To be or not to be…a school Principal

It seems everyone is expected to be a leader of some sort. This is exemplified in student programs in schools and professional learning programs for teachers, middle and senior management. Fair enough, it is good to be aspirational about career pathways in the profession you have joined. A profession which encourages its members to continuously learn, improve and invest in future capabilities.

While it is true that many teachers aspire to leadership roles, not every aspirational teacher is destined to become a school principal. The role of a principal demands a distinct set of skills and responsibilities that differ significantly from those of classroom teaching, or even middle and senior management. An educator may excel in fostering academic growth, building relationships with students and creating engaging lessons, but the transition to a whole school responsibility requires mastering complex organisational needs, managing staff dynamics and addressing a broad spectrum of community expectations. All that, and so much more.

Another critical factor is the unique mindset and vision required for effective school leadership. Principals must possess a strategic perspective, the ability to make high-stakes decisions, and a talent for uniting diverse stakeholders around a shared vision for the school. While many teachers are deeply dedicated and skilled in their craft, not all are drawn to or prepared for the multifaceted challenges of leading an entire institution. The principalship requires a willingness to shift focus from individual student outcomes to systemic improvement, which may not align with every teacher’s professional aspirations or strengths.

The same can be said for middle and senior leaders, where they often specialise in aspects of the academic, co-curricular and well-being programs. They may also be more comfortable professionally if the principal makes the final decision on very challenging and reputationally fraught matters.

Personal priorities and career goals play a significant part in determining whether an educator pursues middle, senior and/or principalship. Leadership roles often come with increased workloads, extended hours and heightened stress levels, which can impact work-life balance. Teachers who value the personal connection and creativity of the classroom may not find the same satisfaction in administrative responsibilities. Additionally, some educators may aspire to other forms of leadership, such as mentoring, curriculum development or action research, which allow them to influence education without stepping into the top job and away from the classroom. So, while many educators possess the ambition to grow and lead, the path to becoming a principal is not the right fit for everyone – and that is ok!

Leadership at any level means as a professional, you care about your vocation and your impact on students’ and colleagues’ growth and development. Leadership in schools offers many opportunities for individual advancement, and sometimes rich conversations with experts around how you might best leverage your experiences, skills and potential to find the right leadership path for you, is a great step in next step of your leadership path.

For a confidential discussion about your leadership options in schools that match your personal attributes and professional goals, contact ne of the Future Leadership Education Team:

Liam King, Senior Partner

Kirsti Hitz-Morton, Associate Partner

Jenny Ethell, Advisor

Dr Amanda Bell AM, Advisor

Shadow Culture: The dark side of cultural inconsistencies

Organisational culture is often cited as more important than strategy, but what sort of culture?

During COVID lockdowns, when many people were working at home, organisations − including schools and colleges − noticed that their values and cultural expectations were difficult to reinforce with a remote workforce. It was even harder to ensure a uniform purpose or track cultural efficacy.

Dan Pontefract, leadership strategist and author, explained in an interview with the ‘Canadian HR Reporter’,

… if you want an organisation that’s really operating on all cylinders, you want every team to be operating within the same rules of engagement, the same kind of team norms, … a similar feeling of trust, openness, collaboration.[1]

Organisational culture should reflect the core values of an organisation and the lived experience of its people. If the culture is not developed collaboratively, nourished, communicated regularly and protected, satellite cultures can form – shadow cultures.

Shadow cultures can occur in schools and colleges when different faculties or departments begin to operate under their own rules and expectations; in other words exclusively, and in isolation. Separate campuses can often drift from the core principles operating within the main campus. The English department may develop different ways of managing parent input to the Maths department; this causes issues with parents. The History department may have different rules for students around due dates to the Languages department; this causes issues with students.

Staff, student and parent satisfaction surveys are one measure to gauge whether there is a shadow culture operating. But principals and boards must be diligent in asking the right questions and constantly checking what is being stated publicly versus what actually happens within the organisation. Is what’s being espoused on websites and in annual reports consistent with what is happening on a daily basis with all stakeholders?

At the AISNSW Governance Seminar in April this year, John Neil from the Ethics Centre [2 ], summed up culture as “the way things are done around here”. Its foundations are in purpose, values and principles. In turn, these inform mindsets and behaviours.

