The last few weeks, I’ve written about Sondry.
Sondry lost her job for reasons that boiled down to a lack of trust. In last week’s newsletter, I outlined three potential conversation prompts to clarify expectations and create a trusting partnership with a colleague, mentor, or supervisor.
I’m not going to talk more about Sondry today, but I have just a few more thoughts about trust.
Trust is a reciprocal relationship, and everyone in a school community owns its health.
Reinforcing trust looks different depending on your seat in the building:
For Principals: Empowering others instead of micromanaging; guarding staff time and efficacy; making hard decisions with clarity and care.
For Teachers: Owning responsibilities; offering empathy and grace to students; accepting and giving feedback with respect.
For Students: Taking responsibility for mistakes; learning about themselves and their peers; giving effort and respecting diverse perspectives.
I made this list as a guide for myself. I’ve never published it, made it into a poster, lectured about it in a staff meeting, or included it in a student conversation. It’s just something I think about when I’m thinking about my school’s trust culture.
Trust isn't a checklist you can finish by Friday. In a building filled with hundreds of developing young minds, trust is always a little fragile. It will occasionally break.
I mean, we’re in the business of humans. And humans have frailties. Moods. Situations. Backgrounds. Baggage. Hopes. Celebrations. Good days. Bad days. Meh days.
Knowing all that, we can acknowledge that part of building trust is acceptance— or is it forgiveness? Human behavior just is what it is. At some point, we gotta move on and recognize what we can’t control or influence— and what we can.
So. As a leader, what can you do today? Immediately?
Here are three quick ideas. Maybe pick one of them and focus on it for the next three days.
For Teachers: Identify one area where you might be unintentionally micromanaging.
Action: Hand off a small decision-making power to a teacher leader this week and explicitly say, "I trust your judgment on this."
For Students: Find a student who had a bad moment recently (a disciplinary issue or a mistake, maybe).
Action: Have a 2-minute repair conversation to check in on their progress, showing them that a mistake doesn't mean anything is broken.
For Parents: Identify a parent who may have reason to be distrustful of school.
Action: Send a proactive, positive update— just because. Let them know how much you enjoy and appreciate their kid.
If you do just one of these things, I’m willing to bet you’ll be glad you did.
Now let me finish with a side note. Research shows us something we intuitively know: Teachers are usually the most trusted figures in the building. In almost all cases, parents report higher levels of trust in their child's teacher than in the administration. Students, too. As a leader, I’m not threatened by this—instead, I lean into it. Let them be the carriers of trust. When trust grows between teachers and their students (and parents)— and yes, between teachers, and between teachers and administration—we directly improve the entire school climate.
This is the final in the four-part series on trust. Next week, I’ll embark on a new series. Come back next week, and if you’re so inclined, share this newsletter with a friend!
Staying curious—
Jen
P.S. If you’re so inclined, share this newsletter with a friend!
P.P.S. Except for spellcheck, I don’t use AI in my writing. It’s just me and my thoughts and my keyboard.