By David Hoch

David Hoch, EdD, CMAA, is the Athletic Director at Loch Raven High School in Baltimore County, Md. He is a past President of the Maryland State Athletic Directors' Association and a frequent contributor to Athletic Management. He can be reached at: dhoch@bcps.org.

As an athletic administrator, you most likely have to deal with overbearing parents and high-maintenance coaches. Even though this may be time consuming and frustrating, most of us have developed strategies and put protocols in place to handle such individuals.

But there is another person we all interact with on a regular basis who can be even more problematic: our immediate supervisor. Whether it's a principal, superintendent, dean, or president, our boss can make our workdays (and careers) more difficult than they need to be.

Ideally, your supervisor is a wonderful leader and mentor. But in reality, it's not uncommon to find ourselves paired with an upper-level administrator who is unsupportive of athletics, a bully, vindictive, a control freak, or a combination of countless difficult traits.

How do you cope? Beyond finding a new position (or learning not to care, which is contrary to why we administer athletics in the first place), there are strategies anyone in any situation can employ.

EDUCATE & SHARE INFO
Sometimes, upper-level administrators are not good bosses because they don't have a clue what our position is all about. That's why it's critical to continually educate your supervisor on what you do.

Start by giving them a copy of your handbooks, policies, and evaluation procedures. Then update them on critical issues you're working on, and invite them to a few coaches' or parents' meetings. With e-mail, it's easy to provide them with copies of all your important correspondence and documents.

It can also be helpful to let them know about your successes and professional development. Whenever you receive an award or commendation, share it. Drop them a line about the latest course you completed and conference attended.

In every way you can, let your supervisor know that you are highly qualified and appreciated by others in the school, community, and profession. Your boss needs to understand that you are not just a former coach looking forward to retirement, and that you deal with issues similar to the ones on his or her plate.

UNDERSTAND YOUR BOSS
Along with educating your supervisor about yourself, try to learn what makes him or her tick. Good or bad, this person has goals, an operational style and, yes, even needs and emotions. Once you understand them better, you may find the key to a better working relationship.

Figuring out your boss may be easier than you think. Many administrators are fairly transparent and will actually tell you what is important to them--as long as you listen.

Several years ago, I worked for a principal who pointedly told everyone what his expectations were and how he operated. Those who didn't pay attention or fought his vision struggled. Those who understood what he wanted thrived.

For example, he wanted every briefing or request to be done in 10 minutes or less. Therefore, you needed to be totally prepared, with your ducks in a row and polished, when you walked in for a meeting. Those who were prepared generally succeeded, and those who didn't came up short.

This principal was demanding, opinionated, and occasionally gruff, but he was also very, very consistent. Once I understood what he wanted, he was not a difficult supervisor at all.

If your boss is not so cut and dry, you may be able to find a trusted colleague who can help. The administrator's assistant can be a great source. Sometimes a mid-level administrator can help, too. Try to discern who your boss trusts, then ask that person for advice.

Once, when a new principal entered our school, I contacted the athletic director at this individual's former school to get a read on my new boss. Since I trusted and respected this athletic administrator, I knew his hints for dealing with this principal would be extremely valuable--and they were.

Also understand that timing can be key. With one of my former principals, when I approached him made all the difference. To find out a good time to talk to him, I always asked his administrative assistant, who knew not only what was on the schedule, but also the emotional climate, which is ultimately more important. She was acutely aware of budget deadlines, problems, and everything that might influence the principal's receptiveness. She always provided invaluable insight.

Sometimes help can be found where you least expect. In my case, the head custodian and I were often the target of the same wrath from a principal, and as a result, we developed a special fraternity. We even created a simple system of hand signals when we passed in the hallways to alert each other when it was not a good time to enter the main office.

Still, one should be careful and guarded with comments about a challenging administrator. Even among trusted colleagues, an off-hand negative thought spoken aloud may find its way back to your boss. This will surely create more problems.

SELF PROTECTION
Another part of a good strategy is documentation, which includes two components. The first is a record of your responsibilities. If you have a supervisor who challenges your work, keeping notes on exactly what you do is important. This can be accomplished with a simple time log kept on a spreadsheet.

You should also document any difficult encounters with your supervisor. Anything you consider negative, derogatory, or threatening should be written down and filed. In cases of potential harassment, you may even want to keep such records off-site. If working with your supervisor gets to a point that you want to bring it to the attention of your teachers' association or union, it will help to have these files.

One last piece of advice is to simply tell your administrator how you want to be treated. For example, it is never acceptable to be yelled at in a professional setting. In a polite but firm manner, let your supervisor know what is unacceptable to you.

My dad often proclaimed that people will treat you the way you allow them to. You alone are responsible for setting the parameters. This doesn't mean that your supervisor has to always agree with you or support your approach, but it does mean you can expect acceptable boundaries to be followed at all times.