After 41 years of a varied and exciting career in Miami-Dade County (Florida) Public Schools, the author recently retired as a middle level principal. Although he also served as a teacher and a counselor, more than half of his career was spent as an administrator in more than a dozen schools. As he reflects on his role as a school leader and analyzes his observations of other administrators, as well as feedback from staff and faculty members, he feels that he is in a position to identify the problems that prevent so many administrators from creating truly successful schools. In this article, the author shares his top 10 list of things not to do: (1) low visibility; (2) desk/office fixation; (3) lack of or too much delegation; (4) programs over people; (5) dictatorial/egotistical style; (6) lack of praise and recognition; (7) criticizing and discouraging; (8) focusing on negatives; (9) failure to control mood; and (10) forgetting the students.