Tag Archives: coaching

This is not about you

Posted on by
1

You are not that important, but your influence on others and the future is.

The influence we have as leaders to trigger change in others is what matters. The proliferation of influence beyond ourselves, through a deliberate investment in other human beings, pays forward. It is through this investment that leaders influence greater numbers and further into the future. Ego-less, values-driven leadership that knows it is not about them, but about how they extend their reach and influence.

paying forward, through others, for the future

The strongest leaders invest disproportionately in relationships and interactions that very intentionally influences the leadership of others, far-sightedly. Quietly and deliberately seeking micro and macro investments in others, who are better able to make a greater difference over time. Whilst some acts of influence are seen and purposefully public, most are unseen, systematic and deliberately enacted. It is what they do: the hidden work of leadership.

 (very) Intentional acts of influence

Too often we are taken by bold, shout about acts of leadership that serve the individual. In contrast effective leaders deliberately invest over time, seeking greater value through others, to achieve a common good. This leadership is effortful, thoughtful and deliberate. It calculates expected value and acts to increase returns in the long term. The reverse is lazy, wasteful and short-termist; no friend to our ancestors.

be the ancestor that our future generations need

Leadership is the influence we have on others, those near and far, to make a difference now and next. Effective leaders seek to develop the mental models in others focused on how to lead and pay forward so that they deepen their influence. In creating these models in others we might create the quality of leadership that grows capacity and inspires more lives.

Relationships, ad infinitum

Leadership is relationships, ad infinitum. Our ability to connect, influence, enable, inspire and leave residual value in those we meet, in those we lead, permeates our influence in and through the lives of others. Leaders who give time, are present, give thought, experience, expertise and who purposefully invest through others, seed possibility beyond themselves.  As social beings we thrive on the belief others have in us.

“The relationships we build with each other provide the foundations of change. We are social beings who thrive on connections.” Sir Hamid Patel

Leaders are emotional catalysts, experts in motivation (and motivations). They energise, inspire, elevate and encourage commitment from others, unleashing our natural biases to belong and do meaningful work. This orchestration requires leaders to create the conditions, opportunities and choices for colleagues to lead with purpose and take responsibility, to make a difference.

Our sphere of influence | through who and how far?

How far does your influence extend, to…

  • …self, a few, some, others, many?
    • …now, tomorrow, next, beyond your tenure, beyond your time?

    It is a choice. The emphasis of your priorities and how you use time, with who, will determine the impact and the reach of your leadership. It is both proximal and longitudinal. How far your leadership travels and how contagious it becomes determines legacy: in the trails you leave and open for others.

    We do not just leave trails we create new trails, tread lightly.

    Some leaders are fixated on now, today, tomorrow, getting through (and sometimes that is ok), others lift horizons and seek future returns, seeding the ground and deeply investing in others to change more and into the future. Your leadership is the sum of the actions taken by others, because of your leadership. Most of the impact of which will never be seen or known by you, paying forward.

    “Become the ancestor you’d like to thank.” Seth Godin

    Eco-systems and overstory I the theatre of leadership

    Effective leadership is hyper-aware of the peer and cultural codes that influence the motivation of humans within their ecosystem. Deliberate leadership is sensitive to these codes and acts to trigger ripple effects that take hold and add value.

    “…as tribal animals, we are bound to our peers, heroes, and ancestors … understanding ourselves as tribal helps us see the ripple effects of our actions.” Micheal Morris

    Effective leaders know that in this theatre their role is to enable the ecosystem to thrive, enhancing symbiotic relationships and connections that see beyond survival, toward something worthy. Knowing that their worth is measured in the health of all parts of the ecosystem and after their time.

    Each ecosystem has an overstory, a canopy that guides and shapes norms, decisions, actions, language that create or subtract value. People like us (here) do things like this. The stories we tell, the destinations we describe influences the ecosystem, and the effectiveness of leadership. Leaders…

    “…tend to forget about the overstory because we’re so focused on the life going on in front of and around us. But overstories turn out to be really, really powerful. The overstory is specific. It is tied to a place. It is powerful. It shapes behaviour. And it does not emerge out of nowhere. It happens for a reason…” Malcolm Gladwell.

    To pay forward, with intent, through others, requires leaders to calculate the expected value of their influence through others into the future. To do so requires an understanding of the ecosystem, motivation, peer codes, the overstory… a study of how social costs and cultural codes shape the decisions and actions of others overtime.

    Our landscape | Far-sighted leaders required

    “Our challenge is to ‘build’ the future society we (they) wish to see. This has implications for the curriculum, partnerships and school communities we develop.” Sir Hamid Patel

    The petri dish that is our sector is growing and maturing, the cultures are separate and largely in survival or winning mode. The future, however, is not about successful individuals or individual organisations. It is in the collective leadership and the networks we grow, that influences the sector, through others, that just might generate the capacity to reach all children.

    “…humankind gains enormous power by building large networks of co-operation, but the way these networks are built predisposes us to use the power unwisely. Our problem, then, is a network problem.” Yuval Noah Harari

    It is leadership that builds capacity through networks and deeper collaboration that will determine our stewardship of the future. The future starts with us, in our understanding of why we exist, how far we wish to lift and enable others, close to us, far from us, now and way into the future.

    What if the challenges we face as a sector are, in large part, a leadership challenge, and we are coming up short?

    Catch-up mode

    Our worth is seen in our influence on the lives of others. Our choices and priorities determine the difference that we make not just now, but next. We need to influence others in a way that will travel into the future, beyond our time. Leadership that propagates and adds value, ever-onward. Paying forward, through others, into the future.

