Inception
Creativity and communication have been there since I was very young – writing long, fantastical stories, composing music, starting a class newspaper (which ran to one edition only!). And I learnt the first habit of highly effective people according to Stephen Covey – “Be Proactive”!
Teenager
As a teenager, my dreams were aligned with my interest in the arts – at school I wanted to go into advertising, then I wanted to be conductor; at Cambridge I wanted to be famous writer. And today I find myself involved in marketing, “conducting” all the different elements of a school and writing blogs and articles for both professionally and privately.
Aims and Ideals
I recently updated our mission statement: “We reach out to provide excellence in individualised education, to nurture, extend and enrich young people to develop into the global citizens and leaders of the future.” This encapsulates several key ideas for me: reaching out to the wider world, excellence and extension, individualisation in education, nurture and enrichment, global vision, citizenship and responsibility, leadership, the future.
I try to align my leadership style with these ideals – engaging with the world outside my school, setting standards for excellence, relating to individuals as individuals, promoting supportive and nurturing relationships within my organisation, seeking to enrich and extend students, staff and myself, thinking globally, ensuring all take responsibility for their roles, growing leadership, focusing on what’s needed to remain flexible for the future.
Innovation
One of the best books on creativity I’ve read is “Serious Creativity” by Edward De Bono. He made me see that we can make creativity happen by being proactive. I started to explore using mindmaps and discovered the power of giving time to lateral thinking.
I encourage the use of mindmaps amongst my leadership team, by sharing my own handwritten draft “think pieces”, to show them the value of sharing the process of thinking. Some of them have started to do the same!
I also encourage regular personal development, with our “Tuesday Tips” for staff, and a regular book present for the leadership team at Christmas! I set time aside quarterly for a few hour’s to focus on discussing the latest book – which is currently Develop the Leader Within You by John Maxwell.
Challenges and Obstacles
I have come to believe that the greatest challenges and obstacles are within ourselves. You can find a way to approach nearly any external challenge, but it is often people who create either their own self-limiting barriers, or the possibilities of real lasting damage to others through their own personal issues which display as anger, negativity, hurtful comments and any kind of blocking or destructive behaviour.
What sets us apart?
What sets us apart as a learning community is our International Scholarship Programme, our global integration and ethos, and what we call our “Chase Passport” which is a way that students develop global citizenship, personal skills and leadership. Our motto is “Expect to Achieve”, and that’s exactly what we do!
Accreditations
In 2019 our work on character and personal development was highlighted by the ISC (Independent Schools Council) as an example of best practice, and in 2022 our A Level results at A and A* were the best in Staffordshire.
In Years to Come…
Our mission statement is relatively future-proof, though I would be surprised if it didn’t evolve further over the next few years. An economic downturn obviously poses a challenge for families wishing to choose an independent education, but I do believe that having survived a global pandemic – our team strength can survive anything!
Advice
I have 5 core beliefs about leadership. The first two are foundational, and the last three are about what you do when you’re actually doing leadership:
Vision
You can’t lead without a own vision of where your team is going. You then need to “paint a picture” repeatedly and vividly through words of that vision to those who should be following you. You can’t do this without really understanding in depth where you are through talking to people, gathering data and watching perceptively. This convinces people that you have credibility because you understand where they’re all at now, and they will want to follow you, because they are excited about where you can help them go.
Values
If you are don’t know what your values are, you are vulnerable to being exploited or taking unethical routes which appear to offer short-term success. Ask yourself what your deepest values are. I often give new leaders the task to sketch or write their “leadership journey”, which helps them get in touch with what really motivates them within.
Team Potential
“Get the right people on the bus” is Jim Collins’ advice in his book Good to Great, and it’s great advice! How well do you know the potential of your team? How good are you at assessing their existing strengths and where they could be even better? How will you grow them?
Competence and Creativity
Work out what competences you need to make your team a success, but don’t fixate so much on competence that you stifle creativity. The best teams grow organically, and the best leaders listen to their team’s creative ideas and helps them grow.
Adapt and Intervene
Life is full of unforeseeables, so you must always monitor what’s going well and what’s not, then intervene decisively. It’s almost always better to act than not to act, though also beware “knee-jerk”, short-term reactions – thinking about something overnight, or doing some fundamental thinking with a mindmap are ways I’ve found to move from obstacle or crisis to opportunity and creative solution.
