For the first three years of my career as a school counselor, my school had a principal who kept our school running smoothly, maintained a pretty positive school culture, and was there for us when we needed her. Most of the teachers were happy and parents were pleased with our school as a whole. But, it wasn’t until our principal was let go and a new, completely different leader came in, that I discovered the power of an amazing principal.

When we first found out that our principal had lost her job, we were all very scared and unsure of our future. We were comfortable with the way things were and terrified that someone new may come in and really try to change things. I remember feeling very nervous on the first day of in-service in August: our first day with our new principal, Dr. Ricki Gibbs II. He stood at the front of the room with a strong confidence and warm smile that made him instantly likable…until he found out it was my birthday and forced this shy, can-only-dance-under-the-influence-of-margaritas girl to DANCE in front of the entire faculty! My goodness, I’ll never forgive him for that one! 😉 Over the three years I was privileged enough to work with Dr. Gibbs, I learned a lot about what makes an administrator effective, respected, and loved. And above all, I learned what it felt like to be truly respected, truly appreciated, and truly needed. I’d like to share with you 9 qualities of an amazing administrator that I learned from my work with Dr. Gibbs.

1) Amazing administrators TRUST, RESPECT, and LOVE their faculty.

On that very first day of in-service in August, Dr. Gibbs explained that he would always refer to us as “heroes” rather than “educators” or “teachers.” In every email he sent, he started with “Good Morning, Heroes,” or “Hello, Heroes.” Dr. Gibbs was raised in a rough neighborhood in Miami in a single parent, low-income household. He explained that growing up, his teachers were the true heroes of his life who believed that he had what it took to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration in his family. He knew that we could be heroes for our students, too. Dr. Gibbs not only called us “heroes,” but he treated us like heroes. He valued our opinions, listened to our ideas, and appreciated us as people, not just as educators. He took the time to get to know us on a personal level and within minutes of observing us in our craft, created a plan to capitalize on our strengths and help us grow. We felt trusted, respected, heard, seen, and loved every time we set foot in our school building. When he walked in our room for a quick observation, we didn’t panic, but instead felt at ease and excited for him to see us shine. Because of this, we looked forward to coming to school each day and didn’t mind putting in extra time and effort to help our school be the best it could be.

2) Amazing administrators put FAMILY first.

During that first year that Dr. Gibbs joined our school, I announced that I was pregnant with my first son. I wasn’t entirely sure what my plans would be, and how my career would change, after my son was born. I had always imagined being a working mom and continuing to work full-time, until my son was unexpectedly born a month early and everything changed. Thankfully Everett turned into a thriving and healthy baby boy, but that terrifying experience really convinced me that I wanted to stay home at least part of the week with him. I was a little nervous to approach this topic with Dr. Gibbs since I wasn’t 100% sure how he would react, and if sharing my position with another counselor would even be a possibility. But, the second I proposed working part-time and job sharing to Dr. Gibbs, he supported my decision without any hesitation. In that moment Dr. Gibbs said something I will never forget:

“I’d rather have half of you than none of you.”

Dr. Gibbs explained that I could accomplish more part-time than most counselors could do full-time, and that he’d do whatever it took to keep me at our school. In that moment, Dr. Gibbs made me feel more valued, understood, and appreciated than I ever had in my professional life. The fact that he was willing to do the extra work of interviewing, hiring, and training a new counselor, and making our counseling department a little more complicated, made me feel so thankful and loved. Not only did Dr. Gibbs unquestionably support me working part-time, he also was super supportive of all of our roles as mothers and fathers. If our child had a special performance at school, a parent/teacher conference, or was sick, he always told us that our babies were the most important and sent us on our way, without question or guilt of any kind. He saw parenthood as ultimately more important than our careers and did whatever he could to help us care for our families and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

3) Amazing administrators make school FUN.

Elementary school, and all school for that matter, should be FUN.

Rita Pierson once said, “Students don’t learn from people they don’t like.”

Along the same lines, students probably won’t learn if they don’t like and enjoy coming to school. There were so many opportunities for FUN both for faculty and students at our school thanks to our new leader. Dr. Gibbs led monthly school-wide morning meetings that started with peppy music, trendy and fun dances (that I never knew but pretended to, haha!), and inspirational words. Our reward parties for PBIS were super appealing to students and included dance parties, ice cream socials, and movies in the gym. He believed in the power of field trips, and supported us as we took our students to the aquarium, on college visits, to museums, and out to eat at a restaurant so they could practice their table manners. He coordinated team building events for teachers at fun and exciting places like Top Golf and bowling alleys. He provided free meals to us at trainings and meetings whenever he could. He played pickleball (a FUN mix of tennis, racquetball, and table tennis!) with us after school. He knew that if we enjoyed coming to work, and our students enjoyed coming to school, learning would happen.

4) Amazing administrators VALUE school counselors.

As you know, school counselors can, unfortunately, be one of the most misunderstood, underappreciated, and disrespected roles in a school building. Amazing administrators, however, take the time to learn about our role and are creative in finding ways to best utilize our unique skills, strengths, and abilities. Dr. Gibbs fully admitted he was “not a feelings guy” and had a strong, college football player exterior. But, he also understood that most of our students, like him, came from challenging circumstances and had heartbreaking stories to tell. He knew that without mental health supports in place, these issues would stand in the way of learning. He put in great effort to protect my precious time with students and provide me with all of the resources and support I needed to run a successful school counseling program. He listened to my challenges with students, parents, and teachers, and offered advice. He brought his friends, family, and local connections to present at my Career Day event. He rallied together his “partners” (college friends) to raise over $250 for me to purchase Christmas gifts for our neediest families. He created a new account in our school budget for school counseling and added funds from school fundraisers to that account to support my efforts. I can tell you first hand that having the support and loyalty of an amazing administrator is a complete game-changer for your program and your role! With an amazing administrator behind you, there is nothing you cannot do!

