I walked out stunned and liberated, and so began my travels (Mike Scott)

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Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

Don't over-improve your weaknesses. If you're not good at something, work on it until it no longer prevents your progress, but the bulk of your time is better spent maximizing your strengths - James Clear

By now I have a pretty clear idea about my main weakness and, luckily for me, I'm in exactly the right school and position so that I don't have to improve my weakness.

For most teachers the route to Principalship is via two routes in schools - an academic pathway as I followed (assistant Head of Department to Head of Department to a senior leadership role) or a pastoral pathway (Dean of a Year, a House Leader to a senior leadership role).

Neither route is too concerned with finances. Oh sure, a department gets a budget to manage but it's small and finite. It didn't prepare me for tackling a school's entire finances, while managing staffing, property, teaching and learning, student discipline, the Ministry of Education, a Board of Trustees and so on.

Jolly hockey-sticks!! My current position has no financial responsibility/burden at all. It centres a lot on teaching and learning with most of the other bits (no MoE and very little student discipline).

So, all up, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, in summary, the bulk of my time is spent maximising my strengths.

Feels good.