When shadow cultures are left to operate as undercurrents to the stated organisational culture, catastrophic consequences can occur. The example Neil cites is Enron, where its published values in 2000 were Excellence, Respect, Integrity and Communication; then in 2001 it declared bankruptcy. Despite having received awards for its corporate citizenry.

PwC and Cricket Australia had similar issues with stating “feel good values” which were not the lived experience of some senior members of the company or teams. The shadow cultures in play valued rain makers and winners – at all costs, rather than ethical business behaviours and fair play.

In all organisations, it remains a constant challenge to check cultural lead indicators rather than lag indicators. Ensure psychosocial safety, check behaviours match the stated values and align regularly with stakeholders. It is important that the agreed values are measured as behavioural expectations, and professional wellbeing and development are genuinely supported. Schools and colleges, like commercial organisations, should establish cultural indicators and feedback channels – including anonymous avenues – to enable staff, students, parents and the community to express both positive and negative sentiments. In this way, there are means to monitor how cultural performance is seen, heard, enacted and experienced.

Boards, in particular, have a responsibility along with their principal and senior leadership team to monitor key performance indicators and feedback channels. For boards, this means ensuring the lived culture sits alongside responsibilities such as reputational management, financial oversight and organisational stewardship.

Future Leadership is well-positioned to assist schools and university colleges in assessing cultural efficacy, including the identification of shadow cultures operating within their communities. We can partner with boards and the principal to devise ways to monitor cultural consistency strategically. Contact me to arrange a conversation.

[1] Does your workplace have a ‘shadow’ culture? | Canadian HR Reporter

[2 ] www.ethics.org.au

B Corp Certification: Five Reasons Companies are Becoming B Corp Certified

B Corp Certification and the bottom line

In an era where businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their impact on society and the environment, Future Leadership’s decision to become a Certified B Corporation, or B Corp, sits at the core of our purpose providing executive leadership solutions. B Corporation signifies a full company commitment to creating a world of difference. One which cares, collaborates, solves and impacts all stakeholders positively.

As the Chief Creative Officer covering all things marketing and communications, I believe every CMO should be focused on sustainability as part of our accountability for creating a value exchange. Whether we’re driving social equity through our leadership offerings, influencing better governance through our work with boards and directors, or impacting environmental health via our net-zero commitment, our community giving, and our minimised office footprint, we are thrilled to announce our B Corp certification.

So, why are companies undertaking the B Corp commitment?

Join us as we share the essence of this decision, what it entails, and what it means for our future.

1) B Corp Certification Equals Ethical Decision Making

In dealing with Australia’s most senior and impactful leaders, ethical decision-making has always been in our DNA. B Corp certification is a promise to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Transparency is a cornerstone of the B Corp philosophy. By sharing our journey openly, we’re committing to being held accountable for our progress. This transparency extends to our successes and setbacks, as both are integral to the growth and evolution of a purpose-driven business.

A company with B Corp certification pledges to balance purpose with profit, aligning its business strategies with values that extend to an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy.

2) Bringing to Life Our Purpose

As a B Corp we are legally required to consider the impact of our decisions on stakeholders beyond shareholders. We implemented a change in our constitution to acknowledge that our purpose of creating a world of difference, our mission of reaching 10% of Australia’s top 300,000 executives, and our values of care, collaborate, solve and impact, are central to our operations beyond profit maximisation.

3) Community Engagement

Already, the B Corp process has engaged our entire team in an extraordinary way. The journey to gaining B Corp certification isn’t an easy one, nor should it be. The rigorous assessment evaluates a company’s impact on its employees, community, environment, and customers. It scrutinises everything from governance and worker benefits to environmental performance and supply chain transparency. We’re excited to have been rewarded for our dedication to meeting these stringent criteria.

There is no doubt that our sustainability mandate is attracting and retaining team members aligned with our values and mission. We see our sustainability initiatives leading to increased job satisfaction, motivation, and loyalty among the team.

