Are you ready for
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP? So, you are thinking of a career in school leadership? Here are five questions to answer and think about before taking the leap. Over the years as deputy principal and principal, I have worked closely with many aspirant leaders and have facilitated conferences and seminars designed to encourage teachers thinking about their leadership aspirations. During this time, there has been consistency in some of the questions. Below are the questions most often asked and need to be clarified for the aspirant before ‘making the leap’. How do I know that I could be a good and effective leader? Developing leadership is a personal journey about self-awareness and requires the ability to self-reflect and commit to self-improvement. It is not a professional journey, and many would-be leaders often forget about the personal dimension of leadership. Senior leaders need to understand their effect on others. We are familiar with the quote that says: ‘The people who follow you will not remember what you say or do, but they will remember how you make them feel.’ If, as a leader, you can facilitate well the work of others in the organisation, so they know what they have to do, have clarity about the purpose and the impact of their work, and feel safe in the relationship, then people are usually happy with their leadership.
SUNATA
While it is important to study further and to be involved in building the school and seizing every opportunity to grow as an educator, it is also important to work on oneself. I have met many leaders and managers who have the best qualifications for the role, but their mindset and their interpersonal skills are not fully developed. They have no understanding of how both affect their colleagues and their productivity.
How should I be preparing for my next leadership role? Peter Gronn (1999) describes four stages in career development in leadership as the following: • Formation • Accession • Incumbency • Divestiture Aspirants are in the accession phase. Gronn (1999) refers to this as the ‘anticipation’ phase, where aspirants rehearse or test their personal capacity to lead by comparing with existing leaders or prospective ‘rivals for advancement’. What assists aspirants here is an unblemished career to date. For example, are they a credible teacher, willing to go the extra mile, outward looking, solution focused, and supportive of colleagues and management? This, however, is only one part of the equation. Other attributes are important—an open mindset, how well they work with others and how flexible they are. Patrick Lencioni, in his fable The Ideal Team Player (2016), believes great leaders and team members must pay attention to three virtues. He writes: ‘For organisations seriously committed to making team-work a cultural reality, I’m convinced that the "right people" are the ones who have those three virtues in common—humility, hunger and people smarts' (2016, p. 155). Hungry people are those who are motivated and hard working. They are always looking for more work, to learn more, and to take on more responsibility in order to learn more. Hungry is about demonstrating a commitment to the job and going above and beyond what is required.
18
In the Lencioni model, Smart refers to having good relationships with Ros Curtis Principal
