Conducting an Executive Search for a Principal, a visionary leader with a child centred philosophy in an independent school based in Western Australia
The Brief
Future Leadership™ was engaged by an independent co-educational school located across two campuses in Perth, Western Australia, to appoint their next Principal.
Reporting directly to the School Board, the Principal will ensure the effective management and leadership of the school. With a proven track record in leadership and progressive education, the appointee will guide the school into its next phase of growth while maintaining its ethos.
The successful appointee must also demonstrate strong financial and commercial acumen, a deep understanding of educational trends and commitment to community building.
The Board selected Future Leadership™ as its search partner due to the team’s deep knowledge of the independent school sector in Western Australia, robust networks, and ability to deliver a transparent and thorough process.
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
Future Leadership™ led by Western Australian based Jenny Ethell, conducted a comprehensive and collaborative search:
Key steps included:
- Attended briefings with the Board, Interim Principal and senior leaders to define the role and identify potential and external candidates.
- Targeted Candidate Search: Reached out to over 50 potential candidates and referral partners to identify potential candidates aligned with the school’s values, mission and strategic plan.
- Candidate Management: A Shortlist of six candidates who participated in psychometric assessments was presented to the School Board. Five candidates progressed to first round Panel Interviews.
- Selection process: Final candidates presented to the selection panel and attended a tour of the Schools Campuses. The Future Leadership team completed 360-degree reference checks ensuring thorough evaluation.
This rigorous process resulted in two candidates progressing to second round panel interviews, each deemed appointable.
Emerging Capabilities
Strategy and Purpose
Leads transformational processes, motivates teams, and influences commitment to a shared purpose that individuals and the workforce will require to enable sustained organisational success. Builds and promotes a culture underpinning the vision, purpose and values the organisation aspires to achieve.
Adaptability and Resilience
Demonstrating positivity, curiosity, resilience and the ability to pivot when confronted with change, pressure, adversity and disruption. Anticipates and enhances organisation’s capacity to respond quickly to strategic environmental, social and corporate challenges and opportunities.
Emotional Awareness
Demonstrates commitment, sensitivity and responsiveness to the emotional needs of different cultures and people. Gathers and reviews the preferences of stakeholders to understand their feelings towards the organisation. Guides and mediates the alignment of the organisation’s culture and values with the external operating environment, society and stakeholders.
Culture and Engagement
Engages stakeholders inclusively with sensitivity and regard for diversity and facilitates a psychologically safe environment for social or cultural differences affecting behaviour.
Systems Thinking
Systematically breaks down siloes across the operating environment and connects stakeholders to harness convergent ideas. Understands the leverage points of systems change and demonstrates the ability to think beyond known systems.
The Outcome
The Selection Panel were extremely satisfied with the candidate field, determining the two final candidates were both appointable, including one Victorian based individual.
The successful appointee most recently held a Deputy Principal position at an Anglican School and is an experienced educator with over 20 years of experience in schools in Australia, Europe and Asia, including eight years in school leadership.
"We recently engaged Jenny and the team at Future Leadership for an executive search to appoint our new Principal, and we couldn’t be happier with the process and outcome. From the outset, Jenny sought to deeply understand our school—its vision, values, and unique needs—ensuring the candidates presented were not only highly qualified but also genuinely aligned with our culture and strategic direction.
What truly impressed us was Jenny’s ability to appreciate and navigate the uniqueness of our school. As a progressive, community-focused school, finding a leader who could embrace and enhance our distinct approach to education was critical. Jenny’s deep understanding of education, particularly within the Western Australian context, proved to be an invaluable asset. She demonstrated a nuanced understanding of our philosophy and needs, ensuring the search was tailored to our school’s individuality.
The team’s communication was clear and professional throughout, and their ability to guide us through each stage of the process made what could have been a daunting task feel seamless. They went above and beyond to provide tailored support, including valuable insights into candidate strengths and suitability.
Thanks to Jenny and the Future Leadership team, we are confident we’ve found a Principal who will lead our school with passion, vision, and integrity. We highly recommend their services to any school seeking outstanding leadership, particularly those with unique educational approaches.”
