Headteacher Standards: What makes a great executive head?
A quick scan reveals at least two multi-academy
trust (MAT) CEOs and four executive heads on the Queen's
birthday honours list. The past decade has seen a huge increase in such
roles, though executive headships aren't counted in the annual
workforce survey, so it's difficult to quantify. But what is an executive
head and what makes a successful one?
Earlier this week, I attended a National Education Trust-hosted event in London on the Headteacher Standards. The Standards are being reviewed for the first time in ten years and the consultation closes on 16 June. There was broad agreement on the need for the Standards to be aspirational (rather than a tick-list). There was consensus too that they should reflect the moral imperatives of headship and the key competencies required, as well as broad skill areas. There was less agreement on whether the Standards should seek to cover executive heads.
There were two sticking points.
The first was the variety in executive roles. Even among the seven Future Leaders appointed to executive roles so far there is a wide range – from Natalie de Silva overseeing two primary free schools in West London to Andrew Day leading a single academy which brought together ten schools in Northumberland, including primary, secondary and special provision. If you include MAT CEOs, the range is even broader.
The second was the lack of certainty about whether executive roles required different competencies or skills from those required by heads, or whether it is the same set at a higher level.
A number of people recognised the description of exceptional heads who step up into executive roles and run themselves ragged trying to replicate what made them successful in their first school in the other schools they lead – not a recipe for sustainable success or a balanced life.
There have also been high-profile examples of heads who were successful in their own school and as executive head for a few schools, but who over-reached and ultimately failed as they continued to take on more schools.
So it certainly feels as if there are competencies and skills which need to develop further and/or come to the fore as heads make the transition first to executive headship and then into CEO roles. The question is: which competencies and skills?
We are fortunate in the Future Leaders Headship Institute to have the opportunity to do some action research with our growing group of executive heads to understand whether and how the challenges they face differ from those they faced as heads, and how best to equip them to meet those challenges. We also benefit from the experience of our recently appointed honorary members of the Headship Institute, who include among them several successful MAT CEOs, including Dame Rachel de Souza, Liam Nolan and Nick Weller.
Some early reflections from our executive heads have been around the need to develop competencies like conceptual and analytical thinking, impact and influence, and collaboration far beyond anything they have done before. They have also talked about specific skills around bid-writing and complex financial management.
Political astuteness is also needed. Successful heads tend to be effective in dealing with the (small 'p') politics of working with parents and the community, and sometimes bigger (big 'P') Political matters. Executive heads and CEOs – especially those working in challenging schools, often with troubled histories and sometimes controversial inceptions, as ours do – are much more likely to have to deal with the (big 'P') Politics of the DfE and local government.
What remains the same is the need for a moral drive and set of values which put the outcomes of all children, irrespective of background, at the heart of every decision they take and everything they do. Indeed, in the best schools, such commitment is shared by everyone from lunch staff to teachers to senior leaders to governors.
This certainly underlines the view at Wednesday's meeting that moral purpose should be at the heart of the revised Headteacher Standards. But it seems we are not yet at a point where we can define a set of standards which fully defines what is needed for executive head and CEO roles. As someone privileged to work alongside such leaders – both professionally and as a governor – I hope that before the Standards are revised again, we can come to a much clearer view of executive roles in education and what heads need to be great at them.
Earlier this week, I attended a National Education Trust-hosted event in London on the Headteacher Standards. The Standards are being reviewed for the first time in ten years and the consultation closes on 16 June. There was broad agreement on the need for the Standards to be aspirational (rather than a tick-list). There was consensus too that they should reflect the moral imperatives of headship and the key competencies required, as well as broad skill areas. There was less agreement on whether the Standards should seek to cover executive heads.
There were two sticking points.
The first was the variety in executive roles. Even among the seven Future Leaders appointed to executive roles so far there is a wide range – from Natalie de Silva overseeing two primary free schools in West London to Andrew Day leading a single academy which brought together ten schools in Northumberland, including primary, secondary and special provision. If you include MAT CEOs, the range is even broader.
The second was the lack of certainty about whether executive roles required different competencies or skills from those required by heads, or whether it is the same set at a higher level.
A number of people recognised the description of exceptional heads who step up into executive roles and run themselves ragged trying to replicate what made them successful in their first school in the other schools they lead – not a recipe for sustainable success or a balanced life.
There have also been high-profile examples of heads who were successful in their own school and as executive head for a few schools, but who over-reached and ultimately failed as they continued to take on more schools.
So it certainly feels as if there are competencies and skills which need to develop further and/or come to the fore as heads make the transition first to executive headship and then into CEO roles. The question is: which competencies and skills?
We are fortunate in the Future Leaders Headship Institute to have the opportunity to do some action research with our growing group of executive heads to understand whether and how the challenges they face differ from those they faced as heads, and how best to equip them to meet those challenges. We also benefit from the experience of our recently appointed honorary members of the Headship Institute, who include among them several successful MAT CEOs, including Dame Rachel de Souza, Liam Nolan and Nick Weller.
Some early reflections from our executive heads have been around the need to develop competencies like conceptual and analytical thinking, impact and influence, and collaboration far beyond anything they have done before. They have also talked about specific skills around bid-writing and complex financial management.
Political astuteness is also needed. Successful heads tend to be effective in dealing with the (small 'p') politics of working with parents and the community, and sometimes bigger (big 'P') Political matters. Executive heads and CEOs – especially those working in challenging schools, often with troubled histories and sometimes controversial inceptions, as ours do – are much more likely to have to deal with the (big 'P') Politics of the DfE and local government.
What remains the same is the need for a moral drive and set of values which put the outcomes of all children, irrespective of background, at the heart of every decision they take and everything they do. Indeed, in the best schools, such commitment is shared by everyone from lunch staff to teachers to senior leaders to governors.
This certainly underlines the view at Wednesday's meeting that moral purpose should be at the heart of the revised Headteacher Standards. But it seems we are not yet at a point where we can define a set of standards which fully defines what is needed for executive head and CEO roles. As someone privileged to work alongside such leaders – both professionally and as a governor – I hope that before the Standards are revised again, we can come to a much clearer view of executive roles in education and what heads need to be great at them.
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