    And yet our leadership is in catch-up mode, a feature reflected in the immaturity of our sector. There is much to do, but we have what we need and importantly the permission and obligation to lead more effectively. This weighty responsibility requires us to use our power well and to transfer and pass it through others to multiply and maximise our influence.

    In catch-up mode we must re-imagine what educational leadership is, their future depends on it. Our leadership must be more potent, generative and farsighted so that we do better than now, much better. Or else, we will not reach those children scrabbling for a foot hold on the fringes of education. Our present leadership paradigm does not generate enough capacity to do so.

    It is time to elevate the conversation, align our actions with our rhetoric and deliver far stronger leadership across the sector. We have far more influence than we are willing to admit. But there is hope, leadership that pays forward, through others, for the future just might generatively add the value, tip the balance for those who need us most, the ones we know and the ones we will not know.

    For the sun is shining on us now.

    …it is about your leadership

    Dan Nicholls | December 2024

    Middle Leadership | CLF Conference

    Posted on by
    2

    It is probably true that Middle Leadership is the key role in an Academy for driving improvement. At its best it inspires children and staff to bring new light to what might be, improves quality of teaching, champions an enabling curriculum, drives up outcomes to deliver improved life chances for all (including the team members).

    Slide04

    It is also probably true that Middle Leadership is most effective when those concerned can be considered to be true experts in their field, when they lead by example with an ethic of excellence, and when they act in concert with their senior colleagues, supporting whole school improvement through highly effective day to day management…owning their curriculum, championing knowledge and learning, actively improving teaching and being clinical about improving outcomes.

    Which begs the question: what are the key elements of middle leadership that makes the difference? The following What ifs… are inspired by the strong middle leadership that exist across the Federation.

    What if middle leaders consistently created a culture within their team where risks could be taken and individual talents recognised, without losing the ability to challenge, to support, to direct and to critique? …a culture that creates the conditions where team members inspire and are inspired by their colleagues.

    IMG_2084

    What if middle leaders were respected and trusted in equal measure, so that their team members knew beyond all doubt that they would be receiving the best possible coaching and support to achieve outstanding outcomes through effective lessons? …where middle leaders are the champion of their team and subject/area.

    Slide13

    What if middle leaders were the first people in the organisation to offer feedback to their staff members, and the first to offer coaching to ensure the craft of teaching was honed and nurtured for each individual in their team? They are the agents of change who shift the quality of teaching.

    What if middle leaders fully understood the crucial nature of their role in an Ofsted inspection, where the question on the Inspector’s lips might be ‘how is teaching more effective because of what this leader knows about achievement in this school?’

    What if middle leaders championed the one chance that children have. Understanding the deep moral purpose that exists and generating urgency so that all children fulfil and reach their potential…taking seriously the need to reverse accumulated disadvantage for our disadvantaged children.

    Slide08

    What if Middle Leaders understood that the key strategy for accelerating a child’s progress and enhancing life chances was the consistent delivery of quality first teaching every lesson, every day.

    Slide14Slide17

    What if middle leaders secured delivery of key elements of the signature pedagogy; where a depth of knowledge, an ethos of excellence, along with teaching that stretches and challenges, that questions to unlock understanding and delivers effective feedback, accelerates learning?

    Slide1

    What if Middle Leaders were champions of their curriculum; understanding the need to develop a layered/spiralled curriculum that explores and revisits areas to depth and assesses knowledge, skills and understanding against age related expectations?

    What if Middle Leaders were champions of their subject and pedagogy? Understanding the need to ensure a depth of knowledge inspires, understands the key concepts and mis-concepts and how pedagogy can be applied to accelerate knowledge, skills and understanding?

    Slide4Slide3

    What if middle leaders knew about the performance of different student groups not only over the course of the year, but building on previous years in the same school, charting their progress and matching it to departmental interventions and foci over time? …targeting those children that fall behind and accelerating progress to close gaps in attainment.

    Slide25

    What if middle leaders walked the line between the ‘statesman-like’ approach of the senior leader and that of a supportive family member to those in their team? …supporting and challenging improvements in performance overtime, both deliberately and compassionately.

    fit-to-lead

    What if middle leaders prepared each meeting as they might a lesson, taking into account the learning experience for their colleagues, their diverse needs, the best way to structure the experience, to have seamless transitions, and a judicious mix of action, discussion, reflection, and imparting of information?

    What if middle leaders had the confidence and competence to highlight areas of strength and weakness within the course of a school year or term, without waiting for external validation but seeking to collaborate with others to improve at an accelerated rate?

    g2g-confront-facts

    What if middle leaders sought to achieve a discernible difference in areas that they identify for improvement?

    What if middle leaders were at once confident enough to deal with emerging issues, and humble enough to ask for perspective, support, even validation from their senior colleagues?

    What if middle leaders understood that they start to become organisationally blind after six weeks? What if because of this understanding middle leaders connected and collaborated deeply within and beyond their own Academy?

    blind-spot

    What if middle leaders were able to ask for feedback not only from their line managers but from their own team and from their peers, knowing that feedback enables growth?

    Maybe then individual subjects would develop at a fast pace, with outcomes for all students exceeding national expectations, and reducing achievement gaps between groups.

    Maybe then teaching, our core business, would be consistently outstanding within each department and across each school. Set within an owned and inspiring curriculum.

    Maybe then a generation of leaders would emerge that would have impact and influence well beyond their role.

    …and Maybe then we would have the deepest job satisfaction, knowing we have performed unusually well and that our students are the real winners.

    Slide08

    Sally Apps and Dan Nicholls

    October 2015