One of the most rewarding aspects of B Corp certification is joining a global community of like-minded businesses. This community shares insights, challenges, and best practices, fostering a collaborative environment that transcends competition. We look forward to learning from others and contributing our experiences to this movement. Undertaking the B Corp journey is an opportunity to collaborate and innovate. As we work towards certification, we’ll be implementing new practices, exploring sustainable solutions, and engaging with our stakeholders to drive positive change. This journey not only transforms our internal operations but also encourages us to think creatively about how we can contribute to a better world.

4) Identity and Differentiation

Behind every major decision lies a compelling motivation. In our case, it’s the recognition that we have a significant influence on leadership in our country; placing, augmenting and developing, boards and executives. We believe that businesses possess the power to catalyse positive change. Becoming a B Corp aligns with our core operations, demonstrating our commitment to identifying future capabilities, fostering sustainable working cultures, promoting responsible governance practices, and advocating for social progress.

Being one of the only Executive Professional Services firms with B Corp certification differentiates us from the market. It signals to all stakeholders that our firm is committed to ethical, accountable and sustainable practices.

5) Long-Term Sustainability

By considering our impact on various stakeholders and adopting sustainable practices, our B Corp status will aim for long-term business resilience and stability. Announcing our pursuit of B Corp certification is a declaration of our commitment to a brighter and more sustainable future. As we embark on this transformative journey, we invite you to follow along, offer insights, and hold us accountable. The road ahead will undoubtedly be challenging, but the potential for positive impact makes every step worthwhile.

Thank you for your interest in B Corporation and for supporting us on this adventure towards a more sustainable future. With the changing environment and demands in every part of the Australian economy, it is even more important to ensure we are leading today, with tomorrow in mind.

If you would like to know more about becoming a B Corp, our Advisory team would love to talk to you. Contact [email protected].

Interim Talent Insight with Benetas

Future Leadership’s Interim Executive team recently supported Benetas to quickly fill an urgent gap with an Interim Operations Manager.

We caught up with Helen Kemp, General Manager – Health and Care Support Office, and Sarah Fair, Interim Operations Manager, for a quick Q&A about the experience.

Why would you recommend considering interim talent?

Helen: “Being able to access someone with the skill and experience to assist in the short term for organisational support is invaluable. Future Leadership provided a timely service, with a great candidate, who also fitted well with the organisation and its values.”

Sarah: “As an interim executive you can use your experience managing complexity to provide stability and mentorship to managers and teams, provide insight into wicked problems and offer options for collaboratively solving them within a clear timeframe, and with the support of Future Leadership’s Interim Executive team.”

Helen, what do see as the key advantages of engaging an interim?

Helen: “It provided us an opportunity to get immediate cover in a short term vacancy with a skilled operative. This supported the organisation to continue with its strategic and operational goals.”

Sarah, what have you enjoyed about the opportunity to contribute as an Interim Executive?

Sarah: “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to support managers and teams to focus on the positive, develop practical strategies to embrace opportunities and manage challenges, within a timeframe that allows for setting up the business for a permanent leader to come in and thrive.”

Considering an Interim Executive for your team? Reach out for a conversation today.

The Future of School Strategy: A new method for Principals and Boards to plan for the unknown

The Future of School Strategy

“As we progress through 2024, we are seeing shifts in the national mood that are impossible to ignore. Businesses and their boards face a rapidly changing economic, social and political landscape where a range of new macro trends are starting to emerge.”[1]

Just as the trends impacting a sector shift and change, grow and ebb, so too do the possible futures developing as a result. By employing an interrogation of possible futures, we create the opportunity for a school to develop a robust map of their preferred future.

The spectre of a looming strategic planning day is often a source of mixed feelings for principals and board chairs. Should the day hinge upon an up-date of progress on the existing strategy, a refresh of priorities, or has the existing plan run its course and a whole new blueprint is needed?

In fact, all of these options benefit from employing a futures focus to planning. One informed by sector trends and predicated on all participants having curious, aspirational and courageous mindsets. Utilising this methodology underpins a new way of approaching board planning days and can remove the principal’s and chair’s anxiety about setting an agenda that ensures a productive and creative use of everyone’s time in the best interests of the school.

Recently, Future Leadership was invited to facilitate a half day session for the board and senior leadership team of a large, multi-campus, high performing metropolitan school. The brief from the principal noted that the school enjoyed an engaged, high-functioning board with diverse skill sets and experience. While the engagement by the board was routinely one of trust and intelligent discussion, the principal sought to achieve an increased level of good questions to provoke new ideas for ambitious strategic outcomes.

