Carrying the weight of school leadership
In this episode, Headteacher Neil Renton shares insights from his book "New School Leader, What Now?" on the journey of school leadership.
Neil emphasizes leading with humility, curiosity and seeking input. He suggests having "allies" on your team who can support and advise you. Building trusting relationships is key - Neil talks about the concept of "bench stories" to foster human connections with all staff members.
Neil reflects on the weight of responsibility leaders feel and says it gets more comfortable over time as you learn how to mobilize your team. He provides tips on school culture, including setting a positive narrative, language and modeling desired behaviors. Neil critiques the notion of "strong leadership" as too simplistic - he suggests reflecting on multiple leadership attributes to develop across.
Making decisions takes energy and effort to do properly - leaders should gather perspectives, reflect carefully and then act decisively.
Neil stresses the importance of leader visibility through presence and human relationships. He talks about using "Kopfkino," the cinema in your head, to imagine scenarios and plan for the future.
The episode emphasizes leadership as an ongoing journey of growth, requiring courage, humility, self-awareness and human connections.
Neil Renton | Author of ‘New School Leader, What Now?’
Key Quotes
"Leadership is about the professional will to drive change and humility”
"If you can carry a calf for every day of its life, you can carry a cow."
"Great things happen when you sit on a bench and you speak to a colleague or a friend."
"Trust is a performance amplifier."
"Setting up your culture is the number one thing in an international school you need to think about."
"Morning is always wiser than evening."
Pre-order your copy of ‘New School Leader, What Now?’ at www.criticalpublishing.com/new-school-leader. You can get 20% off using the code SCHOOL2023.
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