ABSTRACT
Coach Woody Hayes was known for his great football teams at Ohio State University and for the philosophy expressed in his book You Win with People (1973). This concept applies to school systems as well as football. People are the single most important aspect of school systems. If we want to have caring principals, we need to employ caring people to serve as principals. Additionally, we need to establish conditions that encourage or at least do not discourage human caring. Most professionals understand that just as plants and animals need proper care and feeding, so do students and teachers need support and encouragement. The same concept should be applied to administrators and educational leaders, who have their own needs as they support, encourage, and care for others. While many people seek balance in their lives, Ted Zigler (2007) makes the point that balance may not be possible in the principalship; instead, principals should focus on what has meaning. To me, the most meaningful aspect of the principalship is to care about all the people that I work with and to have at least some of them care about me. I was blessed to have an abundance of caring people around me at the small Ohio high school where I spent two years away from the university (on sabbatical and leave without pay) as the principal. If I were to find myself in a position without that sense of caring, I would seek to change.
