During the National Association for Secondary School Principals' 2016 Ignite conference, several principals shared with Education Dive things they wished they knew about the profession when just starting out.

Many of the principals, for example, wish they knew how helpful personal professional development really can be.

"'I was very fortunate to have a great mentor when I was an assistant principal. However, I did (wish) someone had pushed me to read Todd Whitaker's books earlier, attend certain conferences, read up on blog posts, and gain an understanding of design thinking earlier in my career,’” said New Jersey principal Glenn Robbins to Education Dive.

Derek McCoy, on the other hand, wished he knew the importance of building deep, meaningful relationships with fellow educators.

" I always knew it was important to make teachers feel good and give them kudos when you can, and I did the typical leaving a positive note kind of thing, but that was a surface understanding. The deeper understanding is you need to build relationships,” he said.

For Duncan McCulloch, what he wished he knew is more technical.

"I would have loved to know how to present my first staff meeting. If there was a lesson of what to say, how to say it and what the most important topic is when addressing a new staff would be. Staring at 85-plus teachers can be a little intimidating, almost like walking into your first class as a teacher. Having a script on 'how to address your new staff as new principal' would have been genius.”

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

3/2/2016