Cheryl Lloyd is the current principal of Campbell River Christian school.\u00a0 It his her second year as principal of the school.\u00a0 Cheryl oversees 254 students from K-12 and 40 staff members.\u00a0 While officially she is the lone administrator, Cheryl has worked to change the staff structure to develop a leadership team of lead teachers and key people from different school departments.\u00a0 A team approach to leading is important to her.\u00a0\u00a0Cheryl came to formal leadership later in her career completing her Masters degree 10 years before retirement.\u00a0 That’s right, retirement. Perhaps a true leader is never done.\u00a0 Her current post was a call back to service.<\/p>\n
As she worked on her Masters degree in 2007, she worked on a curriculum development committee for a Vancouver Island school board.\u00a0 Once graduated, Cheryl and her husband headed overseas, first to Saudi Arabia and then to South Korea before finishing her career back in BC at a First Nations school in Capilano and then back on the island in Port McNeal.<\/p>\n
She would name her post in Saudi Arabia as her most challenging role as a woman in leadership.\u00a0 Not only was it a culture shift in general, roles for women were very different there.\u00a0 Starbucks had a men’s and women’s section, banking was done at a women’s only bank.\u00a0 Women were not in leadership anywhere except in the schools.\u00a0 She started as a principal of a 250 student school.\u00a0 She dug in as the leader to do her best.\u00a0 With sensitivity she helped the businessmen who ran the school to understand what would be necessary for it to become more successful.\u00a0 Before long, Cheryl was running two schools.<\/p>\n
Within a couple of years Cheryl followed God’s calling to start a brand new BC offshore school in South Korea.\u00a0 It was brand new, they needed supplies, furniture, teachers and students.\u00a0 It opened with 60 students and ran successfully to become officially accredited by the Ministry after the first year.<\/p>\n
When Cheryl considered how she faced the challenges encountered along the way,\u00a0 she paused and considered her answer carefully.\u00a0 Cheryl stated that she had always prayed for God to reveal to her how she could use her position in the school to serve in specific ways during that time.\u00a0 Even at her current school, she is the first female principal in the schools 40 year history.\u00a0 She hasn’t been challenged specifically because she is a woman but she notes that her style is definitely different.\u00a0 She says that being a woman hasn’t been a specific issue but it it never far from her radar.\u00a0 Finding opportunities to collaborate and team build in her school and in her greater community have helped her to be a more effective leader.\u00a0 She doesn’t micromanage, she just trusts her team to do what needs to be done.<\/p>\n
As words of wisdom for other women in leadership, Cheryl shared three suggestions. First, she said it is important to have belief that you can lead.\u00a0 She also thought it is very important to network and build professional relationships with other female leaders.\u00a0 Finally, she said to team build.\u00a0 Teams need people with a variety of strengths: doers, supporters, analyzers and relationship builders.\u00a0 Don’t be afraid to ask.<\/p>\n