Foundation #4: Work Together

This article is a selection from the introduction of the new book, Five Foundations for Great School Leadership, available on June 30. Click here to preorder your digital copy on Amazon Kindle!

The fourth foundation, Work Together, is at the core of leadership.

The best schools promote collaboration among teachers and parents, foster relationships among general education and special education teachers, and help teachers to use group work and paired learning.

School leaders encourage teachers to reach out to parents proactively and with positive news to increase collaboration between the home and the school. 

Yet often these and other collaborative practices do not come naturally for us–many leaders believe that we should compete on our own and do whatever it takes to stand out from the crowd.

The best educational leaders recognize that everyone working together is crucial for school success–and that collaboration takes great intentional effort. 

Author and leadership expert John Maxwell has quipped, “He that thinketh he leadeth, and hath no one following, is only taking a walk.”

In order to achieve big goals, you will need to get more people involved. The bigger the goal, the more people you will need on your team working together to achieve that goal.

Maxwell also says, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” The most effective way to gain more influence is to add value to people. 

The best principals are servant leaders. These people get down in the trenches with their teachers, spend a large amount of their time finding out what obstacles need to be removed, and give whatever support is necessary to improve teacher and student performance.

The basis for working together is forming strong, positive relationships.

There is truth in the old adage that “no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” This is true for any relationship.

Students who believe their teachers like them and behave warmly toward them usually try harder and achieve more in that teacher’s class.

Some of the best teacher teams are those who have worked together over many years and who have endured various hardships together. 

Leaders always have work to do, but they should never neglect the opportunity to stop and talk to teachers and students.

Building strong, positive relationships with your students and staff early will lead to greater buy-in and increased support in the future.

Educational leaders should create structures for increased collaboration in their schools.

Designing an effective meeting schedule, designating teacher leaders, and organizing committees for schoolwide projects are key for enhancing collaboration.

If teachers can recognize the value in working together with other teachers, they may be more likely to assign meaningful group work to students.

Participating in as many teacher team meetings as possible is an effective way of leading by example. 

Leaders should also be keenly aware of other stakeholders who are associated with the school.

Collaboration with parents is one of the strongest determiners of student growth, so leaders should make every effort to include parents in school and district events and decisions. 

Maintain strong relationships with other principals and leaders in the district. District personnel usually have valuable resources, knowledge, and insight at their disposal, and their goal is the same as yours: to help make schools the best they can be.

Everyone working together to improve the school and demonstrate excellence leads to a positive culture–making the school a place where everyone wants to be.

Want to read more about the Five Foundations? Learn more in Five Foundations for Great School Leadership, available on June 30, 2025.

Click here to preorder on Amazon Kindle!