At first, this seemed to be a tricky brief to address. To disrupt thinking too radically risks irrelevant rabbit holes and/or impossible pathways. To merely focus on questioning techniques could land heavily on the uninspiring side of “so what?”.

Future Leadership worked with the principal to devise a program that featured:

a quick review of good governance hygiene factors;
a provocation by sociologist and futures theorist, Dr Liam Mayo;
a discussion around current trends in education;
an activity based on actual events where better questioning techniques were investigated; and finally
a themed group workshop that utilised the information and practices of the morning with a futures trend-based methodology to arrive at possible and preferred futures for the school.

“According to the SEC Newgate Mood of the Nation report, the overarching sentiment in the community is rising pessimism and distrust… The prevailing pessimism calls for a rethink of organisations’ strategic communications, based on a research-based approach…”[2]

Future Leadership utilised ground-breaking global research in futures thinking that employed a trends-based methodology to assist the school board and senior leadership team to practice positive and robust ways of improving their strategic thinking, planning and, importantly, questioning techniques for better results in school governance and strategic planning.

Sessions such as these are highly personalised to each school: the strategic maturity level of boards and senior management, and incorporating unique requirements to ensure success.

We encourage any school principals and/or chairs seeking to take a trends-based futures-focused methodology to their approach for strategic planning to contact us for a discussion on how we can assist your board and senior leadership team achieve a highly successful, targeted session.

[1] Brian Tyson, “Directors urged to implement megatrend strategies”, AICD Company Director, March 2024 Vol. 40 Issue 02

[2] Ibid

A Masterclass in Intentional Governance Leadership

The AHISA Biennial Conference at the Gold Coast in September, provided us with an opportunity to encourage the Heads of independent schools to consider intentionally applying their leadership skills at a governance level.

The premise was that many new and experienced principals work assiduously on their own leadership and concentrate on leadership development in their school – with their executive, staff, students and community. Often neglected is the attention to their leadership skills with their board, including at the table, to engender confidence and influence in a nuanced, sophisticated and successful way.

The Masterclass led with a provocation by Michelle Loader, Managing Director of Future Leadership. Michelle reviewed current trends in board room dynamics, governance hygiene factors, ESG considerations and diversity of capabilities. She continued with how the Head can influence the agenda, prepare before the meetings, act with confidence at the meetings and undertake effective follow-up after the meeting.

A very lively Q&A session led by Jane Danvers, Principal at Kambala, with a panel comprising Michelle Loader, Liam King and Amanda Bell allowed for further discussions around the time that should be allocated to board matters, complexities of school board memberships, changes in chairs, factions amongst directors and protecting the confidence of the Chair and board in the Head’s performance.

This topic intersected with the Conference theme “What now, what next?”. Intentional governance leadership is often overlooked by inexperienced and experienced Heads alike, given it draws on different skills at the governance level. These Head-Chair/Director relationships can be precarious – especially when the Chair and/or membership and dynamic of the board room changes. The right approach can consolidate a Head’s position and influence; a neglectful approach can be career limiting.

The participant evaluations following the session concluded that further professional development was needed for Heads in this area. AHISA is discussing a potential governance seminar in 2024 around these important topics with us, and we have already been contacted by some school Heads looking to provide tailored governance professional development for their boards and senior staff following the Masterclass.

Some comments from the Biennial Masterclass included:

“I only received positive feedback and had a number of people suggest that it should have been a keynote session. Some Heads did say that they appreciated the focus on all levels of leadership, new, established and changing board membership.”

– (Sydney)

“

I really enjoyed the session. My only feedback is that I wished it was longer, so participants could share their circumstances and then draw upon the wisdom of the panel and colleagues.“

– (Brisbane)

“Many attendees at the conference, including me, thought the session was excellent – and felt the most relevant. It was regarded as the ‘best’ session of the conference and many regretted not attending.”

– (Melbourne)

If you would like to discuss a tailored program for your school, please contact us to arrange a conversation.

Enjoy your well-earned summer holiday.

