Are you a school leader? Read my top 5 tips!

Being in a position of leadership in any business or organisation is important but none more than leaders that are shaping education and the lives of young people.

This job is not only highly rewarding but can be stressful and consuming! Your approach to leadership will differ from mine but below are currently (I say currently as they change from week to week as I develop further and meet new challenges) my top tips to effective leadership and managing a stressful and sometimes very isolating job.

These are in no particular order!

1.       Networking…

Always pick up the phone, ask questions, bounce ideas and drink coffee with colleagues. Making time to share ideas and ‘vent’ is extremely beneficial and you and your colleagues will normally take more away from these meetings than most CPD courses. Do this regularly for your development, reflection and well-being. Meet, wherever possible, in other schools and off site and never feel guilty about doing this!

2.       Prioritise, delegate and spend time with kids…

Even in the smallest school you can delegate to make the running of the school more effective and make sure your energy is on the strategic leadership. When you are prioritising your work just ask yourself one question – ‘Does your piece of work have direct impact on child outcomes?’ If the answer is ‘yes’ - crack on and do it, if the answer is ‘no’ – stick it to the bottom of your ‘to do’ list. Use an Outlook calendar (or something similar) and plan your work. Make sure you get into classrooms, on the playground and spend time with kids every day without fail – that’s the reason you got into education in the first place!

3.       Be decisive and stick by your decision…  

Buy time and make sure you make the right decision. If possible delay decision and take time to think. Parent, colleagues and children will respect a well thought out decision rather than a quick decision that you have to change later. Trust your professional judgement, pick up the phone if you need to and once you have made your decision stick by it and follow it through. By doing this you will gain trust and respect that money can’t buy!

4.       Inspire…

Do not lead by example! Leading by example is assuming you are the best at everything and that can’t be possible. During my last headship I was not the most skilled EYFS practitioner so I relied on the EYFS team to set the bar and develop the provision under my supervision. Lead by inspiration – inspire the best people in your team to be the best they can be within their role – trust them but don’t neglect the support they might need and hold them to account for the work they do!

Quality school leadership is about not ‘reaching the top of the mountain’ but how many people you take on the journey with you. Developing leadership within your school not only makes the school better and more effective but will make your job as a leader easier as well!

5.       Feedback…

Feedback to everyone in your team, it can be small things as you pass in the corridor or full coaching sessions. The impact of your presence can have a direct effective on the effectiveness of the school and being positive about something can raise moral and help people reflect. Use the line ‘That is great because… it would be even better if….’. Finish with a smile and a well done!

Agree or disagree with my top 5? Let me know!

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