have experience being a principal yet, but

the only way to learn is to do.

Um And then I can anticipate some push back from

staff members just because of those differing opinions.

But it will.

I will do my best to ease everyone's mind and

show that I am trustworthy and capable.

How would I build relationships with my new team?

What do I envision as potential challenges?

Thes two questions go pretty closely together.

Building relationships will just take time and consistency.

In my experience, transparency and communication are key components to

building solid relationships, being authentic, open, honest.

And if I act in those ways, then it will

only take some time for staff to realize that I

I mean what I say and I'm not just blowing

smoke. Um, I also think it's important for staff members

to feel heard when they present concerns to the leadership

instead of feeling brushed aside.

So if I validate opinions and feelings, I think that

that will help to build that sort of trust and

solid relationships between the leadership and the staff of the

first describe my leadership style.

I like to think of myself as very calm and

fair and collaborative I We'll ensure that everyone feels heard

and has a voice.

I think it's important to be a part of the

team and not be an administrator who is just often

an office somewhere.

I like to be very visible in the school and

also to check in frequently with staff members to see

how they're doing.

And if there's anything that I can do to help

in any way, how do I balance personal and professional

obligations? You know that leadership can be very demanding.

I do my best to keep work and personal life

separate. So when I'm at work, I try very hard

to be present in my principle leadership role.

And when I'm at home, I tried very hard to

be present in my mom wife person role.

Um, I think that those two aspects it's a It's

a delicate balancing act.

Both both components are very important and I like to

encourage the family first philosophy.

But that doesn't mean that I won't take work in

this position very seriously as well.

Um, in the case of a staff member having a

family emergency, I would encourage them to be present with

their family and take that time because I think that

that's important.

Um, work can wait in that kind of situation, but

family members can't always, depending on the scenario.

So I like to be very supportive and encouraging and

just help everyone to do their best.

What I see as the greatest professional strength and an

area for development, I can be very calm, even in

stressful situations.

We're trying scenarios.

I accept constructive feedback and implement that into my work

and take it as guidance.

I try not to take things personally because I know

that everyone can always improve.

Um, an area that I could improve or an area

for development, I think, would be along the lines of

learning more school laws and state laws to make sure

that the school and staff are in compliance with everything

that's expected of us.

That's something that I don't have a lot of experience

with, and it's something that I definitely could grow in.

So as a leader, if I identify an employee who

is struggling, what would I do to support the employees?

I think that it's important to approach the situation with

a simple conversation.

I could approach the employees during a prep time or

lunch or a quick chat before or after school and

just say, Hey, you know, I have noticed that you've

been having a hard time missing deadlines or you haven't

been as available recently.

Was there anything going on that I should know about?

Is there anything that I can do to help you?

Is there anything that you feel you need more support

in? Um, just approach it in a friendly and concerned

manner because we're all human.

We all have bad days.

We all have hard situations that we're dealing with.

And like I said, I try to keep working life

separate, and I don't think that I'm the only person

who does that.

So it's very possible that someone could have something hard

going on in their personal life that they haven't shared

in it.

That's what's affecting their work.

But if I don't have a conversation, there's no way

that I would know that information.

So I think it's important just to be curious and

caring and riel with the staff members.

Tell us about a time you've dealt with an angry

or challenging parent.

Well, I think that it's easy for parents to get

defensive or upset when it comes to conversations around their

Children. I mean, their Children are there babies.

We all have our babies and we don't want to

hear anything bad about them, especially when it comes to

things like discipline or misbehaviors at school.

Um, it's easy for everyone's guard to go up when

they hear the principal or vice principal, or the dean

of students on the phone making a phone call to

them. So in my previous position is the dean of

students in my district, and I frequently had to make

phone calls regarding misbehaviors.

And the most important thing is to really share what

has happened.

What you have noticed, what investigation you have done.

Just be very forthcoming with the information you have and

how you have handled the situation and then ask how

the parents are feeling about that.

Is there anything that you think I should know when

I am going through this situation?

Did something happen before school today?

Did your child get enough sleep last night and really

listen to their answers?

I think that a a big part of getting angry

in situations like this is people not feeling heard or

validated or understood.

So it's one of my goals to always make sure

that people feel valued and heard in their situation in

their stance.

And I think that that makes it a lot easier

to move forward together and come to a solution or

a consequence for a child, or just really collaborate and

work together and also helped to calm the parent down

when they know that we really truly have their child's

best interests at heart, we're not coming from an attacking

point were coming from a supportive point.

Um, I had one scenario where 2/5 grade girls were

cyberbullying each other one more so than the other.

Um, so the one who was doing more bullying.

I called her grandma and had a conversation with it

with her about the situation, and she was very defensive

very much.

My granddaughter would never do that, even though I had

evidence printed out from the other parent.

So that was probably the most challenging conversation just sharing

that, you know, I have this in writing from your

granddaughter, and the other girl was not fully innocent, and

we need to work together to make sure that they

both know this is an okay way to act or

behave towards one another or anyone.

Um, and towards the end of the conversation, Graham and

I were more on the same page and we were

able to move forward in a positive way.

If two employees were not getting along, how would you

handle this situation?

I think that the best way to handle this type

of situation, at least initially would be to act as

a mediator for the two staff members.

A lot of times people who are not getting along

or people who are not understanding each other or hearing

with other one is saying and then tension just continues

to build.

So I would act as a mediator and helped to

come to some sort of agreement or understanding between one

another. I think that my role would really be to

allow each staff member to share their perspective and how

they're feeling and make sure that the other staff members

listening and vice versa and hopefully they would be able

to communicate effectively and come to some sort of resolution.

What does collaboration mean to me working together to reach

a common cool.

I truly believe that if we all collaborate and work

together for our students and for our families, that's the

most important thing that we can dio.

Um, because when we're divided, we fall.

But when we stand together, we're stronger.

And I think it's really important to communicate and collaborate

and work together to be the best versions of ourselves

that we can be be the best school that we

can be and also be supportive for our students and

their families.

What ideas do you have to enhance or change our

current virtual program?

I am not familiar with your current virtual program, but

I do know that technology is constantly changing.

So one thing that I would like to implement is

just on ongoing technological professional development.

This could be something that would be like a quarterly

training. We could hire someone to come in and do

a training just to keep us up to date, and

that would help the school to stay on top of

their game and really know how to effectively implement technology

in the classroom as a leader.

How would I impact student achievement I think this all

comes back to building relationships.

It's important for students to have relationships with their school

administrators. Obviously, they have strong relationships with their teachers because

they spend their time in the classroom with their teachers

all day, every day.

But as an administrator, that relationship isn't a strong because

there's not as much time spent together getting to know

each other and learn each other's strengths and differences.

Um, I don't want to make sure that all students

know that I know who they are.

I'll learn everyone's names.

I want them also feel valued and appreciated, and I

will do my best to celebrate all of their wins

and achievements with them.

What would my current colleagues say about me?

I've been described a stoic comb.

Fair, hardworking.

I think all of those air good adjectives for me

that I've heard from colleagues and my most recent manager,

eager to learn open toe opportunities, always willing to help,

um, takes feedback and puts it into play Bills are

probably the best I am running out of time here,

but I just want to say thank you again for

this opportunity.

I appreciate you taking time out of your day.

And I look forward to hearing more from you and

working together in the future.

Thank you.

Have a great afternoon.

Why are you pursuing a leadership role with Sample middle school?

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