Happy Friday Reader How many browser tabs have you got open right now? I was talking with Jett Wolper from Sisi this week and he mentioned something called the "tab tax" - the cognitive load of constantly switching between systems just to get basic work done. Email here, behaviour tracking there, communications somewhere else, attendance in another place. Each tab represents a decision someone made to solve a problem. Together they've created a different problem entirely. The problem behind...
7 days ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader “I just wish they’d be more direct.” I’ve heard leaders say this countless times. Usually after a frustrating conversation where they felt like they couldn’t pin down what someone actually meant. I get it. I’ve felt that frustration too. But I’ve started to notice something. When we ask for directness, what we’re actually asking for is clarity. And those two things aren’t the same. You can be incredibly direct and still leave someone completely confused. Think about the...
14 days ago • 2 min read
Happy Friday Reader We’re at that point in the year, aren’t we? Those change initiatives you launched with such energy back in September… how are they going? If you’re feeling like some of them have lost momentum, or never quite got the traction you hoped for, you’re not alone. Here’s a question that might sting a bit. What percentage of the change initiatives you’ve led in your career actually improved anything in a meaningful way? When James Mannion asks school leaders this question, they...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader Although if you're reading this on January 2nd, "Friday" is a bit of a technicality. You're probably still in that strange limbo between Christmas and going back to school - half on holiday, half thinking about the term ahead. Most school leaders I know are already feeling that pull to hit the ground running on Monday. Urgent emails, staff meetings, student issues that stacked up over the break. The temptation is to dive straight back in and just react to whatever lands...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader You’re exhausted. I know you are. Term’s been long, the days have been relentless, and despite all the messaging about festive cheer and magical moments, you might honestly just want to collapse on the sofa and not move until January. That’s completely normal. You’re not failing at the holidays. You’re just human. I’ve been thinking about how we’re supposed to show up at this time of year versus how we actually feel. School leaders especially carry this weight. You’ve been...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader I've been a little getting frustrated with something lately. Almost every leadership development programme I see treats the principalship as the destination. Middle leadership is a stepping stone. The deputy role is a waiting room. Real leadership only happens at the top. That's not how leadership actually works in schools. When I moved into a regional role working across 11 schools, I had one direct report. One. To work with 11 principals and hundreds of teachers, I...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader For years, I thought my job in every conversation was to prove I deserved to be there. Someone would come to me with a challenge and I’d jump straight into advice mode. Not because they needed it. Because I needed to show I was competent. I had this low-level anxiety that the other person must be sceptical of me, and my job was to convince them otherwise. So I’d offer solutions. Suggestions. Ideas. Anything to demonstrate I knew what I was talking about. It took me a long...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader There's a question that's been stuck in my head since I recorded this week's episode with Sam Gibbs. Are we honestly trusting our teachers? Not "trust" as in letting people do whatever they want. That's not what I mean. We're talking about professionals who've worked hard, got the qualifications, gone through training and induction. People who chose this work because they want to do a good job for children. Sam put it simply: we need to start from the assumption that...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Happy Friday Reader I’m writing this from Shanghai Pudong, about to present at the NESSIC conference on leading effective change. Which is ironic timing, because I want to talk about conference networking and who we think looks like a leader. We often select school leaders based on who’s comfortable at conference drinks receptions. Who speaks first in meetings. Who performs confidence in public spaces. Research suggests we’re selecting for the wrong thing. Back in 2002, Judge and colleagues...
2 months ago • 1 min read