Sustaining the leader

Sustaining the Leaders

Doing the job in such a way that you can continue to do it!

Balance of teaching and non-teaching responsibilities..

The definition of the role.

The extent to which principals/deputy principals are isolated from the school workforce.

Leadership is not a problem-difficulties lie in management. Leadership Matters 2010

Tensions

Reservoirs of Hope

When Reservoirs Run Dry

NSCL 2003

‘How head teachers sustain their schools and themselves through spiritual and moral leadership based on hope’. Alan Flintham

Internal reservoir of hope is the calm centre at the heart of the individual leader from which their values and vision flow and which makes effective interpersonal engagement possible

Reservoirs of Hope

Belief Networks

Support Networks-inside and outside school.

External Networks

All aimed at achieving an appropriate work life balance leading to a sense of well-being

Sustainability strategies used to replenish the reservoir

“You don’t have to be Mother Teresa to have moral purpose” (Fullan 2001)

“whatever it is that gives individuals their foundations of ethical behaviours and bases of belief” (Flintham 2003)

Moral Purpose in Education

Proclaimed Desired Actual

We have 35/40 values that influence ourbehaviour.

What are your values?

Behaviours

Beliefs/emotions

Motives/values

Self-concept/

self-esteem

Relationship between values and behaviour

Professional Associations/External networks Family/Friends/community***** Inside school-Relationship between P & DP - BoM - Distributed Leadership‘To the world you may be one person;

but to one person you may be the world’

Support Networks

Principal/Deputy – relational considerations Príomhoide / Leas phríomhoide Taoiseach / Tánaiste (Circular 04/98) Principal-‘idea’ (overall): Deputy- ‘implementer’

(day-to-day) Understanding in Ed. Act etc. that ultimate

responsibility to the Board/VEC lies solely with the Principal

‘First among equals’- generally the DP defers to the P- in well established teams, roles are reversible/interchangeable

Senior leadership ‘team’ assumes high trust relationship- works both ways!

Support in public, counsel in private Unique position of Deputy- likely to be still a

classroom teacher, member of specific subject Dept., erstwhile ‘staff’ colleague- expectations of attachment to the colleagues/expectations of loyalty to ‘management’

In ‘distributed’ leadership culture- boundaries of responsibility less defined and leadership for learning more effective.

P & DP relationship

Trust saves time. It allows us to cut corners, to cut to the chase, to get things done. Working with someone we are wary of is a tough, challenging and time-consuming business. Working with someone we trust can be a delight.

Relationships built on trust

MLL/WSE evaluation ‘The principal and deputy principal have

worked together as a team for over seven years. Their management style is hands-on, and student-focused. While it is appropriate for them to focus on day-to-day management of students it is timely to revise their roles and work practices to enable the progression of the school’s development planning agenda and school self-evaluation’

2012

a mindset amongst some school leaders “which is often more comfortable with an operational rather than a strategic role”

(PricewaterhouseCooper 2007)

“Instructional leadership ... was the most neglected aspect of the Principal’s work in school. Pressure of time, with the urgent taking precedence over the important, and insufficient back-up services were cited as the main reasons for this neglect”

(Report of the National Education Convention 1994)

Leading Learning

How do we make this budding relationship more of a ‘shared model’ based on leading learning?

Case study

Continuing professional development-moral imperative*****

Games , hobbies, interests etc. ‘Aerobic exercise- boosts the supply of

nourishing blood to the brain, improves the efficiency of the nerves and increases the neurotransmitter hormones that produce feelings of well-being’

‘Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the soul’

External networks-renew yourself!

An ability to share the load!

Good time management skills

Emotional intelligence

Other important findings from the research on sustainability

“The majority of those who detailed that they relish the challenges and enjoy the variety of the role, and achieve a positive work-life balance, were more often those who had effectively distributed leadership across and within the school”

(‘A life in the day of a headteacher’ NCSL 2007)

Distributed Leadership

The PDST is funded by the Department of Education and Skills

under the National Development Plan, 2007-2013

© PDST, 201019

The PDST is funded by the Department of Education and Skills

under the National Development Plan, 2007-2013

Cross-section of staff

Willingness

Shared vision

Ownership

Credibility

Innovative

Detail people

Persons’ people

Visionaries

Time Management & Personality Types

Fine-tuned and insightful self-awareness and self-management

Positive and productive relations and interaction with others

Emotional & Social Intelligence

Circle of Influence

Circle of Concern

Have a proactive focus.

CircleOf

Influence

Avoid a reactive focus

Circle of Concern

When have you learned most as a leader?

On a course? When things were going well in school? In times of adversity?

Ability to Learn, Grow and Develop

Tame, Critical and Wicked Problems Tame

Critical

Wicked

Follow the “Yellow Brick Road”

No waiting around, Decisions must be made

Complex, no right answer, no destination

Steve Mumby, (CEO of NCSL) maintains that leaders are in danger of making two big mistakes:

Not believing enough in themselves as leaders – particularly important for Deputies

Believing in themselves too much as leaders

Appropriate Self Belief

“...is about having confidence in your aims, but also being comfortable and receptive to the input of others. It is about positively encouraging constructive and considered challenge from within and outside you own school or organisation.

Having critical friends doesn’t diminish our strength as leaders. It enhances it”.

Munby 2009

Good Leadership...

Emotional intelligence a major determinant of leadership style and leadership style determines 50-70% of organisational performance

(Maureen Gaffney, NAPD Symposium March 2010)

Emotional Intelligence

know who they are, where they are going and why.

have a deep understanding of their emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs and drives.

are honest with themselves – realistic self assessment.

operate with candour and are willing to admit failure.

receive constructive criticism and willingly ask for help.

are self-confident.

People with emotional intelligence:-

Toxic relationships are considered to be as major a risk factor for disease & death as smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, high

blood pressure or cholesterol.

C-Complaining C-Competing C-Comparing C-Contending C-Criticising

Major risk factor for disease!

Emotional Toxins

• Vanity-barrier• Do not be constrained by received wisdom• Dream ‘big’ for yourself• Have a ‘vision’ for the people you lead• Under-promise and over-deliver• Don’t look for clones of yourself• Give support/respect/compassion/love• Find something regularly to celebrate and laugh

about! Tom Savage

And Finally ... Tom’s Tips for Leaders

‘Being happy is a serious business that can vastly improve your life’