Being a school principal is balanced between being rewarding and being challenging. It is a difficult job, and like any job there are people that are just not cut out to handle it. There are certain characteristics of a principal that some people do not possess. Besides the obvious professional requirements needed to become a principal, there are several traits that good principals must possess to do their job effectively. Each of these characteristics manifests themselves in the daily duties of a principal. The best principals possess the following qualities.
A principal must exhibit leadership. This is a characteristic that every principal must possess. The principal is the instructional leader of their building. A good leader has to take responsibility both in the successes and the failures of their school. A good leader puts the needs of others in front of their own and is always trying to improve their school and then figures out how to make those improvements no matter how difficult it might be.
A principal must balance tough love with earned praise. This is especially true with his students and his teachers. He cannot be a push over, meaning that he lets people get away with mediocrity. He has to set expectations high and hold those you are in charge of to those same standards. This means that there will be times when you have to reprimand people and likely hurt their feelings.
A principal must be organized and prepared. Organization and preparation will help reduce stress when you are dealing with difficult or unique situations. Each day presents a unique set of challenges and being organized and prepared is essential to meeting those challenges. He deals with so many variables as a principal that lack of those will lead to ineffectiveness. Each day he still has to come in with a plan or a to-do list with the understanding that he will probably only get about one-third of those things done