Resiliency through Relationships

The Last 90 Days

How do International School Leaders ‘Leave Well’?

By Richard Eaton

In spite of the old adage ‘start with the end in mind’, planning to leave one’s role can be far from the thoughts of educational leaders at the beginning of the new school year. This is understandable, particularly given the current challenge of adapting to everfl uctuating COVID-19 regulations. Yet at the same time we intuitively know as international school leaders that in the fi rst months of the new term we may already be asked by our boards or supervisors about our intentions for the next school year, or obliged for personal reasons to take a decision about our future; some will have less control over matters. Hard news regarding contract renewal may come before the year’s fi rst major recess. These are realities of leadership in international school settings.

In school year 2020/21, after seven privileged years as the Director of an established German international school, I was one of those who decided to step away from my post. When coming to the role in 2014, I immersed myself in a useful book by Michael Watkins (2003) called The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels. Surprisingly, however, in spite of high turnover in international school headship (Hawley, 1994, 1995; Bunnell, 2016), there is a dearth of literature on strategies for leaders aspiring to ‘leave well’ and, while Littleford (2014), a leading consultant in the fi eld of international schooling, has practically addressed the theme of the headship transition, his perspective is board-centric, whereby the outgoing head is depicted as someone who needs to be managed.

I began refl ecting Resultantly, with my leadership on several pertinent coach at Making Stuff Better (MSB), a questions: How does one British-based coaching consortium for educators, I began refl ecting on several take initiative to leave pertinent questions: How does one well? How can departing take initiative to leave well? How can heads support transitions departing heads support transitions that benefi t the entire community? that benefi t the entire What should be my priorities in the community? last 90-days? The answers came slowly at fi rst, but an opportunity to share my ideas with colleagues through MSB’s Mastermind course —an online group coaching and support service for leaders —led to a list of ‘Strategies for Departing Leaders’ hoping to maximize their last 90-days on the job. I will explain each in turn.

Strategies for Departing Leaders

1Slow down, look forward, reassess

Leaving should be about looking forward. To achieve this, one needs to slow down. This means resisting the temptation to launch initiatives you may not be able to fi nish. This will prevent your successor from inheriting fragmented projects, and will allow you the opportunity to reassess how you are spending your time. For example, you may want to begin focusing on handing over certain day-to-day duties to people who can manage them during the period of transition. This too will help your successor, as they will not need to fi ll your shoes right away, allowing them time to thoughtfully consider which specifi c tasks to take on, and those they will delegate. Talk widely about why you have slowed down and are reassessing; it will help stakeholders understand that you are not ‘phasing yourself out’, which has a negative connotation. Rather, you are laying the foundation for the new leader to be effectively ‘phased in’. This is the essence of a forward-looking approach.

2Channel negative energy into appreciation

Missed opportunities and regrets are part and parcel of school leadership, work and life, and can be sources of negative energy. Rechanneling any lingering disappointment about your headship experience will help your departure be more graceful. Take time in your last 90 days to appreciate the opportunities your role has given you, the people you’ve been surrounded by, and the place that has been your home. Even something as simple as appreciating a commute that, soon, you won’t be making every day, can release the positive, uplifting kind of energy you are likely to need as you traverse your last 90 days.

3Be realistic—this is an opportunity

Leaving is still hard. One needs to be realistic about this, embrace the challenging aspects of the process, and accept that there will be some discomfort. There will be those sad to hear you are going, while others are likely to be indifferent, or even critical of you as the end draws near. See this as a chance to grow and better understand the aspects of your leadership and professional persona that were effective, and those that could still be refi ned. This is a learning opportunity.

4Have a shared plan

The best, most professional departure is a well-coordinated one. Once the decision to go is made, the fi rst step is developing a plan. A good transition plan features a variety of input. In my case, I spoke to key stakeholders at all levels in the school whose perspective I valued. Their feedback contributed to a plan for my last 90 days that included notes and documentation that could be used by my successor. Key communication deadlines for openly sharing news and information regarding my transition with teachers, parents, and extended stakeholders were incorporated. In senior leadership meetings this timeline and other aspects of the transition plan were monitored. Collective review of communication that would be shared in-house and would be shared publicly helped to establish a healthy discourse. Effectively, a distributed approach kept the transition on track, kept extended ownership of the plan, and supported good communication.

5Stay available, keep listening, and be responsive

I also appreciated that my departure might be destabilizing for some, particularly those whose day-to-day roles were closely intertwined with mine, and/or those who had been dependent on me for personal and professional support. By being open, accessible, and available to these and other colleagues, and by listening to hopes and concerns associated with leadership change, I was able to responsively incorporate new ideas and perspectives into transition planning, elevating my own professional learning and, hopefully, that of others throughout my fi nal days in offi ce.

Taking it Further

My list of strategies for the last 90 days is by no means complete. I had left leadership roles before, and each experience was different. As such, it is useful to recall that Watkins (2003) recommends pairing one’s approach to the fi rst 90 days with the situation they are entering. The same could be said of the last 90 days. I had, for instance, chosen to step away from the role of Director, but would remain an active advisor to the school, and perhaps had more incentive to ‘leave well’ than a head whose contract was not renewed. I also knew my successor, and had ample time to work with them face-toface during my last 90 days, which is not always the case in international schools.

Thus, it could be said that my strategies, which where benefi cially infl uenced by MSB’s coaches and courses, matched my unique situational context as an outgoing head in one European international school setting. I share them not as universals, but to inspire further consideration of this often messy, sometimes unpleasant, and—

due to the sensitivities associated with less-amicable departures—occasionally taboo subject. The latter point raises critical questions for boards and school communities. Avoiding conversations about how leaders, or even teachers, are expected to organize their departures can make transitions of all types more complicated, Taking initiative precarious, and ultimately less successful, bringing us during the full circle. While transitions out of an organization leaving process may lack the urgency of also enabled me the fi rst 90 days when the seeds of your success to ‘let go’ with or failure are being sown (Watkins, 2003), the last confi dence 90 days provide individual leaders the opportunity to leverage their agency in a way that stabilizes the people, systems, programs, and schools they have worked to build and maintain. Taking initiative during the leaving process also enabled me to ‘let go’ with confi dence, clarity, and comfort, supporting my own mental and professional wellbeing, and hopefully that of other community members. In this sense, the leadership transition may also be an under-theorized area of focus for those interested in the social-emotional balance in educational communities, and given the added pressures of contending with the on-going pandemic, provides additional rationale for further professional discourse and research. ◆

Dr Richard Eaton attended an

international school growing up in the Netherlands, where his mother taught; he has since worked as a teacher and leader in schools across four continents. ✉ eatonr@ymail.com

References

• Bunnell T (2016) Teachers in international schools: a global educational ‘precariat’?

Globalisation, Societies and Education. 14(4), 543-559.

• Littleford J C (2014) Head Transition/Entry

Plans: Risks and Opportunities. Littleford &

Associates, LLC. August 2014. • Hawley D B (1994) How long do international school heads survive? A research analysis (part

I). International Schools Journal. 14(1), 8-21. • Hawley D B (1995) How long do international school heads survive? A research analysis (part

II). International Schools Journal. 14(2), 23-36.

• Watkins M (2003) The fi rst 90 days: critical success strategies for new leaders at all levels.

Boston: Harvard Business School.