School Principal on Practical Application

School Principal: “My name is Amy Schroff and I’m the Principal at Mary Queen of Peace School. We’re a preschool through eighth grade school. We have about 400 students and my staff and I have been working with LifeWork Systems for the past year to help improve our communication and problem solving skills. When Principals are in a development program, when we go to class, and we learn about how to be a Principal, how to be a leader, we talk a lot about communication. We talk problem-solving. We talk about culture, and we talk about climate, and it can be very theoretical because none of us are doing the job. So when it comes to doing the job and having a problem or having a situation that you need to deal with, sometimes the theory you can think about it and you can draw on that, but it’s not enough practical step-by-step tools that you can use. So LifeWork Systems helps me tap into the theories that I’ve learned but also helps me take it into a more practical, “This is what I need to do now.” or “This is how I can approach a conversation now.” I found that to be very helpful. As a Principal, I think it’s important for myself and other Principals to know that in order to really be a good leader you have to be able to listen and you have to be able to communicate clearly. Part of leadership is understanding good communication tools, and what LifeWork Systems has brought to us is the ability for all of us to work together, so it’s not always a top-down forcible kind of a leadership. It’s an invitation for all of us to be in community, for all of us to work together, and really LifeWork Systems is about LOVE.”