How to Lead Without Being Needed
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What happens when you take a school leader who's used to timetables, structure, and constant visibility, and drop them into the chaos of running a startup? Brett Griffin made that exact transition, moving from assistant principal to CEO of Pupil Progress, a tech company now used by over 700 schools globally. This conversation reveals something uncomfortable: the very structures that make schools function might be stopping your leaders from doing their best work. Brett shares why 80% of a teacher's day is pre-determined before they even start, and what that means for trust, autonomy, and deep work.
You'll learn why Brett used to hide in a secret office to get actual work done, why his old department achieved their best results the year after he left, and what the Lionel Messi analogy teaches us about teacher workload. Brett challenges the assumption that visibility always equals good leadership, and explains why being ruthless with focus (not adding more initiatives) might be the most important thing school leaders can do right now. If you're exhausted by trying to do everything at once, or wondering why your talented middle leaders aren't stepping up, this conversation will make you rethink how you're structuring work in your school.
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Thank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on LinkedIn and Bluesky. My email address is shane@shaneleaning.com.
