How to be a good administrator

I work under some excellent people who serve as role models for the kind of administrator I'd like to be (including our department head, associate dean, and dean). Specifically, some things I want to keep in mind are:

• Before making a decision, talk to all affected parties. Tell them what you are thinking about doing and ask for their input.
• Before making a decree about how people should change what they do, first understand why they do things the way they do. Usually people do things the way they do because it serves their mission and is effective and efficient. Their reasons for doing what they do will continue to exist after your decree, so if you don't take those reasons into account, people will just try to subvert your decree in order to do what they believe is best.
• Requiring signatures from more people doesn't mean more people will engage in decision-making. It means people will just sign without paying attention to what they are signing, or will ask their secretaries to sign for them. It means that the people who have to obtain the signatures will be annoyed by all the bureaucratic hurdles that get in the way of what they are supposed to be doing: getting an education in the case of students, giving an education in the case of faculty, or serving students in the case of staff.
• Don't be so dazzled by your own brilliance that you can't hear what anyone else says.
• Listen to the views of your people. Don't just assume they are wrong. Engage with their ideas. Then make your own decision about how to proceed, and explain the reasons for your decision. Say you are sorry you can't adopt all their ideas.
• Assume the best of your people. For example, if someone seems to be doing something wrong, when you ask them about it, you might ask, "Am I missing something?"
• If someone seems to be doing something wrong, do ask them about it. Don't just turn away from it.
• Continually seek feedback about how things are going. Let your people tell you what does and doesn't work well, what they do and don't like, so you can figure out ways to improve the systems.
• Take responsibility for your decisions. While you may have been influenced by the input of others, in the end, it was your decision. Don't let those who disagree cast their blame on the people under you.
• When someone sends you an e-mail, assume that the person did not want that e-mail to go to anyone other than the people to whom they sent it. Therefore, do not cc additional people in your reply. Or if you cc additional people, only include your own reply, don't include the text of the other person's message.
• In general, you should trust that the people doing their jobs are the ones who best know how to do their jobs. However, don't use that as an excuse to ignore them. You need to understand what they do. You need to know their problems and concerns so that you can address them. You need to know how hard they work and what skill they use so that you can give them the recognition they deserve.
• Someone used the phrase, "Management by walking around." The idea is that when you walk around the workplace and chat with your people, you get to know what they do and what their concerns are. They get used to talking to you, so they are more likely to share with you when something comes up. When you must be in your office rather than walking around, keep your door open as much as possible. Let people know they can drop in. If someone has what they consider a small concern, they won't bring it to you unless you keep channels open in this way.
• Think things through carefully.
• Always be gracious and calm when interacting with others.