Leading Through Role Reversals Without Losing Your Leadership Identity

Jul 24, 2026

Connect

How to navigate the awkward shift when you’re suddenly leading former peers, supervisors, or subject-matter experts

There’s a leadership shift that no principal training fully prepares you for, which is the moment the roles reverse.

One day, you’re working alongside someone as a peer. Next, you’re evaluating their performance. Or you’re leading a teacher who was once your supervisor… or a subject-matter expert who knows more about the content than you ever will.

Inside The Leadership Collective this summer, we devoted an entire coaching session to this topic because it’s one of the most complex dynamics school leaders face.

Here’s the truth:

Reverse role dynamics can either undermine your authority… or deepen your leadership maturity. The difference comes down to clarity, confidence, and keeping the focus where it belongs — on student success, not adult comfort.

The CLEAR Approach

In our work together, I shared how each part of the CLEAR Framework applies here:

Subscribe to keep reading this post

Already have an account? Log in

A Strong Start Doesn’t Mean Your Systems Are Strong Yet

There is a certain relief that comes when the first few days of school go well. Staff are back, students are moving through the building, transportation is running, classrooms are settled, and the systems you spent the summer planning seem to be doing exactly what you hoped they would do. After months of preparation, it is tempting to look around and think, We did it. And you should celebrate ...

The State of the School: Why Your Team Can't Follow a Vision You Never Said Out Loud

A few weeks ago, one of our leaders inside The Leadership Collective walked out of a coaching session and went straight to building her State of the School presentation. No blank slide. No staring at a cursor, wondering where to start. She had a structure to work from and the confidence that her message would actually land with her staff. That moment is the whole reason I do this work. Most s...

How Are Principals Supposed to Do Both?

Why managing the administrative demands of the principalship begins with protecting your role as an instructional leader A school leader recently asked me a question that captures what many principals experience every day: “How do they expect us to do both?” She was talking about the two roles hidden within the principalship. A principal is expected to be an instructional leader who spends...

Leading Through Role Reversals Without Losing Your Leadership Identity

How to navigate the awkward shift when you’re suddenly leading former peers, supervisors, or subject-matter experts

The CLEAR Approach

Subscribe to keep reading this post

Lessons in School Leadership

Rebuild culture. Increase retention. Minimize overwhelm, and Reignite your passion for leadership.

Join Our Free Trial