How to build a great school leadership team

Leadership teams at every level of schools are the engines that drive forward the activity of the organisation; without them, schools would, quite simply, not function, let alone strive for excellence. Imagine the unsettling chaos that would ensue if every member of staff just rocked up to school every day and just did what they felt best, however well-intentioned and committed they were … without structures, a shared and common purpose, and a direction, the collection of individuals who make up a school staff, no matter how amazing they are, will never be as phenomenal as their collective effort. Teamwork matters in schools; and in school leadership teams, the whole really can be greater than the sum of its parts.

School leadership teams, however, are complex beasts, and need careful nurturing if they are to fulfil their potential, and achieve what they are capable of achieving. Theories of effective teams abound, and are absolutely worth reading about and exploring; from a very practical perspective, however, consider this 3 step process to get you started:

Step 1: Identify your purpose as a team. Because of the hierarchical nature of schools, and the structures that are recognisable from school to school (eg ‘School Operations Team’, or ‘Heads of Department Team’, or ‘Senior Leadership Team’), we often fail to identify exactly what we need this team to achieve in our particular school, at this precise time in its journey of continual improvement. Start by thinking carefully about why your team exists, and what it is really there to do. Try capturing the purpose of your team, articulating it clearly and succinctly, and then check that everyone in the team agrees with it … you might be surprised at the different assumptions that people have. Nailing down your purpose, though, is essential: it is, in fact, a prerequisite for determining your team strategy, and ensuring that you function really effectively as a team. If you don’t know where you are all going together, then the chances are much slimmer that you will actually get there.

Step 2: Understand your people. Everyone is different, and every member of your team will have unique attributes that they bring to your goals. Some of this you will know; much more, however, lies beneath the surface, in hidden talents and hidden motivations and is definitely worth unearthing, and – in many cases – igniting or re-igniting, for the benefit of the team. When people are enabled and empowered to do what they are really interested in, they can bring remarkable energy to teams, so it makes huge sense to find out as much as you can about them. One of the most powerful ways to understand people is to use a psychometric test of some kind, to help illuminate how your team members prefer to behave, and what particular value they bring to the team. No single team can possibly contain all the expertise, and all the diverse perspectives and approaches to thinking and learning that you might possibly want, so knowing what you do have, and the value that each individual brings, will help you to identify your particular strengths as a team, and what you need to watch out for (eg gaps in your skills and perspectives)