5) Amazing administrators are straight-forward, loyal, and dependable.

One of Dr. Gibbs’ greatest strengths was that we always knew where we stood with him. He had a straight-forward, no-nonsense attitude that was honest to a fault. There were never any hidden messages behind his words and he didn’t play any games. He didn’t sugar coat or twist the truth in any way. We never questioned whether or not he liked us or what he thought of our teaching performance. He wasn’t afraid to have “hard conversations” when he needed to and to stand up for what he believed was right (even if it went against district norms or ideas). This open and honest attitude helped us to feel safe and comfortable with him and made for a predictable and stable work and learning environment for all.

6) Amazing administrators have a consistent and predictable temperament.

With Dr. Gibbs, we always knew what we were going to get. If we went into his office to ask a question, approached him in the hallway, or collaborated with him in a meeting, he always had a consistent and predictable temperament. I have always heard that the true test of a leader is their ability to stay calm in a crisis. At any point throughout the school day, no matter the circumstance or challenge ahead of him, Dr. Gibbs always had a warm smile and a demeanor that brought peace and calm to the room. I remember being 8 months pregnant and huffing and puffing my way to his office, all upset over an issue I was having with a parent. But once I stepped foot in his office and began speaking to him, my escalated and nervous energy started to slip away and match his calm energy instead. Dr. Gibbs’ is super approachable and always made time for me, no matter how busy he was.

7) Amazing administrators are direct, clear, communicators.

Gibbs’ communication style is clear, direct, and straight-forward. His decisive and timely decision-making style helped us feel confident in the choices he made. Each day when the bell rang, Dr. Gibbs led the morning announcements with a scripted message, so except for any special announcements for the day, his words were always the same. Our teachers and students could all recite his message word-for-word and did so often, in his strong but friendly tone, to get a laugh out of him. It may seem silly, repetitive, or boring to always have the announcements sound the same, but this actually created a feeling of consistency, stability, and predictability that helped our school thrive. Most of our students’ home environments were unpredictable and unstable, so having this consistent message coming from a safe, stable leader every morning was very healthy for them. Our morning announcements broadcasted out into the community over our loud speaker and the local neighbors would often stop by to tell us they loved starting their mornings with our friendly, kind, and consistent leader, too. Also, like clockwork, every Sunday evening Dr. Gibbs did a call-out to all of our families about any upcoming events or special announcements for the week. He also sent the “Eagles Nest News” [our mascot was the eagle!] newsletter to all teachers to help us prepare for the week ahead. This predictable, consistent, and effective communication style made us all feel up-to-date, informed, and ready to start the week.

8) Amazing administrators are adored and admired by students…but also feared just a little bit.

As you can probably tell from the photos, students absolutely ADORE Dr. Gibbs. He’s the kind of principal that gets hand-made cards from students on a regular basis, constant hallway hugs, and cheerful, “Hi Dr. Gibbs!” from little voices throughout the day. To Gibbs, relationships are key, so he often took the time out of his busy schedule to play games with our kids in P.E. class to relate to them on their level. He was a father figure to many of our students who, like him, didn’t have a caring, consistent daddy in their life. With all that being said, as much as our students loved Dr. Gibbs, they also knew that he “did not play” and meant business. They had a healthy fear of Dr. Gibbs that made them eager to please him and willing to put in the effort to stay out of his office. Students knew that if they were sent to Dr. Gibbs’ office for making sad choices, he wasn’t afraid to discipline them and provide real consequences for those actions. I learned from Dr. Gibbs that you can be the most fun, lovable, teddy bear who kids flock to…but also be tough and hard as nails when it’s time for students to learn a valuable lesson. This magical balance between love and a little bit of fear is a very difficult juggling act, but Dr. Gibbs made it look so natural and so easy…just like he did everything else.

9) Amazing administrators inspire educators to be GREAT.

Before Dr. Gibbs came along, I considered myself a good school counselor. I had always excelled in school myself and absolutely loved children, so school counseling really was a natural fit for me. But, I had always been a bit unsure of myself and lacked confidence in my abilities. Until I met Dr. Gibbs, I didn’t realize that I was…and could be…a GREAT school counselor. Dr. Gibbs told me that within the first couple weeks of meeting me, he saw something special in me. This belief and confidence he had in me inspired a confidence and strength that I never knew I had. Besides my parents and husband, no one had ever believed in me like he did (and still does to this day). Any chance he got, Dr. Gibbs told other administrators that he had the “best school counselor in the district.” Even though this made me a little uncomfortable, it also built me up and empowered me to keep growing and to achieve greatness. I led more and higher quality school-wide events, taught more engaging and interactive lessons, facilitated more effective groups, and coordinated seamless and thorough support team meetings while under Dr. Gibbs’ leadership than I ever had before (or knew that I could!) Not only did Dr. Gibbs inspire me so much, but he empowered so many other teachers and students at our school to be great as well. Any time a teacher expressed an interest in becoming a school leader or an administrator some day, he immediately gave them leadership roles so they could practice and develop their skills. If it weren’t for Dr. Gibbs, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Josh Shipp said that, “Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.”

Although we met in adulthood, Dr. Gibbs was that caring adult for me. I hope that if you haven’t already, you find yours.

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[Photo credit from: Nashville Public Education Foundation.]

[Ricki Gibbs II’s name and photos used with his permission.]

{Credit to Sarah Pecorino Illustrating and APLFonts.}