Participant files

Participant files

Reem, Kholoud, Maha, Manar, Noura, Sarah, Abeer, Arwa

Participants are principals in secondary schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who face daily challenges in the work environment while working hard to achieve their end goals.

I learned from each of the interviewers about the types of problems they face daily and how they managed them professionally.  Additionally, they also exchanged positive ideas with me that which I could not imagine.

All the managers interviewed faced challenges in the work environment, yet they were able to meet them and work hard to overcome them.

1 / Reem

A principal with 18 years of experience working as a teacher before becoming a director of a secondary school in Riyadh. After working for two years, she decided to move to the United States of America to obtain a master’s degree and also to learn something new that would enable her to achieve success in her work. Additionally to also move with what she had learned from Saudi Arabia

after spending five years studying and learning in America, she returned to the kingdom to transfer  what she had learned during her scientific journey

Her experience was not smooth since she faced some difficulties and also some successes on the other side, so she decided to transfer this success to develop her entire school.

2 Kholoud

She is a school principal with an experience of more than 12 years, which made her one of the prominent principals in the region. She was also able to manage the school professionally. She had been working as a principal for three years. For her experience and intelligence in solving problems, she was able to be selected as a manager of one of the schools that were famous due to the abundance of female teachers. This was one issue facing the regional level.

During a short period, she managed to make the work environment a productive place through her smart skills and thoughtful mind when dealing with the teachers.

Where she said

“I could influence, mentor, and advise others and effectively solve issues. As much as I prefer to avoid conflicts.”

3 Maha

A school principal with seven years of experience, I was fortunate to meet her as she received two separate sessions via the Internet by Colman on Emotional Intelligence, and he knew well in this field.

She always tried to develop herself in this field and never hesitated to take any course that could improve her skills as she said

“I have developed the ability to lead by ensuring that I control my emotions. I usually avoid making decisions based on my feelings.

She had a remarkable intelligence in managing her relationships significantly, even in my interview with her, where she touched the knowledge by answering the questions, and she was eager to enrich me with all the information that I need.

4 Manar

A school principal with more than 15 years of experience enjoying and loves teamwork. She always involved all stakeholders in decisions making. During her service as a manager, she tried to cultivate confidence in the teachers and make them love the work environment during her service.

She said

“Regulating my emotions when executing my emotions has helped me to involve everyone in decision making.”

Five Norah

A school principal with ten years of experience, she managed to develop her school administration and understand work requirements by working with full positivity even under challenging situations. She tried to improve her skills by learning new courses that enhanced her ability to lead and develop the school

.

This is seen where she said

“Managing myself entails managing the emotions and remain positive during stressful situations.”

6 Sarah

She is a school principal with eight years of experience who encountered a lot of problems at the beginning of her work as a manager; this affected the productivity of the school. Therefore, she decided to work as an assistant director for two years.

After two years, she felt that she could return to work as a principal and able to manage an entire school because she worked in a school that contains 1500 students, which is not a manageable number.

7 Abeer

A school principal with nine years of experience who believes in working in groups and engaging all stakeholders in decision making, even if the choices are inconsistent with what she seeks, she strives to bring the ideas closer to conform to what she is trying to accomplish.

8 Arwa

A school principal with 13 years of experience and a coach leader for six years, works both as a principal and coach at the same time. This made her task easy when facing challenges in the work environment

She was always keen on setting up free courses for female teachers to facilitate her mission in dealing with them. She was keen on developing the work environment by putting her best effort and time in developing the teachers before working in their leadership inside the school.