• Tell me about yourself. Hometown/College/Family

My name is Mr. Mark Eisenhour, the principal William High school. I have been brought up here in Alexandria, and I have two children who have graduated from this school. My professional life began 28 years ago where

2. When did you know you wanted to be a leader?

I started as special education teacher and have risen ranks over the years to become the principal. The idea of becoming a leader and not just a teacher came into my mind in the third year of my career and was greatly influenced by my friend who then was the assistant principal.

3. Tell me about your most fulfilling day on the job (and your worst)

Teaching can interesting and sometimes challenging. There are happy moments, especially during graduation where students you thought could not make it end up excelling. On the hand, it can be difficult in instances where your colleague informs you that they are quitting.

4. What brings you joy in the workplace?

There is more fun in interacting with students directly. I can not imagine that I am staying all the day on the office .

5. What would your harshest critic say about you? What your greatest advocate say?

People that I have interacted with say I am patient and nice to adults. I need to hold teachers more accountable. You know if I see them running late for work I must get thim , but that is not my stile. On the other side many people said that I keep calm down, especially in emergencies.

6. What will be your leadership legacy?

My legacy is that I have shown respect and fairness to all.

7. What advice would you give an aspiring public school leader?

The advice I could give to aspiring or other administrators is to focus on classroom work and demonstrate dedication because that is the core reason of an educator. Also, support the teachers and students at all times.

Reflection on the response

Mr. Mark Eisenhour professional and personal life has been fulfilling. He has been blessed with two teenagers who have graduated from high school. His teaching career is one with humble beginnings. He began as a special educator and pushed himself outside the comfort zone and dared to dream bigger. Over time he succeeds and becomes the principal of William High school where he demonstrates exemplary leadership skills that make him gain respect in the school community where is celebrated for being patient and nice to adults.

Interestingly, he enjoys his profession and other leadership roles (Ingersoll, Sirinides & Dougherty, 2018). He has fun interacting directly with students and is elated when even the underachievers finally graduate. Important to note, he advises educational leaders to focus more on classroom work and more importantly remember support to teachers and students at all times. Finally, he has a legacy of showing respect and fairness to everyone.

In brief, teaching is a vast profession that equips one with paramount experience in various fields of life. For instance, the teaching profession plays a critical role in nurturing and fostering one’s leadership skills. This is because positions like the Principal allows one to know to deal with all the members of society irrespective of the age. Just to mention, the principal is in charge of students, teachers, and the subordinate staff. As such, he or she is able to learn how to lead this big with minimal challenges. This ends up creating or morphing a good leader who can lead different people in the society irrespective of the inherent challenges.