SIMON BREAKSPEAR
Upgrading your in-house leadership development ILLUSTR TRAT RATION: ARTISTIC TICCO
Offer the right programs, and your leaders will grow with you.
G
en Y talent expect to be trained and developed. Education leaders must stop seeing training as merely a tool for development, and start seeing it as a valuable tool for attraction and retention. Schools must upgrade their leadership development experiences to ensure that talented staff feel they are developing p e r s o n a l m a s t e r y, a n d b u i l d i n g a n impressive resume for future career moves.
Teachers Matter
In previous days, the “psychological contract” of employment was that workers would trade their loyalty for job security. But now, as opportunity abounds for the most talented communicators and emerging leaders, the new “psychological contract” is, “I will work for you, and in return you will develop me and make me more employable.”
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The simple reality is that you now retain your talented staff through investing in their development. Young talented people know that continual professional learning is the price of entry for anyone serious about setting an impressive career trajectory. Many high-quality university graduates now choose low-paid internships at challenging organisations to develop their skill-set. Furthermore, top-level law and consulting firms compete for talent not only on salary, but also by the quality of their graduate development programs. It is time for schools to become places where young talent come to build their career and develop transferable skills in communication, emotional intelligence and leadership. When I have shared this idea with school leaders in Australia, many agree with
the argument, but than quickly become concerned that if they make their staff too
• How engaging and effective would you rate the current opportunities?
employable or invest too much in their training they will either be headhunted or leave seeking further opportunity. Logical as that may appear, leaders that will grow talent magnet schools understand that they have far more chance of keeping staff if they invest in constantly training and developing them than if they deny them those opportunities. The absence of training and development opportunities drives staff away far more quickly than a headhunter.
Once you know what you currently have in operation, begin to lay out a way forward and make it explicit. Every Gen Y leader should know clearly what opportunities are available and how they can access them.
As a sector, it is time to life our game in leadership development. Here are five ideas to help stimulate your thinking: 1. Do a leadership development audit First, it is critical that leaders take the time to gain a clear picture of the current leadership development situation in their schools or department. Personally reflect, and seek out some broad opinions from your staff as you explore questions such as: • What opportunities do you currently make available? • To what extent are the different elements connected into a coherent development program? • Does the staff know what is available to them? Are they accessing the opportunities?
2. Adopt a common framework Adopt a leadership framework for your school. Much in-school leadership development can seem disconnected. If you are going to be serious about staff leadership development, it is helpful to have a common framework to improve coherence and ensure common language. The ACEL Leadership Capability Framework is a great example of a structure that is effectively being used across the country. A framework will provide a blueprint to guide your leadership development. Furthermore, staff will then have a common framework that can guide their own informal discussions and peer-to-peer mentoring. 3. Mix up the modes of delivery Educators often seem stuck in one mode of professional learning: large group lectures and keynotes. These sessions can be incredible (see below), but are not sufficient for a holistic program. Your leadership development program can (and should)