Executive Search Award: Kate Wheeler awarded AESC’s 2023 Commitment to the Community Award

The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) has recognised Kate Wheeler, Partner, For Purpose Sector at Fisher Leadership*, with the AESC Commitment to the Community Award for her high impact service.

*Fisher Leadership is now a part of Future Leadership, which hosts a range of talent solutions. Combining services like Interim Executive Search, Advisory, Coaching, and Leadership Development, enables leaders to continually grow and develop, and know that our trusted relationship can support them at the key milestones on their leadership life cycle, as they make a difference to their organisations and their industries.

Kate founded and now leads Future Leadership’s For Purpose practice, which partners with over 300 organisations and places more than 360 leaders into high-impact roles.

Kate’s work exclusively serves vulnerable communities, specifically board and executive impact across several areas, including mental health (Beyond Blue, Headspace, Department of Premier and Cabinet), Indigenous affairs (NSW Aboriginal and Land Council CEO, Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People), disability (Guide Dogs Victoria, The Disability Trust), domestic violence (Our Watch, RESPECT VIC), child protection (Oxfam, Department of Justice and Community Safety) homelessness (Housing First, Haven; Homesafe), microfinance (Grameen Australia) medical research (Cancer Council, Movember) and many historically underserviced regional councils and nonprofits. Kate is renowned for going above and beyond in her commitment to community, with 100% of her executive search work involving pro bono services across the charity, not-for-profit and social impact sectors.

“Kate Wheeler is a high calibre individual who has gone above and beyond during her decade of work as an executive search consultant in the social impact sector,” says one colleague. “Kate takes the time to understand complex issues faced by organisations and creates a collaborative approach to problem-solving, resulting in recalibrating and sometimes pivoting on search strategy for the benefit of the client.”

Kate has contributed to the growth of the profession by shifting her executive search methodology from a linear placement process to a systemic focus, involving the comprehensive mapping of issues through a multi-dimensional diversity leadership lens.

Kate’s use of psychometric studies allow her to advise boards on diversity gaps and support selection with coaching, transition, and leadership development components. Two distinct contributions to this process shift include:

Kate’s support of the evolution and uptake of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) via systemic leadership solutions within the NDIS body itself, across a myriad of NDIS services, and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Kate’s amplification of Indigenous leadership in Australia with over 30 senior Indigenous appointments including two Indigenous Commissioners, the CEO of Australia’s largest land rights and Native Title organization, additional executive appointments at the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, and the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People.

Haven; Homesafe CEO Andrew Cairns describes another situation in which Kate offered ample support.

“At a time of unprecedented need for disadvantaged housing and corresponding government investment, Kate stepped up to help lead a significant project to attract multiple new positions to enable heightened service delivery for the community,” he says. “The community housing sector can be challenging due to the lack of high remuneration opportunities. Kate went above and beyond in engaging prospective candidates to help them understand the importance and potential of the roles while concurrently redesigning the EVP with Haven.”

Prior to joining Fisher Leadership in 2010, Kate spent over 14 years working in executive search on a national and international basis. Kate has appointed scores of executives at the most senior levels, including CEO, Executive Directors, General Managers and a range of specialty areas. Kate holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Psychology) from RMIT University and has pursued further studies in Business – Human Resource Management.

ABOUT THE AESC COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY AWARD

AESC’s Commitment to the Community Award was established in 1993 to recognise a firm, office or individual who combines excellence in executive search or leadership consulting with a strong commitment to community service and volunteerism toward charitable causes.

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND LEADERSHIP CONSULTANTS

Since 1959, AESC has set the quality standard for the executive search and leadership consulting profession. AESC Members represent 16,000+ trusted professionals in 1,200+ offices, spanning 70+ countries. AESC Members are recognised experts providing consulting services in the areas of leaders, teams and culture to the world’s leading organisations. They leverage their access and expertise to place more than 100,000 executives each year in board of directors and C-level positions across industry sectors. Dedicated to strengthening leadership together, AESC and its members share a deep commitment to the highest quality standards in executive search and leadership consulting—for the benefit of clients and the profession. We Shape. Connect. Educate. Innovate. Learn more about us at aesc.org. For AESC’s career service connecting executive-level candidates to the world’s leading executive search firms, visit bluesteps.com.

Originally published on the AESC website.