It has long been said that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. This is something I certainly learnt the hard way but I have been determined to use the consequences to my advantage and I hope after reading this, you can too.
As a former head teacher, I have shared my acquired principles and strategies of overcoming the challenges of managing an organisation with several schools and, in recent years, with many businesses in the commercial sector. They have continued to prove effective in every profession.
Initial conversations with many of the leaders and managers I have worked with reveal a number of common themes:
- Lack of time for strategic planning.
- Too much time spent reacting to crisis.
- Ineffective communication with colleagues.
- Reluctance to delegate (having the attitude that it is easier to do something themselves. instead of delegate and rely on someone else to get the job done properly).
- Difficulty in recruiting the right people for the job.
- Avoiding having the “hard conversations” when necessary.
- A sense of overwhelm from constant interruptions.
- Feeling overworked, stressed and fed up.
Einstein’s definition of madness was to continue to act in the same way and expect a different outcome. You’ll find that the majority of people who agree with this are in fact guilty of it. I’m no exception; I used to be one of them.
Forced to do things differently
In my leadership role as head teacher of a primary school, I too experienced the drawbacks mentioned in the above list. However, I was forced to change my approach when the consequence of a serious ski accident left me wheelchair bound. My injuries affected my energy levels and mobility and being in a wheelchair limited my access to the classrooms.
In order to overcome these challenges I had to strategically plan ahead to find longer term solutions and draw on the strength and talents of my team. It was imperative that I could delegate and be entirely confident that every member of staff shared the strategic vision of what made ‘excellence’ a reality so they would have the same high standards and expectations for themselves and others. Relationships had to be based on trust and mutual respect.
This led to an effective system of recruitment, induction, professional development and leadership succession planning. Monitoring and evaluation were used to manage performance effectively and as a powerful tool for development. Such strategies needn’t be costly – all of this was achieved on the lowest budget per child within the local authority the school came under.
Adopting a leadership style that was based on empowering others saved time, money and energy and developed a highly motivated and happy workforce. The school was recognised as one of the best schools in the country and became a Beacon School, helping many other schools to improve the quality of their leadership and performance.
Focus on what you can do
If you focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t, you will be much better off. In my situation, I had very limited energy, minimal mobility and what could be seen as an insurmountable problem. What I did have was a determination that everyone at school had the right to an excellent educational experience.
Ten elements of lasting success
So what are the elements that ensure lasting success? I call them the ‘positive advantage’.
- People who feel confident, valued and happy are successful. My belief has been confirmed by a growing body of research which provides irrefutable evidence that this is indeed true. The strategies for developing confidence and happiness are an important element in the programme.
- It is important to involve people in creating the strategic vision and to develop a culture where everyone takes responsibility for making it a reality. The vision has to be like the writing through a stick of Brighton rock.
- Strategic planning is vital; it saves time, effort and money.
- Communication requires active listening and a transparent, structured approach to decision making and dissemination. Ignore this at your peril.
- High expectations must be shared and explicit from the outset. They began with the advert and the appointment process. Every person should know they are expected to work hard, to be a good team member and that they are a vital part of the team. Creating a shared model of excellence is important. What does being a good team member mean in your organisation? Does everyone comply?
- The quality of performance from individuals, teams and as a whole should be consistently reviewed. Asking the question ‘How can we be even better?’ and using the information to inform future planning, training and development is a vital part of this.
- The culture needs to be one of development rather than blame. That being said every person should be expected to take responsibility for their contribution and performance or lack of it. Good performance should be acknowledged and poor performance tackled early and constructively.
- There is no room for ego. Professionalism, emotional intelligence and a shared sense of purpose are the bedrock on which these principles lie. These should be modelled by every leader and become the norm for all.
- The quality of your thinking determines the quality of the outcome. It is important to develop positive thinking strategies throughout the organisation.
- It is important to maintain a sense of balance and a sense of humour. Work can be enjoyable and fulfilling. A well motivated workforce has much higher productivity and less absenteeism. It makes economic sense.
How do you define success?
Think about how you define success both in the long term and day by day. Do all your employees, clients and suppliers understand what your goals are and why they are important? Many organisations define success only in profit or target terms. They are locked into achieving the hard numerical targets. Of course these are extremely important but they are by no means the whole story. Achieving profits without motivating, developing and training staff is likely to compromise the long term success of any organisation.
My strategies were created because I had no choice but experience has demonstrated they can provide any organisation with the ‘positive advantage’ and they can work for you.